Sunken's attempt to float...

Sunkencosts

So I've moved to First Direct Bank but I'm not really sure it's working for me.
Firstly they are not quick to update spends, my old bank TSB would record everything in Pending as soon as it was spent but FD don't track until it's cleared, which makes more work for me.

Secondly I have been charged because I went into an informal overdraft but when I checked the account in the morning it didn't show, so it must have cleared part way through the day - and I got sent a text at 7pm telling me to have funds in by 11.30 pm. I don't get texts at home because of poor signal so didn't get this til the next day. The really annoying thing is I had money in other accounts which I could have moved across.

Nope, don't like this bank. Think I'll spend a bit of today choosing a new one (or seeing if TSB will have me back!!)

Bigskies

Halifax have a great app and everything comes off your available balance the second you use the card.

Sunkencosts

So actually this month is turning out more spendy than I planned. My sister wanted me to buy some bedroom furniture off her, and last month I said no on the basis that we couldn't afford it but this month she dropped the price considerably and threw in some other stuff too - and it was things that we knew we were going to have to buy eventually (new beds for the kids) so we went with it.
£80 for an expensive (originally) set of bunk beds, and a large play table.
Then we swapped the kids rooms round and I have ordered a new hi sleeper bed for my son (110). Was also looking at ordering a desk and chair (again, things he will need eventually), but was lucky enough to be driving past a charity shop when someone was dropping them off and got desk and office chair for a total of £6.50. Bought him that and a new lamp for £4 and he is nearly set.
Both rooms really do need to be decorated though...... Also the carpets have been eaten to shreds by silverfish I think (bleurghhh) but am not forking out for new carpets at the moment - mainly because we'd have to take all the furniture out of the rooms and we've only just put it all in there!

Anyway, this can mainly come from the repayment of the electricity bill so we won't be much out of pocket.

Another thing we've spent on is a card for the zoo. My husbands work offers a years membership for one adult for £25. So he's bought one, arranged for me to use his colleague's one when we go, and kids will be half price - so a total family zoo visit for £11. Thought this could be a useful thing to have as we're not going away this year and will need some cheap days out.

First visit this Sunday!

Now need to log on and try and balance the books for this month.
Have a horrible cold at the moment and have had to cancel some work which won't help things.

Sunkencosts

60 day trial ended and I have now bitten the bullet and paid 86 dollars (!) for YNAB years subscription. Kicking myself for not buying it outright when they used to sell it like that.

It seems a huge amount, but I have to say it has really been helping with my peace of mind. It's a pain having to enter everything manually (not connected to accounts) but it really helps us to stay accountable for our spending and I find having peace of mind is nice.

Our "stuff not budgeted for" category gets out of control a lot of the time - this month OH needed a new passport for example, but we still seem to be a bit afloat.

Next month might not be great as OH's increased pension contributions kick in. When the budget is as tight as ours a couple of hundred quid less really notices! Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
For now just plodding along. Easter holidays are at last over so routine starts again.

Exciting news though, OH has got us a night away with tasting menu and breakfast somewhere really posh I love - for free! Knows the manager. So that is definitely something to look forward to

Sunkencosts

60 day trial ended and I have now bitten the bullet and paid 86 dollarshttp://static.moneysavingexpert.com/images/forum_smilies/speechless-smiley-040.gif (!) for YNAB years subscription. Kicking myself for not buying it outright when they used to sell it like that.

It seems a huge amount, but I have to say it has really been helping with my peace of mind. It's a pain having to enter everything manually (not connected to accounts) but it really helps us to stay accountable for our spending and I find having peace of mind is nice.

Our "stuff not budgeted for" category gets out of control a lot of the time - this month OH needed a new passport for example, but we still seem to be a bit afloat.

Next month might not be great as OH's increased pension contributions kick in. When the budget is as tight as ours a couple of hundred quid less really notices! Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. http://static.moneysavingexpert.com/images/forum_smilies/frown.gif
For now just plodding along. Easter holidays are at last over so routine starts again.

Exciting news though, OH has got us a night away with tasting menu and breakfast somewhere really posh I love - for free! Knows the manager. So that is definitely something to look forward to http://static.moneysavingexpert.com/images/forum_smilies/action-smiley-033.gif

Sunkencosts

Double post! Marvellous!