Get a grip woman!

beanielou

Watty1 said:

What a lovely practical support and how nice she feels comfortable to do that with you.

Just this. So lovely. 

trix-a-belle

2 pairs gone here & I will be attacking some more cupboards

That's lovely to hear SL, I understand your concerns though.
I have a worked example outgoings spreadsheet to plan out incoming/regular bills/annual bills/planned purchases if it may also be of benefit? I've adjusted & tacked on to my master copy somewhat over the years but still use mine, it got an ex colleague out of a continual debt cycle & able to plan & put together savings for an engagement ring & house deposit

Suffolk_lass

Thanks @trix-a-belle but I have one and she already uses an app which makes her feel poor. It is knowing the EF is there that plays on her neurodiversity, tempting her as she knows it is there, and sending her into debt when something it was there for comes up.

Suffolk_lass

No spending here. We have started the big tidy of the beekeeping equipment. Five plastic feeders are washed and dry. Six wooden feeders are too but the inserts need to be boiled. I have offered to make up some kit that I can do indoors. It is supposed to feel like 3c today which is not good for me. I will have a go for half an hour outdoors a bit later but mostly indoor jobs for me today! 

We treated ourselves to a Chinese takeaway last night. There is enough for two meals so we will have the rest today. The last of the chicken soup at lunchtime and a bit of HM rice pudding for dessert. That way there is no need to keep the whole kitchen clear and I can plant a few seeds and get on with making up kit.

I don't think I have mentioned on here that I received our house insurance renewal through and the premium increase was a factor of 60%. I had allowed for it to increase by a third, in line with other home insurance reports, but not an increase BY £1200, yes, £1200, not to £1200, BY £1200. It seems clear that insurers are intent on pricing our type of construction home out of the market they offer insurance for. Ours is a modest three bedroom house, with no claims for 18 years.

slm6002

Wow that is a big increase.  I am getting slightly nervous about both car and home insurance renewals, as you are not the first person to have large increases in the costs

KajiKita

“I don't think I have mentioned on here that I received our house insurance renewal through and the premium increase was a factor of 60%. I had allowed for it to increase by a third, in line with other home insurance reports, but not an increase BY £1200, yes, £1200, not to £1200, BY £1200. It seems clear that insurers are intent on pricing our type of construction home out of the market they offer insurance for. Ours is a modest three bedroom house, with no claims for 18 years.”

That’s insane! Why do you think it’s do with the construction type? Might it be worth calling them to see if there is any negotiation on it? 

KK

enthusiasticsaver

Both our car and home insurance renewals have seen massive increases on quotations for renewal at the end of last year and this year so far.  They claim increase in prices for materials etc to be behind this but the renewal quotes for my car and the house were double for the car and around 60-70% for our house insurance and ours is standard construction. However I have managed to get insurance at more or less the same as last year by using comparison sites.   I thought we were past all this moving insurers each year to get realistic prices. 

joedenise

We had to do the same with our house insurance and managed to halve the renewal quote which had doubled in price so the comparison site came up with a price around that of last year.  Could have got it cheaper still but didn't know the company name or the underwriter.  The underwriter of the current insurance is Zurich which I think it a big enough name!

redofromstart

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think this involves a thatched roof? I'm outraged at the increase but also at the dilemma it forces these types of traditional properties into. There's a lovely place a few villages down from us with a thatched fox and hare on its roof, not conservation or listed and I feel so very sorry for the owners who are caught between the cost and nostalgia.  

Suffolk_lass

Insurance
Yes @redofromstart, unlisted thatched place, we have gone to the whole of market broker to see if they can offer anything more competitive. Nothing yet. The renewal is 24th of March.

The current broker has sent the quote based on last year's facts but then sent me a blank form to try another insurer (surely I am paying their fees for them to make these initial enquiries. If I wanted to complete all the forms for every possibility I would ask direct, and bypass the broker). There are also options via the current insurer to increase the excesses for water and general (both compulsory and voluntary) and these could bring the premium down by a few hundred - this begs the question of why I was not offered this option last year when we were trying to keep our premiums below (what would be) £150 a month if we paid in instalments. Obviously a discount for paying in a single payment is not on offer to us.

Bees
In other news, the great bee equipment assembly line began yesterday. A good job we had the other half of the Chinese takeaway we had treated ourselves to on Saturday, ready to reheat. Another meal (like homemade curry) that seems even more enjoyable the second time around! Assembling equipment takes up much more room than you think!

Anyway, a quick audit of kit and we have two hives out on loan, that will likely be returned with undrawn foundation rather than drawn comb, so we needed to make up more brood frames for our immediate use when things start booming, at some point in March or early April. So we each did an hour (long enough for our backs!) assembling brood frames and at the end, the part filled full sized box is complete, one of two wooden nucs (nucleus or small, half size hives) is full and a second brood box needs just two more. There is one more empty brood box ready to fill and three more boxes, needing to be nailed together. We will need some to have two empty, made up with floors and roofs etc so that the double nucs (one on top of the other) can be moved into full sized boxes as soon as it is warm enough. Although those nucs will need frames, the parts will need cleaning first. We might need a hanging arrangement so we can make up the frames but store them outside the hives until we are ready.

Money
I was hoping to make it another week without shopping but I need butter, bowl fruit, potatoes  and maybe bran flakes, and I did not collect my prescription so I think a SM may feature this week. Ooh, I have some butter frozen, so might just do the local co-op for fruit and veg. How can this month be so long? a five week month as I don't get my pension until Monday next week!