Getting it together...one £ at a time!

abba1772

redofromstart wrote: »

Cross posted - missing out on the chance of TCB cashback, my experience is that the car insurance ones rarely pay out and I have stopped even considering it in my decision. Hope the cancellation is straightforward.

I second this with tcb I've been declined twice for car insurance cashback don't bother with it now especially when they couldn't give me an explanation as to why xx

Homegrown0

Today isn't a NSD because I'm working from the office, so £7 was spent this morning on my return train fare. I brought in my breakfast and lunch today though, so I'm minimising spends as much as possible

After reading another diary yesterday, I was thinking about re-evaluating my life insurance. We have about 6 different policies between us for life insurance/ assurance/ mortgage payment protection insurance...etc but with only critical illness cover and not serious illness cover. I think we could get much better cover consolidated into one policy for more or less the same price (and if I get any cashback then i'll be delighted!) so need to get onto looking at that one.

Work is still crazy, busy, hectic with lots of plans and strategy being drawn up for the future, which is both exciting and brain-frying so I'm really trying to get my mojo back so that I can whizz through some work.

I've not been so keen with the exercise this week, only managed one class out of three that I'd normally do, so i need to do something this weekend to balance it out. Was thinking if it stays dry on Sunday then I might take my boy down to the park on his bike and he can cycle while I run. 5k should do it and make me feel less guilty about not doing much. My eating has been so-so and I've avoided the temptation of takeaways.

Topcashback
After my post yesterday about having £36ish available for cashing out on TCB, I went online to turn it into Amazon vouchers but they're retaining £7ish for my account fee. I was a bit annoyed about it, but it turns out it's because I've not actually cashed out for over a year and they can't take my account fee until i cash out so this is for 1 whole year and part of another year...or something...

Anyway, I cashed out £29.98 to a Amazon gift card so just waiting on that coming through and I've still got £16-ish pending, which is of course excluding the £80 that I was supposed to get from the car insurance that I'm now cancelling.

I just remembered that I've got some mileage and overnight travel allowance to claim back for a recent work trip, so i'll do that this afternoon to get the ball rolling. Possibly about £50-60.

Homegrown0

abba1772 wrote: »

I second this with tcb I've been declined twice for car insurance cashback don't bother with it now especially when they couldn't give me an explanation as to why xx

Wow - i didn't realise it was quite so widespread Abba! Thanks for the heads up. I think I've made the right decision for sure, sticking where I am now.

Homegrown0

It's the final day of August! September is on its way and i'm looking forward to Autumn, it's my favourite season.

Some updates:

Our flat
It's 2 weeks until our flat is vacant and we will need to pay the mortgage on 28th September if we don't have anyone moved in by then. However, we have four viewings tonight, three more people who have shown interest in viewing and one more who is in a bit of a tricky situation (i.e. not the ideal tenant) but who is really interested so I think we're in a good position.

Got everything crossed!

Other bits
I've claimed my £29.98 Amazon voucher so that's been added to my Amazon account.

I also have £20-something on a Smyths gift card which I may use today to get something that I've been eyeing up for my sons for Christmas. I'll take a look and see. I get the feeling they're going to be sold out closer to Christmas so I don't want to risk not being able to get them.

On this same thread, I've had a few ideas for Christmas presents for people but have added them to my list as 'ideas' rather than just jumping and buying them like I'd normally do and possibly regretting it later. This system seems to be working so far.

Homegrown0

Just got another £4 PA survey completes so PA is now sitting at:

£5.56 cleared and £5.20 pending.

doingitanyway

Fingers crossed for a good tenant before the deadline.

Homegrown0

I hope so DIA! We had five viewers lined up for Friday night but haven't had any feedback from the letting agent yet, so i'm hopeful they'll bring good news when they do get in touch.

The weekend
We had a lovely weekend - had a busy Saturday with ferrying the kids to activities then out for lunch with my grandparents which was great.

On Sunday we had a day out in a local town that had a big open day on so spent the whole day there. They kids were knackered by the time we got home and I fell asleep on the couch so the fresh air must have done us all good! A bit spendy on the Sunday as there was amusements so the kids went on a few rides, got an ice cream etc but we had anticipated that so lifted cash. It was well worth the spends on the day and I'm happy to support a local free event with donations etc.

This week
I really need to get my mojo back. I've been sitting at half empty for a few weeks now and I just don't feel like I'm getting anything done, both in life and at work. My motivation is just not there and everything seems like a bit of a drag! I need to get back to not putting stuff off - just do it and then it will be done! I'm far too easily distracted at the moment and i'm paying for it in other areas of my life.

As well as cracking on with some important work that needs done, i'm going to write a meal plan and shopping list for this week and do the shopping before I pick the kids up. That means I'm going to need to seriously get my finger out and get on with work. Trying to force myself to get stuff done. I know I'll feel better for it later.

Supposed to be going to a gym class with a friend later too, but that will only happen if my husband is back from work on time (he's working later tonight). Hopefully keeping up the exercising will help to improve my mood.

Other things
I bit the bullet and called the car insurance company to cancel and get a refund. I thought I'd be on there for ages with them trying to convince me not to cancel etc but it was the opposite. I was on the phone for less than two minutes, she processed the cancellation and said the money would be back in my account in 5 days. Efficient!

I just bought tickets for breakfast with Santa at a place that comes recommended and is about an hour from home. It just came from our spending account so i'm hoping to do one thing per month that will lighten the load of the December wage. Last month was panto, this month is Santa. Making the most of the experiences while the kids are young and still believe.

Homegrown0

Spending account took a bit of a hit yesterday:

• £51 in Aldi - groceries
• £43 in Morrisons - groceries that I couldn't get in Aldi plus pull ups to last a month, big pack of loo roll and some other bits that I couldn't get from Aldi
• £67 on breakfast with Santa tickets and day out (I know...it's a lot but trying to spread the cost of Christmas days out across the remaining months)

I just need to be mindful for the next few weeks about our spending. I think we can get through the next two weeks with a reasonable weekly shop (£60 approx x2) and two more tank fill-ups for my husband's car (£60 total). My son also has a grading for his TKD class mid-month which is £30 and it's our anniversary at the end of the month so i'd really like to go out for dinner if we can. Will need to see how the budget looks.

Gifts/ clothes fund:
This was at £100 at the beginning of the month, and is now down to £39. Had to buy two more school jumpers because my son lost them and they are nowhere to be found! He's only been back at school three weeks! Anyway, that was £21. And my BIL text about going in on a Christmas present for MIL which was on special offer so they bought that and I transferred them £40 for that. It's going to be fairly tight so i'll need to be creative with the meal plans for the next few weeks to make sure we're on track to last the whole month!

Debts:
Not a lot of movement yet this month - all of the DDs come out at different times of the month, none at the start so things are still the same.

I looked at my projection though, and i'll be WAY down into the £17ks this month when all payments are made. I'll also be half way into the £16ks in October, £15ks in November and £14ks in December, as long as everything goes to plan, so it's good motivation to see the numbers come down like that.

The money that is sitting on the CC3 account is being charged interest - last month it was £12.69. I think i'm able to transfer onto the 0% rate on CC2 still, so i'll see what the fee is and see if it's worth my while as it'll take me the next 4 months to clear the balance of CC3 which will add up in interest. If the fee is more than the estimated interest then i'll just leave it where it is.

The flat:
We have had good feedback from two of the viewers - one was keen to go ahead and is in talks with the letting agent now. The other was a couple who were keen but wanted a reduction in rent because they're saving up for a wedding! Sure, just let me subsidise your wedding at my own cost... :eek:

Anyway, i'm really hoping that the first viewer is in a good position to move in soon. Just waiting with bated breath for an update from the letting agents... (I won't actually hold my breath waiting, as the likelihood is that I'd die waiting).

Spent my Amazon vouchers:
I completely freaked out last night because when i went into my little pantry-style cupboard to get some lentils there were lots of teeny little beasties crawling around. When I googled it, it seems they are weevils which like to feast in pasta/ rice/ lentils...dried goods. So I threw everything that had lived in that cupboard in the bin (what a waste!) and will need to replenish these stocks but store them better. Nothing will be left in their packets from now on. I have ordered a big set of klip lock tupperware (which is what Google suggested will keep the little mites out) so once they arrive i'll buy rice, pasta and orzo to replace what we lost. Everything else, i'll buy as needed. Thankfully i'd just replaced my bag of red lentils last night or else my lentil soup wouldn't have happened. It makes me feel so itchy and horrid just thinking about it. Disinfected the whole cupboard twice and I'm hoping that's a start.

So, for my vouchers, I got a big set of tupperware and an iTop which is supposed to be one of the top presents this year for Christmas. It looks right up my son's street too.

I still have my £100 set aside for Amazon Black Friday but I haven't done anything with it yet.

abba1772

I can't believe someone had the nerve to ask for a debt reduction .........makes you wonder about some people xx

Homegrown0

I know Abba! Unbelievable! I think people assume that because we own and rent out the flat, we have money to burn like we're these big property tycoons! The reality is that we were in negative equity and couldn't afford to sell our flat when we bought the house, so renting is our only option and we need to pump money of our own into it fairly regularly to keep it ticking along. The cheek!

Never mind... the first guy is going through the credit and reference checks right now so we should know in a few days whether he's been successful or not. If he is then all that's left is to talk about a move in date and take a deposit. Then we'll need to go down and check the place out to see if it needs painted/ cleaned etc before a new tenant moves in.