2020 - 'Nothing in your life will change until you make the decision to change'

jwil

Finances 2021.

Debts:
1. £8,153.00/ £8,153.00

2. £3,754.00/£3,754.00

3.  £1,856.00/£1,856.00

4.  £4,726.00/£4,726.00

Total: £18,489.00/£18,489.00

Car - £1,000/£1,000

Mortgage - £108,099.83/£108,099.83

Savings:
LISA: £352.24/£352.24

Premium bonds £175.00/£175.00

Emergency fund: £13.18/£13.18
Cash Buffer: £120.00/£120.00

So, my plan for next year is to put the car money back into DH's savings account, leave the debts ticking over, and focus on the savings and mortgage.  My LISA is my retirement fund, and not really accessible until I'm 55/57 depending on what changes.  I could access it in a real emergency but would lose the bonus.  I want to keep paying into that as much as possible because obviously the bonus is a fantastic deal. I want to have a decent emergency fund, so the Premium Bonds and Emergency Fund will contribute towards that.  The Emergency Fund account is a 'save the change' account, so little bits trickle into that regularly, and I'll round down my account daily into that. My cash buffer is what I'd like to grow as well.  My aim is that this is what I can dip into when I have a skint month, or a big bill, or a F&F offer arises on any of my debts.  I want to keep this separate from the emergency fund, and not feel guilty about dipping into it if I have to.   I want to reserve the emergency fund for proper emergencies. I aim to try and make a payment a day (PAD) to the mortgage and the emergency fund.  I'd like to see the mortgage under £100k by the end of 2021.  The mortgage is the highest interest debt too, so it makes sense to focus on that. It would be really nice to see some healthy balances and reduced debts by the end of 2021.

savingholmes

Glad DH has had some work and that the furlough 80% rate was reinstated. Hopefully that will help.

jwil

savingholmes said:

Glad DH has had some work and that the furlough 80% rate was reinstated. Hopefully that will help.

Thank you, yes, we are so relieved that they reinstated furlough.

jwil

I'm feeling really rough today. Working from home is a godsend as I managed to have a quick nap during lunch   Only one week to go and then leave.  I feel exhausted.

The kids school have said that next Friday is optional, and so I'm tempted to keep them home. However, so far, little jwil has said he wants to go to school.  I'll probably let them decide.

We've had someone trying it on on eBay.  First for a while luckily.  I've refused their request for a partial refund (having seen that they seem to try this on regularly according to their feedback) and offered a full refund on return (with us paying postage).  It's always a risk of a negative, but I don't like people who try it on.  The issues were described in the listing. I always sort out genuine problems promptly.

beanielou

I am so so tired too. 

7 full on days & then a beak. Yah. 

I loathe loathe people who try it on. 

Enjoy your weekend xx

jwil

beanielou said:

I am so so tired too. 

7 full on days & then a beak. Yah. 

I loathe loathe people who try it on. 

Enjoy your weekend xx

I hope you manage to have a lovely weekend too, and have a good rest.

I don't understand people like it.  It was hardly even worth it, they only paid £5 for 3 items.  It's cheaper for us to offer a partial refund (which is probably why they do it) but I don't on principle, unless I've clearly made an error.

doingitanyway

I don't understand people like it.  It was hardly even worth it, they only paid £5 for 3 items.  It's cheaper for us to offer a partial refund (which is probably why they do it) but I don't on principle, unless I've clearly made an error.

Good for you for standing your ground.
Have a restful weekend.

jwil

doingitanyway said:

I don't understand people like it.  It was hardly even worth it, they only paid £5 for 3 items.  It's cheaper for us to offer a partial refund (which is probably why they do it) but I don't on principle, unless I've clearly made an error.

Good for you for standing your ground.
Have a restful weekend.

Thank you   Hope you have a good weekend too x

jwil

I am feeling much better today thankfully.  I was asleep by 9pm last night, and slept really well for me, so that's obviously helped.

DH is on swimming duty this weekend so I don't need to go out for that.  We have a Santa visit booked later today which the kids are very excited about and then we plan on going out Christmas light spotting later when it's dark.  I think we'll make some gingerbread biscuits this morning and the kids can decorate them.

DH is dropping in the hand delivered Christmas cards this morning as well so they will all be done now.

I need to tidy and vacuum upstairs but apart from that don't plan on doing much this weekend.

I did three listings yesterday and scheduled them to go live on 20th so they are on over the Christmas period as well as the relists.

I cashed out from PA yesterday and sent £5 to the mortgage and the change to my savings account. Today I've done a PAD of £1 to the mortgage and rounded down my account to the savings account.  I'm going to try and do that every day.

I've also redeemed 2 x £5 amazon vouchers from survey sites.

I had to phone my car insurance as it renewed yesterday but they hadn't taken the payment (I've changed from monthly DD to annual) so I was concerned that something had gone wrong and I wasn't covered.  However, the payment has been requested and so will probably come out next week.  I was a bit worried I'd be driving around uninsured!

NeverendingDMP

Glad the car insurance wasnt anything to worry about. I've had similar in the past with insurance payments and it does give you a mini panic doesnt it.