From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2 · 31 July 2018 at 3:47AM

The picnic and day out at the NT property was lovely. My mum and grandmother joined us, so a 4 generation picnic...wonderful! I packed up the rock cakes and carrot muffins, along with rolls and carrot & cucumber sticks. I did pop into a supermarket and pick up some of the cheapest yogurt tubes for £1. The children seemed to graze the picnic box for most of the day which meant that nothing was spent in the cafe:T. By the time we got home, the children weren't ravenous as they usually are, so we had a light meal of salad and omelette with toasted crumpets for some.

Today (31) is DS's birthday. He decided he would like to have a day out at a theme park type place that is about 20 miles away. This week has seen a lot of days out due to either birthdays or because my DNs are visiting so once this week is over, it will be back to free things only. That said the NT day saved me £25 which is getting on for a quarter of the annual fee.

MeandO · 31 July 2018 at 11:11AM

Your picnic day (and the contents of your picnic basket!) sounds wonderful HSL2.
Hope the theme park isn't too costly today x

Honeysucklelou2 · 31 July 2018 at 11:27PM

Thank you MeandO. We all woke up late this morning, so breakfast was more like brunch. We set off for the chosen theme park at 1 ish and spent 4 hours there. Happily the toddler got in free, so total cost was £67. The assistant gave me a 50p discount per ticket as we were a big group!

Unfortunately two DDs have come down with a sickness bug. Not sure if our picnic plans to meet an old friend will happen now or not. I certainly hope it doesn't spread to the others.

Honeysucklelou2 · 1 August 2018 at 8:54AM

Looks like I'm going to have to ring HMRC as £203 has been taken out of my account today, despite the letter about notional entitlement being applied which showed I had paid :mad::mad::mad:.

Cherryfudge · 1 August 2018 at 10:42PM

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

Looks like I'm going to have to ring HMRC as £203 has been taken out of my account today, despite the letter about notional entitlement being applied which showed I had paid :mad::mad::mad:.

:eek::eek::eek: That's awful. Hope they refund and say sorry.

Honeysucklelou2 · 1 August 2018 at 11:37PM

I haven't had chance to ring yet as we were out today.Looks to be a Friday job at the moment,but I will endeavour to get that sorted out.

I've had such a lovely relaxing day today, visiting a NT property with an old friend and her children. We packed up a picnic and I made sure that each child ( and myself) had a full water bottle. I didn't even stop for a cup of tea, so my grand spending total today was £4.50. 50p for air for the tyres and £4 for 2 summer trails (NT).:) it's been so long since I have just enjoyed my children's company and we have spent days doing things together. Last summer the worry of the tax credit situation cast rather a long shadow. This year it is lovely to simply be with my children.:)

MeandO · 2 August 2018 at 11:27AM

What a wonderful post HSL2 (apart from the HMRC bit). You certainly seem to get your money's worth from the NT membership.

Kitten868 · 2 August 2018 at 9:59PM

So annoying about the tax credits. Especially when they're so fun to call.
Great news about enjoying time with the children. They're brilliant aren't they. Hope your girls weren't too bad with the sickness.
While you're on the phone to HMRC ask about the refund on the other £2k.
Keep making your lovely plans xxx

Honeysucklelou2 · 2 August 2018 at 11:09PM

Thank you MeandO and Kitten868.

Today was the last day of the DN's (&DSIL) visit, so we made the most of it by spending the day altogether, well apart from the teenager who was working. My parents very kindly paid the entrance cost for all of us, to get into a local theme park. We packed up a picnic again ( the coolbox is getting used regularly so good value for money) and enjoyed the day together. I did spend some money on an icecream for everyone which seemed the least I could do after not having had to pay to get in.

I've had 2 letters from HMRC today, confirming final award for last year and setting out this year 's. At least I can budget carefully!

Honeysucklelou2 · 4 August 2018 at 3:34AM

Yesterday (Friday) was the first day we'd had at home since finishing school. I made the most of the fine weather and got 4 loads of washing done and hung on the line. I rang HMRC which was quite an experience. To begin with, I rang the number listed on the letter that they had sent me...it went straight to the BT message about the number not being recognised. I tried the main Tax Credit helpline and went through the automated questions, only to be told to ring the first number. The crucial difference was 1 digit in the number. I tried again and this time got through to an advisor. After getting through security checks and questions, I explained the situation as carefully and concisely as possible. It took several attempts to explain the key figures to him and to get across why I was surprised that the £203 had left my account on Tuesday. Eventually, after explaining the key figures repeatedly, the advisor was able to complete a form to request repayment of the money I have now overpaid and was able to cancel the direct debit. I felt sorry for the advisor because he was explaining to me, that he couldn't see a copy of the notional entitlement letter on his screen, although he could see that it had been applied to my account. It's almost as if he was trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle without being able to see all the pieces...totally frustrating for both him and me. The conversation ended with him telling me to ring back if I haven't heard anything in 1-2 weeks.:eek::eek: The question in my mind is how long would it have taken for HMRC to refund the overpayment, had I not rung yesterday?

I topped up the car with diesel (£30) and managed to spend £58 in A*da. We don't usually shop there but I had to collect DD1 from the train station in another town, so we called in. Some of the spending was on socks and a pair of beach shoes for the toddler and odd bits for the house.

From debt to freedom...

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