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

Spendless

Thank you both.

Day before Mr S gets paid and we end the month with £39 left - though not really as my bank shows the following days transactions so I can see that we are really about to go £75 overdrawn but also that wages are due to be paid in. This is the first time this has happened that theres not really anything to put into savings from leftover wages since early 2023. So, what caused it? Basically an additional night in a hotel whichever way you look at it. One wasnt anticipated and needed due to a red tape delay re studying abroad, that wouldnt have mattered if we hadnt slipped up with not knowing the ts & cs  booking a hotel for a night before a flight we will go on in a few weeks. We live nowhere near the preferred airport with the most direct flights so an overnight hotel is a must. Still, I dont think one blip in a 2.5 yr period is bad. 

 As the amt to go out will coincide with wages going in Im not taking from another account to even things out. I will deal with everything tomorrow when the money is there. 

Tomorrow we have a carpet being fitted so need to pay for that plus a dental appt. Ive literally just missed payday at my new workplace. So Ill continue as before with student rent until I receive a wage and then will reassess figures. 
 

Honeysucklelou2

Congratulations on the new job.  How exciting to be able to go and visit your DD while she is abroad…something to look forward to.

Spendless

Another finances day. I have the money saved in my ISA for the studying abroad expenses (so glad I saved for them!) and that needed to be used to pay off the CC only Im currently on a preferential interest rate until early Sept so Mr S said hed take from his ISA instead which is low interest. Then we had to wait for that figure to appear in our bank account before being able to pay the CC. In going thru the figures we discovered we'd been charged a whacking £60 to pay DD's overseas rent by CC. We'd missed it because we'd already had a late charge applied but we knew that, when there was the red tape visa delay it was the better of the two evils to accept a late charge than commit to something that might have had to be delayed for weeks.

Anyway we found a bank account to send the overseas rent to that only charges a few £s. Our own bank rang later to question if it was a fraudulent transaction. Quite like their security. Think it had flagged because you put a nominal amt in first to open it and then a large sum was transferred and sent abroad. Reassured bank it was all legit (we'd checked it out) and why we were sending. 

Mr S got paid today along with the missing bonus from last month and I *think* some tax back. It doesnt make it clear on his wage slip but I think working out last months wages plus bonus minus tax he's had a refund. He still needs to speak to HMRC about previous years being wrong but didnt get chance to do that today because .....

Our carpet that was due to be delivered today didnt come. The company rang this morning, theyd discovered it was damaged and knew we wouldnt want it. Only we'd paid for it in full and last night had moved all furniture into another room completely cluttering it. The dog was already sulking that the old carpet had been taken up days ago and he now had a hard floor to lie on, but since he still has his dog bed, the sofas and the hallway carpet to sleep on, thought he was just being a diva, now with no living room furniture and inaccessible dining room, I could feel his pain. Mr S WFH so managed at lunchtime to go visit carpet place. Asked about carpet from the roll rather than a roll end and they agreed to do it for the same price due to the situation, so more expensive carpet for less money - result, even if dog is still sulking- lol. It is being fitted early next week. Already finding the joy of part time working and time off midweek.

Dentist didnt find any cavities so bill was cheap, but do need to book hygienist, which will do once I fully know my work pattern for next few weeks. 

Waiting for Mr S to finish on a conference call and going out for our tea since you cant get to our table to eat.

Enjoy the weekend everyone. 

Spendless

Honeysucklelou2 said:

Congratulations on the new job.  How exciting to be able to go and visit your DD while she is abroad…something to look forward to.

Thank you. Where she now lives is where it was my dream to visit with both kids for their 21st and 18th birthdays which fell in March 2021. Had been my dream since youngest was born 3 years after eldest was born and I knew they'd get their  special birthdays in the same month. I never dreamt we'd be in a pandemic though and unable to go, so thrilled this is now becoming a reality. 

Spendless

I always think of early Sept as more time for new beginnings than Jan. I think it's a combo of  the academic year from both my own schooldays and my kids affecting me plus my bday falls this month along with being able to sense changes in the air and seeing the first signs of Autumn.

So the new beginnings - yesterday the new carpet was fitted (hurrah) and it has really smartened the place up. Amazing what a difference flooring can make. Long term this room needs a lot more work this is just a temp fix. Want to change the curtains too. The door to the room had to come off as underlay too thick, that's being looked at at the weekend.

Each day I'm at home I try and do things that come under the category 'home' 'health' or 'wealth' just to ensure I'm being productive and not procrastinating. Yesterday with the carpet fitters here I decided that I'd just sit out of the way  and create a spreadsheet for paying daughter's London rent. The part time job that I now have though fab for my well-being and being able to spend time with my parents and being home when we have workmen in, doesn't pay enough to meet all daughter's monthly rent, the way my f-time job did with money over. I can meet 3 weeks out of 4 (or 5) but not beyond that. I worked out if I continue to take the same amt from Mr S wages towards it until the end of 2025, then we have a plan to get through till the end of the tenancy with a shortfall that works out at £70 per month until around  this time next year  . I think this is doable, just gives me another target each month. To help with this we discovered we had a £1,000 credit with our energy provider. Mr S was about to ask for a chunk back when he received an email yesterday reducing our monthly DD from £319 to £135, so I'm not sure if we can still ask for an overpayment back. Does anyone know? The £319 p.m bill was down to me, out of work in the winter 23/24 and with DH working away a lot, I was keeping myself occupied by running a very large bath every evening for 'something to do' . We ended up with 2 very large consecutive quarters of heating usage. We were on water rates then so I didn't think anything of it and hadn't considered how much energy was being used to heat the water! I'm a lot more mindful now! Even if we can't get anything back a bill reduction of over £180 a month will be very welcome. It also means that the only household bill we haven't managed to reduce over the last few months is our household insurance and that is due for renewal in November when it will be looked at.

Plans for today include tidying up the house cos I was so restricted yesterday with furniture in different rooms and hopefully doing a grocery shop. 

cbsexec

I think you can still request your credit back as the monthly payments should reflect what the energy company believe your consumption and therefore your bills will be going forward 

Spendless

Thanks cbsecex - I will ask Mr S to ring them next week. He has had an email from HMRC and they are sending him a cheque for some overpaid tax. Unsure if thats all the years refunded that have had the incorrect coding or if there's still one more to be looked at. Either way it is a nice chunk to receive and will pay for our upcoming hol instead of us taking it from savings.

Only just realised its Friday today so moved £5 into my accounts. There is now £17 each in lost and stolen pots, £19 in Jabberwocky. Really looking forward to next week when Jabberwocky can become a round figure.

Date of DD's UK rent has changed. Had to rejig my spreadsheet and on doing so discovered Id missed a week out. That would mean finding £86 a month more instead of the £70 I said. It just seems so much more a bigger figure to find. Not sure what to do, part of me thinks leave it at the end of that time, if youre purely scrambling around for 1 weeks rent youll find it you have before instead of having too much pressure each month. 

Spendless

Today is a round robin sort of day. I'm meeting an old schoolfriend for lunch. On the way there I need petrol and may possibly call in a supermarket to check out their choc range to add to Nan's 100th bday gift.

I've already walked the dog and washed pots, down a laundry load and pegged it out.  How did I ever manage to work full time? All this was so difficult when I worked 40 hours even when my workplace was nearby. The only thing that seemed to be good for was the wages at the end of the month and paying enough NI to qualify for any contributory  benefits if  I needed to claim. Reducing hours was never available to me, I work in an area where the private sector only ever has full time positions and doesn't employ part timers. 

I'm liking the part time hours I've  now got even if the wages are low and I had to accept the compromise of working weekends/BH in return for this. I am old enough to draw from a small private pension I have and if I find myself out of work again in the next 6-12 months I intend doing this and calling it early retirement. I will be fetching this up with our FA as we've a meeting set up for the end of the month.

At the weekend me and Mr S went thru our credit cards which were a 2nd month of them steaming. However due to being owed money back (from HMRC/energy co)  we can pay off most or possibly all of our hol coming up which we were initially going to take from savings, leaving only the new carpet and a family meal we did prior to daughter leaving as the 2 things to be pulled from there. 

Spendless

Friday and Ive moved £5. Jabberwocky now has £20 in it. £19 each in lost and stolen. Nice to see these figures at or  heading towards starting with a 2.

Energy company agreed to give half the crefit back. We'd asked for 70% 'otherwise there wouldnt be enough for the winter period' Hmmm. Will keep a close eye on what we're using. 

Tax code thats been wrong for a few years. Received a cheque for 2 of these years, current tax year already refunded. One more being worked out. Im glad that this chunk is being repaid back out and will certainly put it to good use, but the frustration that its been there for years and gone unnoticed. If it had been spotted previously we could have paid our credit card debt off months earlier. Reminded Mr S that the onus is on him to check his tax code! 

Lunch with friend was lovely. It was a chain that Id been to once before and wasnt impressed but friend had a 25% off voucher, so thought give it a go and was pleasantly surprised.  A starter to share, 2 mains. 2 desserts and 2 bottomless soft drinks came to £53 using voucher. Then we went to some nearby shops and picked up gifts for birthday presents, which included me getting something for Nan who is 100 this weekend. There is a 'party' at her house, for relatives to drop in to. It was decided to go down this route just in case we booked somewhere and her health then wasnt up to attending. It also gives the opportunity for any extended family or friends to pop in. Food has come from Morrisons £100 party food for 30 and a larger made to order cake from Sainsbury's. 

Enjoy the weekend everyone 

Spendless

This weekend was Nan's 100th bday. She received her bday card from the King. You don't have to send off for this bday card if bday person is resident in UK and in receipt of a state pension, it comes automatically. If they don't meet that criteria or it's for a wedding anniversary then you do apply (thought I'd mention this cos I've had several people say to me that they thought it needed to be applied for).

We had an  'open house' party  at Nans and 27 guests came and we all enjoyed it. This was what we ordered for food  and it was really easy to do, I'm  mentioning it cos I have read on dairies before where people have events/celebrations coming up and are worried about cost. This easily fed everyone there with a little left over.  
https://groceries.morrisons.com/offers/party-food-bundle-for-100-serves-30/promo-ui-13f22815062c4e1fb254c2ed580d183a?srsltid=AfmBOoovUap0nmatIQz30dXWazRrLj59HKeHJ7eHP8e9XeaaKqgj9WBv

Mum added some HM sausage rolls and a large shop bought quiche, thinking the age range attending would be more likely to go for them (which weren't an option in the bundle) than the Indian snacks (that were). She was correct. Sticking with the 'traditional route' Mum also chose coleslaw & potato salad which I personally didn't think the best I've ever tasted, so if ordering again I'd choose an alternative from that section. We also added a bday cake. Again this was a supermarket one (from Sainsbury's) but because it served more (24 I think) had to be ordered in advance. We went down the supermarket route for catering not just due to cost but also because of the flexibility of being able to cancel within so many days just in case Nan wasn't able to have her party due to il health.

Tax man has written to Mr S acknowlegeding that a 'system error' has meant he has overpaid tax despite a change in circs meaning that his code changed after the 21/22 tax year, which they were informed of (thank goodness the letter acknowledging this at the time was kept!) however they can't work out what is owed back?? So, it will take some time to do so and they don't know how long that'll be, but they need his bank details to pay any refund into. More ??? from me cos they paid 2 prev tax years out in a cheque a week or two ago, so why are they saying they're no longer doing it? Glad we're not reliant on the money! Energy company hasn't refunded yet either! Urgghhh! In more cheque related news the company that DH works for in the US can only pay his expenses (flight) back in cheque form only our bank is not accepting foreign cheques any more after a certain date (which is before DH is due to next be out there). Thankfully the company has agreed to send a cheque in advance which is good of them, so we can get it paid in before our bank stops accepting them.


Also in the post was a survery about sport and active lifestyle that both me and DH could fill in and that means we should bothe receive a £5 voucher for a retailers. Hoping that can be put  towards any little items for Xmas gifts. 

The carpet we bought for our living room a few weeks ago is so nice and really made the room look smarter. We've now arranged for a plasterer to come and skim our bedroom, which is the only upstairs room we've not done - other than a lick of paint about 15 years ago! Looking forward to this room being done because once it is we are just on to the 'big ticket' expense for redecoration/refurbishment which we will aim to do one at a time.