Ditching It

caeler

Well done for persisting though, so annoying when things don't go smoothly, but sorted now! @SpendingPennies

Bella_Budget

Hi spendingpennies just catching up on your diary. I hope you get the energy switch sorted. We had a nightmare with a smart meter thay was clocking up usage when no energy was being used resulting in a cold house as I was terrified to turn the heating on and astronomical bills. We only got refunded because I  paid to have the meter removed and tested myself. It can be so stressful 

SpendingPennies

So the gas switch is now going ahead in a couple of weeks time, electric is already complete. Hoping we will see a reduction in payments now. Our monthly costs have been high due to having been under charged for a few years and ending up with a large deficit. We haven’t been on the best rate for the last few months either because we didn’t want to lock back in to that supplier anymore. So hoping to see a saving of at least £60 pcm, hopefully nearer a £100pcm.  (we’ve been paying £280 pcm recently 😊) 

Been having a bit of a re-evaluation of payment priorities recently. We are easily saving the £1000 per month for the over payment, helped massively by being in lockdown and having loads of NSDs I was going to increase the overpayment to pay the balance down more quickly. But I have changed my mind. I also have an outstanding balance on my car payment, it’s 0% so I had planned to let it run its natural course. But after having had various credit card and other debts in the past, I now hate the idea of being in any debt. So I am now paying the car balance down as soon as I can. 

But also, one of the many things which Covid has shown is that you never know what life might throw at you next, so you need to make the most of what you have, and spend quality time with those closest to you. So it’s going to be important to us to put aside some money for holidays etc. Obviously not going anywhere right now, so plenty of time to get saving for a nice break next year or the year after. 

SpendingPennies

New Council Tax bill arrived today, it’s gone up to over £2700 p.a. Seems like the biggest increase is for the Police and Crime Commissioner. Bit of a joke when all the local police stations have closed, nearest is now over 20 miles away. Can’t remember the last time I saw any police presence, they certainly don’t turn up if any crime has been committed. Grrr. 

powerspowers

Sounds like you are doing well pennies, keep at it! I’ve started a holiday savings pot, just to give me something to look forward to 😆 

SpendingPennies

Thanks Powers. I think I am getting obsessed with wanting a foreign holiday. Probably something to do with working from home this past year and the monotony of the same four walls. I don’t realistically think there’s much hope of foreign travel this year, but hoping for a camping trip or two in the Summer instead. I’ve not really done much camping in the last twenty years or so because I like my creature comforts and also love the sunshine. But there are plenty of benefits for camping in the UK, it’s much better for the environment, great to get close to nature and of course much more MSE 🥳

SpendingPennies

So we booked three camping trips, one each in June, July and August. Starting off close to home with a short trip further along the Dorset coast, the next trip a couple of hours from home and finally a week in North Wales, Covid restrictions permitting. We now have some mini adventures to look forward to, and it should be very MSE so long as I don’t buy too many camping accessories 😂 I have bought a rather gorgeous chandelier for the bell tent which raised a few eyebrows in the SpendingPennies household, but it was the one thing I set my heart on when we bought the tent last year. I have promised myself that I won’t be splurging on any other glamping accessories but we may need a couple of less boho essentials such as something to sleep on. We have most other camping essentials in the shed, I will need to get them out and literally dust off the cobwebs.

More worrying for me, we are about to tackle some expensive landscaping work. This worries me because we have a previous track record of starting big jobs without having the funds available. Last year we had some major structural work done on the house which was funded by the sale of a small property overseas.  The work is complete and the house is looking great. We used the left over budget to pay off a credit card, treat the kids and pay for a new car for me. But months worth of work has left the front garden and driveway absolutely obliterated. It’s all uneven, so we get massive puddles when it rains, and it’s all covered in lumps of plaster,  cement  churned up soil etc, much of the concrete driveway is cracked and damaged from where we had to have additional down pipes installed. So we are going to dig it all out and start again. Even doing the work ourselves it looks like it is going to cost about £7000, possibly more.

 We only have about £2000 spare at the moment. I don’t want to dip into the mortgage fund or stop  our monthly overpayments. So the challenge will be to plan the work and pay for what we need at the right time, spreading the cost and adding to our funds over the next three or four months,  making sure nothing goes on a credit card. Luckily I enjoy a challenge. 

SpendingPennies

Gosh it’s April already and another pay day. Normal mortgage payment  and over payment are still a few days away, so very little money saving news.
But as we have now completed a quarter of a year of our new budget conscious regime, I thought I would do a summary. First and foremost we have successfully put aside an extra £1000 per month on top of our regular payment. This is the first time in 30 years we have achieved this, and we are 100% committed to it. And it wasn’t too difficult. Loads of no spend days, helped no doubt by lockdown. But our change in priorities has seen a change in habit. We almost never spend money unless something is budgeted for and really needed. I guess the challenge will be maintaining this for the next 6 or 7 years. 

Also need to keep an eye on expenditure over the next two or three months whilst we carry out further home improvements, making sure we pay as we go and don’t use credit cards. We are very focused on making our house as lovely as possible to enhance its value. Recent house sales in our immediate area have shown us that ours is probably worth at least £100k more than we previously thought. This gives us some exciting options for the future once the mortgage is paid off. It’s always good to have something to look forward to, right?
My other non MSE goals have had varying success. Work is going well, doing a good job of making myself needed and secure in my role. Weight loss plans not going so well. I’m still happily doing Veganuary,  but haven’t been sticking to my fitness goals. So I am still 11lbs heavier than last year when I was an active gym member. Hoping to get outside more now that Spring is here. Wishing everyone in MSE land a Happy Easter. 

SpendingPennies

Savings snaffle complete today, and another £1000 into the mortgage overpayment account. Yay. 

SpendingPennies

Not many diary updates this month, mainly because there’s not been much money saving activity going on. Been plenty of money splurging instead. We’ve spent a lot of money on our driveway, doing all the work ourselves, haggling on the cost of tool hire and materials has kept it down to around £1500 so far. We ended up unexpectedly replacing our drains and water supply pipes too.  Lots more work to do but we managed to stay in the black this month, have a couples of meals out with friends (so cold !!) and still meet our savings targets. So it’s been a successful month but pay day couldn’t come soon enough 🥳