Working the numbers 2019 style

mark55man

So in non-Cornwall related news my OH car insurance was Due in a few weeks and on an initial look the renewal quote from Direct line was a lot more than I expected so I called them up telling them that online quotes were half the price - and ended up going from £420 or so to £295 in three steps:

• An earlier non fault accident had not been properly closed off - saving £50
• A call to the service centre offered another saving of £50 just for asking - but it was still showing as significantly more expensive than the comparison site quote so I didn't sign up and went to double check the other quotes
• When I had exactly matched the T&C the online quote actually ended up much higher so I called back to accept DL and (cheekily asked if they make it a bit better which they did knocking another £25 off).

So I call that a good result - amazing what you can do if you try

That's a big tick against my "renew all providers" target!. I am working on my raw data and hope to provide an intial weekly report back by the weekend!

DD265

mark88man wrote: »

One of my problems is complexity in my financal affairs which I have simplified but still looking at 3 cards, work, 3 banka ccounts (2xsolo 1x joint).

I have 5 tracking accounts (off budget) and 14 :eek: budget accounts - agree it can be a nightmare keeping on top of it all. I have a category group specifically for the joint account, and another for the savings account, just so I can check whether my pots match up to the account balances. The number is so high because we have several reloadable cards (I get discounts through work) which we use for supermarket shopping and need to keep tabs on.

Once we're done buying a house I'll drop some accounts - either completely or back down to tracking, so this will simplify things. I'm not yet at the point where I can trust myself to have all our money in one account with an associated debit card!

LondonGirl252

Hey Mark,


Found you and subscribed! Glad you had such a nice holiday, that sounds perfect.


You goals are great, i love there's non-financial ones in there like the plastic and vegetarian ones too. I am also trying to cut down on meat, it's expensive and I have decided to only eat from a good source which is even more expensive so im just eating a lot less of it! With some xmas money i treated myself to the Joe Wicks veggie book and the recipes are great, esp for single me cooking for one! Where's that violin!? haha!


Look forward to keeping up with your progress

mark55man

So this evening I went through all my 2018 joint account spends and created a spreadsheet to do some analysis (categorising the spends in accordance with the main SOA categories).

Looking at the whole year in one spreadsheet was a challenging moment and a useful heads up for 2019 as I haven't really been paying attention in 2018. Will be doing some more detailed thinking and trying to integrate the occassional spends from the personal accounts and credit cards for improved accuracy but broadly the targets I have set are still what I have to do.

I may be trying to bite off more than I can chew with all my debt targets this year, but with some clear and hard choices I am sure I can achieve them, especially given the uncertainties ahead.

mark55man

Thanks LG - I think eating less meat will be important to health goals and more vegetables will be cheaper too, as long as I dont spend £2.50 on Waitrose mini mange tout :-). Lidl and Sainsbury's this year I think

mark55man

so my steps target is 12000 a day. yesterday I did 784. too miuch spreadsheeting and wating in for delivery men (DS1 got a new phone on a good deal I helped him get on EEEEEE. Even better hes going to start paying for it himself, which was both an indulgence a frog (read doingitanyways's thread - ty) and a kindness

so am just up for a walk to town the long way round to try and catch up a little - and do myself some good

LondonGirl252

12,000 steps is a big target! At least you were productive in other ways so it’s all working towards your goals! Enjoy your walk

Sumof999

Am enjoying your diary Mark - might have to do one myself! Another vote her for YNAB. Took me a while to get the hang of it but I love it and I spend time on it everyday playing with my budget! I don't use it on the app just desktop and its fab.

mark55man

LondonGirl252 wrote: »

12,000 steps is a big target! At least you were productive in other ways so it’s all working towards your goals! Enjoy your walk

Yes I know its a lot - but I am so unfit mine isnt a manly pacing stride its more of a shuffly mince (think John Inman from Are you being served, although you are not remotely old enough to remember that) so I figured 12,000 was actually more like a proper 10,000

BabyStepper

I loved John Inman! Think I caught him during re-runs but so very funny.

Also enjoyed your post on NikNak's thread with the quote re. giving up alcohol. As someone currently quitting smoking, I do wonder about the parallels of spending, smoking, drinking, all the other things we do to change how we feel. If we could just relax and get used to calmer times, we could all achieve anything.

Love your diary, I've subscribed.