Flying solo

twiggy86

Another post from me today!!!

I did that balance transfer to MBNA - it incurred a fee of £133.50. So the MBNA CC total balance now sits at £9,582!!! 

My plan is to see what money I have left at the end of the month and then use my "misc" savings to cover any extra required to pay off the fee, so that the total CC balance is the same as it was pre-transfer. 

PennysIntoPounds

Very productive and a good plan. A week of smashing it with surveys/ use-it-up meals/listing things for sale/ seeing where you can save or cut a cost will be a fun challenge!

twiggy86

Morning!

Yesterday as a NSD! Had a lovely evening at bf's last night - although plans were discussed about going away for the weekend at the end of June, so will need to factor that in the budget! Very exciting though! 

Working from home again today, so today's bits and bobs are...

• Claim £1.50 from Vinted for a sale which has now been finalised 
• Read MSE email 
• Load of washing on 30 degree quick cycle 
• Wear my Dr Marten sandals with socks around the house to try break them in!!! Wanted them for YEARS, finally found a paid on Vinted for £45 (brand new they're £110) but they really rubbed when I wore them out!!! 
• Look at June budget 
• Pop tortoises in the garden for a bit as I'm home and its not raining, meaning I can turn their light off for a few hours
• Call energy supplier to see if I can claim a refund - currently £330 in credit and Martin's email says should be maximum 1 month's direct debit at this time of year which is £122 
• Lunch and dinner from stores 
• Possibly wax my legs if I have time 
• Pay lowest amount at acro tonight 

That's everything I can think of for now! 

twiggy86

Double posting again!!!

Called my energy supplier and was on the phone all of two minutes and will be receiving a refund of £200 within 5-10 days! Will decide how best to utilise it when it arrives - however see thoughts below... 

Also, I got impatient and used my "misc" savings to pay off the BT fee! Given that I feel a bit more certain with the situation with ex (i.e. I've told him where to go!), I am currently debating keeping £1k as a "rainy day fund" for me to spend on whatever I want (e.g. if I decide to book a holiday or buy myself something nice). I would then use the rest (currently only £136!) to send to the CCs, as well as anything left at the end of the month - then if I did spend any of it, gradually top it back up to the £1k mark. Food for thought!

And speaking of food, I'm hungry so going to make myself some lunch! 

PennysIntoPounds

What a result on the energy refund!

Would it be worth using some of the various money to tidy off that £430 on your 3.9% card? That'd be £150 less coming out of future you's pocket by Feb...
You do however absolutely deserve a 's*d it' fund

twiggy86

It was so easy @PennysIntoPounds - thought they might argue it, but simply asked how much I wanted as a refund! Opted to leave one month's DD amount in there as a slight buffer! Still considering the "f*** it fund"!!! Also to be clear, I would still have a separate £1k emergency fund. 

Yesterday was another NSD - yes I paid for acro (lowest amount!) but that comes from a dedicated "fitness" pot as its a planned expense so I don't count that in looking at NSDs! I bailed a lot at acro last night, but cracked the flow in the end and I was laughing the whole time anyway!!! 

Working from home again today (which means my petrol will last until payday tomorrow!), so today's bits and bobs are...

• Continue wearing my Dr Marten sandals with socks around the house 
  
• Finalise June budget 
• Pop tortoises in the garden if it brightens up! 
• Look for free/ cheap things to in London as going with bf next month - if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! 
• Order mum's birthday present 
• Lunch and dinner from stores - dinner will be a homemade burger using mince I took out of the freezer yesterday
• Possibly wax my legs if I have time 
• Park for free at netball 

That's everything I can think of for now! 

joedenise

If you like museums most of them are free in London.  Have a look at this lot:  https://www.museumslondon.org/free-museums-in-london#:~:text=Some%20of%20London's%20most%20curious,that%20charge%20an%20entrance%20fee.

There are quite a lot of parks in and around London that are lovely to walk around but it really depends where in London you are going.

It's worth buying a day ticket for the buses - they don't accept cash anyway so you would be paying using either an Oyster card or debit card anyway so it's easier just to get the day ticket and then it's all paid for.  If you want to see all the London Sights then I'd suggest the No 11 bus which goes to most of the main ones like Buckingham Palace, St Pauls Cathedral etc and with the day ticket you can just hop on, hop off at will.  The buses run very frequently in London so never have to wait very long for one to come along!

Hope there's some useful info there for you.

twiggy86

Thank you so much @joedenise!!! 

lashie

Delurking to suggest Sky Garden which is London’s highest public garden. You do need to book a ticket but it is free. 😃

twiggy86

Thanks @lashie have added that to the list!