My mortgage clobbering post

Frith

1st October!

Well, the Paypal account has had to be abandoned. They are uncontactable. I hope there wasn't much in there. 

Chipping away at the bills and backlog for electricity, gas and Virgin Media. My gas bill was £10 again last month so I should clear that debt in 4 months. 

I have used Olio quite a lot over the past few months or so as we have no money left for the final week each month. Some pizza bases, plenty of bread and occasional veg and salads. I've had a few courgettes from the garden and have left 2 to grow. We had one as a stuffed marrow and the other is still growing to make a lantern for Hallowe'en. 

I've also ebayed some of my clothes. It's surprising what makes a lot of money and what doesn't sell at all! All my clothes came from charity shops originally so it's all good. 

We live in a disadvantaged postcode so there was grant aid (?) money for the area and there are several things running for free or cheaply. I go to play chess and also badminton. There are other social events too and workshops. 

In other news, I now have a job! 12 hours a week for now. There seems a lot to learn (and memorise) but OK so far. 

Frith

November

Logged on to celebrate a premium bonds win this month! I only have £100 in there (given to me by my grandparents when I was born) so was happy to win £25 today. 

The job is going OK. Probation is 3 months but I don't think there have been any disasters so far. 

I am still paying off electricity and gas debts but we did get £150 knocked off the electricity debt for having a disabled person living in this house. The budget means (from April) that I will be able to earn a bit more before carer's allowance is taken off me. Also, I'm on the minimum wage so that will rise slightly. 

I'm generally still mending things. We have been here 16 months now but there is still a list. Son 2 fell down the stairs so pulling the carpet up, sanding, filling, sanding, painting (x3) and putting anti slip strips down went to the top of the list. I managed to rip a door handle off and fall over in my surprise, so have ordered "through bolts" today so that won't be going anywhere in future. I also got 500 bulbs using an MSE deal so have been weeding and planting today. 

Still sad about the ex moving out. I know he was a difficult person and it will be for the best long term but I still think about him every day. It has been 8 months nearly. 

I've doubled my pension contribution with my new job and the company match it up to 7.5%. ( I decided to pay 8% though I don't know much about pensions so I pulled that figure out of thin air!) I've also chosen new life insurance as mine finishes at the end of the month. 

I'm not sure 2024 has been the best of years. 

Anyway, more savings to come. Son 2's phone contract comes to an end in December (expensive because it was paying for his replacement phone) so we should be able to get it down to £6 a month. The broadband has also been expensive as we had a 24 month deal but had to get fibre fitted when we moved in (we didn't have so much as a landline!) That term will come to an end in July. Looking forward to clearing the debts for gas and electricity. 

Frith

Right, looking to have the kitchen floor tiled as it has been bare concrete for over a year. 

I had £200 in my savings account and transferred the £25 premium bonds win yesterday. Today I had some cashback from Quidco so it now looks like this:

Current account - £252.59
Savings account +£300.00

I did have the idea of spending almost nothing in November (the freezer is full and we have nowhere to go). It never works like that, though! I've been trying to get a window cleaner since I moved here (July 2023) as there are upstairs windows I can't get to over the extension and I don't think they've been cleaned in 10 years. He texted yesterday and is supposed to be coming today.

Also getting a tiling quotation today. Obviously neither the window cleaner nor the tiler will commit to a time. I'm going to clean the garage out as I have to stay in all day waiting for them...

10 points to go until I get £50 from YouGov !

KajiKita

Those last 10 points are always excruciating aren’t they! 😉😂

Hope the window cleaner is effective and both he and the tiler are cheap! 😉

KK

Frith

Oooo! £50 from Yougov! 

Savings account £350

KajiKita

Frith said:

Oooo! £50 from Yougov! 

Savings account £350

Well earned! 😊👏

KK

beanielou

Good news on You Gov. 

Have you thought about click vinyl or click laminate? 

beanielou

Have you looked at the social tariffs for broadband? They are well worth a look. 

Frith

Quick update:

I've changed Quidco so it pays into my savings account. That will take 2 days (from today) so £74 will be paid in on Friday.


Tiler coming tomorrow afternoon to quote.

Current account - £267
Savings account +£350

Frith

Tiler has been and gone. I would need 12 metres square of tiles and the labour would cost £1000 as it would need levelling. (It does need levelling as half way across is the join between the old kitchen and the newer extension). 

Getting paid tomorrow and my payslip says £557.90. I have my one month review tomorrow and am torn whether to say nothing at all or tell my manager that one person is making everyone's work life miserable. I don't know the definition of bullying in the workplace but they are surely getting close...I have never had to complain about a colleague EVER before. 

I have a loyalty card offer that gives me eleventy billion points if I spend £25 on clothing (more than I spend in a year!) so I shall combine it with my staff discount and get the traditional new Christmas Eve pyjamas for my sons tomorrow. 

Just transferred £50 and hopefully Quidco will transfer the £74 cashback tomorrow. 

Anyway, pre being paid and pre cashback it looks like this:

Current account - £375
Savings account +£400