A new chapter, An empty nest, Drama school & Last year of Uni

Spendless

That's another feature my new account has. It tells you how much you've put in in the current tax year and how much of your allowance you have left that you still could, so acts as a reminder. It was that that made me think my 'spare' savings would be better off in there.

Bought Easter eggs for both kids and a heap of little ones cos DH wants to treat the employees in his dept. Both were on Nectar deals at Sainsbury's. £2.50 instead of £4 for DS & DD. £1 each for DH's staff

Spendless

I got a text message saying there had been potentially fraudulent activity on my account. I dismissed it as a scam text initially but Mr S (who was working away so this was via a phone call) was persuading me to ring my bank about it. I did this after I spotted that a small transaction (under 40p) had gone through and I knew that wasn't me. Security informed me that they'd been several attempts to use my card on various websites all abroad, most had been declined this one had gone through. My card has been cancelled  a replacement on it's way and the small amt charged refunded to me. 

This week has been stressful, issues with DD's course and exchange term and at my work. I know eventually things iron out and you can reflect more positively but currently I can't get away from my way of thinking that you still have to go through it all first, which is affecting me on a weekend because I can't totally relax. We are going out with friends this weekend which I'm looking forward to but all the stress is at the back of my mind too and I find myself to unswitch off.

 

Spendless

Got a problem. Can anyone help. I had a bank statement for a cash ISA I opened years ago and there's slightly under £82 in it. Interest is  at 1% I earned 96p interest  last year. I haven't contributed to this account during the current tax year. I was thinking of closing it when I could but I've seen my new online ISA I could transfer the money from the old one  so I started the process but I'm not sure what one of the questions means. 

 The question asked is 'How much have you deposited into the cash ISA you want to transfer this tax year. Please note we cannot accept partial transfers' I'm unsure if it means how much have you deposited into the cash ISA you want to transfer from this tax year (answer zero - not a penny  ) or does it mean how much have you deposited into the cash ISA you want to transfer to  this tax year (several thousand but not at £20k limit and putting is this money wont take me over either). I've logged out because I don't know which it means. Would like to get it sorted today if possible cos it does say upto 15 working days to transfer  and I'm crossing fingers it would be in time for the current tax year. 

Brewerspride

It's how much you have deposited in your old ISA (this tax year), so zero going off what you've said above.

Spendless

Thank you so much. Ive completed the transaction to transfer now. 

Spendless

This weekend we are having a joint  lunch for both Mother's day and daughter's bday. Latter coming back for the weekend but has to return for her actual day. To keep costs low we've decided on a hot buffet lunch using items which we mostly have in. Thinking of
a Mild chilli - have mince, onions, beans, chopped toms/passata, chilli flakes
Saag Curry - Have chicken, jar of curry sauce - need to buy spinach.
Have naans, chapattis, garlic bread and rice to accompany above.
Gammon joint, salad, HM potato salad, HM coleslaw - Have salad, new potatoes, cabbage, onion
Need to buy gammon and carrots (for coleslaw).

I found a chocolate  cupcake mix in the cupboard yesterday  and gave t to Mum to work magic with in a way I  just wouldn't  achieve. I intended buying a cake from M&S using a giftcard DH was given from his employer last year. I'd had difficulty using it a few months ago so we checked the balance online and to our surprise it said zero! I haven't spent anything and it's not expired. I can only think something went wrong when his company ordered them (they're given out sometimes as a bonus if certain targets are met). I went to M&S anyway slightly miffed I needed to use real cash -lol  I found a Connie Cake  reduced by around 40% it has a crack in part of the chocolate on top, which I reckon can be hidden by a candle anyway.

Mother's day presents - I bought Mum a paperback book I know she'll enjoy. This was paid for by Amazon points which we'd accumulated through our credit card. I have also added some caramel treats (chocs, biscuits, sauce for ice cream etc) which is Mum's fav flavour and put the whole lot in a hamper I had in. 

Daughter's bday. Using the hotel loyalty points we purchased a giftcard which in turn paid 5/6th of a present she'd requested. I bought another item from Vintd and another via a subscription though they've not sent exactly what she was hoping for. I should have checked the receipt when I set it up in the shop, so have paid for another month just to get item she really wanted. I also picked up some little bits in discount and outlet stores from B&M and Bodyshop. Plus have 2 items that I picked up last year abroad (1 clothing, 1 electrical) that we held back at Christmas. 

Sunshine_girl2

What a well thought out weekend . Enjoy your time together. 

Spendless

I bought a parent/child Tesco giftcard a few weeks back and gave it to DD. She said she hadn't used it and had turned her digs upside down looking for it to no avail. Yesterday   I checked the balance on my parent bit at Tesco CS. There was a balance on it of £10.15 Though I couldn't remember how much I had put on it, I knew it would have been a round number either £15 or £20, I thought DD must have used some of it, forgotten she'd done so and then lost it. I decided to use the parent part to pay for my shopping and used £8.20 leaving a balance of £1.95 (I have the receipt that shows this)

Later in the evening after I picked DD up from the station, she asked if we had some personal hygiene items at home, if not could we call and get them. I said I'd call at Tesco and used the remaining money on the card. Imagine my surprise when it didn't go through either by scanning or inputting the code. There was nothing on it. Daughter can't have mislaid it like she thought, she's either dropped it or someone has taken it and they have used it. She def didn't use it herself as she'd come straight from college was still wearing her uniform  when I picked her up and the only Tesco she passed enroute is currently closed for a refurb. Just glad I got to buy £8 worth of groceries with it before someone else took the lot! 

Going forward we've decided that sending an e -gift card is a better choice.

PollyWollyDoodle

Just de-lurking to say firstly how much I enjoy your diary, but also that I’ve come across this problem of fraud on gift cards and it seems to be a growing thing. 

Recently, some friends and I got together to buy a JL gift card for another friend, it was a significant amount of money.  When she went to use it, she was told it had already been redeemed.  She knew this wasn’t the case, so pushed for an answer and was eventually told it had been used in a store on the other side of the country, somewhere she has never visited.  

JL were extremely reluctant to deal with the matter, and insisted that she must have  ‘forgotten’ that she had used it. As she said, she thinks she would have remembered the journey to this location even if she didn’t recall spending it! They would not admit that fraud was possible. 

Eventually one of our group posted something on Twitter, and amazingly JL came back with a full refund and an apology.  I don’t know how the fraud is committed, but it’s definitely happening.  

Spendless

Hi polly - Thanks for stopping by. Glad you enjoy the diary. That's really interesting (and shocking!)  because I was prepared to dismiss the Tesco child card as DD dropping it and someone taking advantage. I was even looking at the balance on the receipt  after I'd used the parent bit when I typed the last post double checking I'd not misunderstood something.

The love2shop ones from DH's employer, again I put this down to an error at the supply chain. I thought company had paid for say 100, supplier had sent out 101 and Mr S had ended up with the 'dud'. Since I've read your post I'm not so sure.

We also purchased a JL giftcard  recently using DH's loyalty points, which we then used to cover most of the cost of a bag for DD's bday. Fortunately it now seems; no sooner was the card received then we were on JL website ordering said item. This is going to be key now I think going forward. We have an occasion where we got a gfitcard again  then it needs to be used pronto.  

Glad JL made the apology and refunded for you even if they only did it by having their arm twisted first!

The mother's day/bday hot buffet went down well. My Mum added HM sausage rolls and brownies in addition to the cupcakes I'd asked her to. They stretched far further than the 6 the box claimed they made. Mum said that was because there was only 5 cupcake cases in the uopened box and since there was 6 of us, she instead needed to use her own which were bun cases and a lot smaller. Still did an amazing job. 

 Today is DD's bday. I realised late last night I've forgotten to give her one of her presents, it's still in a cupboard here. It's an electrical item to be used abroad, so think there's little point in handing it over now, when it can't be used. Will have to decide whether we give it as a belated gift or just as a leaving present for when she goes to study in another country. We let her raid our food cupboard for groceries and also some alcohol for her to throw a celebration tonight and have also offered to pay for pizza upto a set amount.

Later today I will grocery shop for our food replacements.