Sass' 2008 DFW ramble thread

SarahNeedle1872

Sassamac wrote: »

Had an offer in the post from HSBC who we already have CC's with. They are offering 3.9% for 6 months if I BT by the end of Apr, with a 2.5% fee.
I have a £2500 limit on that card and its as good as maxed because I just took them up on the exact same offer in the new year (only BT'd £300 though as I didnt have much space).

If I can get rid of all the existing debt on that, its a very viable option. So we either need to use the TC rebate to pay it off, or transfer it to either my Barclaycard (not enough space for all of it, but no BT fee on the last offer) or DH's HSBC card (2.5% fee) (they havent sent him the offer yet this time).
Then I can BT £2400 back which will cost £60 for the BT fee, and I need to work out how long it will take to save that back, but given that the new offer is about a quarter of the current interest rate, it will definitely be less than 6 months.
Ok just worked it out and its currently costing me £26 interest per month, so the new interest cost will be about £6.50, so it will take about 3 months to earn back, and the next 3 months will save us another £60. Not exactly a fortune, but worth having. Would be even better if they up my limit, not sure what my chances are with that.

Hmmm its tempting to pay off my CC rather than the OD's, as it will save on BT fees, and also save us a £60 minimum payment every month, which can go towards paying off the OD's.
Cant find DH's last CC statement but from memory the interest was £60 per month on a £3700 balance, so if we can shift two thirds of the balance to my newly emptied CC it will cost £60 to BT and will cost £6.50 in interest, plus the remaining balance on DH's card will cost about £20 per month in interest. Still worth doing I think. Total cost of not moving = £360 for 6 months. Total cost of moving = £219 derived from £60 + (£26.50 x 6). Total saving = £140.

Hi Sass... just check the T's and C's of ur HSBC cards because I don't think they allow you to transfer from one to the other.... I tried it with OH's Egg to my Egg and they wouldn't allow it.....

Sassamac

Ooh you know I hadnt even thought of that! The thing is DH's CC is the most expensive debt, and the largest in one place, so its the one that needs sorting. Might have to transfer it to my Barclaycard and then to my HSBC CC. This shuffling business isnt easy is it!

Sassamac

The weekly battle with Tesco is done and it really was a battle today with both kids in tow, one feeling sick and one crying all the way round.

Anyway £24, £16 of which was food, but a few snacks crept in, which amounted to a couple of quid. 7p for a kilo of parsnips though! They had Pampers on offer which actually made them cheaper than Tescos own, so that bumped up my spends quite a bit.
Also got a huge sack of spuds from the market for £4 and resisted buying any other veg.

I have spent 3/4 of my grocery budget already, but have enough food to last this week except bread, several store cupboard things to last the month, and enough nappies to give April a headstart. So Im hoping to get away with buying 3 weeks worth of bread, 2 weeks worth of milk, cheese, cat food, and f&v, and not much else.

Im actually going to take the cats food / litter out of the budget as of next month, because their needs are not something that can be comprimised on, nor does it change much as its never on offer. Started giving them more and more meat of recent and they definitely appreciate it. Its more expensive than the biscuits but I think better for them to have real meat. Might look into getting them insured too now theres a bit of leeway in the budget.

Sassamac

DH had said there was a possibility of him doing a bit of overtime on Sat morning. Its now looking like being 5 hours+, so another £30 odd in next weeks pay. Also I think whereas I have been working on the basis of 5 x 8 hour days, it might be more like 8 1/2 or 9. So the extra half - one hour will add £15 - £30 to take home pay every week. It may well earn more than the last job afterall.
Now just got to work on saving money on lunch.

Sassamac

Well DH is at work, so Im off to spend a bit more money this morning. There is a nearly sale on in town so will go bargain hunting.
Im also hoping to get some baking done this w/e as I idnt do any last w/e.

I have decided the answer to DH's lunches is to bake some bread rolls, do a dozen at a time every w/e and freeze them. Then take two out of the freezer the night before and quickly fill them in the morning. Thats going to be much cheaper than £2 per day for a sarnie at work, and saves me the expense of buying fresh bread (I only ever buy reduced bread so we always toast it to disguise the lack of freshness).

Im hoping to get some made today but not sure I'll have time as we have a family party this afternoon and the sale this morning. Think my parents are coming up tomorrow so I might get a chance to bake in the morning if we get all the Sunday cleaning done first.
Anyway, I want to make;
bread rolls, soft ones
twinks hobnobs but chewy like cookies this time,
traybake, maybe carrot and orange.

Sassamac

Got as far as making the traybake, decided on carrot and apple. Bit random, but its what needs using up. Its come a bit too moist / heavy though because of all the juice from the fruit / veg. Will have to tweak that and try again sometime.

Official overtime hours (well over 40 anyway) is 13.5 hours so an extra £75 - 80 in the pay packet on Friday on top whats budgeted.

Sassamac

Ive come on here to get a soft bread roll recipe so will give that a try this morning.

I was also hoping to get up to the sports centre and pick up some info about their memberships. Their prices go up every April but they often also have deals on at that time. Im thinking it will be about £40 per month for gym membership, not sure how much it is just for the swim membership, but I wouldnt get the sauna etc. in that too. Also I would want to put DD in the creche for 2 hours once a week so I could go for a lunchtime swim. Which will be about £3.25 per week so another £14 per month. We do have £54 spare every month, but its a question of whether it could be put to better use. I really need to lose weight and regain my sanity, and DD really needs to start childcare as shes not been since she was about 6 months and she can be a clingy madam. Im thinking a comprimise would be to take out the membership for 3 months and then see if we can afford it when we have to remortgage.

Keeping_Positive

How did the bread making go? Mine blooming stuck again. Im not sure this is going to work but will perserve for a bit longer.

I think everyone needs some me time and since your putting so much effort in if there is room in the budget then go for it. Three months is a good start to see how it goes.

Sassamac

The bread making was very good for a first effort, but not yet perfect. Sorry to hear yours wasnt so good. I brushed the tray with oil, then coated it with flour. That was my Mums suggestion as the recipe made no mention of how to do it. I wanted really soft rolls and they turned out not soft but not crunchy. We sacrificed the smallest one for everyone to share and taste and it was really nice. Slightly bland compared to shop bought but I expect thats just the lack of hidden extras. Ive put half in the freezer (it made 16) but couldnt fit anymore in, made 2 up already for DH for lunch tomorrow and Im planning to make soup tomorrow (made some veg stock from tonights dinner) and have rolls with that for lunch tomorrow for me and the kids.

The HM cake has gone down really well. It made a good dessert with vanilla angel delight tonight, so theres not much left. Will be baking again before the week is out I dont doubt. Mind you I didnt get any biscuits made, so need to do more anyway.

Got my Barclaycard statement today so have added the £12 worth of interest to my snowball so our total debt has actually gone up. Will be sub £10k this week though!

Had a thorough read of the gym membership info and the minimum term is 6 months. They do also offer a 2 month trial but as a previous member Im not sure Id be entitled to it. So Im stumped now. 6 months is risky as the mortgage is such an unknown quantity. Might have to look at our insurances / utilities etc. and see if we can get those down anymore to compensate.

Sassamac

Had to transfer some money over to pay the CC's as both our HSBC CC minpays come out within a couple of days of each other. One has gone through today so Ive updated the snowball.