Statement of intent

setmefree2

StuartGMC wrote: »

As noted we bought bikes at 50% off this month as well on the principle that it's better to do so now than wait until winter and miss the exercise in the meantime.

Woke up early this morning and noticed bike store (at front of the house) doors were wide open. Yes - a bike thief.:mad: Hubby gutted loved his bike:( We have a bike store at the front of our house for about 5 years. Many homes around us do this, never been a problem before. We were not the only one's. Neighbours too - cut through pad locks. Police actually paid a visit much too our surprise - didn't think they would be bothered. I suppose they can be easily sold. Such is life.....:rolleyes:

PS I think holidays are really important too. There are really only a limited number of family holidays, soon they kids are big and want to go on holiday with their friends.

PPS. We phoned up and got our AA sub reduced from £144 to £108 yesterday.

StuartGMC

Having seen all the media comments I had been struggling to find the details, even on DVLA web site earlier in the year, however, have found it on Parkers:

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/road-tax/

My S-Type 3.0 "treat" is going to cost a "little" more to tax in those years, but, I bet her retail value is dropping like a stone at the moment anyway; so, I'll keep her (and not complain) and dutifully have her serviced in the summer. That said, I do try never to use the car where I can walk and we're "green" elsewhere in the household, but I know a number of you will suggest I make savings a bigger priority (please allow this extravagance or at least don't berate me for it!)

BTW: The Parkers site has some interesting data on the fact that even smaller engined cars may be less green than the public thought; certainly worth checking carefully before you buy as the CO2 rating can change even where the model has apparently remained the same (I'm assuming you, like me, buy them used).

setmefree2

Hi

I've never been intrested in cars and neither is Mr SMF2. We have an x reg scenic - but have a B-I-L, sisters, borther who all love cars. Each to their own Everyone deserves a hobby.

StuartGMC

setmefree2 wrote: »

Woke up early this morning and noticed bike store (at front of the house) doors were wide open. Yes - a bike thief.:mad: Hubby gutted loved his bike:( We have a bike store at the front of our house for about 5 years. Many homes around us do this, never been a problem before. We were not the only one's. Neighbours too - cut through pad locks. Police actually paid a visit much too our surprise - didn't think they would be bothered. I suppose they can be easily sold. Such is life.....:rolleyes:

Sorry to hear that; we were burgled in 2002 (in a series of some 35 in the area Police advised) and they even took silver Christening crosses from 4yr old DD jewelery box searching amongst her toy items. That was a real PITA, unsettled her and was made much worse by Norwich Union taking 6 months to sort out payments (contents insurance), in contrast to Zurich (buildings insurance) who resolved repairs rapidly. Needless to say we've never gone near NU (Aviva) since. Neighbours were burgled in the 20mins it took to leave home and collect kids from school, so they were casing the estate....

If you have frame numbers there's a very small chance of recovery but in our area they are put in containers and sent to Europe.... Hopefully your contents insurers will be better in resolving this quickly than ours did and that you are able to get items of equivalent value in replacement (PS: if you can get the cash/arrange for replacement, can you get the bikes under the cycle to work schemes?)

PS I think holidays are really important too. There are really only a limited number of family holidays, soon they kids are big and want to go on holiday with their friends.

Fully concur, DD can spend up to 8 hrs in the water and loves it, really gaining from her swimming lessons too.

PPS. We phoned up and got our AA sub reduced from £144 to £108 yesterday.

Yes, I should have tried that. Add to "to do list" next year with RAC (two named people any vehicle etc, £136).

setmefree2

StuartGMC wrote: »

Sorry to hear that; we were burgled in 2002 (in a series of some 35 in the area Police advised) and they even took silver Christening crosses from 4yr old DD jewelery box searching amongst her toy items.

Years ago when I lived with my parents we were burgled when we were all asleep:eek:. The burglars sat and sorted out the records thay wanted to steal - stole mine and my brothers and left my Dads behind:rotfl:Thieves have no heart - they don't care that my husband loved his bike 'cos me and the kids bought it for him and he rode it with our son, etc. BUT you can't get attached to a bike as they always get nicked in the end....:rolleyes:

Ps your daughter sounds like my youngest - he can spend all day in a pool!

StuartGMC

Kassytbag and WelshLassie both have a copy of my spreadsheet, so hopefully they can gauge if it works for people who did not author it... then I can decide if it is worth making available to anyone else interested in it.

Watch this space.

StuartGMC

We've received notice from NatWest that their Offset rate will rise to 6.45% from 7 July, attributed to the current market conditions, so that'll have some impact on things but not nearly so bad for us as others with larger mortgages of course.

Is the Government monitoring these rises vs. banks' profits over the next year? Of course, banks are a business like any other and need to deliver shareholder value; something many people seem to overlook these days.

Have also paid credit card for this month; cleared today online having deducted on Monday from the current account, due in the account Friday, but the accelerated payments don't seem to have started yet (credit card and current account with NatWest). Need to monitor this for a while before shortening the scheduled payment to be closer to due date to maximise offset.

So the impact of this is:
Offset - now only 55.33%
Effective mortgage rate (at 6.45% rate) 2.88%
Overpayment needs review once the impact on repayments is advised.

Holiday payment and other items means a credit card bill of about £4500 when billing date is reached in a week's time, due to pay in full mid-July. Cash is of course ready, but it will drop the offset. Remember we put all spend on the card each month and offset with the cash, paying in full just before due date - love the control the internet gives me on this

So whilst we will drop down in cash savings it should recover significantly by September (there, just set myself a target - funny how they just appear automatically these days!).

There is some good news, OH has had her pay rise through, backdated to April and she can earn overtime (.... quick calc to see if I can give up work... unfortunately not )

I'll get a detailed update together in July.

setmefree2

StuartGMC wrote: »

We've received notice from NatWest that their Offset rate will rise to 6.45% from 7 July, attributed to the current market conditions, so that'll have some impact on things but not nearly so bad for us as others with larger mortgages of course.

Is the Government monitoring these rises vs. banks' profits over the next year?

It's because the LIBOR rate has moved so far away from the BOE rate because of the credit crunch - pain in the neck though, I agree. Hope Merv's next move isn't an upward one:o I'm hoping he keeps them at 5%....:cool:

setmefree2

StuartGMC wrote: »

There is some good news, OH has had her pay rise through, backdated to April and she can earn overtime (.... quick calc to see if I can give up work... unfortunately not )

LOL:rotfl::rotfl:We'll all be lucky to be able to retire at 60:D

StuartGMC

setmefree2 wrote: »

LOL:rotfl::rotfl:We'll all be lucky to be able to retire at 60:D

Actually, both NRD are 65 and usual hits on pensions when retiring early, but I think we'll soon face a stage where they say, retire when you're dead, there's no money for pensioners anymore!:rotfl: