Where has the last 3 years gone?

Pengwern

Thanks Drawingaline I do feel better having made a start on the present savings.

Today's updates

£9.67 has gone into the account from top cash back
£49 credit has been made to the joint account too. That came from our cleaners.

I work from home and of the 8 lights in the room 6 of them had blown bulbs, I finally caved and brought some new ones. I went for the LED type in the hope that they are better financially in the long run. Everything has to be covered from the cash in my purse until the end of the month and pay day. I have to get through this weekend and a trip to watch some sport. The tickets are free but I need to try to dodge the food and drinks bill. I normally go on my own which is very easy but friends are comming this weekend.

Bobarella

Lots of people seem to be getting great cash back pay outs at the moment. Makes me want to buy something just to qualify

Pengwern

Hi Bobarella, The cash back looks nice, but just think of how much people are spending to qualify! I have another £20 being tracked at the moment and I am hoping that is it. Not that I do not like money comming in, but its the amount of stuff I have brought to get it. Having said that our washing machine appears to have gone on strike, I did 3 loads and the last one it stopped in the middle of the cycle, having read the instructions I managed to drain and extract the clothes, but all my whites had brown marks over them. Why could it have not happened to the load before which was our sports clothes. So I think I will be looking for a new machine. To be honest I have not liked it since we got it. I should not be ungrateful as it was a house warming present from my in laws. However I always buy a certain few makes, so when they offered I told them what I would like in a washing machine. They then said they were too expensive, which I totally understood so said I would make up the difference of whatever they wanted to contribute. But no, they wanted to buy it in full themselves and get it delivered. So we got the features such as spin speed etc but not a make I would buy. 3 weeks later it broke, was fixed after much complaining and now only 3 years later it is knackered again. All the other machines I have had before have lasted 6+ years. Maybe I have cursed it, but I am slightly pleased if it was not for the fact that I have to fork out for a new one, that I can now pick the one I would have wanted in the first place.

However I am going to have to wait until next month before ordering it if I am to stick to my not spending if I don't have it mantra. I wil buy on the CC to gain the section 75 protection but will send the money straight to the cc from my account so I do not spend the cash twice. Unfortunately we have a mountain of washing that needs doing so its not ideal timing. I do not want to take it to my in laws either as I will then have to explain about their present being broken.

On a positive note my £2.15 work expenses came in today. Yes such a small amount but I claimed it anyway.

The new lights in my office are doing wonders, just lets hope the roof stays put in these winds. Don't mention roofs to me, so far in 3 houses I have lived in I have had to have major roof repairs. I do not need another.

Pengwern

Well I've just received the final bill from BG following my switch, £144! I have been ignoring them hoping I could make it till next month before paying. But today I had a final email saying this was it pay up. So it went on the cc and as soon as our payments hit the joint account I will pay the money to the cc. So frustrating as I really wanted a cc free month.

Washing machine seems to be working again following a few 60oc washes. I'm pleased it means no expense just yet but frustrated the bloody thing has lives like a cat.

So 1 more day then I get paid. So excreted but also frustrated as I will be away with work. My budgeting and moving cash will have till wait until I'm back.

I made it through the weekends sporting events with no spends either. Friends decided to have a pub lunch before the arrived. I was ecstatic as it meant I could eat at home and not purchase a thing.

Pengwern

4p left in my account. I get paid tomorrow. But £30 switching energy supply cash back just landed in the joint account. I'm going to borrow that today as 4p scares me to death. What if I've forgotten a spend. I'm racking my brains but no there are none left and no reciepts in my purse to indicate spends either. I just don't trust myself anymore.

So I think I have made it to the end of the month. Let's hope next month is better and I don't have to bail myself out from savings again. I am sure it will be ok as I have not done my normal spending on a cc. Therefore if I carry on my daily cc will have a zero balance and my current account will be telling me the truth. Well once I've factored in bills.

Just heard that tenants have signed. So really pleased about that. It's £500 rent this month rather than £900 but that is better than zero. We just need to pay the council tax for the 12 days in between tenants and electric. Also the £120 reletting fee. Let's hope they have also left the oil tank empty. I don't fancy paying them for it. The negative side to oil heating. I realise now we should have left the tank full. Then the tenants would have always had to fill it up before they left. Things you learn.

zippygeorgeandben

JoJoC wrote: »

If you were buying a candle every week it'd be a concern but if you can set yourself a goal like: "If by September I still really want this candle I'll treat myself to one before the dark nights come in" providing you've managed to achieve savings and spending goals.

Would that work for you as an incentive?

Don't talk to me about candles, it's one of the reasons I'm in a mess!

Pengwern

What have I done since being paid

1. Opened a bills account with NatWest to gain some more rewards on paying our bills. £200 successfully deposited and all appropriate DD moved across.
2. Paid for my flower show ticket in the summer £31.50
3. Paid back my savings account the £68 I needed to cover last months expenses.
4. Paid and extra £200 into the joint account to cover the expenses of changing tenants.
5. Paid the day to day CC off in full £128. All that is on there now is the £144 from paying BG the final energy payment. This is not due to next month. No spends will be put on the cc
6. Paid £50 to CC1 which brings it down to £400. I am hoping to send more this month, but it depends on how I get on. But it means the minimum has been well and truly covered.
7. Paid £20 to the presents account. I need to send £40/month but I will wait and see how I get on before sending the remaining £20.
8. Moved any interest from savings to the joint savings account. I need another £300 to hit the max £2,500 limit for the 5%. So the £4 interest I earned has just made its way over. Not a lot but it does all add up.

I think that is it. Now the long wait before I can see what I can move around and pay more money too.

I did buy a magazine for my train journey which is naughty but was great to pass the time on a very crowded train. I could not get at my laptop to do any work so the mag was a nice distraction. I do not do well with crowded trains so need something to help otherwise I go into panic mode which is not pleasant for me.

Off to update my signature

Pengwern

Not a bad day today after a bad start.

Complained to the company about my scented candle (my xmas present from a friend) and they sent me a new one in the post. It arrived today.

Phoned up about 1 of our mortgages that is on a tracker as I saw on the internet that the rates had dropped slightly. I was able to switch to the new rate a saving of 0.05% (but all worth it) and they will give me £250 as a thank you for staying with them. Crazy. But I will take it. So the money is to go where....... savings or debt. But probably the rental house as we need a new kitchen tap, work to our stairs and the windows we rotten when we brought the place 8yrs ago so I am awaiting quotes for repair and replacement.

Pengwern

Good news
Changed our 1.89% mortgage to 1.84% and should get £250 cashback
Reserved other mortgage for may at 1.84% down from 2.69% and should get £250 cashback
Had a good week on grocery spends
Not spent a penny on anything else
New bills account all set up and dd appear to be comming out ok
New tenants move in Monday
Added extra £50 overpayment to the mortgage to discover we had been overpaying by £50 and I had not realised so that's now £100 extra a month.

Bad news
New tap
Toilet fixed
New stopcock
Stairs needed repairing
Discovered a water leak in between meter and our stopcock!
Old tenants already disputing the fact that they owe us money for heating oil as they left the tank empty.

Awaiting bill for above items and the water company to come out and see if it's their responsibility. I have a feeling it will be ours! So need to get quotes to fix it and hope the new tenants understand more than the last pair. It should only be the front garden and not in the house. I also need to call the insurance people to see if it's covered and worth claiming

Stb_2

Hi,

Interesting conundrum on the credit cards savings front, might be worth your reading the main MSE page about debt or savings, it relates predominantly to interest bearing credit cards but might help you clarify thinking, I would think about these actions maybe:

1.) make normal payments on CC 1 until pay off date, then clear using small amount of savings
2.) redirect CC1 payments to CC 2 having paid back savings first
3.) pay off CC 3 early if you can and be prepared to use savings balance to clear CC3 now if step 4 below is a shocker
4.) join MSE credit club and get free credit rating and affordability checker if it's good news up payments on CC 3 and remortgage (credit score doesn't guarantee you'll get one but helps you make informed decision) if your credit score today is s shocker look at what systems says you need to do, you have 3 months to improve it. You may have to clear all 3 with savings.
5.) if credit cards paid off keep the one with longest 0% on purchases and destroy others, save like hell to build emergency fund if you need more you can use the credit card at which point you're no worse off but you haven't paid interest on the outstanding balance after the 0% deal ends. And you have a fixed rate mortgage.

Some of this I hope might help, check out Martins stuff on MSE for more detail.

Cheers and let us know how you get on whatever you decide to do?!