Little by little, and with love

RosaBernicia

I have a tax refund, yay!  Must check when I can do the 21-22 tax year claim as it will also be well worth doing, and no need to wait so long when it could be in my bank account instead of theirs!  And already some of the pet insurance money has come through, hopefully there will be more. 

I also have the spendy itches .  I think I use YNAB as displacement activity as fiddling with the budget keeps me from browsing other things, and now it's set up and sorted I'm running out of moneysaving fidgets I find myself looking for something!  There isn't really much I need though, so I'm doing my usual trick of leaving things sitting in online shopping baskets and have 'hidden' some money in a new 'buffer' category.  I already funded the house stuff that needs doing this month and I've given myself some leeway by leaving money still to be allocated, but didn't want that to be lots as it makes me nervous .  I keep feeling like I've forgotten something, but my categories all seem ok. 

Fidgeted with the energy bills yesterday, but as far as I can work out the fixed deal I'm being offered works out to pretty much the same cost as 6 months on the April cap plus 6 months on the predicted October cap.  Dithering, as it would keep the standing charges down over the summer when I'm not using as much anyhow.  I did get out the heated airer and haul it upstairs though, as I figured it can be used as extra heating in the bedroom and will be cheaper than either using the tumble dryer or putting all the radiators on for longer.  I need to adjust back to doing the washing first thing so that it can go on the line, now spring is hopefully on its way.  

RosaBernicia

More little by little today...

• Put the remaining savings budget line into PBs.  Must try and remember to do this every month rather than waiting, otherwise I'm giving up potential winning tickets!
  
• Paid the storecard CC, clearing the balance.  Think I should be due another points voucher from them shortly, not sure what to do with them.  It is nearly an hour's drive to the store and I'm finding alternatives to the things I used to get from this chain.  Maybe I'll just save them up and use them online for clothes or something. Or maybe I should be looking for a different card for regular spending.  Will have a look on the MSE site. 
  
• Sent some money to DEC, as that was Martin's recommendation.  I was dithering on where to donate so that solves it. Not sure what else to do, as I haven't sorted out the clothes waiting for sale/ donation and most of them are not exactly practical.  I deliberately don't watch TV news and I am sticking with my habit of checking headlines in the middle of the day - it helps nobody to get too upset to function in my own life. 
  
• Sent a couple of emails about sorting the garden.  This feels more important as I like to grow veg, and having things set up to do that may help give some flexibility with food costs.
  
• Will be going back to using the heated airer in the spare room, or during the day, it made the room much warmer than I like overnight. 
  
• Think I've decided against going away later in the month - it can be a staycation and maybe a couple of overnights in the van.  Everything feels uncertain and I don't want to spend loads on diesel and ferries.  Friends may want a break too which means they get a free place to stay and I get company and an excuse for some days out. 
  

Annoyed to open the post and find an urgent vet bill asking me to pay the money they haven't bothered to claim from my insurance company... and the office are of course closed today.  Will ring the actual vet this evening and ensure they know what should be happening as hopefully they can boot their finance department more effectively than I can. 

RosaBernicia

Bit the bullet and fixed the energy tariff.  The loyalty option went up by over 1p per kWh for gas since two days ago and at this point I would rather pay the potential extra £150 for the year than spend the worrying and time checking over and over.  I am hoping I can get usage down anyway with more careful management and have added a new tab to the spreadsheet for monthly tracking.  I don't think there will be much hope of a smart meter any time soon. 

RosaBernicia

Today's errand - tracking down my Council Tax bill, as I am wondering if a paper copy is going to turn up at all.  There was a copy online though, so at least now I know what will happen.  Funnily enough, my council seem to have chosen to spread the £150 rebate through the year, but the good news is that even after the general increase, the rebate means my bills will be about £4/month cheaper than they are now.  So no need to change plans for that. 

Slightly irritated to notice that I'm paying more for water than I did on a meter in England, but that can't be helped and I wouldn't swop. 

kerri_gt

Our band doesn't fall into the rebate, which is flipping ridiculous because we most certainly do not live in an overly flash or extravagant house or mansion. Still apparently according to the government we are clearly rolling in it and have no need for the £150 🙄🙄🙄

RosaBernicia

kerri_gt said:

Our band doesn't fall into the rebate, which is flipping ridiculous because we most certainly do not live in an overly flash or extravagant house or mansion. Still apparently according to the government we are clearly rolling in it and have no need for the £150 🙄🙄🙄

  Some of the banding is madness @kerri_gt - one of my friends used to pay Band D for a one bed flat up three flights of stairs, when I was paying C for a 3 bed house a half hour drive away.  I didn't even know you could pay Band D for a one bed til she told me! 

MuffinTops

It sounds like you're much more organised than I am, Rosa.  Well done on the tax rebate and I completely understand the logic of fixing the energy tariff.  It's all so unpredictable right now.

How's your work situation?  Is it still just being looked into with no progress yet for you?

EssexHebridean

Yes - we've not had our CT bill yet either. It's annoying because I want to know where we're at - everything else that changes for the new financial year has already been confirmed - why they need to be slow on the council tax I have no idea! 

RosaBernicia

MuffinTops said:

It sounds like you're much more organised than I am, Rosa.  Well done on the tax rebate and I completely understand the logic of fixing the energy tariff.  It's all so unpredictable right now.

How's your work situation?  Is it still just being looked into with no progress yet for you?

Thanks MT.  I have been trying to get as much as possible sorted so that I can budget for the work repayments if/ when it comes to happen.  It's on hold for another week or so and then I'll find out more.  I think I can manage what's been proposed, but I'm still furious at having to. 

RosaBernicia

EssexHebridean said:

Yes - we've not had our CT bill yet either. It's annoying because I want to know where we're at - everything else that changes for the new financial year has already been confirmed - why they need to be slow on the council tax I have no idea! 

I'm pretty sure last year I had the bill well in advance, so I was wondering if it was being held up by the rebate issues but couldn't find even an announcement on the council website confirming if the rebate would happen.  No idea what else might be holding things up as they already announced the percentage increase.