We will get this debt down & the savings up

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - I do think you have a right to know the basis for their decision, so it will be interesting to find out what they actually say.
F

Makingabobor2

foxgloves said:

@Makingabobor2 - I do think you have a right to know the basis for their decision, so it will be interesting to find out what they actually say.
F

Well, I rang up and the girl I spoke to looked into the account and said she had no idea why they had decided this and it was from a different department and nothing she could tell me. Not able to speak to anyone in the relevant department, so not much I can do unless I write and maybe ask for a detailed explanation. But then I think if this is how they treat people, then maybe I'll just try and apply for a different card with another company. 

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - How odd! And clearly nothing showing on your record which was giving the person you spoke to any clues. Agree this is a poor way to treat customers.
F

Makingabobor2

Well I decided I can't just let this go without finding out their reasons, so I have logged into the online banking and messaged them as a complaint. I was very polite and just basically asked if they can explain their reasoning. Apparently it will take them 2 days to get back to me....so watch this space

badmemory

I am sure it is to do with the account actually showing as if it has had no transactions.  I have had a very similar letter from a different bank saying if I don't use it I will lose it but they will reduce it first.  Not in those words obviously.  It is a card I only use as backup, so I use it & get a letter saying credit limit back to normal.  But for when I do use it I have a pay in full direct debit set up.

Makingabobor2

badmemory said:

I am sure it is to do with the account actually showing as if it has had no transactions.  I have had a very similar letter from a different bank saying if I don't use it I will lose it but they will reduce it first.  Not in those words obviously.  It is a card I only use as backup, so I use it & get a letter saying credit limit back to normal.  But for when I do use it I have a pay in full direct debit set up.

Mine hasn't even given me the option to use it first. Just said will close in 2 months 

Makingabobor2

I'm back!  Feeling much better now after my 2nd covid of the year and the sunshine is certainly helping. 

So what's been happening/  I've been keeping the MSE faith and doing all I can to save and pay things off.  
Extra  £228.25 OPs made on the mortgage so far this month and now down to a nice round £15,800. I have to keep it at nice round figures, drives me mad when they work out the interest and it goes all odd....lol. 
 
Just looking into which is the next DMP debt that I should tackle big time. They are all going down slowly, but its nice to tackle one at a time with extra payments, although the mortgage is priority as the other debts are no interest now. 

Today is the start of a new 4 week budget period, so been doing some shuffling and paying etc. 
Had extra £2 odd left in the Housekeeping pot this month and also the buffer pot wasn't touched. So that was used to pay off towards the next break we have booked at end of September. Only £150 left to pay on that and should easily be paid from surveys, studies and Vinted. 

Good news that HMRC have finally sorted out my correct tax code and realised that I should only be paying £8 a year tax on my 2 pensions. Although I think if I earn over £1000 on surveys this tax year, I have to declare that.  So today I was refunded the £40 that they had incorrectly taxed me since April. 

Had £80 birthday money this month, which was paid straight to the holiday pot. 

Veggies are growing slowly now and so far we have had 5 courgettes and 1.6kg of early potatoes. There is another huge tub of potatoes coming on, a later variety and I also have some more carrot seeds to plant. The ones I planted look like they are doing well so far.  No sign of anything on the squash seeds I dried out to try, apart from loads of large leaves....but I haven't actually read up about how long they take TBH.  Strawberries coming on slowly, thought they would have been better by now, but suppose we haven't had enough sun. I did also catch a blackbird eating one, so may have to put some net over them or something?   Surprisingly I have raspberries showing on a plant I bought last autumn. Very surprised at that, as thought you had to wait 2 years to get fruit. 

I've listed some more stuff on Vinted, but so far just had a silly offer on one item and no interest in the others. 
P/fc seems to be slow again and approving but at least the studies are starting to improve. With being away and then feeling ill, I haven't done as well so far this month, so hoping next month will be better. but on Y/L*v* I am just 3 points away from being able to cash out £50, so fingers crossed for that one. 

So that's about where we are at the moment.  Tonights dinner will be easy as DH has to have a medical procedure tomorrow, so not allowed to eat after 3pm today, so I won't bother cooking just for me. I'll probably just have some of the chicken that's left from yesterday and maybe have it in a sandwich or something. Not got any salad in at the moment, as I finished it up at lunch time, so can't have chicken salad. Or maybe I'll have a jacket potato. I don't like to eat in front of DH though....seems cruel. 


Oh just to add that I rang Mr S about the credit card and the girl said she had no idea and they often do things like that, so I then messaged from the website to ask why they had decided to close my account. Said it should take 2 days to get back to me, and they never did. So I have applied for a MnS one and been accepted for that, so I can earn MS points instead of Nectar. Bad customer service on the part of Mr S I think. 

Anyway, that's about it from here. Off to do some bits in the garden now.  Then tomorrow I have a Dr appt to discuss my latest cholesterol test,  before having to go with DH for his hospital appointment in the afternoon.  Have a good afternoon and evening everyone. 

Sun_Addict

Glad you’re feeling better and you got the tax code sorted. Yes that’s right about the £1k for interest/survey earnings etc. Chance would be a fine thing 😆

EssexHebridean

well done on getting the tax stuff sorted out - that sort of thing can be such a battle can't it, so good for you for being tenacious! 

Makingabobor2

Thought it was time for an update. Not that I have anything much to report. 
Mortgage OPs are still ongoing and have now made over £1000 in OPs this year so far which I am really pleased about. Total left on mortgage is now £15100 and still on target to finish it at least 6-7 months ahead of time. Would like it to be even more, but don't want to jinx it. 

Saving pots are still going in the right direction, even if a bit slower than I would have liked.  Holiday pot is still managing to get topped up though, even though surveys seem to be slower at the moment.  
I have been £1 away from cashing out on YL*v* for ages now and just can't get that last survey. I think they do it deliberately when you get near to cashing out.  
I did cash out £1.46 from QM** today, which is the first time I've had anything from them for months. 
About £8 waiting to cash out on P/fc, but leaving it till later in the day, in the hope that more will approve.

Had the email from the tentacled ones, to tell us the fixed rate is finishing next month. They are offering a 12 month fixed rate, at £6 a month less than we are currently paying. So I need to have a good look at that tomorrow and see what the unit rate etc is and we will probably go with that, but I do like to look at it all first rather than just accept. 

Planning on doing my spread sheets up to the end of the year tomorrow, so we can make sure there are no nasty surprises coming and see if/when/where we can maybe put a bit more to debt or savings. 

Garden veggies are still doing ok. Had quite a few potatoes and some lovely tiny carrots so far. The multi coloured ones that I planted seem to have done best, but have put a few of the other variety in a different pot to see if they will come on.  Need to thin some of the rainbow ones out a bit more.  Courgettes have produced a few small ones. Tomatoes only about 5 so far, but can see at least 6 more starting. One plant however is growing massively but not produced 1 tomato yet, despite me using tomato feed.  Still nothing showing on the squash plants either, apart from lots of large leaves...lol.  Strawberries not as good as I had hoped. So will try and do better next year. Need to read up about how to take runners off to make more plants. 

Have 2 eldest GSs birthdays this month (twins), so need to make sure I have enough put by for that. Although the Christmas/Birthday pot doesn't have as much as I hoped in it. I can make it up from Personal Spends. 

Have a blood test appointment on Thursday at the small hospital in the nearest town. So will do a quick reccy of the CSs while I'm there, as not been round them for a while and there is a large selection.   Also have a free bakery item to pick up from L*d!. I'm really enjoying shopping there now, seems much better than A!d*, which I only seem to pop into every now and then these days. 

My laptop seems to be going a bit temperamental these days and DH says I need to think about getting another one if I want to be able to continue with surveys etc.  It is quite old, but was gifted to me by FIL last year, when he got a new one.  At the time it was better than my old one and a bigger screen, but seems to be getting slower, freezing, not responding etc lately.   DH is very good with computers, so can easily look at a 2nd hand/refurbished one and he can always add extra memory etc if it needs it.  Will have to work out money first. Think it will be a while before I get one TBH.

So that's about it. Need to get the washing off the line, which has managed to dry after this morning's showers. Think I should thin out a few carrots while I am in the garden, and check the birds have food. Not put much out lately and they will stop coming.  Then I need to get the dinner ready. Chicken tonight with a tub of orange stickered stir fry veg that was only 56p in L*d!  

Hope everyone else is ok.