Statement of intent

SmlSave

I'm glad Mrs Stuart is home and hope she feels better soon.

Well done for you and DD coping so well.

setmefree2

Yay - glad to hear Mrs GMC is home:D. My youngest has had 2 pollen-induced asthma attacks (about 6 years apart) and they are very scary...

...anyway, hope she gets better soon.

StuartGMC

Will learn over next few weeks whether OH has an on-going asthma issue or one which will only be triggered during virus problems etc.

However, watching Comic Relief tonight puts things in perspective, both in UK and Africa; donated £50 plus the tax recovery, but it seems so little in context of the issues. Watching the scenes of small children took me back to when DD was born 2 months premature and our 5 weeks in the SCUBU (special care baby unit) before she could come home, with others who sadly lost children there... really brings things home reflecting on these issues and I hope once MF we can donate more to such causes.

uzubairu

Hope Mrs GMC gets well soon.

StuartGMC

OH is still short of breath but hopefully will continue to improve over the next week.

Have had water and sewerage bill through to cover Sept 08 to Feb 09 and the direct debit will remain at £36 per month, so at least no increase this time, but I note it is only an estimate from them...

OH pay arrived in account on Friday including some very welcome overtime pay. I therefore "repaid" some money back to our savings (£458) so we are only £343 negative on contribution to savings now, but then would need to find a further £912 to hit target. The concern here is the forward projection to the position in October when I hope we can payoff the mortgage, as the cash savings reserve will be too low at present projection at only £2.7k, but there will be the usual current a/c balance and the S&S ISA value to supplement this and expectation of rapid replenishment of cash savings thereafter.

Meanwhile S&S ISAs are fluctuating still, and graphically would be ok (+/-10% variation) since Jan 09 except that we have contributed money each month to them too. However, I'm remaining relatively relaxed about them for now and will be reading more on the subject so that when we can save more per momnth once MF, then we can look at broadening the spread over a few additional funds for our monthly investments. In particular I think we need some exposure to Europe plus more in UK (perhaps tracking FTSE).

MoneyQueen

Hi Stuart,

I hope your OH gets well soon.....

Rgds
MQ

setmefree2

Stuart - I know what you mean about watching comic relief, it makes you want to give them everything you own:o Helps put all our economic woes in perspective , doesn't it? Certainly makes me feel more thankful...It's great that they made so much more than 2 years ago. Maybe the recession is going to bring out the best in us all!

Hope your wife is feeling better.

StuartGMC

SMF2
Yes, perhaps we may even see our culture returning to one of community and neighbours helping people?

OH is slowly improving, breathing better today but very little energy. I cut the lawns earlier and we all sat out in the sun for lunch which was very nice. However, OH now agrees to be careful and not overdo things to set her recovery back.

Driver turned up 0530 this morning to take me to Heathrow; obviously "someone" at work failed to cancel it as I have postponed this week's trip to Houston due to OH health; a bit early for me on a Sunday when not planned and for the driver he will be annoyed at loss of the fare (although I think they should just claim it anyway).

Taken a little time out to read Money Observer and getting some useful ideas along the way for the future. Question is, do I spend £40 per year on this (cover price is £4.25 so it is a saving) and learn of key aspects now even if there is no chance of funding them until a few years later?

Finally, I have stepped down from my role chairing a voluntary group in our community after 7 years as it was time for a change and I don't have enough time presently to devote to it (look at how much I waste here ). Feels odd at the moment but I am sure it will improve over the next month or so without the constant need to be checking on items, liaising with Police and other groups etc. I intend to remain involved but happy to be on the sidelines for now, although remaining as a Trustee presently.

RosieTiger

Stuart - your work on here is also a substantial piece of community activity and is of great use to many of us !
Great to hear your wife has agreed to rest up more, hope she gets better soon.

StuartGMC

RosieTiger
Good point about this community, odd that it didn't occur to me!

British Gas (Centrica) seem to have sorted out the online submission of meter readings for gas (I hope); at least once I've entered the electricity readings it then accepts the gas reading so fingers crossed that there are no more multiple entries messing up the consumption graphs.

That said, our energy consumption spreadsheet (you honestly didn't think there would not be one, did you? ) is showing that since September the consumption is of the order:
Gas: 53.83kWh per day (:eek:)
Daytime rate electricity: 14.85kWh per day
Night rate electricity: 2.85kWh per day

So a total consumption of about 71kWh per day. This includes a few extra weeks at home (half-term and illness) plus OH is in the house two weekdays per week although she tries to limit heating on those days. The figures should drop through May onwards so we'll see what our results are like in early September 2009.