Progress is...

Baileys_Babe

I took received an email from MSE energy club, the contents were meaningless, but it did prompt me to update our details.

rtandon27

@themadvix & @beanielou & @Baileys_Babe - thanks Ladies for confirming you all got the e-mail! 

Unusually I feel a bit miffed about this one as I feel it was along the lines of scare-mongering rather than the usual gentle reminder to check if you can get a better deal.  That, and the fact that I am on the best deal for my circumstances has got my back up and my teeth grinding about something that is supposed to be of service, and actually made me waste time & caused me to worry!

So things financial today are in a good place, despite the annoying unexpected legal bill OH received this month.  After all the mid-month bills go out tomorrow, we are almost 4000 on the right side of being mortgage neutral.  Most of the essential pots are full & the few that are not are well on their way to getting there.  By April, there will be 500 towards the big mortgage overpayment and we will know more about the financial payout OH is due to receive.  We can revaluate at that point how much of the payout goes to the mortgage, how much to renovations and how much to savings!

We are still on track with grocery spends, and even saved ourselves some money by deciding not to go to the food truck yesterday.  I'm back to work tomorrow, so let's hope I can pull together a reasonable meal plan for the week which can be adhered to even if the trains delay my return in the evening!

Month end will see me purchasing an annual train pass which is an eyewatering 6000+, more than it costs for OH to run the car.  Luckily I get an interest free loan from work for that which gets spread out over 12 months and goes directly off of my pay package.  Annoyingly, it is too large of an amount to go on the card where I get points that matter, and the card I will need to use does not give any cashback for that particular type of purchase!  

teapot2

Big ouchy to the train pass 🚂

beanielou

That’s a lot of money. 

Cherryfudge

That's serious money. Would it be worth investigating other credit card options just to cover this one payment? Or could either of your current ones be persuaded to alter how much they lend?

LadyWithAPlan

MissRikkiC said:

Maybe I’m the only one who likes a break from the CT in Feb and March. I like having 2 months where I get to save extra because there is no bill and I know where it’s a saving from. If that makes sense. 

Thanks @RT. I did try YNAB before but found that Monzo having pots did not agree with YNAB and I got very confused! Considering I’m an accountant, I definitely thought I should have been able to figure it out but i ended up with a negative balance despite having money left in various pots! I gave up eventually 😂

I gave up my Monzo pots once I started YNAB - though YNAB allows you to keep your money wherever you want - the physical location is irrelevant as long as you do the reconciliation of all accounts regularly - all YNAB cares is if you budgeted £150 for grocery whether you overspent it or got some left 
YNAB main advantage over Monzo pots and Excels for me is the immediate seeing what I am spending and the brilliant reports 


well done on the vouchers win ! Always nice to perk up a week with something unexpected arriving like that 

your food  poisoning sounded horrendous 

Your budget and YNAB all seem firmly under control ! 3 months forward is fantastic 

rtandon27

@teapot2 - indeed that amount is very ouchy, but I keep reminding myself that it sits in the ether on my credit card and gets paid with the interest free loan around a week later - they work deducts it from my monthly salary in 12 equal amounts so a little less painful then if I paid it out of pocket each year.

@beanielou - it is on average my single biggest expense of the year with the exception of the year I put the down payment on the house!  Hopefully this year I'll be able to scurry away a one of overpayment for the mortgage that is higher than that amount.

@Cherryfudge - The only thing I'm really missing out on is points - at the moment I'm happy with my credit used vs credit available ratio - I think there is a fancy term for this, but the name escapes me.

@LadyWithAPlan - I absolutely adore YNAB as a tool - it really helps me to visualize money management and now when OH says I am a tightwad, I get to show him what pots we have so that we don't have to use our credit cards for anything but the perks.  He's not a spender, but he has absolutely no clue what life costs these days.  His pricing point is stuck somewhere in the 80's or 90's.  Oddly, he still worries about bills, his biggest nightmare stems from the days when his ex managed the money, and missed two mortgage payments when the birth of one of their kids overshadowed the bills.  (It was over 30 years ago, said child now has one of her own.) They almost lost the house and it hit is credit rating hard.  That will never happen in our household, as I plan 3 months in advance and have an emergency fund as well.  We also keep our finances separate even though I do one budget on YNAB for all our expenses!

Quick recap today...

HEALTH
The hassle of food poisoning is currently far outweighed by the unplanned day off today while the pain and swelling from my orthodontic work subsides.  I had no clue that such minimally invasive work could produce such horrible side effects!

WEALTH
I juggled various savings pots again and managed to divert a bit more to the mortgage overpayment fund - up to 405 this month and by the end of April I project 655 - about 50% of what I was aiming for but every little helps!

WELLBEING
Staying organised as much as possible - meal planned but this was overshadowed by using up leftovers so money saved by saving the planned items for another day. I'm all caught up with Delay Repay - weirdly there has only been one for the past 3 weeks - this can only be a blip, there are usually 3 delays a week! - I've been slack this week with my dopamine-producing checklist, I aim to catch up on it this evening.  I have a stack of paperwork to organise & I will feel so much better when this is complete!

GRATITUDE
Thankful that I can afford medically necessary orthodontics as not covered on the NHS and also only get 10% back from insurance.  Took a lot of penny pinching but still doable.  At the moment I'm questioning the whole process as my mouth hurts a lot, but the upside is I'm drinking water without thinking about it and will get through my stash of lipbalm over the course of the next year!

redofromstart

Is it leverage?

Cherryfudge

Sorry to hear your mouth is so painful. Long ago I was told aspirin is the thing for mouth pain, but you'd have to check that. I do mouths heal relatively quickly though.

rtandon27

@redofromstart - thanks for the prompt - I've had a little trip down an internet rabbit hole...

leverage - this is what I'm currently doing to enhance my cash flow
credit utilization ratio (fancy term i'd forgotten) - optimal is 30% or less, so by using our credit cards for everyday purchases and paying them off each month, we each use less than 30% of our available credit which keeps our credit rating / credit score at a decent amount

@Cherryfudge - thanks for the reminder hun - I was told this as well - unfortunately I'm allergic to both Aspirin & Tylenol so am stuck with Ibuprofen - at least this is good for keeping the swelling down, but I do have to be cautious about having it with a meal so that my stomach is protected.  My gums are not as sore today, but the inside of my cheeks and lips is still very sore as it gets used to the extra protrusions from the orthodontics.  My teeth and jaw are really sore and probably will be for two weeks as I get used to everything being realigned.  OH (un)helpfully pointed out that some women pay to have lips that are as full as mine currently are.

HEALTH
painkillers are my friend 😉

WEALTH
I've managed to juggle pots again and have topped up the Mortgage Payment pot to 630!  Also put in firm targets for the Car replacement pot as OH's vehicle is truly aging, and the folding bike pot should I get to the point where I'm able to get back on one.

WELLBEING
as always this one is a struggle - I aim to be organized and always feel life gets away from me - everyone else complements me on my ability to be calm - little do they know I am a duck & paddling frantically!

GRATITUDES
Much as I struggle working with my current manager (she's a self-admitted micromanager) - I'm thankful for her caring and flexibility when it comes to my health!