Aligning the Stars

Starmummy

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

You have set yourself some great challenges. I especially like the visiting every country in Europe. I have never counted them before so interesting there are as many as 47. On checking the list we have only done 22 and much older than you so we have a way to go. Ireland, Austria and Czech Republic are next on our list but due to the Brexit shenanigans I am reluctant to book overseas trips yet until we know what is agreed re borders, visas etc. We have opted for New Forest, London, Stratford on Avon and Lake District this year so far.


The debt appears to be coming down so well done on that and I totally agreed with you about Aldi, Lidls. I cannot believe how much more I pay if I shop in Waitrose than Lidls. We decided to treat ourselves in December and shopped mainly in Waitrose and having just paid off the credit card cannot believe we paid 3 times as much as a normal month even allowing for a few Christmas treats and more alcohol than usual.


You will love Stockholm. I really love Scandinavia and would go more often if it were not for the fact we live in Cornwall and the journey to an airport to get us to these places is worse than the flights themselves. I wonder what Mr Stars colleagues in the Netherlands make of the Brexit situation?

Thanks ES. I am so surprised at the progress and the fact that I haven't even considered giving up. This I am taking as a sign that we are getting the balance right. I could become a hermit and pay all the debt off this year, but as I say travel is so important to us and we are really enjoying exploring with SC now she is the age she is. It's really shaping her into a worldly, compassionate, understanding young lady.
The fact that Mr Star is completely financially secure definitely helps, any big ticket things that go wrong he just sorts out. My EF is more for peace of mind than necessity. I understand how very very lucky this makes me.
The other big weight off my shoulders was deciding to get rid of my car. No insurance or tax to pay, no budgeting for MOT's, no expensive repairs, no fuel. Also, although we live close to town, the lack of car means I have to really plan purchases as anything I buy I need to carry. This stops shopping binges in the high street and going overboard on the food shop.

I have also worked hard on my anxiety (counselling and mindfulness) one benefit in this is not being afraid to return purchases that just aren't right. This saves me money and wardrobe space, also time on laundry and deciding what to wear.

AdventureWanted wrote: »

Wow I'm loving the travel plans. Slovenia looks so pretty. Isn't somewhere I've ever thought about going to, but will definitely add it to my list now.x

Hi Adventure.

There are so many places in eastern Europe that I know nothing about. We seem to be choosing these countries to visit first, partly due to curiosity, but also because they are cheap so inline with debt paying goals. Croatia (Dubrovnik) and Hungary (Budapest) were both stunning. I'd love to go back and explore lots more of Croatia. I'm already thinking about where we can explore in 2020 :rotfl:

Starmummy

It's a big birthday for Mr Star next month. He is so difficult to buy for so I've been really racking my brain over what to do.
One thing he mentioned last time we were in London is how he has never been on the London Eye (Despite living in the capital for a number of years in his 20's).

A quick google showed me that tickets for the 3 of us would be £76 :eek: I then had a brain wave, I had £14 worth of Tesco Clubcard vouchers that I tripled. Meaning only £34 spent! :A
We are going when we go to London next month. I told Mr Star the plan as he hates surprises and he is suitably impressed and excited.
One more thing ticked off the list and super savvy. :money:

Lucifa73

You are on fire at the moment! Can I have some of what you are eating/drinking?

Starmummy

Lucifa73 wrote: »

You are on fire at the moment! Can I have some of what you are eating/drinking?

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
Thanks Luc!

It's taken me a year to get to grips with my own finances. Last night I thought I'd tackle Star Child's. I didn't really have savings as a kid and so I worked my butt off to buy my first car.
I am determined that SC will be in a stronger position.
I dug out paperwork to her Child Trust Fund, we have moved 3 times since it was open so it took some effort to track it down.
she only received the 1st £250 government voucher and due to my financial position I hadn't added anything more to it. It had been 'sold' by the original company to Foresters and now sits in a 'stakeholder options account' the fund/ compound interest has done amazing over the past 9 years. it now sits at £428!!!
Her savings account that I started this year is only a poultry £99. I phoned the lovely man at Halifax :T (yes phoned, old riddled with anxiety me would NEVER have phoned a bank) and he explained the savings accounts to me. I've now moved my DD to a better rate regular savings account for her with 4.5% AER and upped payments to £25. I hope to up to £100 (the maximum monthly allowance) at the end of the year once my EF is £5k.
I must set myself a reminder for a years time to re-shift the DD back to this account when they transfer it back to her kid saver. Why do they have to make it so complicated?

I do want to do some catching up with her savings. I would love to be able to 'gift' her the equivalent of what I will have received in Child benefit... a big ask as this works out as £19k :eek: (£82.80 x 13 payments a year x 18 years) ....only 18.5k to go But just imagine what an amazing start to adulthood that will be? Now I've got 9 years to teach her everything money to make sure she uses it wisely :cool:

Starmummy

I've been racking my brain and the internet to work out the best way to deal with Spending money on the various trips we have/go on.
Getting money exchanged each time and getting the (criminal) exchange rates is a pain in the *@! especially if you have surplus and need to change it back again.
The fee's and rules of pre-pay travel cards seem confusing and don't deal with all currencies.

So, I have applied for a Monzo account, not for the budgeting app like many do but because you can use it abroad with no transaction fees and a 'bank rate' exchange rate. It seems a little too good to be true but it gets a good write up for use as a travel card on here, in the Guardian and Telegraph.
I have/will move "Holiday savings" onto this account going forward, so all travel stuff will be paid for off this card. It might make it easier to track...and certainly cheaper easier to pre-book things like Museum tickets and public transport travel cards.

We have a huge jar of foreign change (like a chip shop pickled egg jar) I want to avoid this going forward, so avoiding cash seems the way to go. Plus if it only has holiday savings in there and my card is cloned they can't take anything.

I shall report back once I've had chance to use it. Fingers crossed it arrives before we fly next Saturday (it did say just 1-2 business days)

My instant savings account that was used for holiday savings (paultry 0.15%) will be used for Tilly Tidies and putting away any survey/topcashback money. I am hoping to save enough for a new bike.

DrSpendLittle

I have a post office travel money card - I go to Europe twice a year with work and we usually holiday in Europe, so it works out quite well. You can have multiple currencies on it. There are no charges for transactions but there is a small charge for cash withdrawals, something like 2 eurs. It has an app, so is really good for topping up or, if you're us, tracking how much you're (over) spending in the supermarket! We both put equal amounts on it and then use it for all spends. We also usually take some cash with us for buying aqua, pain, cafe etc from the local panader!a / boulangerie.

Not heard of a monzo card but I'm sure it'll work well for you - be careful of bank exchange rates though as some banks offer really crap ones, like 0.89 EUR to the GBP.

Does starchild like paying for things in shops? If so, you might want to still try and use cash so she gets the experience of seeing different money and trying out the language with local shop keepers / waiters by paying for ice creams, water etc etc

Enjoy!

Starmummy

Thanks for you post Dr S
I will keep an eye on the rates. Most of the countries we will visit this year are Euro but some are not.
With Monzo I can withdraw £200 a month no charges.

We do still have some Euro's (approx 80) from various trips last year, the idea about getting SC to buy things in shops is a great one. I remember doing that at her age. We used to camp every summer in the south of France with my Grandfather and he would send me and my sister each morning to get bread so that we could practice our French. I'm not sure my vocabulary has expanded much past
"deux baguettes s'il vous plait" in the last 20 odd years :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Starmummy

I'm still here.

In the mid month lull.
All debt payments made for the month.
I still have a couple of hundreds worth of income to come in so I can send money to savings,

It's a busy rest of the week here in the Star household. We fly out to visit Mr Star for half term on Saturday. I've not packed a thing yet. The house needs a good tidy too as I hate coming back to an untidy house.

The Monzo card arrived the next day and my account (via the app) is good to go. I told Mr Star about it and he got one too...we failed to see the "recommend a friend" offer before he had already signed up though. Annoying!

Starmummy

I still have almost £500 of expenses to come in this month and only £80 of it is guaranteed for next week. I'm really annoyed as it was all due at the beginning of the month. This has somewhat scuppered any holiday spends. Unless I borrow from myself and pay it back when the money comes in. I'm reluctant to do this, I know it's only psychological but I haven't touched my EF at all and I don't want to start now.

I do have the cash Euro's which I will be taking so I'm just going to see how we do with those and hope that more comes in while I'm away.

Talk about causing myself stress!
I've not even packed yet and the car picks us up tomorrow morning. I'm at work until 6 and SC has youth group tonight. I need to wash my hair and do some general maintenance. It's amazing how lapse you let yourself get while your partner is away. Velcro legs anyone? :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
There's nothing like leaving it until the last minute.

At least the house is fairly tidy and the fridge empty. I just need to remember to put the bins out.
I travel solo quite a bit so it is silly that i'm anxious about travelling just me and SC without Mr S. It's not the first time we have caught a flight just the two of us.

I must calm down...maybe have another cup of tea. Nothing is wrong, relax.

natsplatnat

Starmummy wrote: »

Velcro legs anyone? :rotfl: :rotfl:

Oh yes!! Permanent trouser wearing at this time of year definitely increases the chances of a bit of leg stubble!!


Drink your tea, make a list and crack on!


Have an amazing time away! x