Eagerlearners journey to Terminate the mortgage

beanielou

I would not accept that.

EagerLearner

Thanks Beanie, I have replied via Resolva to get them to pull their finger out. Never had such slow response, you'd think they would be all over it. Last time I complained to a supermarket (and only time) was 4 years ago for food poisoning and they provided £20 voucher. Besides, I know that in production and quality assessment etc there are rigorous checks and certifications, they should provide a much more detailed reply surely. I am worried because the specific product I complained about then completely dissapeared from their shelves next time I checked in store and has still not reappeared weeks later far as I know. I feel like they are trying to palm me off and who knows if others are affected.

Bloody universe is against us today. No sooner than we get a tax return confirmed, hubby's van died in London today and we need to 1) recover it at nearly £300 then figure out what repairs will be. Feeling really demotivated.

EagerLearner

Hi everyone,
Hope you had a relaxing weekend!

Things are slightly better today and I hope that tomorrow/Weds we will know the repair costs. With luck HMRC will refund this week or next and we'll cover it with that.


Month in review - Financials

We have spent less than expected for this time of year, November had a couple unexpected purchases (Shark vacuum, boots, decorating and DIY costs etc) but overall not bad compared to last year.

We had good news that an M&S voucher has more than we thought, which will buy a few nice things we'd have bought anyway. So far we are at £263 for Christmas. Approx another £60 on presents, £100 food and £30 on wine, then some going out/pub money but I have budgeted a little separately for that. So technically Christmas itself *should* come under £500 this year.

Income was lower in Nov, but hubby had an extra day overtime and we tightened belts somewhat anyway. Dec costs are generally all planned for and January is funded around 65% now, of which mortgage is most and that will be paid for with hubbys paycheck at Christmas.

For Dec my income will def be lower, I am not planning any extra spends aside from Christmas and planned outings, we will see how that goes

I have around £8.50 in Consumer Pulse points, and £30 vouchers on way in post from another survey.

We used Argos vouchers all up on MiniEL pressies, then got their £5 voucher for spending £50 and this £5 went on another pressie, making it £5 :T

I have £4.50 to spend at Tesco, and around £17 total in M&S vouchers and credit :T

A client still owes me for a Nov invoice, and after my costs I will have around £50 left, likely will put it towards car insurance due in March which I have started to build up a little for.



General news

MiniEL had another night terror last night but this time not too bad. Also am worried about a relative who has moved recently and is finding it hard, I need to call and see what i can do, albeit from a distance

Some Christmas decs are up and we have made a list of what we need food-wise for the day itself so we do not overspend. Next weekend we will decorate properly I think and go see Santa :T We have 2 parties and a grown up birthday to go to as well next weekend so will be very social. I usually collapse in a heap after weekends like that :rotfl:

No news yet on Resolva complaint, I am hoping they reply this week as I think soon it will automatically be escalated again to next manager in line (regional I suppose rather than local). I guess I should not spend the vouchers...

Made a lovely lentil and bacon soup yesterday from special offer bacon, 2 dinners and several lunches worth. I love soups on Fridays when we have no energy left from the week

What meals do you plan for end of week?

VDOT47

We usually try and dig something out of the freezer (when we make up pasta or rice dishes we usually make double portions and freeze one portion each for this) to quickly heat up on a Friday.

EagerLearner

Same ;-) Usually we have at least tuna pasta, bolognaise or soup in the freezer from batch cooking. Sometimes smoked mackrel which just needs rice and salad.

EagerLearner

Hi everyone,
Not much to report today. Work has gone quieter at the moment so I am catching up on some life admin...
Our van repair will be £278 ouch, so need to get this paid today but at least hubby can then stop using the car.

Around £50-£60 still needed for gifts for Christmas plus maybe £80 food costs and perhaps £30 towards Christmas food at a relative. Hopefully that will be it. The scary thing is then there's the new year period that inevitably is barely budgeted for, for us not so much going out but food wise general shopping etc.

Checked Quidco and unbelievably items from Aug are still now shown and many state May 19 as payment date, this from suppliers like PC World Currys, M&S and Hotel Chocolat, incredible.

Chasing £30 voucher for survey which should arrive next few days, and hoping by next week to cash out on £10 on Consumer Pulse. Plus waiting to hear from supermarket as to whether they have any news on my complaint.

Mortgage interest for Nov was £112.07 so £3.73 per day, it was £6.15 per day this time last year (£190.65) which is crazy, we are now on a lower 5 year deal which can chip away at interest.

Do any of you overpay on your mortgage?
We have an offset with some cash (more like an emergency fund) but have been investing any extra funds where poss instead. It's a hard decision isn't it...

I hope everyone is well - if you have any ideas for inexpensive gifts that I can post for 5-15 year olds do let me know...

beanielou

Vouchers for the older children?
My DS much preferred vouchers from his early teens.

EagerLearner

Hi everyone, happy 2019!
Just wanted to check in and say we had a lovely Christmas, hope you did too?
We managed to spend around £80 less this year than average, part purposeful beady eye and part using vouchers helped alot.
We did end up giving cash for teens but also Amazon items, hopefully was ok - not that i had any thank yous sigh...
All furnaces are go towards saving for holiday now and also unsure what to do on investing due to Brexit and everything going on... our outlook is over 5 years away though (to pay off mortgage sooner hopefully) so am trying to stay strong.

Nothing to YNAB at the mo and due to not working at Christmas my first decent payment won't be until next Fri day, ages away - bleugh...

EagerLearner

Hi everyone, hope you are well and preparing for the cold that they say is coming...
Mid month update - prob like everyone else not much to say ha!


- The supermarket has come back (this has been going on since September) and added £5 to their previous £10 voucher offering, shocking. We have escalated it to an industry watchdog, if they don't see metal shards in a pudding as a bigger issue, I don't know what's wrong with the world.

- Income is lower due to Christmas break, being self employed sucks. At least tax is all allowed for and I will pay it a couple days before end of Jan, not a day earlier.

- We have our side income back in terms of a lodger, this is great as provides a buffer against my irregular income and hubbys low income whilst training. I really hope 2019 is the year his income can finally start to increase after nearly 3 years of us scraping by with his lower earnings. His ego could do with the boost too.

- Meal prep is key at the mo to get us to the end of the month and so my YNAB categories do not go over, already £35ish overspent this month bit on things like paint, a needed new top so I don't feel terrible. I bought an order from Amazon Pantry, free delivery, saves hassle and I am able to get Morrisons items which I would normally be able to plus some gluten free bits.

- Building up to another voucher with CP but only at £4ish currently, and nothing on Quidco.

- Worried about MiniEL growth as he's small for his age, I am not big neither is MrEL but still, think I need to book him into an appointment as when I rang the doc about it they just said to check is red book. That thing only goes to 3 years old, he's nearly 8 so I don't understand. Nurse visits at school say there's nothing to worry about, he's healthy etc. Anyone else had a worry about their child's size?

So as you see there really are tumbleweeds and with the market all over the place I don't even want to think what the effect of Brexit will be.
One bright shiny thing is we have booked our holiday, haven't had a proper one in a few years so really looking forward to that and it's our first time using Airbnb too.
Happy hump day, here's to Friday rolling round!

kindofagilr

EagerLearner wrote: »

- Worried about MiniEL growth as he's small for his age, I am not big neither is MrEL but still, think I need to book him into an appointment as when I rang the doc about it they just said to check is red book. That thing only goes to 3 years old, he's nearly 8 so I don't understand. Nurse visits at school say there's nothing to worry about, he's healthy etc. Anyone else had a worry about their child's size?

I just found you when I was searching for YNAB posts (I am am new YNAB user and OMG it's amazing), my son is also 8, what size clothes is he in? my son is tall (he's in 10 year old clothes) but there are lots of kids in his year that are smaller than my (nearly) 6 year old daughter, so I do think its a big scale of different sizes.

If you are really worried I would try and get him into dr just for a check over? (if you can get past the receptionist)