A Journey of Many Pounds Starts With a Single Penny

Busy_Mee1

:shhh::shhh::shhh::shhh::shhh:I am trying to ignore all the discussions on S&S ISAs and other investments - I can't cope with another obsession. La la la I'm not listening

edinburgher

I also like compulsively checking work pension and have no regrets - checking it allowed me to pick up multiple mistakes - including one that resulted in refunds for a dozens of people at my office!

LadyGnome

edinburgher wrote: »

I also like compulsively checking work pension and have no regrets - checking it allowed me to pick up multiple mistakes - including one that resulted in refunds for a dozens of people at my office!

I bet you were popular with your colleagues after that. (Obviously you were before too:D)

Glad to find I am not the only obsessive checker out there. Mind you, it did get me nearly £200 of bank charges back.

edinburgher

For some reason HR didn't share my discovery other than on the QT...

elleandie

brizzledfw wrote: »

I drip feed into a S&S ISA...and keep tracking it on an app on my phone. I use HL. Basically I am up, even if there is turmoil as I generally buy in order to hold. I am also much more involved in trying to get my pension in a good place...again having it on my phone makes me much more likely to drip feed in the funds and I certainly enjoy it when the tax refund comes through a few months later so I can allocate that too!

I've only just realised about the tax refund for HR tax payers - I have to apply for mine (luckily have only paid in for last two years as still quite young).

May I ask do you diarise to claim refund and then spend usual hours on phone to HMRC or is there an easier way to annually claim?

Elle

LadyGnome

Fairly quiet weekend. I did have another look at the numbers and I think there will be a bit of scope to squeeze something out to start investing soon.


I did get a bit of good news, I am due to get the deposit back from the elder Gnomeboy's school as he is moving to Senior School. I paid the deposit about 9 years ago and was pleased to find out that it was more than I remembered so it will cover new school uniform and allow for some decent OP / Savings in July.


We are really struggling to communicate with the Gas & Electric company. There seems to be lots of hanging on the phone being passed around without getting clear answers then promised callbacks don't happen. I am not impressed.


We researched broadband deals over the weekend. We are going to see what our current provider VM will offer if we tell them we are planning to move.


I need to finalise the details of our wills today so we can get them finished. Its not the happiest of conversations - so if we both die at once who looks after the kids, if all of us die who gets the estate. Not very cheerful but necessary.


Stick to Diet
Monday - Done (but did a slightly larger dinner than planned)
Tuesday -Done
Wednesday - Done
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday


On a brighter note, the X box squeeze is nearly over!!!
4 days to the end of the Xbox squeeze

LadyGnome

I don't think we will be staying with VM as their deal is not as good as some of the other broadband providers.

Finalising the last details for our wills today.

Other than that just plodding on today.

3 days to the end of the Xbox squeeze

Busy_Mee1

VM will not offer you their best deal until they think you are going to cancel. I normally ring up and cancel and then they start chasing you with their best offers because they want to keep you. Just cancel and hold your nerve - works with Sk@y too.
Getting closer to the end of Xbox squeeze.

LadyGnome

Busy Mee
Thanks for the tip about VM. I think we will choose our preferred replacement options then ring VM. That way we will know the offer we need them to get to to make staying worth our while.


I get paid at the end of the week so the squeeze will be over. Until I start saving for the eldest's laptop for school. But that won't be such a tight squeeze.

AlexLK

We're with Sky for our landline and broadband. £25 per month, including line rental, unlimited broadband and unlimited telephone calls to landline and mobile numbers. Before this we were with BT for a lot of years. BT were usually very open to negotiation, our last contract we paid the line rental upfront (cheaper for the year) and £6 per month for unlimited broadband and evening / weekend calls to landlines. Unfortunately, they told me they were not going to let me have the same deal and despite calling a few other times to speak to different people, the deal wasn't as good.

I did find the internet crashed less on BT and the router signal strength was better. However, it is useful to have anytime calls to landlines and mobiles which is something BT doesn't offer.

Go on uswitch. We got the Sky deal from there with a £75 M&S voucher to buy some food and wine with.