The Piano Diary

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South_coast said:

I like the bit about assuming tax bands will increase with inflation each year 🤣

Agreed 😂! I kind of knew the tax thresholds had been frozen but I didn't realise it had first come in under the previous government in 2021.

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Dear diary and all,

A new café has opened up locally. Lovely cakes, friendly owner and staff, nice coffee, clean and really well presented. There have been a number which have tried to make a go of it over the last couple of years but then seem to close. We are supporting this one and so have decided to go there for our post park run breakfast on Saturday. I want to be more mindful with where I spend money as much as I can.

I’m focused on paying off the last credit card debt. The goal is to clear it by November as follows:

August	£8676		£1200 (payment)
Sep	£7476		£3220
Oct	£4256		£3250
Nov	£1006		£1006

We both get paid at the end of next week. One more week and then we are both off for 3 weeks, can’t wait.

DS has planned an interrail trip from London all the way to Istanbul for the end of August, he is very excited. Its really good value as the 7 day rail ticket is Euro 286 for a youth. He just qualifies as a youth as he is 27.

savingholmes

Looking good. Thanks for sharing.

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Dear Diary and all,

Today is last day at work and finally have 3 weeks off which is super lucky. We have a week at home and then off to Scotland where we have rented a cottage for a week in the western isles.

End of month money juggling has been done following being paid. Credit card payment of £900 off Zero % balance so reduced from £8600 down to £7700. Slightly less than planned but slowly moving in the right direction. My credit rating has recovered a bit. It dropped in around March as I had to borrow to cover helping DS with unpaid tax. Its back up to 992 with Experian. I don’t intend to borrow any money again (touch wood) but still I want it to be good anyway. Still on track to have paid off the credit card by the end of the year. Trying to stay focused and keep spending down where possible.

Stock market has surged a bit leading to the DC fund rising to £442K mostly seems to be to do with the FTSE100 as UK fund has grown. This is now 10%+ above where it was during the drop in February/March following the US presidential election. 

Having a money chat with DS on Monday hoping to help him with his finances.

savingholmes

Enjoy your holiday. 

Glad your money has recovered. 

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

Back from holiday yesterday. We stayed in an area on Skye called Duirinish which is a National Scenic Area. It was wonderful, pretty much uninhabited and a true wilderness. Amazing to walk along the coast and see the wildlife and the natural beauty.

Somehow we seem to have overspent somewhat. Not dramatically, but I seem to have miscalculated the budget with one or two ‘one-off’ type expenses as well as some ongoing ones. I have had to reduce the forward CC payments a little to reflect this. No matter, I have tweaked the plan and it looks like we are still on track to pay of the remaining zero % credit card by the end of 2025, not November as originally planned. I could keep shuffling it onto other new zero % cards but I need to have done with it now.

Getting back to the house we seem to be overwhelmed with mini chores that need doing. We have a visitor coming to stay tomorrow so need to prepare for that.

DS is off on his travels and seems to be having fun and meeting up with people in hostels etc.

So the revised approx plan for the CC is

Month  Balance  Payment

September  7500    1300

October       6200     2800

November  3400      2900

December  500        500

Just putting it here to keep myself accountable.

AgathaSquirrel

Glad you enjoyed the holiday. Sometimes the experiences are worth the money. You’re not too far off plan.

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Dear diary and all,

Trying to use the downtime to get on top of a few household/domestic issues that have been neglected. Today I reviewed all my subscriptions and looked for those that I could cancel or reduce. These need periodic review as otherwise they creep up and it can be quite a lot of money. I rarely have the time when working to do this. One I have been meaning to address for a while was the broadband and land line. We hardly ever use the landline but I was paying £16 per month for free UK calls. There didn’t seem to be a way to cancel this on the providers website. I called them and they offered me a saving from overall £65 per month down to £43 per month and to keep the services I already had. I know this is their tactic but actually I was ok with a saving of £20 over the next 24 months so I went for the deal. Next were the TV subscriptions. These keep creeping in when there is a series that we want to watch. I cancelled two that we are not really being used. I had a paid subscription to Experian for a while to explore my credit rating, but I have done what I wanted with that and so I have now cancelled that as well. So total savings today are £22 + £10 + £10 + £15 totalling £57 per month.

DS is sending us sporadic updates from his trip which show him having a good time so that is good.

savingholmes

Good luck with getting back on track. You've achieved a lot. Don't beat yourself up for not meeting idealistic goals.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

This week back at work. Its not too bad as many people are away so it is quiet. Looking forward to the Bank Holiday weekend. Budgeting at the moment feels like money is sand running between my fingers. The latest issue is the house alarm. When we were away it went off after a local power cut. FIL had to some around and reset it. I thought we hadn’t had the alarm serviced for some time. They used to write to me but recently moved to e-mail and I was lost in the transfer. So I called them and someone came out to check the system. It turned out that the battery needed replacing. Unfortunately the system overall has also stopped working as the control panel is broken, buttons not working etc. It is the original alarm fitted in 1996 so is 29 years old to be fair. The fix is an upgrade rather than a new system but will cost me £600 + not sure of the exact cost as it depends on the exact components that need replacing, they are coming tomorrow. I’m not really a fan of these alarms. All they ever seem to do is to go off at the most inconvenient time. I suppose it is a necessary evil for house insurance. Does anyone manage without an alarm? Luckily tomorrow is pay day and I will be able to figure out the knock on effect of this and whether it will delay the clearing of the CC. Emergency fund has been depleted unfortunately! Need to get that back in place.