Update Paid off! - Six years and counting!!

Kat78MFW

So the Tandem credit card is finishing on 9th March. They want the customers to sign up to a paid membership in order to keep getting the cashback. So all spending will go back on the co-op credit card. This will be easier to keep track of our spending as it's been harder to see how much we're putting on the cards with two of them with different billing dates.

Big credit card bill coming next month as just over £1000 for our Easter holiday has gone on there. The money to pay it is tucked away in savings. 

Kat78MFW

We have our final two 5% regular savers maturing at end of March and beginning of May. The NW one now has £3000 in there - this account has been brilliant as you can take money out and put it back in. So pleased that I haven't had to take any out since October. I don't know where I'll move this emergency fund to when it matures.

I need to sort out another bank account switch for DH. We made £175 on an HSBC switch a couple of months ago but that only needed standing orders so I have been waiting for a charity DD to be taken to fulfill the 2x DDs requirements of most switches. I think TSB have a referral switching offer so my plan is to refer him for the cash bonus and then we'll have a second account with 3% on £1500. 

Kat78MFW

DH TSB switch done. If it all works correctly, he'll receive £100 and so will I. Not bad for 10 mins effort on a Sunday morning!

He is off on holiday from school this week so I have said we need to spend half an hour with me updating him on where we are with our money and bank accounts as he has no idea where the different pots of money are stashed. 

Kat78MFW

Have been away from this thread for a while as my anxiety about COVID-19 has stopped me being able to think about life more than a week or two ahead. We are lucky that financially both my job and DH job are secure but we are both extremely anxious about when we will have to return to our roles where we will be at risk of catching this horrible disease. Then I feel guilty because the front line doctors and nurses and other key workers are out there and at risk right now. 
So despite job security, the future looks uncertain as I am not sure if our mental health is going to permit our return to work. 

Kat78MFW

So MFW news....

1. I read on here that our energy company Tonik appear to be in some financial difficulty and people are struggling to get refunds of their credit balance. I have been with this company for three years now and had previously been happy to keep a significant credit balance with them as they pay 3% interest. But I decided it would be safer to pull it out. They were reluctant but in the end I negotiated a £150 refund and a reduction in our monthly DD from £108 to £91 per month. I thought it would take a while to receive the refund but it arrived in our account this week. 

Kat78MFW

2. We have decided to postpone our summer holiday in Cornwall until 2021. The holiday cottage have kindly agreed that our deposit will carry over so the remaining balance of about £1600 will not be due until June 2021. So, when our final 5% RS matures this week, I am going to put the entire amount (£3600) into the mortgage. I was unsure about doing this as perhaps we need to keep a larger EF but my thinking is that, in the worst case scenario, we can always go down to our minimum £108 Interest Only monthly payment for a while if necessary. And we will have saved on a lot of interest in the meantime. 

Kat78MFW

3. We moved our Easter holiday to February 2021. We lost the deposit but we didn't mind paying something to hopefully help keep the wonderful hotel, that we visit every year, in business. It's all paid for, apart from a few hundred pounds for the lost deposit. So we will be able to go whatever our financial position by next year, assuming the mass vaccines are available and successful. If needed, my parents would pay the extra money as our Xmas present and it is an all inclusive hotel so no spending money required. 

Kat78MFW

4. Our spending on groceries (food, household and toiletries) has gone up massively during lock down as we are buying more through the milkman and at the corner shop. We have also managed to get some supermarket click and collect / deliveries but a lot of the value or own brand products are unavailable so have been having to buy more expensive branded alternatives.

However, our monthly spending is now almost exclusively on food! No petrol, no exercise classes, no kids expenses, no school dinners and no online shopping (we are just managing with what we have so we don't create more work for those in warehouses / delivery drivers).
We have spent a little on Kindle books for the kids and donations. Our credit card bill for payment Mid-may is just £800.

Kat78MFW

All this means that I have been able to make the May mortgage payment on 1st May rather than waiting until May pay day to make the payment, saving a month's worth of interest. And our mortgage balance is now down to £42 721. Can't wait to pay in the savings once they mature to bring it down into the 30 000s!

Hope everyone is staying safe and well. 

ElmoR

Good to see you back Kat. Sounds like you have everything well under control.