Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Elisheba · 5 March 2023 at 12:38PM

Happy Sunday to you @foxgloves 😁. You are so right about not going back to all those money worries! I don't think I had quite appreciated how much being in charge of my finances now meant to me until my phone broke last week. It's off getting repaired now, but not being able to check my banking easily, tot up February spending, transfer funds, or even having all my notebooks for recording spending close at hand (I use ones on my phone) is driving me to distraction! There's nothing to worry about - I've been into the physical bank and made sure money is where it's supposed to be, but it's not what I'm used to these days and I don't like it.

foxgloves · 5 March 2023 at 5:18PM

@Elisheba - Yes, I can identify with that, as I'd feel exactly the same if I was unable to access my spreadsheets & trusty money book. I do all my monthly budget workings, then write it up in my money book. It's surprising how many times I just refer to it to remind myself of various decisions, how much we have left in our buffer zone, just routine things where I might start fretting about whether I decided to pay x or y to something. I also have a section for keeping tally of the grocery budget, the holiday pot (which is based on a strict schedule of needing a certain amount paid in each month to pay for 2 holidays to which we are committed plus cattery stays for the fur friends) & I also keep a separate section if I am project managing something with a set budget, which was very useful between 2020 & 2022 when we were having lots of home improvements/building work done. It's definitely a far cry from those long ago days when I used to try & look at my bank statement with my eyes closed, convince myself I was fine because it was 'payday next week' (statement arrived on about the 14th, so clue....it wasn't!!) before stuffing it in a drawer with all the others. I couldn't go back to that again, that's for sure.
F

CRANKY40 · 5 March 2023 at 7:49PM

Soot sounds as if he may be part Burmese. Ours was half Burmese, half Korat and could open drawers. She also had long legs and long paws and could climb anything. Walking along the top of the trampoline net was a favourite thing as was stealing from the neighbours. She brought home socks, gloves and cat toys mostly.

foxgloves · 6 March 2023 at 8:48AM

@CRANKY40 - I can't detect any Burmese.....think he's half piglet!
I do smile when I hear tales of these cat robbers. At least I've never had one that's done that.
F

Suffolk_lass · 6 March 2023 at 11:00AM

Our Stealth Cat wears a silent bell, in that she can move around stealthily. She steals our water. If I have a glass beside me she will know, creep silently round the back of furniture and the first we invariably know, is the lapping sound as she buries her head in our glasses. I regularly check the bell works (it does). It is her picture on my MSE ID. She will be 13 next month. A black domestic rescue kitten when she and her sister came here, she is a gentle girl, and likes looking through windows, rarely venturing out, even when the cat flap or door are open. She prefers to watch through the windows

foxgloves · 6 March 2023 at 7:11PM

@Suffolk_lass - It's a good photo, what a little tinker! My first cat used to drink my elderflower cordial! That can't have done him any good at all. Soot & Ash have never worn collars. Soot was an indoor only cat before he went into the Rescue & then onto his new life with us, & Ash was a stray, pretty much feral. I did buy them lovely snappy collars with bells, but when I put them on, they freaked out so alarmingly that I gave up. They're both microchipped to us, & so far haven't been too interested in catching birds, I'm glad to say. They do reduce the rodent population (living under next door neighbour's shed) which seems to have halted the annual mouse incursion into our pantry as soon as the weather turns.
F
P.S The little Suffolk bungalow I've been hanging my nose over is back on the market & reduced in price. It's just not the right time for us though (by a good few years) but it did my heart good to see that nice little affordable places do exist!

foxgloves · 6 March 2023 at 7:44PM

Oh my giddy aunt, what a day!!
Hello Diary Readers,
Today began as a normal routine Monday (the only difference being Mr F being around as he's using up annual leave) so I did the weekly laundry, divvied last night's roast chicken leftovers up to make 3 further meals, got a batch of chicken stock going in the slow cooker, etc, etc. Mr F put some battery lights up in the linen cupboard & sorted out car tyre pressures & then we sat down for breakfast & talked about my recently received state pension forecast letter. I'm sure anyone in a vaguely similar age bracket will have heard horror stories about the current phone queues to sort out voluntary NICs to plug NI gaps before the rules change at the end of this tax year! Well it's all true! Having done some rough maths, we decided we'd like to make some contributions to for the years since my redundancy. I said 'Great, we're both on the same page with that, I'll phone on Wednesday". I've got to go into the city centre tomorrow for a la-di-dah fancypants dental scan, so won't have a lot of spare time, with it being a 35-mile round trip, allowing time to park, etc. Then, clearly feeling fortified by coffee, I decided that as I had all the figures & info ready, I'd attempt to break through the queuing system & phone them this afternoon.
Well, the first 14 calls (once through all the pre-recorded blurb) ended with an engaged tone & being disconnected. Lines so busy, I couldn't even join a queue! On the 15th attempt, I was admitted to the hallowed queue, where I remained for the next
1 hour & 20 minutes. I really felt like giving up, but couldn't bear the thought of having to start again on Wednesday. Anyway, it was extremely useful. I learned that of the 9 years of contributions required to get me up to the full 35 qualifying years, 7 of those years were definitely worth me 'buying back'. The advisor listed each of the years & how much I would need to pay for each of them, then gave me the total which was £5527 & some shrapnel. She then told me what my weekly pension would look like if I went ahead. I confirmed my intention to go ahead & she said she could either give me the number to ring (but told me I'd likely need to queue again) or she could put me straight through to the relevant department to make the payment arrangements. I opted for the latter as couldn't face more ear worm music & waiting. So I spoke to another helpful person, who gave me the details I need to make the payment & I can go ahead with it as soon as I like.
She also solved another problem. I have been utterly unable to set up a Government Gateway account online for accessing pension forecasts, etc. I type in my name, NI number & date of birth & get an instant message 'Your details do not match our records'. It became clear to me when I was talking to the 2nd advisor about the payment that she was asking me quite a range of questions, including "Does anyone else live at your address?", "Who was your last employer?", etc. I mentioned that I'd hit a brick wall trying to register with Government Gateway & she didn't go into detail, but said that there were issues with my HMRC account which needed updating & this is why I am having problems. I have to send off a covering letter with copies of various documents, one of them stamped for verification, in order to sort it out. A faff, but I do want such important records to be correct, so I am going to sort it out this week.
So I am putting this down as today's not small, but BIG win, as I have subsequently run all the figures on the information I have & as predicted, the improvement to my pension is a no-brainer. I worked it through on the weekly, monthly & annual improvement, then the difference made by the voluntary contributions if I survive my pension age of 67 by 10 years & 20 years. After all that, my head hurt, so I have written up all my notes & the two big things to action and I'm now going to watch some News & talk to the cats.
I do hope anyone else in this position manages to get through those awful phone queues. I do feel better for sorting it out. Now I only have tomorrow's dental stuff to worry about & whether we will wake up to a load of unhelpful snow. It's certainly forecast, so we will see.
Signing off,
F x

Crazycatlady2 · 6 March 2023 at 7:51PM

What a pain but glad you got it sorted. Me and hubby checked ours recently but as we are 40 I will be ok as get it sorted as I’m youngest sons carer and hubby has a couple missed when unemployed but will have enough years paid by correct date so not a worry