Frugal, thrifty, make do, mend! Let this debt come to an end!

Elisheba

Afternoon, frugalistas,

@weenancyinAmerica You have seen a lot more places here than me.  I hadn't even heard of Eden Camp until you mentioned it and it is now on my list of places to visit!

@Cheery_Daff I started listening to that series back in 2014 - it ran for the 4 years that were the centenary of WW1 didn't it?  I missed too many though and never caught up!

I have just spent £107.25 buying tops from S***ply B* for summer.  There are 9 tops in in all, and most of them were on sale and then I got a another £15 off, and got them delivered to a local shop so I didn't have to pay for delivery - so altogether I have probably saved about £60.  I have known for ages I don't have enough summer tops, but sadly rummaging round charity shops for the last few months hasn't provided much at all. Hopefully these ones will go with shorts and leggings and will do for a few years.

I may not like them all, so could end up sending some back, but would probably go under the spending limit of £100 for getting the £15 off, so could potentially end up owing money, or at least not getting a refund!  I'll see when they get here.  Everything is in either green or blue, as I'm aiming to have most of my wardrobe in those colours and then everything will go together - or that's the theory anyway!

I also need a denim jacket but there were none on there I liked at a reasonable price.  Tesco have some for £30, but none in my size at the moment.  Its so annoying as I had a very nice one but lost it somewhere last year.  

Also popped to Tesco at lunch time to get all the bits I couldn't find at Lidl at the weekend - only need cat litter now, so I'll drive there at some point for that and probably get my months ration of petrol as my car is low.

Other than that I have bought one book on Kindle - not one in the sale, but one I have read the series for and wanted.  Its £2 cheaper than when it was released so thought I would go for it.

I'm just about to gift £25 to a friend on his marriage (for their honeymoon) and then I will be done with todays massive spendyness!

Had picky bits for lunch and very nice it was too.  Think dinner will be quinoa with veg and veggie sausages, and that should do for another day as well.  I'm in the office tomorrow rather than Friday this week, so I need to think about what I will make for a packed lunch tonight.  If I can get my hm bread thin enough probably a veggie ham and cheese sandwich with crisps and fruit.  

I got my swimming in this morning, with 10 minutes each of jacuzzi and steamroom afterwards which is such a good way to wake up in the morning.  Should be going on Thursday and Friday as well all being well.  

Hope everyone is well.  Its a lot greyer here today and my lunchtime walk was rather chilly with just a cardi to keep me warm.

Elisheba

Afternoon, frugal campers  ,

Well I had a bit of a financial shock this morning when I was checking my banking.  My BC credit card balance interest transfer period has obviously run out and I had £50 added on in interest!  Ouch!  I had it in the back of my head it was June, but had no idea it would be so much interest for the month. I checked the offers on the credit cards I already have (all paid off bar the two I am currently paying off, and my Amex which I use daily for the cashback and pay off the full balance monthly), but only one seemed to be offering me a decent balance transfer rate and the credit limit wasn't high enough.  

So I had a look on this site and (knowing my credit rating is currently on the top half of excellent) got another credit card, which I have now organised to have the balance of both cards with money still owing transferred to (my other card's deal would have ended soon iirc).  I owe £4500 altogether from both cards, and although its a 19 month interest free balance transfer I have set up a £400 a month payment so it will be gone in a year.  Sadly I couldn't get a fee free transfer (as I already have a card with that bank) so that's another £150, but at least it is all dealt with now.

So that's me got 9 credit cards now!  Only 1 with any money owing. I hate to think what the total credit limit would be on all on them - probably about £30k - Amex is £12k on its own! There is no way I could manage the monthly payments if I maxed them out - I don't know what these lenders are thinking sometimes.   I should probably close most of them, but I have heard that can mess up your credit rating so I just have them stashed in a drawer somewhere and never look at them.  Its terribly poor from a business perspective that almost none of those companies were offering me any sort of decent balance transfer - I just got one elsewhere, and they could have made some money from me as an existing customer if they had bothered. 

The good news I had previously been going to share was that my credit rating is the highest it has ever been since I started checking it in early 2020, being at the top half of excellent - which isn't bad for someone who doesn't own their own home and whose passport has run out.  Although now I have applied for a credit card it will have gone down again for a while I suppose - ah well!  I don't need it to be good at the moment.

In other news I had been making a few tentative steps towards buying a narrowboat to live on.  Speaking to the marina I would like to stay at, reading more information, keeping an eye on boats sale, that sort of thing.  I had a rough idea of budget from looking at marine finance broker websites, and thought I could probably afford about £60k over 10 years which would buy a decent narrowboat.  I then phoned up one of the marine finance broker companies so I could ask about loan prerequisites and get all my ducks in a row.  And apparently unless you are a homeowner the companies they work with will only lend you £35k over 5 years, even if the idea is to be a liveaboard and you wouldn't have your house for long. Its basically just like  a large unsecured loan, which is ridiculous when you are buying something that has a value which doesn't depreciate much.

So that has really messed up my plans.  There are boats for £35k, but they either are too small, need a lot of work doing, or seem too cheap and so probably need a lot of work doing or could be some sort of con.  And not being an expert on boats it all feels like a bit of a risk.   For those 5 years paying off the loan I wouldn't have a lot of spare cash to improve a boat, and although I would be happy to learn how to do things it could be hard if I am living there at the same time. 

So I really need to think about whether this is something I can go forward with. It was never a very financially sensible plan, but I thought it could be fun and an adventure while I am young enough to enjoy it.  I'm not willing to take ridiculous risks though - its one thing to know you need to put aside a certain amount for ongoing maintenance and unexpected things going wrong, its another to have an absolute money pit that you can't afford to maintain.  

So if I decide not to go ahead with that plan, that would leave me with part buy part let houses in my area.  And since I don't like modern houses and I don't like housing estates, that is far from ideal as well!

Other than that, I'm just trying to stay cool in this heat.  Dog walks have been moved to early morning which means I don't have time to go swimming, so hopefully it will cool down soon!  Mental health is still a bit of a mess, but I am trying to acknowledge that and do things to help, but its not easy.  Its a lot easier helping someone else than acknowledging your own problems and being kind to yourself!

Oh, and I have increased my energy DD to £175 a month.  The company said it should only be £135, so this should pay off the remaining amount I underpaid, and put a nice cushion in there for winter.  Its so annoying when I know my maximum bill in the middle of winter 3 years ago was only about £70 though!

I hope every one is doing well and saving their pennies.  Now I have set up that fixed DD for my credit card I know I will be!  Need to stick to my budgets now as I have allocated almost everything!

WinterWarrior

Another home front lover here. I really loved the ‘back in time for dinner’ series on that era. I wonder if they have those on YouTube for @weenancyinAmerica to catch? 

Cheery_Daff

Ouch to the credit card interest! 😱 Sounds like you came up with a good plan to sort it though, well done. 

Didn't realise you were looking for a boat 😊 I used to live on one for a while (actually, maybe we did have this conversation before...). It was an ex boyfriend's - he bought it while we were together though. Cost about £22k, but that was a good 20 years ago 😂 Second hand, not as fancy as the new ones of course - needed a bit of maintenance but not a money pit. Can't believe they'd only lend £35k

SuzeQStan

Hey Elisheba -

just quick word of warning re your 9 x credit cards - they can harm your credit score if you allow any to go ‘dormant’ as I found out last month.  So I had a wallet workout and cancelled the card that told my credit file it was dormant plus another 2 credit cards that I hadn’t used for over 7 months.

I know credit scores aren’t vital really but it really annoyed me my score getting affected by a stupid dormant credit card!

If you ever need a friendly ear you have your MSE posse here - you are one of my favourite MSE people ❤️.  Hope you don’t mind me asking but what’s going on?  

Elisheba

Hi all,

Yes, @WinterWarrior I really like those series, and the Wartime Farm series as well. Do any of you remember the original Back in Time series with Sue Perkins and Giles Coren?  The one they did in the 70s made me chuckle.  So much booze!  I think they allocated half or maybe even a bottle of spirits for everyone at a party they hosted. They said it was absolutely lethal!   There are quite a few good WW2 novels and diaries on Kindle Unlimited if any of you have it.  Chelsea Concerto was amazing, although I still haven't read the sequel which is set in Germany I think.  Its basically a diary and based on her own experiences.

@Cheery_Daff I'm not sure if I have mentioned the boat idea on here before.  It been in my mind for at least 10 years now, and back then when I originally looked into it you could get a perfectly good second hand boat for about £30k, but prices have shot up in recent years sadly.

@SuzeQStan Thanks for the warning about the credit cards.  I'll look into it.  Regarding the mental health, there is nothing really going on - its just dodgy brain chemistry basically. It plays up sometimes, despite therapy and medication and exercise and meditation and anything else I try.  It could be so much worse, I know. There are some members of my family who suffer from psychosis, and some of them are bipolar, and some of them have depression they have never addressed and it has destroyed their lives.  For me its a propensity to depression and anxiety, but I generally manage it fairly well.  I think for me its a combination of rubbish genes and life difficulties and bottling things up, and sometimes that all combines to make my brain go a bit haywire.  

In money news, I bought another book today on Kindle.  Kindle Daily Deals really are my downfall.  Oh, and I popped into Waitrose before work on my dog walk and bought some loose leaf tea.  I am buying PG Tips just now, as although it is not the cheapest it it completely plastic free packaging and I think I should reward them for that!

Other than that I am just feeling quite proud for sorting out my new credit card yesterday.  I keep looking on my BC app to see if the balances have been transferred yet, as I will be paying interest on the BC one for every day it is still there!

I'm pondering whether I should buy a Morrisons e card through my works reward platform as you get an extra 6% added to it, and it works in petrol stations.  Not sure the fully automated Morrisons near me would take an e-gift card though.  I emailed Morrisons to ask, and they said the cards were valid at every petrol station, but that doesn't mean you are able to use them at automated ones.

I need to get my sister and a friend birthday presents this weekend, but so far have no idea what to get.  I'll need to have  think about it!

Hope you are all well, and not melting in the heat.

WinterWarrior

The Sue and Giles ones were excellent. I remember a (possibly) George v party were they got completely drunk 🤭

Cheery_Daff

I've used Morrisons e-gift cards at automatic terminals. We used to get them as part of some covid research we were part of. When it comes to payment, there's a 'gift card' option (have a look for it next time you're there) and you just scan the bar code on your phone (I always took a screenshot of mine in advance in case the Internet didn't work). It just takes off your balance, and if there's not enough on the gift card, you can pay the rest cash or bank card 😊 Sounds like it's worth doing - I might see if we have something similar.

Elisheba

Morning, all, 

I woke ridiculously early this morning, so I'm having a cup of tea in bed before in start the day.

Thanks for that, @Cheery_Daff. Sounds like it will be worthwhile for me to buy a Morrisons e gift card then. The 6% is a time limited deal, and and it'll go back to 4 or 5% soon so I might buy a £200 or £300 card to get the most out of it.

I'm in the office today, and have put aside a ready meal to zap in there for lunch. Will make a flask of coffee and take some custard cremes for the train journey as well. If I don't I almost always succumb to the tea trolley and it's £3.50 for a coffee and a Kit Kat so such a waste of money.

Strangely my train time seems to leave 10 minutes later than normal, and Trainline have given me the off peak fare. No idea why as it starts at a peak time and I normally have to pay most of it at peak amount, with only the last bit off peak. Still, long may it continue as that is almost £7 cheaper than I normally pay. 

I've had an email saying my balance transfers are in progress, so hopefully they will be done at some point today. 

I'm out tonight with a friend, and very much looking forward to it. It should still be hot, if not sunny, so we can sit outside and pretend we are on holiday! 

Hope everyone has a brilliant day! 

Cheery_Daff

Well done being organised enough to take a flak on the train!