Budgeting by the beach

DaisyCheerings

One of my banks have now reduced my credit card from £10k to £500.00 based on "an affordability check" which I believe relates back to British Gas and their shenanigans.  I never come close to using £10K and I pay my credit card balance as soon as it shows, based on using a credit card just for the security, but I also liked having access to a strong emergency fund if I really needed it in a rush.

I'm more confused now too on if it's been fixed or not as some credit agencies are reporting 6 missed payments, another is down to 1 missed payment and most of my reports are now stating that my numbers are improving, except for 1 which says it's getting worse.  I'm sure they all take some time to catch up but it's very frustrating and confusing on what needs fixing right now.  I've also tried adding a note to my credit report, but get sent round and round in circles on that too.  I'll keep at it.

I'm keeping on top of my shopping budget, and I have to be so conscious of what I'm spending and am on track for the extra £12 from Morrisons.  I also went to Waitrose and found the most amazing Belgian chocolate hot cross buns.  I'm managing to have just one a day, which is really good for me.  

Just recently I've started to consider taking HRT.  I've never seen myself as needing it, but some social media posts I've seen make me think that some negative things going on in my body over the last few years could be due to the menopause. I've made an appointment to speak to the local well woman clinic to see if it can help.  I can at least try it for a while and see how I go.  Is there anyone else out there who's tried it with any negative or positive feedback?  I'd really appreciate it.

On a more positive note, I may be going away in June.  A few of us have started talking about wanting a big trip away, and I'm really tempted.  Financially my house needs so much doing to it that I should spend anything spare I get on that, but emotionally I need a trip away with friends.  Nothing is definite yet, but I'm hoping it will happen.

I hope everyone is having a great week, so far.

savingholmes

How frustrating on the CC. I hate BG with a passion. Can only advise switching away from them and resolving that way.

doingitanyway

It has been nice updating myself on your diary.

Overall you sound content and balanced.
Well done on the shopping budget as it is something you used to struggle with.
If you can go away with friends do so. The house stuff can wait. With houses there are always things that need doing, and as long as they are not 'must do' items it's ok 

Is it worth contacting the bank? That drop seems a bit dramatic. 

Have a fab weekend

DaisyCheerings

Thank you SavingHolmes.  I absolutely will be moving from them after this.  I've not actually had any issues before this, but that's when you really see what a company is like when they don't even understand what the problem is that they are causing and just say "You can be confident that this is all ok and nothing further needs to be done".

DaisyCheerings

Thank you for catching up with my pottering DoingItAnyway.  I am finding the shopping budget easier to manage now I'm so much more mindful of what I have and what I'm spending.  I also put that money into a separate account and I can really recommend it.

With the bank, it's an automatic procedure to reduce the amount of credit they're prepared to risk on you when they see your credit going down on a regular monthly basis.  I'll reassess once I have British Gas sorted and my credit rating rises back to where it should be.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend. 

DaisyCheerings

Another sunny day.  I had to pop into the village this morning to get a few bits and couldn't resist another freshly baked tiger loaf from the bakery.  I also bought a gyspy tart as that's another thing I crave.  I used to love them at school and a few years ago I went on a personal research project to find a recipe.  Now I can find them quite regularly from a couple of places here.

I needed to buy a card for a friend's birthday, but I was a bit too early for the card shop so I took a walk to the beach for half an hour while I waited.  It was so peaceful and there was enough wind that brought in some nice wave crashes to the shore which is so relaxing to listen to.

The holiday in June is just a week off.  A specific location hasn't been decided on yet (I don't care where we go and a list of choices has already been put together so I've said I'll go along with the majority vote), but it's during a week I have already booked off, so I think it's a sign. 😁.  Also, thanks doingitanyway for showing me it isn't a bad thing to go away with friends, especially as I haven't had a proper holiday with them since 2019. I've also been asked to dog sit for a couple of weeks in May which I'm happy to do, but I love being at home so I'm struggling with confirming that at the moment!!!!  Des

A friend of mine has asked me to make some fun items for a friend's birthday, but I've run out of sublimation ink so have had to order that.  It's eye watering how much the inks cost, but I should at least get my money back on them when it's all done.  I was hoping to get started on the items today, but can't do anything until the inks arrive.

Instead I guess I should be doing some bits in the house.  I have 2 bits of furniture to put together for the living room and a high painting table for the workshop.  I currently have a standard IKEA dining table in there at the moment and my back is in bits after about 20 minutes of trying to do anything as I have to hunch over.

A quick British Gas update:  I went through complaints on Wednesday.  The customer complaints email no longer works so I went to the complaints live chat. The person I spoke with understood the issue immediately and said that it's unacceptable this is happening based on my payments being made immediately and having nothing outstanding.  I think the issue now is that they don't know what the delinquent payments are actually referring to as although there is an account number, my credit report only shows the last 4 digits of that account number and those digits don't relate to anything that I've seen before on my bills.  My credit report is up to date on my current address etc and I haven't received any bills in the post of any missed payments so I think it must just be a glitch in the system.  It's now been escalated to "the correct department" and I'm waiting for them to fix it.  I was told I'd be updated on Wednesday afternoon but heard nothing, so chased it yesterday (Friday).  They confirmed that it's been escalated (they won't tell me to which department) and that I should hear something back within the next few days.  I'll give it until Tuesday and then I'll chase again if I haven't received an update by then.  I'm assuming I don't receive any updates at the moment as they're still trying to figure out why this is happening from their systems.

Happy Saturday to all.  I hope the weekend is as beautiful where you are as it is here. ☀️

savingholmes

On BG - I got quoted days often - but in practice it took them over 3.5 months to resolve my issue. They gave me a £60 credit though. Make sure you ask for compensation.

DaisyCheerings

Thanks savingholmes.  I definitely will be asking for compensation as this has been so stressful for me, and completely due to their mistake.  Was your issue a wrong credit report update or something different?

DaisyCheerings

Based on savingholmes letting me know the delay with British Gas I'll ask for my next update tomorrow and every Wednesday until it's fixed.  I think I can go to the ombudsman after 6 weeks but I'm not sure if that's 6 weeks after my first complaint or 6 weeks after my first request to get it fixed, which went through Customer Service.  I think, in fairness, I should wait 6 weeks after my initial contact to complaints last week as they were the first ones who seemingly understood the issue.

In other news, my weekend was very economic.  I had a few extra things to pay for this month which I hadn't built up budgets for, so it's hitting me a bit now.  I'm actually fine as far as food shopping goes, in fact now I'm more mindful I actually don't need to go shopping this week, but I'm on my last "bonus points" week, so will buy longer lasting items like tuna cans and things for the freezer to spend enough for the bonus £12.

I'm trying to learn more ways of cooking with an air fryer and I'm enjoying the process.  I've never cooked halloumi at all before, but it works really well in the air fryer (cut into slices, 8 minutes at 185 on one side.  Turn over and cook for a further 2 minutes).  I've been adding that to a wrap with some salad and mayo and really enjoying it.  I've also found that tinned potatoes which are currently around 40p for a tin, cook really well in the air fryer too, in case anyone needs a very cheap end of month meal idea.  They are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside which I assume is because they're in salt water in the tin.  I generally cook everything random at 185, and I can't remember how long I cook them for.

A while back there was an air fryer program on TV which I watched at my Mum's and the girl there had some good recipes so I'm going to try those at some point and will report back here.

My Sky membership ends at the end of May so I'm probably going to cancel it.  I rarely watch TV as such, I just watch YouTube and Netflix which are already apps on my TV.  I will just need to find an internet only subscription from somewhere before I try to cancel so that I know the prices involved in case they offer me a great deal.

Yesterday I cut the grass in my back garden.  I did a little scour around to make sure there was nothing that could be harmed.  It was probably a touch too early though as the ground was spongy from all the wet weather we've had for so long, but I'm also glad it's done.  I'll cut the front when it's been dry out for a week.

Work has been really intense today, so much so I have a really heavy headache.  I had to give a presentation to all people with the same job role as I have for them to also join in and scrutinise some details.  It hurt my introvert brain, but I did manage to keep the energy going for the duration.

I hope the week has started well for everyone.

savingholmes

Well done on the presentation.

My BG issue was I switched a second fuel to them and rather than a single direct debit they were taking too much out twice a month. They write to you when you can go to ombudsman which in my case was months before their resolution.