Off on our adventure....Jan 2015

System

Time for a weekend update while I drink my morning coffee. Might not get dressed for a while as its freezing and everything covered with snow again:(

Second CCA request came back from PR*, which although it contained my signature and several pages of T&C's, they say it is currently UE until they find other documents. I can only imagine that these relate to some sort of T&C's that I remember reading about on the DMP thread before. Not sure what it is exactly, but apparently without these particular T&C's a CCA is UE. :rotfl: So we are not paying anything on this at the moment, as PR* had already put account on hold. So we will give it a while before making a F&F to them. I don't want to rush straight in with a low offer as I suspect they wouldn't accept it yet as they say they are still looking for other documents.

Had to renew the house insurance this weekend. Been paying just over £10 a month and renewal quote came through saying it would go up to just over £14...:eek: Did a quick search of the comparison sites and found one for just over £9 a month!! Result..:T 2 4 1 cinema tickets and a Meerkat for youngest GS as well.

Not got many plans for today. Wanted to go for a nice walk, but it is just so windy and cold, I am not sure I can be bothered.
Will have to exercise indoors instead.

Hope everybody is having a good weekend.

System

Dentist today....:eek: not looking forward to it at all..:(. The original appointment was to have a root removed where a tooth broke ages ago, but last week I have had another tooth break and think that maybe this one needs more urgently looking at. It has been giving me a bit of grief for ages and never sure if it was my tooth or sinus that was causing problems. Dentist said when he xrayed it that my sinuses are very low and near my tooth so don't know....but very worried about it. Think my teeth have got worse since I was diagnosed with Osteoporosis, just over a year ago.
I will go and put on my relaxing meditation CD and calm myself....

On the financial front, we are awaiting some money from an old pension pot of hubby's, with which we hope to buy another car, as ours won't last much longer. We will boost our EF fund as well as I would actually like more than £1k in it if possible. Also put some towards F&F's. Hubby has also said he thinks we should have a PROPER holiday :eek:as we haven't had one now for 5 years. I originally saw this as an unnecessary expense but then saw that it wasn't a bad idea as we have been very stressed and would be nice to relax a bit for more than a few days in Whitby like we did last time. I still argued that we shouldn't and should actually use more towards debts. He said that if we hadn't been getting the money we would have carried on with DMP as usual, so as creditors don't know about the money, lets do it. So we have decided to go for it, but there is still a bit of me that thinks we shouldn't. Would be interested to know what other people think.

Then while on the subject of pensions....I had a letter from an old pension of mine. Telling me how much I would get if I wait till I am 65, compared to how much I can get if I take it in June when I am 61. TBH, there is not a lot of difference. Literally only a few ££ a month. They then tell me that instead of the full amount every month this June, I could take a lump sum:) and a reduced amount. So...what to do. Thinking along the lines of the lump sum and the reduced amount, obviously a few extra £££ in the F&F pot would help....any thoughts?

Best get breakfast now before my dentist appointment. Thanks for reading everybody:)

Working_Mum

ploppy57 wrote: »

Think my teeth have got worse since I was diagnosed with Osteoporosis, just over a year ago.
I will go and put on my relaxing meditation CD and calm myself....

hen while on the subject of pensions....I had a letter from an old pension of mine. Telling me how much I would get if I wait till I am 65, compared to how much I can get if I take it in June when I am 61. TBH, there is not a lot of difference. Literally only a few ££ a month. They then tell me that instead of the full amount every month this June, I could take a lump sum:) and a reduced amount. So...what to do. Thinking along the lines of the lump sum and the reduced amount, obviously a few extra £££ in the F&F pot would help....any thoughts?

Best get breakfast now before my dentist appointment. Thanks for reading everybody:)

I don't have a thyroid and my Mum has osteoporosis and we get high fluoride toothpaste prescribed from our dentist - I clean my teeth normally (with a sensitive toothpaste) and then clean my teeth again using the high fluoride paste which I then use as a mouthwash and swill round ensuring all my teeth are coated. It was an approach recommended by both my dentist and my mums!

Have you thought about getting a transfer out value for your pension?? It may give you a little lump sum which you control BUT you can pass on when you die. There is a lot to think about when it comes to pension pots but you should definitely consider giving yourself some breathing space right now - we should reward ourselves and take a breather every now and again!

((hugs))

WM x

jwil

I'd ask for advice on the pensions board about the pension.

A lump sum would be very attractive now, but not if you are sitting in the dark and living on beans when you are 75. With my pension, the lump sum is very poor value so when it comes to it, I will not be taking it, and will instead have the guaranteed income. It might be that yours is a good deal though and it's worth doing.

System

jwil wrote: »

I'd ask for advice on the pensions board about the pension.

A lump sum would be very attractive now, but not if you are sitting in the dark and living on beans when you are 75. With my pension, the lump sum is very poor value so when it comes to it, I will not be taking it, and will instead have the guaranteed income. It might be that yours is a good deal though and it's worth doing.

It is a very small pension, final salary one, from a company that I only worked with for 11 years. If I take it now, the lump sum is almost £7k and the difference in the monthly amount between now and taking it in 4 years is only about £20. OH has a very good pension where he works and also an old one from another old company, so TBH I think for us at this time, this is a good option.:)

jwil

Sounds like a good plan

System

Well not much happened this last week. Quiet weekend, went food shopping in Lidl and had set a budget of £20 and managed to spend £23, so not too bad. Would have been less if OH hadn't been with me and put biscuits in the trolley and pointed out the cheap bird nut feeders in the middle aisle!:eek: Just hope the birds appreciate it.

Feel like the DMP is on a go slow at the moment:( as we are only paying token payments and not paying anything to some as awaiting CCA's and some already been told UE. So although we know we are saving for some F&F's, I feel bad as the total is not going down very quickly. Although I do hope to have Newday paid off soon as now only owe them £194.

Had youngest GS to day (he is almost 2). Went to the park and when it started raining I said we needed to go home...to which he replied..."I not"! :rotfl: And proceeded to have a mini tantrum as he didn't want to go....Happy days!...LOL

jwil

I know how you feel about it all going down slowly. I'm only paying £1 a month too. It's a long game!

My DD is 2, it's a hilarious age!

System

jwil wrote: »

I know how you feel about it all going down slowly. I'm only paying £1 a month too. It's a long game!

My DD is 2, it's a hilarious age!

Yes it is a long game...at the rate we are paying it, it will take years.:eek:...best get some F&F' soon.

Yes they are funny at this age. Don't really want him to grow up. The other 2 grew up too fast and are almost 9 now. It goes so quickly.

System

Just an update guys, so you know I am still alive...lol
Sorry for not being online much lately


Things are going ok. Pension pots were received and we managed to replace our old car. The new one is nice, but I can't yet get the seating right and it is making my back and hip worse. Will see what happens, hoping I will suddenly find the right spot. Otherwise we may have to look at a different car. The main thing I wanted was comfort for my bad back and I am actually feeling worse at the moment.

Had another trip to dentist, as got an abcess under a broken tooth. So got to have that one out and then there is still the back broken one to come out which is worrying me a lot:(

Other than that, DMP is still ticking along slowly. I paid off the Newday one and we are slowly building an F&F pot to try a few more. Still no word on the UE ones, so just letting them run there course.

Got a couple of treats booked in the next few months, which is nice as we don't often treat ourselves.
Hope every body else is ok. And as always, thanks for reading