Searching for Security: Our MFW Diary

Bluefire

Couple of bits of news - firstly we FINALLY managed to get our online account set up with Co-op Energy, and it turns out we're £450+ in credit! I know in the spring/summer months you're supposed to be in credit anyway, but we're definitely leaving as soon as our fix is up in September so DH is going to ring up tomorrow & request a refund. That will be a big boost to the savings! (...or just end up paying for our new fencing more likely)

On the BTL front, we've been going back & forth with the council since the start of the year over some unpaid council tax. Our tenants split up last year, he moved out on November 4th, she gave notice at the end of November & handed back the keys December 28th. So of course, what did they tell the council? That they moved out on November 4th, landing us with a £140 bill. We've argued against it, and finally they've checked their records correctly & found that she registered against another property on December 11th, so we've settled that as the day the property became empty and the bill has been reduced to just under £50. It's still annoying as I don't see why we should have to pay council tax on a property that technically wasn't ours again until the end of December, but I can see we're going to get nowhere with that argument so at least there's less to pay now.

Luckyinlife

wish i had an online account for my mortgage hehe id look daily at it haha

That sucks but that is a great problem to have really compared to some problems iv seen tenants leave places in
How have you found your BTL experience so far blue?

Bluefire

We have an online account for ours but with it being HSBC it's a right pain to log into! So I just rely on the ol' spreadsheet to give me a rough idea of the balance, it's not too far out most of the time.

Grateful that we've not had any major problems re. tenants but in my recollection there's not been an instance yet where it's all gone completely smoothly. I can't complain too much really, it would just be nice to have someone move in & stay a few years without any issues!

Bluefire

A day of not so great news today. Firstly my application for a Halifax account was unsuccessful - I can only assume that I've opened too many accounts lately, which is fair enough. One for the future maybe.

Secondly the rail strike has resulted in my train home from Cardiff on Tuesday being cancelled. Which means the money I've spent on Doctor Who tickets & a hotel will be wasted. Pretty gutted, not so much about the money & missing the show, but I was really looking forward to spending time with a friend I rarely get to see. Bah

Bluefire

Well as you probably already know the rail strike was called off, so I'm heading to Cardiff tomorrow! Most of the trip was already paid for from Christmas money, so there's just the food to sort & most of that will be paid via Tesco Clubcard vouchers & Zeek gift cards. I am going to treat myself to a milkshake in the diner where one of the Doctor Who episodes was filmed though.

No more overpayments planned for the rest of the month, next month I should be able to do quite well though. It's looking like we might have a decent amount left over in the joint account to stash away in savings too. Roll on the end of the month!

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Have a great day out!

Bluefire

The Good

• All savings & overpayment targets met for the month of May.
• DH finally managed to get through to Co-Op Energy today & we have a £350 credit refund heading our way.
• The final bill arrived from TalkTalk & that was in credit too, so we've requested a refund.
• DH has decided to close one of his savings accounts, so that'll be around £300 added to the offset savings, and £25 extra spare in the budget each month.

The Bad

• We're almost at the end of the month, and the grand total left in our account is... 83p.

The Ugly

• This is mainly because DH has been cracking on with replacing our fencing, and also cracking on with buying shiny new tools to do the job. The £300 I was looking forward to having left over at the end of the month has vanished because of this. Still, at least the neighbours are one step closer to no longer having to stare into our garden!

In other news, Cardiff was a lot of fun although I was a little underwhelmed with some of the Doctor Who elements. I think I was expected a more ramped up version of the BBC proms I have previously attended whereas I thought the show was actually weaker. Still, I had a fantastic time catching up with a friend I rarely get to see, and Cardiff Bay remains a wonderful place to while away the hours.

newgirly

Hi bluefire, I've just read your diary you are really going hard at it with the op's well done :T

Love the wedding and cake photos,you don't deliver to Essex do you? , I'd love one for DDS 18th

Bluefire

Thank you Newgirly! It was the spreadsheet that did it; as soon as I saw we could feasibly pay the mortgage off by next year that was all it took to decide to go full throttle at it. Love the idea of being able to concentrate on other things - DH has already decided I'm 'obsessed'!

Essex is a good 3 hour drive from me so unfortunately not! Sprinkle cakes are pretty easy to do though, I followed the instructions here: http://thecakeblog.com/2012/09/diy-rainbow-sprinkle-cake.html

newgirly

Wow there are some stunning cakes on that blog, just need someone talented to make one for me