Paying the car tax via EBay, and other shenanigans.

mfmaybe · 29 January 2014 at 9:38PM

Not been a bad 24 hours. After posting last night, I had a good think and have noted down a few things I could put on fleabay. Had a look at the fee structure and tried to figure out strategies for selling smaller value items. Nothing listed as yet but OH is away for a week after tomorrow so will probably get to it then.

I then had a late-night read of a couple of diaries that made me realise just how lucky we are, and reinforced my desire to be debt free, because there is no need for it.

So today, I decided the cassoulet had a lunch in it as well as tonight's dinner, so took that with me to put in the work microwave. Also took a bit of milk and instead of buying my mid-morning latte, made a tea instead, with free water from the machine. Resut = NSD, despite being in the office :T

Then, made a decision to start making an overpayment each month on our mortgage. This was because they had for some reason dropped the payment a little bit, but I wanted it increased back up. As I waited on them to answer the phone decided to do a bit of a search on rates. So then I discovered some brilliant news...

We bought our house at the peak of the market in 2008. Last time I called about remortgaging they did a good version of "computer says no" by telling me that average house prices had done X and therefore my current value was ridiculously low. This meant remortgaging wasn't going to be beneficial, and at that point fix rates were over the 4% SVR we currently have. However, I discovered today that if I wanted to move onto a new 2-year fixed, the would treat my value as the purchase price, and that meant my LTV was below 75%. That, coupled with an insanely easy Online switching process, means we will be moving onto a 2-year fix at 2.3%. It's actually until July 2016 and ERCs apply up to the same date so no long tie-in. We will be saving over £200 a month in interest. There was a fee but I worked it out to still be a £4k saving over 2 years :eek: (our mortgage is not small to begin with, to be fair). We will continue to pay the existing amount, including the overpayment we decided on today, which will actually mean we are overpaying by £300 a month, with negligible impact on my personal situation. Yay :j

I am going to have a glass of wine to celebrate - it's ok, the bottle is already paid for :beer:

mfmaybe · 30 January 2014 at 5:34PM

Well first up, I continue to be humbled by the diaries I read on here. So many struggles; so many strong, witty, determined people :grouphug:. It's made me realise that once I pay off my debt I need to get my savings built up, yes, but in doing so be a bit more generous - there are lots of people paying off huge debt on small incomes, yet still giving to the food bank for example. Food for thought indeed.

I have been through a good pile of things for Ebay. Just listed the first one, that I'm not even sure will sell. I have a couple of things that due to their awkward size, will cost at least £2.60 to post, so may consider selling a couple of things for zero profit after fees, to at least get them out of the house! I've decided to sell one of my two Bridles belonging to the last horse. It's a bit generic, whereas the other one I am a bit more fond of! So at least the ideas are starting to flow. I've also had no interest for my item on FB so will probably list that on a buy it now. On an item of about £100 the 40p listing fee seems ok! Though I better check I've got that right.

In other news, the mortgage paperwork came through via email, I have called back to accept, so it starts in 2 weeks. At that point I need to remember to call back and increase the payment, as it will default to the new lower payment. I'm really pleased about how easy this was, how it took away the worry of a falsely low valuation, and I'm pleased about the £100 cashback I'm getting that I didn't even think about! That will go in our joint savings though. I did have a quick look at other deals today and could potentially have got a slightly lower rate, but they seemed to have higher fees (eg would have had to pay valuation) and the risk of the valuation being lower than our current one would likely have bumped us back onto a higher rate again. So I am very happy with the deal we have done. :T

My husband is doing well out of all my sorting. :rotfl: He is away for the weekend and I found over €50 in coins and small notes that he has taken with him; then I found some JL's vouchers we got for our wedding that are his to spend (I spent other vouchers).

Am still living off the freezer, so no food shopping since a week past Sunday. :money: Tonight I have defrosted a single chicken breast I found and am going to cook up some kale and spinach with creme fraiche and nutmeg, add a cooked chicken breast and have with pasta. Or something like that. By which point, the fridge will be entirely empty I think, other than some cheese and the basic condiments. But still things in the freezer and cupboard so will shop on Sunday. As I am on my own I will try to eat veggie meals all week, but cook up a bolognaise or something with the mince in the freezer, to have with OH the night he gets home.

I had a quick look at the frugal living challenge (I think it was) and one of the challenges was to eat 80% from basic brands. My immediate reaction was I can't do that as we only buy higher welfare meat, never the basic stuff; but realised the meat could fall into the 20%. So I'm not signing up to the challenge itself, but giving myself more food for thought (ahem, terrible repeat use of a bad pun).

I need to go to the PO to return a damaged item and collect a parcel. But as I know I will have to spend a bit of money on Saturday anyway, have decided to do it then instead. Ah these ways they are catching.

mfmaybe · 30 January 2014 at 11:14PM

Well I can confirm that dinner was, if not a triumph, surprisingly tasty. And double bonus, I added some quorn pieces to bulk it out, so have enough for lunch tomorrow. We have a microwave at work. I am really not a sandwich fan, so leftovers are my best hope of bringing my own lunch. I'm especially chuffed as I suspect the cabbage (actually it was Nero cabbage, not kale at all

) would just have gone out unused. We aren't horrendously wasteful with food but green veg is an area we could do better :A

One slight less pleasant surprise was that I forgot about our NTS membership. So £87 out of the joint account today. Will need to keep a close eye on whether we can pay the gas out of this account still.

Got a couple more tiny things on eBay. I nearly listed a pair of evening gloves until I discovered they were 2 rights and no left. :rotfl:. Only noticed as I was photographing them.

roxy7699 · 30 January 2014 at 11:45PM

Hello Mrs 2 right hands lol.
Well done on the mortgage discovery, that is great news. It is really humbling reading other peoples diaries isn't it, motivating also. Although I do find myself spending more and more time on here - if it pays off then great if not it just looks like I'm being nosey.
I wonder if there is a calculator out there somewhere that you can work out how much sooner you will be clearing your mortgage so you can see the new date it is paid off. Then plan a treat.
I've given up on ebay either it's !!!! or the stuff I have is lol. I'd rather recycle or charity shop my little bits. Saying that I don't think anything I have is worth over £5, after fees I find it pointless.

mfmaybe · 1 February 2014 at 2:18PM

Hi Roxy :hello:

I am usually quite positive about fleabay as I tend to sell horse things that sell well, and for a decent sum. I only just realised the final fees were 10% though, so for anything horsey I will try local FB groups first.

I have 5 and 7 watchers on 2 small things I listed, and another thing with no interest that I doubt will sell but I will happily donate somewhere. I haven't listed my other things yet as I think a free listing with a higher start price is a better idea. For example I have a jigsaw to list that I wrote about upthread, I'd be annoyed if I sold it for 99p plus postage, when I am already swithering about selling it.

Yesterday was a NSD, my third in a row which is a near miracle if I'm at work, and that included a Friday. Already paid to post something today, which was being returned, so I should get the postage back. But need to take the cat to the vet later, and do the food shopping. That was supposed to be tomorrow but as I'm spending money anyway I may as well do it today. I just need to write a focussed list so that I keep the cost down. Weather is so awful here, sleety sideways stuff turning to snow once in a while. Brrr.

debtfreeoneday · 1 February 2014 at 2:45PM

Don't forget you have to pay fees on postage as well now, I always charge £2.80 on a £2.60 post item. Fleabag are !!!!!!s for sneaking in charges.

Well done on the mortgage switch, that sounds really great. and to decrease the payment, but increase the overpayment will pay dividends in the end.

mfmaybe · 2 February 2014 at 11:43PM

Thanks DFOD I am very pleased about the mortgage.

So as expected yesterday was expensive with a vet visit (cat got in a fight and had an abscess under his tail) but my pets come before debt-busting so no grudges

Food shopping was £34 which included wine to take to dinner last night, Parmesan cheese which is expensive but obviously lasts ages, and a bag of frozen petit pois. I have to confess we tried own brand one time and they were awful, so vowed that was a product we'd stick to Birds Eye from now on! Anyway it's a cheap shop by our standards but as I'm a) on my own for half the week and b) also using up supplies, it probably isn't that cheap. Hey ho, my aim is to reduce spending, and I did that.

Today was NSD, and I may have been a bit hungover

so didn't feel compelled to spend money. Used a free listing weekend so have a few things on fleabay now. Need to start hunting around for the next little pile. I've decided that the small items, where I expect almost zero profit, to make sure I list alongside more lucrative things, so that I am going to the post office anyway! That way they will be out of the house but not inconveniencing me too much to get rid of.

Still another 15 days till payday. This feels like it's been a long month, but one where I feel I've really got to grips with my current situation.

roxy7699 · 2 February 2014 at 11:51PM

Hi,

Well done on the NSD, I think I might have to bring this back in to my world after popping out for a baby grow and coming back with wellies a grow and a voucher for a hair cut, mmm.

I totally agree on the peas, there are a few things I dont scrimp on, peas, sweetcorn and bread.

I have managed to convince OH to hand over £40 a month for his tax disc due next december, blimming expensive but he doesnt budget well. I should really do it for me too although I think my little corsa may only require a fiver a month - I could be very wrong.

mfmaybe · 2 February 2014 at 11:55PM

When I bought my car they said the road tax was the normal-ish £220 a year. I went it pick it up a few days later and the salesman said "oh yes oops I made a mistake, it's actually £450 a year" :eek:. By which point I'd arranged the finance etc so it was really too late to back out, but it hurts my finances a lot if it's not saved up for. Unfortunately it also needs v expensive tyres, and they often need paid at the same time. :mad::mad:

roxy7699 · 3 February 2014 at 12:00AM

Yes, for what reason he bought a 3.2 engine car I have no idea - well I do - but the associated costs. I also reminded him that his MOT is due in April and now I have been tasked with finding out how much a VW service is.

Mine is due around that time, but as a new car I bought the service plan, which probably won't cover anything I need it to but it felt like a grown up thing to do.

Paying the car tax via EBay, and other shenanigans.

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