It's not a lot, but it's enough

SpekySquarehead

Morning everyone,

And a Happy Friday to you all.

My day yesterday was as busy as I had planned. I went to the gym, dropped some items at the launderette, put my watch in to get fixed, made an appointment to get my haircut, phoned my gran for a while, stayed super late in work, visited the SM and filled up in petrol. Bed for 10pm.

Up early this morning and went back into the gym for a little bit. I might go a run later although I promised my boss that him and I would go for a beer after work today. It's been one of those weeks and I know he could be doing with chilling out for a bit, too. But going a run after a beer? Anyway, it'll only be 1 so it's not like I'll be stumbling all over the place haha.

My friend messaged me to say that he seen a post on social media which my step brother put up - the one which lives in South Korea - saying that he plans to come back in December and was asking if anyone had any jobs in his industry. Absolutely delighted but perplexed that most of the family had no idea he was even considering it. Anyway, fingers crossed he finds something.

Right. Best get on with my day. I'll log back on before my holiday, so enjoy your weekend everyone

Given my spends yesterday, I'm on NSD 1/15

SnuggleBuggles

Missing your daily updates, Speky. Hope everything is ok and that you're having fun, wherever you are.

SpekySquarehead

SnuggleBuggles wrote: »

Missing your daily updates, Speky. Hope everything is ok and that you're having fun, wherever you are.

Hey!! That's very kind of you. I have returned from sunny Spain. A bit too sunny as I've actually burnt my back but aside from that, well rested and has a fab time with the family. I arrived late last night and quickly visited the SM to get groceries for the remainder of the week and decided to continue in the holiday spirit and loaded up on carbs. Can't wait!

I did manage to collect a few more NSD's before my holiday so I'm on 4 for the month.

Although I spent most of the time relaxing by a pool with a beer and book close by, I did keep an eye on work emails and I see I have plenty to be getting on with today, so a short but sweet post this morning from me.

SnuggleBuggles

Hooray! Welcome back. Pleased you had a relaxing break :beer:

Now back to the daily grind. Holiday? What holiday?

SpekySquarehead

SnuggleBuggles wrote: »

Hooray! Welcome back. Pleased you had a relaxing break :beer:

Now back to the daily grind. Holiday? What holiday?

Exactly!! It soon goes out your head once you're back knee deep in emails and to-do lists. Already looking forward to the next trip away in September :rotfl:

Good morning everyone and a happy Friday to you all,

Rather muggy this morning. Despite the overnight rain and morning drizzle, it's still warm. No gym this morning as I was absolutely shattered when the alarm went off at 5am. Will still equally as tired at 7am when it went off again. I've brought my gym stuff with me and I'll aim to visit after work. My boss has invited me to his house for food a few beers with his friends. Still undecided about going. Not that I've any other plans, so I really should.

Yesterday morning I wasn't able to report on here as I was the physio through the NHS. I waited close to 3 months for the appointment and I'll need to wait 6 weeks for my next. I went regarding my knee, which normally gives me pain only when I sprint but it's now when I'm walking up stairs. The young (and I mean young) girl I seen didn't fill me with confidence and diagnosed me with inflammation in my quad which is completely different to what private physios have told me in the past. I've been told no running for 6-8 weeks which is a real bummer as I was really getting into it. But she's the one with the qualifications, not me, so who I am to question her.

Couple more NSD's recently takes me up to 6 with today being 7, providing I don't go out tonight for food/drinks.

Have a lovely weekend everyone

SpekySquarehead

Happy Monday everyone,

I certainly feel well rested, but another couple of hours in bed wouldn't have went a miss.

My weekend was really nice and relaxing. On Friday, I went for dinner at my bosses house with a few of his friends. Nice scran followed by watching the football. On Saturday I got back into my usual routine of yoga in the morning followed by a visit to the SM and then some house chores. It had been a while since I baked something not healthy and since I was off my diet, I made a white chocolate sponge. Delish! Sunday was even more lazy as I didn't make it out the house with various things.

Now on 8 NSD's with today being 9.

So, back to it today. I visit Berlin on Friday for 2 days with work. Here's a question my fellow MSE friends can help with...

I was thinking of taking out a credit card which I would use exclusively for expenses and I would pay it off when my company pay me back, 4 weeks later. But don't you need to pay off your credit card (in Martin's voice...) "IN FULL" at the end of every month?

teapot2

SpekySquarehead wrote: »

So, back to it today. I visit Berlin on Friday for 2 days with work. Here's a question my fellow MSE friends can help with...

I was thinking of taking out a credit card which I would use exclusively for expenses and I would pay it off when my company pay me back, 4 weeks later. But don't you need to pay off your credit card (in Martin's voice...) "IN FULL" at the end of every month?

Will be too short notice for Friday but you could apply for a 0% on purchases CC and then pay it off IN FULL each time your expenses are paid. There are usually some good long 0% deals out there??

SpekySquarehead

teapot2 wrote: »

Will be too short notice for Friday but you could apply for a 0% on purchases CC and then pay it off IN FULL each time your expenses are paid. There are usually some good long 0% deals out there??

Yeah I recon it is too late for this trip but I seem to be away on a monthly basis now.

But what if I'm not paid until a month later? So for example;

20th May - Pay for travel, food accommodation etc on credit card
31st May - Card is due to be paid off IN FULL
15th June - Expenses paid back by my work

Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Or am I misunderstanding?

ChasingSunshine

Sorry I usually just lurk on your diary but have gone through something similar at work recently.

With a 0% purchase card then you only need to pay off the minimum on the due date for the statement to keep the remaining balance at 0% rather than having to clear the card immediately. Minimum depends on the card but think its about 2.5 - 5% or similar. Should be in the info for each card.

Do you still use YNAB? Might it be worth creating a pot called "expenses buffer" or something similar. Fund it with 5% of your usual spend for work - would require you moving money from somewhere else for now but then going forward you could pay minimum from this then once work reimburses you replenish this buffer and pay rest off the card. Also remember that the statement for the card is up to a month behind and there is a few weeks between when the statement is generated and when that amount is due so you do have a while before you have to pay it. Needs careful attention to due dates but you are pretty on top of your money situation so should be ok

For example with a 0% credit card could look something like this
20th May - work trip £500
22nd May - statement generated - minimum payment £25 (5%), pay in full £500, due 5th June
31st May - work trip £200 (total balance on card £700, amount due on 5th of June remains as above)
1st June - pay £25 from expenses pot
15th June - expenses reimbursed £700 - pay off credit card IN FULL, £25 to fill back up expenses pot
22nd June - statement generated - balance £0

Over time you could build up the expenses pot so it completely covers a standard work trip so you could pay card off in full as soon as statement is generated and then replenish pot once you are reimbursed. A 0% purchase card does give you some wiggle room in case there is a delay in getting your money from work, you don't get hit with interest for not clearing the whole balance.

I think having a separate credit card for work is a good idea as allows you to keep it all separate from your day to day spending. You also seem to have lots of your work trips abroad so maybe see if you can get one of the good overseas spending cards. I know you get the money back but nice not to get caught on currency fees - my work have a habit of giving the interbank rate on the day so means I would lose out / have a lot of chasing to do if had to pay exchange fees

Sorry this is probably a really rambling explanation and hopefully someone else will come along with an easier to read explanation.

SpekySquarehead

ChasingSunshine wrote: »

Sorry I usually just lurk on your diary but have gone through something similar at work recently.

With a 0% purchase card then you only need to pay off the minimum on the due date for the statement to keep the remaining balance at 0% rather than having to clear the card immediately. Minimum depends on the card but think its about 2.5 - 5% or similar. Should be in the info for each card.

Do you still use YNAB? Might it be worth creating a pot called "expenses buffer" or something similar. Fund it with 5% of your usual spend for work - would require you moving money from somewhere else for now but then going forward you could pay minimum from this then once work reimburses you replenish this buffer and pay rest off the card. Also remember that the statement for the card is up to a month behind and there is a few weeks between when the statement is generated and when that amount is due so you do have a while before you have to pay it. Needs careful attention to due dates but you are pretty on top of your money situation so should be ok

For example with a 0% credit card could look something like this
20th May - work trip £500
22nd May - statement generated - minimum payment £25 (5%), pay in full £500, due 5th June
31st May - work trip £200 (total balance on card £700, amount due on 5th of June remains as above)
1st June - pay £25 from expenses pot
15th June - expenses reimbursed £700 - pay off credit card IN FULL, £25 to fill back up expenses pot
22nd June - statement generated - balance £0

Over time you could build up the expenses pot so it completely covers a standard work trip so you could pay card off in full as soon as statement is generated and then replenish pot once you are reimbursed. A 0% purchase card does give you some wiggle room in case there is a delay in getting your money from work, you don't get hit with interest for not clearing the whole balance.

I think having a separate credit card for work is a good idea as allows you to keep it all separate from your day to day spending. You also seem to have lots of your work trips abroad so maybe see if you can get one of the good overseas spending cards. I know you get the money back but nice not to get caught on currency fees - my work have a habit of giving the interbank rate on the day so means I would lose out / have a lot of chasing to do if had to pay exchange fees

Sorry this is probably a really rambling explanation and hopefully someone else will come along with an easier to read explanation.

Where do I start...THANK YOU!! Thanks for following firstly and thank you again for the incredibly detailed info. Makes perfect sense and I think I'll follow this and put it in place ASAP. My boss has an American Express card which I believe has some pretty good benefits on the back of spending on it. Mind you, his expenses are much higher than mine (told me last months was over £5k!!!).

I'll do some digging on here as to which card is most appropriate. Thank you again. Amazing!