MeandO's money-shuffling

MeandO

I'm running on empty today.  DS wasn't well in the night last night so we've both been up since around 3.30am with sporadic bits of sleep thereafter. Thankfully he's ok now which is the main thing. It's going to be a long day though, I could quite easily go back to bed now if I was able to.
The second load of washing of the day is in the machine with the intention of putting it on the line to dry as it seemed nice, but it's just poured down so it will all have to go in the tumble dryer.

Yesterday I had notification that I am eligible for the warm home discount of £150 credit to my energy account as I receive a little bit of UC. I wasn't expecting it at all as I don't think I was eligible last year. I'm not sure why or what's changed, but I am very grateful as it will really help over the winter. 

A few refunds have hit the CC account, but I'm afraid to see this past week hasn't gone well and I have had to use the card for several things - some necessary such as groceries, others not so important and not needed but bought anyway. I've let go of the reins a bit this month, or the last couple of weeks of it. The new budget I tried this month really hasn't worked and I found myself trying to do too much with the money I had and getting overwhelmed and it all just went out of the window a bit. There will be around £200 on it to pay off which will get cleared when I get paid, but I am annoyed I've lost my way this month and ended up paying for it with next month's money. Back to the drawing board with the budget for next month.

MeandO

I'm feeling slightly better after a coffee and the sun has come out too, so all of my washing is on the line - yay! It's the little things... 
I've sorted the bins/recycling, submitted a gas meter reading, changed DS's bed and wrapped a birthday gift we're taking home next week to save on postage. I have three family birthdays in November and have gifts wrapped and ready for one. I have something else towards another but need to get something to add to it. I also need to buy 3 cards. I've finally used up all of the wrapping paper stock I have had for a few years, but I know OH has found loads whilst clearing his house this year so I will grab a couple of rolls from him. I now have a full black bag of clothes/books/shoes in the hallways, ready to put in the car when I go out and drop to a charity shop later this week. DS has also sorted out some of his jumpers/hoodies he no longer wants to donate to a local scheme who hand out warm clothing items to children & adults in need locally. I'll drop those in the collection box on Thursday. 

MeandO

The second vinted sale profit hit the bank account okay so that’s another £15 sent to the credit card.

MeandO

DS sorted through some of his clothes last night as he has grown a lot the past couple of months and wanted to see what he could do with putting on the Christmas wish list. Three pairs of branded joggers can now go on vinted to sell so he can recoup a little bit of money from the ridiculous price these branded joggers cost in the first place! He has another couple of drawers to sort out at a later date too but at least we now know he's in dire need of some new jogging bottoms as only a couple of pairs still fit. I placed an online order with a sports shop last night as they were currently offering 20 x the bonus points back + around £23 cashback has already tracked via TCB so at least I'll get some money back. I used the CC but paid it straight off with money from the gifts pot - which is now looking sorely depleted. I'll list the vinted items next week when we're back from our few days away.

I'm not in the most positive of moods today. I think it's a combination of another poor night's sleep from not being able to get comfy on new pillows giving me neck ache (which I bought to replace the old ones which were also making me uncomfortable!), a grumpy, tired DS and OH this morning and just trying feeling a bit overwhelmed with trying to do everything. On a positive note, the sun is now shining so I've put another load of washing on to dry outside. I'm also going to try and take the charity shop stuff today as DS needs a later pick up from school today due to an event, so I may have time. 

A colleague in the know has also said that union members have voted no strike so we may actually get a pay rise in November like last year, backdated from April. To be honest, I'd be grateful for any extra £'s at the moment, I'm just annoyed with myself that it will probably be going towards paying off the credit card again.  
Last night I tried to work on a more realistic budget going forward as the present plan isn't working. I was probably too tired to do well with it though so am going to try and look over it again today.

MeandO

That turned into a day i don't wish to repeat, however, somw good has come.out of it. I got the date of my ISA fix wrong and it actually ended yestetday. It took me 2 hours, 45 minutes on hold to three different departments and being cut off once, then a trip to the bank to be able to withdraw a chunk of money from my ISA. Seriously. I evenually managed to pay the remainder of this year's 10% allowance off my mortgage, which was just under £6K. I also paid my credit card off, minus the refund amounts I know are due to be credited. 

The mortgage balance now looks like this:

Mortgage @ 03/2019: £125,000, Now: £59,089.37
Mortgage OP's 2024: £6901,28 Total OP’s: £16,102.46

I'm pleased to finally be in the £50K's and I will also be able to work towards paying off as much as I can next year now too, but I will struggle to get it to 10%. 

My ISA balance obviously doesn't look so great now at £2K as opposed to nearly £9K, but hopefully i've done the right thing.

I also notified UC of my change in savings and they reaponded immediately telling me I have to attemd an interview at the local job centre to 'prove it' basically. They want all of my bank and saving statements.  I contacted them and asked if I could provide this online, the advisor over the phone said yes, the response on my UC cresit account said No! So now I have to potentially book time off work to attend an interview to show my savings account has gone from £8.6K to £2K. All for between £11 to £59 per month. 
I'm not amused.

Sarahwithlove

Wahooo that's good news about the ISA and increase to UC earlier than expected. Frustrating that you have to take them in person, they usually let you do it online. Hopefully they will accept them online for you 

Honeysucklelou2

Well done MeandO, what a great achievement getting the mortgage down to the 50k bracket!

MeandO

Thank you Sarahwithlove & HSL2. Unfortunately UC won't allow me to upload bank statements online so I spent an hour yesterday printing them all out ready for this interview today, for which I've had to take time off work. I'm not impressed. 

We've been 'home' for a few days again but unfortunately got stuck behind the publicised lorry fire and subsequent closure of the M5 last Friday, so what should have taken us 3-3.5 hours took 9 hours. I was absolutely exhausted when I got there. DS was a trooper the whole journey though. I'm so glad I packed enough drinks and food for the drive. At least no-one was injured in the incident too, it could have been a lot worse.
It was lovely to see my parents again but it was upsetting to see the decline in their health again, especially my Dad who seems to have gone downhill a lot. OH and I are going back there next weekend for a few days.
I picked up a denim jacket for £5 in a charity shop whilst I was there, I've been looking for one for ages so was pleased to find it. I have also bought a couple of jumpers from vinted lately, one has arrived and is great, the other is on the way.

Moneywise, I'm doing ok so far. The CC is being paid off as soon as I spend on it and I have hardly spent anything from the grocery pot so far as we've been away and now DS is with his Dad for a few days so I will just use up what is here. My parents wouldn't take no for an answer in giving me some petrol money either. As I can't overpay the mortgage anymore and have not added anything to the EF this month, I've allocated money to pay the YNAB subscription fee as it's due early next year and have also paid for my next injection pen. I've paid my half of a hotel break in December which we got down to £54 for from £114 thanks to clubcard points, so £27 each.

I have another hair appointment later (at a different salon than last time) to try and rectify the horrible colour the last place put on my hair. I have the cash for that in my purse though so no spends from the bank account. I also need to pay some cash including coins into the bank but need to pick up some bank bags first. Hopefully I'll have time to do that today.

MeandO

Somebody has kindly used my referral code for Voy so I have 30% off (they receive 35% off) my next injection pen  which will really help with the cost, so I am sending a 'Thank You' out to whoever it was. I haven't posted it on this site, it is from elsewhere, but I'm very grateful as I was a little concerned at the next cost. I have £50 off this month's order from a code sent to me by Voy, so it's not cost nearly as much as I feared it would so far. I have lost a total of 1.5 stone now since June, 9lbs since being on the mounjaro for 3 weeks so it is working. I definitely need to go up to the 5mg though as I can feel it's not working as well as it did.

I found five coin bags in the house so will be able to bank the £100 worth of £2 coins a relative very kindly gave DS and I. There was £102 so the odd £2 coin has gone in my purse. £50 of it will be going in account to save towards DS's spending money for his big school trip abroad in 2026 as he will have to pay for lunch/dinner whilst he is there too. He is also saving money but I will boost it a bit, although I'm not telling him that until nearer the time. I am currently paying £50 a month towards the cost of the trip until August 2025 when it will be paid for, but will then direct that £50 into a spending money pot. I think I will put the other £50 in £2 coins towards my next mounjaro pen. 

MeandO

The UC interview was brief, thankfully. The lady was lovely and said it was a complete waste of time in well chosen words. I should get an extra £48 a month now because my savings are under the threshold.

I paid the £100 of coins into the bank account whilst I was out, I now need to figure out what pot to save DS's spending money into for his trip. I didn't pay any of the notes in yet, I need to see how much my hair appointment is later first, I think it'll be around £40, but they don't take cards so wanted a bit of extra cash on me just in case.

I also popped to HB and bought a huge pack of loo roll as we were running low, birthday paper as I'd completely run out and need to wrap some gifts, two birthday cards for upcoming birthdays, some mouthwash and deodorant spending £14.72 in total.