Giving every £ a job

PennysIntoPounds

Glad you're back safe and with cat hot water bottle.
Re octopods, does it make a difference in terms of where the payment is coming from/where the 150 would go? Would you make more interest having your 150 back in a designated pot for a year than having less coming out of the account/pot for gas and electric over a year?

Blackcats

Ah PIP thank you for helping me think more clearly about the 🐙 money.  I've compromised by adjusting our monthly payment ro £20 more than suggested and requesting £150 back.  It's very easy to make additional one off payments if things look wonky in the next couple of months.

Have been fairly productive and have completed a food cupboard inventory which made such a difference to our meal plan and shopping list today.  £50 spent for all the ingredients needed for this week's meals.  There were so many lovely fruit and veggies in the trolley that I wanted a tv health expert to pop up at the checkout and polish my halo for me!   No need to buy another can of mixed beans just in case or succumb to the better buy another jar of marmalade moment.  MrBC thought he needed razor blades err no he didn't cos he's got 16 in the overflow toiletries cupboard!

yesterday I ordered this year's birthday cards from whistle fish who had a good weekend deal.  I checked my card tin and found just the right card to send to a friend who had a bereavement recently so I shall compose the words as best I can and post that to them tomorrow.

Sun_Addict

Welcome home, glad you had a great time. We’re over £800 in credit with 🐙 at the moment, although not had this month’s bill yet so that will reduce a fair bit. I’m very wary of claiming money back as I’ve somehow managed to convince myself the meters are wrong as we’ve never been this much in credit this time of year. 

Makingabobor2

Sun_Addict said:

Welcome home, glad you had a great time. We’re over £800 in credit with 🐙 at the moment, although not had this month’s bill yet so that will reduce a fair bit. I’m very wary of claiming money back as I’ve somehow managed to convince myself the meters are wrong as we’ve never been this much in credit this time of year. 

I'm sure your meters aren't wrong. We are more in credit than previous years, although not as much as you, only £306. I think we just all have good tarrifs now, and know how to save money on it all. Plus the fact that they make us pay more than we need to.  Lol

Blackcats

@Sun_Addict and @Makingabobor2 - it's interesting how having a credit balance with our energy suppliers feels reassuring.  It's the complete opposite to the days when I had absolutely no idea what the bill would be until the brown envelope landed on the doormat every 3 months.  This usually meant opening it, seeing the amount and thinking eek, shoving the bill into the kitchen drawer and waiting for the red bill to arrive before writing and posting a cheque that I hoped wouldn't be cashed until I'd been paid and there was enough money in the bank.   Clever of the energy companies to change that model of behaviour to a paying monthly and building up our money in their account model.

Blackcats

Fredagsmys !

Well we are nearly halfway through looong January now but somehow there are still 3 Fridays left!  

Rather than endure them I propose that we embrace the cold, dark days by celebrating Fredagsmys, a Swedish term which translates as Cosy Friday.  There are lots of articles on line about the custom which are interesting.

Buoyed by the simple cheeriness and fun we found in our MSE Advent and 12 days of Christmas thread I've setup a thread over on the old style boards where we can share our MSE cosy and cheerful ideas.  In true MSE style we can use existing resources to get cosy.

ideas include snuggling up in our jim jams and watching a film
hot chocolate

Fluffy socks and chunky jumpers
hearty soups or stews

Why not add a touch of glamour or sparkle too?

there are fabulous imaginative and resourceful people on these boards who can inspire us.  We've even been joined on the thread by a tortoise who has already started their Fredagsmys preparations.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6580541/join-us-for-fredagsmys-cosy-fridays#latest

Sun_Addict

I've bookmarked your new thread so will take a look later.

In 0ct0pus news funnily enough they've emailed me today saying they're reducing the monthly DD amount as they think I have more credit than I realistically need. After taking the last usage off the account I was still £580 in credit. I'm happy with this as it will still leave me with a buffer. 

ladyholly

Blackcats said:

@Sun_Addict and @Makingabobor2 - it's interesting how having a credit balance with our energy suppliers feels reassuring.  It's the complete opposite to the days when I had absolutely no idea what the bill would be until the brown envelope landed on the doormat every 3 months.  This usually meant opening it, seeing the amount and thinking eek, shoving the bill into the kitchen drawer and waiting for the red bill to arrive before writing and posting a cheque that I hoped wouldn't be cashed until I'd been paid and there was enough money in the bank.   Clever of the energy companies to change that model of behaviour to a paying monthly and building up our money in their account model.

Iused to misdate or "forget to sign the cheques as well. It usually gave another week or two!!!

foxgloves

Yep....re the cheques, I hold my hand up to it too. Common practice back in the Spendy Era. I always regarded the postmark as my defence. I'd leave posting it as absolutely late as I possibly could, but ensure that the envelope would be postmarked the day before the red bill payment was due Adding on postage time, then the week it took for the cheque to be cashed....that would give me a good few extra days grace. I much prefer the monthly DD model of payment, but do begrudge the amount of interest big energy companies undoubtedly make from the interest on our credit balances.
F

Makingabobor2

Bookmarked your new thread. Will catch up later. Great idea