The "Grand Plan" - Phase One well underway!

EssexHebridean

Well exactly - we're in this to make our lives better in the long term, sure, but that doesn't mean we have to make them miserable now! My costs drop a fair bit through the winter anyway - no speedway so less diesel and other associated costs.

frazzmunch

congrats on your op's:T :T :T i think you are doing incredibly well...and if you can pay that loan off by christmas it will be amazing:D

sorry to hear you aren't well...i would see a doctor though...better to be on the safe side especially if you are prone to chest infections....hope you feel better soon....

Courgette

Hi EH, hope you're feeling better. I think you're doing a grand job on the old MFW front - and what an achievement if you do get that loan paid off in Dec! It was supposed to last much longer than that, wasn't it

EssexHebridean

Thanks Frazz & Courgette - I'm taking my vitamin C and echinacea and I feel that this time I might well have got the lurgy on the run!

The loan was taken out last November and was supposed to be a 30 month term.....I'm going to be absolutely delighted to get shot of it quite SO early - 13 months rather than the 30!

I do have to confess to having had a splurge though - I've been thinking for a while that I wanted to upgrade my camera - I bought myself a Canon 30D back in 2006, not long after it was launched, and while it is still a crackingly good camera, it has been superceded several times since and I've really started to notice its limitations of late. I was also conscious that I've given what is really an enthusiast camera something approaching pro use - and bearing in mind it's not really built for it I was starting to wonder how much longer things like the shutter would hold out...... I'd been looking at the 40D for a while - it's really built to a pro-spec and also has a degree of weather/dust sealing which will potentially make a big difference to me. I finally went for it yesterday - bought via Jessops through Quidco (cashback has already tracked) using a cashback credit card (only 1% but every little helps) - cost of the camera was £579 - £14.80 tracked through Quidco, £5.79 to come from the credit card, plus £60 cashback to claim from Canon as well....the old camera is now on eBay and should fetch £300-ish so all in all I don't feel I've done too badly. Having used the new one yesterday at Rugby I can honestly say it's worth every penny anyway - an absolute joy to use and the results are phenomenal! I do have one more purchase planned - my laptop is groaning its way towards certain death so will have to be replaced....I intend to make use of recommendations from on here though for a good deal, and again, that will be purchased via a cashback card (and very possibly also through Quidco) to maximise the savings. Once that has been purchased I'm aiming to transfer the lot onto a 0% credit card and then take my time paying it off.

StuartGMC

EH
The justification for the camera purchase seems perfectly sound to me requiring, what, £200 "price to change"? With such items, getting the hard data on essentials and the next tier of nice to haves is the starting point then as you've done watch the prices.

BTW: Is laptop ailing in terms of reliability or just slow due to numerous things clogging the registry? In the latter case, I'd consider reformatting HD (assuming you have it all backed up inc notes of your ISP login details, e-mail account details etc and have installation disks), you'll get a few more months from it that way before replacing in the January sales?

EssexHebridean

It's just seriously old Stuart! 30gb hard drive, 512 ram, and I'm trying to run Photoshop on it - it doesn't like it!! I considered putting more RAM in a while back but to be honest it's so old (about 2002) that it's not really worth it. I might well be able to hold it out until the New Year sales though - that would certainly be the ideal. I've got my eye on the prices of a few Sony Vaio machines - by all accounts they seem to be the favourite for photographers at the moment as the image quality of the screens appear to be top-notch.

frazzmunch

13 months instead of 30 is incredible!!:j you should be incredibly proud of all the hard work you have put in to achieve that!!:D

the camera sounds like an excellent plan....especially with all the beautiful places you visit (still jealous about the puffins!!:rotfl: )...

EssexHebridean

I just had to rescue this thread from page 4 - I must have been slacking!!

I transferred another £94 into the ISA this evening - a combination of some mileage expenses from work and the eBay money from the stuff the other week. The November payment on the loan will go out as normal, a few days before that payment goes I will request a formal settlement figure for repayment in full in december, and then it's all systems go to send a cheque off to clear it before the December payment would become due. :j I'm all excited now and my motivation is back in force!

The old camera on eBay turned into a bit of a nightmare as it ended up with a fake bid and eBay withdrawing the listing. :mad: I was watching it as it drew to a close expecting a last minute flurry as it had 17 watchers...bit surprised when there was no further activity and it only "sold" for its starting price....all became clear when we saw the messages from eBay though! It's relisted now and already has 5 watchers - due to finish next Monday evening so fingers crossed that it goes to a more sensible level this time.

The statement came through on my Abbey Zero card earlier and confirmed that the November payment on that clears the balance - right on target for the end of the 0% period! I've applied for and been approved for a Tesco card - and have arranged a £1000 balance transfer from my Egg card which will take care of the camera cost and the laptop as and when I get that sorted. There will be a credit balance in the Egg money account for a while but as credit balances in there pay 4% and the balance transfer fee is only 2.9% I feel I'm still winning! With luck that balance transfer might come through ahead of the next payment being due on the Egg card too - fingers crossed!

The heating is now on - with two of our storage heaters working on part power only power use overnight has pretty much doubled from 5 units to 10 units approx per night. The day usage should drop a little though or at worst stay the same as we are being even more cautious about using appliances overnight on the economy 7. We're awaiting a quote from the electrician to come and replace the front room heater and fit a new thermostat to our immersion heater too - that will save us cash in the long run as we'll be able to heat the water on the night rate too.

gallygirl

Well done on progress :j . I'm thinking of getting a 0% card to buy a car, need to see what's on offer. Just a bit concerned as will have had a credit check done 2 months ago when transferred bank account. Nice to see someone already taking advantage of it.

setmefree2

EssexHebridean wrote: »

I transferred another £94 into the ISA this evening.

Well Done on that:T:T:T