Sass' 2008 DFW ramble thread

Sassamac

wendy24g wrote: »

Are there any training courses you could do from home when your little ones go to part time nusery? I know thats a couple of years off but it might help prepare for when they go full time. Ive got OH to do a computer repair course from home which he can spend more time on now with all three kids full time.

This is something I had thought about actually, but have not seriously looked into. I was thinking that its just over a year til DD goes to pre-school, (easter 09) assuming we can afford to fund her at apx £55 per month, which will give me 2 sessions a week child free woohoo! So there is the potential to do something like a refresher course. As I say I havent looked into it thoroughly to know whats available and what it would cost. Im not sure ultimately how helpful a new course will be as my problem is not lack of quals but lack of work experience.
When I spoke to the careers advisor at the the childrens centre she recomended doing some relevant volunteering work to get back into the swing of things. At the time (pre LBM) that seemed like a great idea, so we'll have to see how financially viable it is when the time comes.

Is your OH looking to go back to work now the kids are all at school then, part time or full-time? I think computer skills are very transferable these days.

Sassamac

lauradora wrote: »

looks like things are looking up for you again sass well done :j you seem to have things a lot more under control now, i certainly can't follow your budgeting-you really have done a thorough job!

Thanks Laura, I do feel a lot more in control now and its done wonders for my confidence and mood this week. LOL at not being able to follow my budgeting - I find that with other peoples diaries too. It makes sense to me but probably no-one else. Even my DH cant understand all what I do with the spreadsheets.

Keeping_Positive

Not sure what OH up to. I know he wants to work but it has to be something that fits in with kids and his disability (bad shoulder injury). This is along with a very poor work record and nearly 10 years sick.

He wants a driving job delivering small light objects because he loves driving. I did menton pizza but this got a poor response. Ill have to wait and see. Youngest only went full time in Jan so Ill give him a bit longer. Plus its hard enough motivating myself to work, budget etc without having a battle with him!

Volunteering sounds good if it can work with budget and childcare. Even if you need work if you start of in a low paid job it will be easier to find a better one but thats a while off yet.

LOL ref budget I cant follow mine half the time when I go back to them and even when I think Ive put it in a good order and neatly OH visibally goes blank!

lauradora

i've tried volunteering, its amazing the response you get. you'd think people would be crying out for volunteers but they rarely even thank you for enquiring let alone give you any hours!

Keeping_Positive

Sassamac wrote: »

Right, mission for the morning was going to be to try and shuffle some credit cards, but..... DS fell out of bed last night, and his head is still sore, plus it gave him a nose bleed, so Im keeping him off school this morning.
He's currently curled up on the sofa and looks knackered so if he stays there, and DD entertains herself (that'll be a first!) and they dont wind each other up, then I can get this done. But generally trying to make phone calls when both kids are around is a nightmare, so we'll see! Plus the house is a mess and I need to do the dishwasher without DD climbing in it!

Hows they day going? Is DS feeling better, a good sign is if they are arguing! Our quiet day is about to end. OH just gone to get the kids. Im having a break from work still got to prepare for tomorrow.

Sassamac

Yay, its arrived, our first decent TC payment that is. As its paid 4 weekly I have transfer 3/4 of it into the savings account and set up advance transfers to drip in 1/4 of it every Thursday. Then while I was there I carried on and sorted the April mortgage payment transfers.
In the process I discovered that theres 5 Fridays between the March mortgage payment and the April one, which effectively means theres a spare hundred odd quid to pay off the debts. Im basically hoping that we can make 4 weeks income (pay and TC's and CB) last a month, so that every 3 months we have a spare weeks income. to pay off the debts.

As the TC's come in on a Thu and pay comes in on a Fri (CB on a Tues isnt enough to worry about), anything that is spare in the current acc every Weds will be syphoned off into a savings acc and if it lasts a month without being borrowed back its paying off a CC.

Im happy now that I have a system. I need to check precisely when all the DD's come out but off the top of my head it seems fairly evenly spread - the mortgage is rationed, about £100 worth (plus soon to be water) on 1st, 2 x CC minpays and car ins in the second week, CT and Virgin in third week, then utilities and the smaller CC minpay in the last week, so £100 - £150 worth each week.
After next Friday when the full weeks pay kicks in (its only about 22 hours worth from the new job and 2 hours worth from the old job coming tomorrow) then we should be pretty comfortable.

Sassamac

I was going to ask you about volunteering Laura, as I know you have done it. Sounds like its hard work getting something organised though.
Maybe Wendy as you say, its easier to start in a low paid job and go from there.
Kids were good last night, too tired to argue I think!

Sassamac

DH is now working late today and tomorrow and the extra hours will add up to almost a days work. So effectively next weeks pay cheque will be a 6 day pay day.

Sassamac

Theres an extra £20 odd in the pay packet on top of what I was expecting. Perhaps, because it was less hours, its not been taxed as much (will have to wait for the post to see the payslip). Then theres 3 hours pay from the old job, when I was only expecting 2, and that hasnt been taxed etc at all, so is actually double what I anticipated. So, were £36 up.

Sassamac

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.