Surfbabe Wipeout

Surfbabe

Well statement came today from Woolwich - and amount on Reserve account has fallen to just under £33k. Can't believe that it is coming down and that I left it so long thinking oh well when we sell the house it will be repaid - the amount of interest I've paid is astronomical!!!

Anyway new credit card arrived this week - HSBc with 0% interest till Jan 09, so plane tickets are booked and savings to pay this off have started. Can;t believe the limit though - £5K which is more than my existing one that I have had for years.

I even have £12.30 left from my £20 for this week. !!!

Bismarck

Good for you on the statement...well done.

Need to hide you little piece of plastic well away now so nothing gets added to it.....scary how small amounts become a landslide....

We don't often think about of interest paid on anything - especially mortgages...now there's a scary thought!

Surfbabe

believe me - the new credit card is hidden well away with passports and etickets etc until December!!!!

Surfbabe

Well am I glad we booked out tickets last week - have just chekced on airline site and they are now over £200 more per person - so we have saved £800+ by booking so very very early.

Had a look back through statements the other day and we have paid over £8000 in interest on this blasted Woolwich Reserve loan since 2003. Thats nearly what I earn in an year !!! I can;t believe we have been so stupid about it. BUT it is coming down !! I could have had a new kitchen with the amount of interest paid and believe me I need a new kitchen.

Anyway feeling a bit under the weather today so I'm off to curl up on sofa with a book and hot drink.

Surfbabe

Well its nearly a month since I last posted - and its been a s****y one at that. [EMAIL="I@m"]I'm[/EMAIL] off work at the moment with a chest infection - the first time I've been off work in five years. Doctors have signed me off for a week and so I'm bored.!!:rotfl:

Diet has gone completely to pot although I thankfully haven;t put any weight on but things have really dragged me down at work and have been rather stressful - hence the chest infection. First few days of half-term where brilliant as weather was so good I managed a really good longwalk every day before getting a stomach bug that had been going round which really laid me low for a couple of days.

I'd been doing well on the spending front - ie I hadn;t spent much at all and was under on the weekly challenge and at the end of the month we had a little to spare depsite my mess up from January. Even better news was that my money from swimming teaching wasn't needed in the general kitty so half has gone into savings and half off the reserve loan (still waiting for updated figure on that - hence no change in signature). THis month might be another matter as I am already down by 8 hours swimming teaching due to being ill, but hopefully I won;t need what I do get (does that make sense )

Anyway next week when I am back at work my aim is to go back on the really healthy eating kick - no more chocolate biscuits etc and to restart the weekly spending challenge. Can;t start Pilates or Aquarobics till week after as want to make sure that chest infection has completely gone.

Have got holiday in May to pay for but the money is already there so just need to send it off (surfing in Cornwall for a few days in case you are wondering :j ) and I know that there is money left over from that pot to either throw at the Reserve Loan or put into savings for USA.

So the situation is not really too bad in actual fact - oh yes and DS is home from Uni next weekend so that means I don;t have his allowance to pay for 3 weeks so a bit more for the pot. :T


Must update a bit more regulary I suppose - I'm waiting for money to arrive in my quidco account and Ive had £40 of vouchers from pigsback so all is well really. Need to look into car insurance soon, Both kids will be driving come June and my car is the one that is used for it - one learning and one driving for 2 years so not a cheap deal here - but we'll see!!!

Well I'm off to make a cup of honey and lemon (don;t drink tea or coffee) but honey is from our own bees so is not like the rubbish you buy in the supermarkets.

hypno06

I hope you soon feel better xx

Surfbabe

Just written a huge long post and its all gone :eek:

Well I haven't posted in a while and I thought I'd better up date my thread. Have been off work more than I've been since the 27th February due to a chest infection that wouldn't go away, an adverse reaction to one set of antibiotics and going back teaching swimming too soon.!!!! BUT I am feeling loads better now and am due back to swimming teaching tomorrow and then school on the 14th.

Finances going quite well at moment. Have decided that swimming teaching moeny is a bonus and so split it 50/50 between reserve loan and savings. Just waiting for a statement from woolwich regarding the loan then I can update my figures, but I should have dropped to under £32K I think.

DS is home from Uni at the moment. Have had serious talk with him about budgeting, although I have to say he is quite good with money - he only :eek: has a £500 OD where as most of his friends in their first year have £1000 OD. He's manged to earn enough at the pool (he lifegaurds and teaches as well) that should bring him back into credit. He gets his Student loan on 14th and afger paying for his accomadation he should be left with about £50 (including allowance from us) a week to cover all his expenses. Can;t believe that in 8 weeks time he will have fininshed his first year at Uni.

Anyway I am looking forward to going back to work - there is only so much daytime television to watch !!! It means I can get back into a routine for healthy eating, exercise and financial planning !!!!

We are off surfing at end of May, so have to get a bit fitter by then anyway.

Right going to try to post this again (you'll be relived to know it is not as long as before!!:rotfl: :rotfl: )

Surfbabe

Well I;'ve just had the Woolwich Reserve Statement and the total has only (!?) dropped to £32384.71 :sad: - well thats there figure - I know that it will be lower as I've transferred some more across since then. Also the interest rate has probably gone up and of course March was a longer month for interest accrual than February. Any way the actual mortgage has dropped to £51,190.81 so we have managed to pay £15 off since we took it out. Aim to get the Reserve down to £31500 by end of June if possible (more if possible - but DD is going in for an operation and hospital is an 80 mile round trip so may spend a lot more on diesel than usual in June. We will see. Actually aim should be to have paid £10 off by end of August.

Anyway at least everything is moving in the right direction - I suppose I have to counter the decrease with the fact that I've been putting equal amounts to savings as I have to paying off so have a savings pot of £600 at the moment. :j

Right off to watch World ShortCourse Swimming now - BBC2 peak time every day for five days as well as during the day - what is the BBC thinking of :rotfl: :rotfl:

Surfbabe

Well today's trial is DS has lost his mobile phone on the way back to Uni. So if anyone has found one on Paddington Station it could be his !!!! :mad:

Of course nothing is straight forward - the phone is in my name, as the contract is in my name (taken out when DS was U18), he has no back up of the 100+ phone numbers on there and is now on a train to Swansea.

Tmobile have been brilliant and blocked the sim card and phone within minutes of me ringing them and it hadn't been used in the two hours between DS letting me know it was lost and me getting home to do something about it !!!

Anyway - just thought [EMAIL="I'@d"]I'd[/EMAIL] get it off my chest - could have been worse - it would have been his wallet and cards :eek:

InaPickle

Hey Surfbabe - I just found your thread and thought it would only be right to mention how sorry I am about your mother's passing at your MSE 'home', instead of in someone else's thread. I'm very sorry. Take good care of yourself in the coming days and come and have a chat with us any time you feel the need. xxx