Simple living in the country - back to basics

Merlin's_Beard

You  could always think  about setting up a dummy basic current account with a couple of charity DDs and then switch to FD for the bonus... it's something I used to do before I'd exhausted all the banks and doesn't take that long,  but it depends how much faffing you want to do,  especially if you're on a time limit.

Cheery_Daff

Merlin's_Beard said:

You  could always think  about setting up a dummy basic current account with a couple of charity DDs and then switch to FD for the bonus... it's something I used to do before I'd exhausted all the banks and doesn't take that long,  but it depends how much faffing you want to do,  especially if you're on a time limit.

Is that a thing? I always thought it had to be your main current account,  but maybe that's just an assumption.  Opens up a world of possibilities! But you're right, possibly not this time... I assume they'd notice if the account you switched from had been opened after theirs 😂 and I've got a spare personal account but not a joint one.  Worth investigating though,  thanks!

Cheery_Daff

Hmm, it's right there in the MSE guide - which clearly I've not read 🧐😂 Everyday is a school day round here, thank you! 

Cheery_Daff

Evening chums 😊

Today has been a long one, but good! Ran an event, which went remarkably well. Literally EVERYONE turned up, plus an extra person who hadn't booked on 😂 A small miracle 😂

Had tea at a friend's house, then home and in my nightie by 8.30 😂 Mr Cheery was out, so I indulged myself with 2 hours of screechy, repetitive festive flute playing 😂😂 Most satisfying. 

Ended up staying awake til he got in - unwise, should have been asleep a couple of hours ago but hey ho. Back in town tomorrow for another event I've organised, but this time much lower stakes, so much lower stress, just a relatively small gang of colleagues doing their own thing, I've basically just told them what day to be there 😂 

Couple of quid on the Happy wheel, just down £9 for the month now 🙄 And I think only at about £1 for Prolific, Mr Cheery is almost at £10! 

Right, sleep...

beanielou

Glad that your event went well. 

Hope today’s does too 😊

KajiKita

Yaay for the event 😊
Is Mr Cheery feeling a bit better then?

KK

LadyWithAPlan

I find the M*nzo card brilliant for travelling abroad. You get an instant text of the fx rate and its a v good rate, You can also take up to  £250 cash out per month -no charge there
Some credit cards and bank cards charge for use abroad...

I really wouldnt bother with travellers cheque. Far better a current account like monzo that you can transfer money in and out as you please. 

I travel a lot abroad... as in at present every other  week - currently in the States - and credit cards are fine - you really don't need to  take much cash ...  even for cabs. I have been to Berlin and never had an issue,.

Uber works there in Berlin and so you can attach your  credit card or monzo to it.
The train to/from the airport is great and v cheap.

Go to some of the fabulous bars in Berlin.,

Cheery_Daff

Thanks all 😊

LaPlan (I'm adopting the name Fortune uses for you, hope that's ok!) thanks for the tips 😊I don't think we'll be doing that much partying but you never know! We'll be there Wednesday night (but both our hosts are working Thursday, so we'll probably eat at home with them and have a relatively early night). Thursday night we are bizarrely going to a punk gig 😂 we'll probably pop out somewhere on Friday night, and then coming home Saturday!

I have been learning German on Duolingo 😂 mostly preparing for just such a trip. One of our hosts is English, went to school with Mr Cheery, but his wife isn't, and while she does speak English a bit, he ends up translating a lot. I wanted to show willing the next time we met, so have been learning German. I'm on a 632 day streak now!! Sadly it's a 632 day streak of about 3 minutes a day, so my conversation will be limited to ordering pizza, explaining that my mother is an actress (she's not) and discussing where my sister keeps her tortoise (which she doesn't have) 😂😂

Want to see if I can do a bit more in the next couple of weeks in terms of listening to German radio, or even book a conversation with someone, so I'm not a complete fish out of water 🙄😂 I suspect Mr Cheery's friend will try to encourage me to order things and not step in for me, so I need to not be too shy about it! 

Day 3 of my silly week, and I am on a train to London. I have coffee though, and 2 seats to myself (for now) so not all bad. Going to try and get a few things done while I'm on the train, but actual work before 8.30am seemed quite objectionable, so.... 😂

Shouldn't be spending much today. Parked in a free parking spot, food will be provided at event. Bought coffee on the train - could have claimed I suppose but didn't get the receipt. Should be home by 7.15 so I can wait til I get back to eat.

Nothing much else to report. Happy wheel still down by a few quid (less than 20) and barely anything on Prolific this month, I've been busy and not checking much though. 

Very much looking forward to the weekend! An actual 3 day one! Although Mr Cheery has gigs both Thurs and Fri, which I'm going to, so there won't be much in the way of early nights 🙄😂

Cheery_Daff

Oh, and we heard back from HMRC about his missing NI years - all 3 of them are within his period of 20 odd years of continuous employment with the same employer 🙄 He rang, they told him to write, which we did - on 9th February 😂 They replied on 3rd Nov, and want a response by 1st Dec or they'll assume he doesn't care any more 🙄

They've sent a form for each year, asking for P60 (which it's unlikely he's still have but we'll check in the loft), and which day of the month he was paid, how much pension contribution etc. 

One of the years is 1993 😂 and the most recent is 2004 - nearly 20 years ago. Can't imagine he'll still have payslips from them, or bank statements (he doesn't still have the same bank either). Cant imagine employer will still have records - and obviously they submitted the wrong info in the first place! 

Will have a rummage over the weekend. Also going to check with works pension - he's already claiming that and can log in online. Hoping they will have a record of employer having paid in during those years, and how much - which if nothing else will demonstrate that he was working there during those years and earning enough for pension! 

I can't remember off the top of my head how many years he has left to make up, but he's got less than 6 years left to do it. Correcting years that SHOULD be full but are showing as empty will be a start, and for the rest ongoing self employment should be enough.

So no crisis, just some tedious paperwork, which is NOT his thing, but which I am very patient with 😂

themadvix

Morning Cheery,

Hast du gelernt 'Ich bin vegetarierin'? Das ist sehr wichtig! Germans, especially in Berlin are pretty good at vegetarianism/veganism these days, which I find very helpful! But watch out for kartoffelfries from fish shops - they contain bits of bacon!

Hope today goes well. Good news about HMRC, although their attitude to deadlines is interesting to say the least! Hope you manage to find some evidence - the pension co does sound the most promising.