Layout:
Home > Page: 8

Viewing the 'Uncategorized' Category

Slowly updating

February 5th, 2014 at 08:50 am

My sidebar, that is. I checked my statement for CC1 and the reason my payment is so low is because it's now 1% of the balance. I can't wait until our finances are sorted and I can start paying more. I will check CC2 soon.

Next on the list is to think of some goals for this year.

Musings

February 2nd, 2014 at 02:13 pm

I'm home alone today. It's hubby's first day back at work so he asked MIL to take SG. I would have rather spent time with her but he wanted me to take it easy.

The only things that he wanted me to do were to declutter a few kitchen drawers which he brought through to the livingroom last night. It was a long task, and I found receipts from 2012. I had a good read through them, and a lot of them were credit card receipts. Thankfully I don't have those anymore. I think we should sort through the mail weekly because a lot of stuff had built up. I also need a shredder to fully complete my job but I can't buy one yet.

Tomorrow we have been together for eleven years. I have decided to make a curry for us then. I checked the cupboards and I have a packet of poppadoms and pilau rice that will take two mins in the microwave. I've found an easy recipe online for curry, and I attempted to make spiced onions to go with the poppadoms today (recipe said they should be chilled for a few hours) so we'll see tomorrow. I didn't have mint sauce or mango chutney which the recipe needed; I'll know for next time.

I've got a batch of vegetable soup cooking right now. I had a lot of vegetables that needed using up. Now I'm happy knowing that they haven't gone to waste.

Have a great Sunday guys. Is it Super Bowl Sunday? I;m sure BIL always used to take the Monday off work to recover from watching it.

February Already?

February 1st, 2014 at 10:03 am

This will be another tight month, but at least it's a shorter month. I'm trying to be optimistic but it is difficult.

Our application for Housing Benefit has been delayed until we get paid because they need the wage slips that have sick pay on it. However, hubby got a letter through telling him that he didn't earn enough to qualify for sick pay. I'm hoping we can take this to the council and show them. Therefore, hubby's pay will be worse than the last pay, I'm dreading to see what he gets.

Hubby borrowed money from BIL. MIL had offered if we needed more money she would take it from her overdraft; BIL said he had savings.

I had to phone my health plan again because they never sent my claim forms. I should get them next week.

It's my birthday this month but I won't be able to do anything for it. I think we got a takeaway last year. Maybe I can make a curry or something?

I was at the hospital twice during the week. Still no luck with my catheter. Also, the midwives know who I am as soon as I walk in. That's a sign I'm there too much.

Next week I have my 20 week scan. We're not finding out the gender. I had a scan at the hospital a few days to check my kidneys and the sonographer was nice enough to give me a little pic of baby.

I really need to think of some financial goals.

Surviving...

January 25th, 2014 at 10:31 am

I really didn't want to update until I had some good financial news to report. Since this isn't looking possible until March, I can't wait that long to update so here I am.

My statutory sick pay didn't go through in this pay. I spoke to personnel who said that I handed my sick line in after the cut off date. They said it will be in my next pay, which is thirteen days away. Since there was no sick pay in my wage, I only got paid for the 42 hours that I worked before I was sick. Also, hubby's pay was just as bad as mine because of his sick days.

I borrowed some money from my mum to pay a week of rent. I hated asking her and we are still going to be two weeks behind if I've worked it out properly. We've applied for a benefit to help us. Hubby is going to hand in the forms on Monday because they're closed today. He took it over yesterday but forgot to bring ID so they wouldn't accept it.

My statement for CC2 just came through today. I noticed that it's not due until 17 Feb so I will pay that in a few weeks.

I went to my doctor's and got another sick line for four weeks. I am still feeling tired and sore after daily tasks and I told her this. My work had made an appointment with occupational health which happened to be the day my new line started so I went to the appointment. According to OH, I was fit for work. He never listened when I told him I didn't feel ready, was still tired etc. He was really rude. His final words to me were "You're done" and I got up and left.

We owe MIL £16.22 because she picked up some things for us at Aldi's a few weeks ago. She asked hubby for it back but he told her she would have to wait until we have a proper wage.

I need to phone my health plan again. They were supposed to send me a form so I can claim for my nights in hospital but they haven't done it yet.

I can only think of one positive financial news during this whole time: I never cancelled my 10/four-weekly automatic deposit to savings. In times of need before it used to be the first thing to go. If I had kept it up we might not be in this situation.

Some financial news

January 6th, 2014 at 10:42 am

I've been checking CC1 for a few days, waiting for it to update. Well it updated today. My minimum payment last month was £66.xx, this month it is £44.90. Just goes to show how much the payment protection insurance was costing me. Well, I couldn't bring myself to pay the minimum to it so I paid £50.00. Normally I pay £90 but I just don't have the money just now.

Still Recovering

January 3rd, 2014 at 08:59 pm

It's been one week since my last entry. I ended up spending the night in hospital on 30/12. I was home early evening the next day. This time it wasn't as serious though. For those of you who have ever been unlucky enough to have a catheter, I still have mine. This happened before with SG only not so early on in the pregnancy.

When I came home, I felt better so I tried to help hubby with little household tasks like tidying up the livingroom. It was too much for me and I was in pain the rest of the night. My biggest accomplishment so far has been getting my own juice and snack from the kitchen (hubby was putting SG down for her nap)

The doctor gave me a sick line for four weeks off work, so I'm one week into that. I also have a week unpaid before I had the sick line. Also, hubby has phoned in sick too to help me. I think I will be off for more than four weeks though.

For the first time in over a year, I will only be paying the minimum to credit cards. I hate to do this but it's only short term.

We still have high street vouchers left that we saved for Christmas. They can be used in a store, Iceland, that offers free delivery when you spend £25 or more. Hubby will go there soon and that should last us a few weeks and fill up our freezer.

Hubby has been doing everything. I've been offering advice about cooking on the sidelines, I had to because he made his first roast dinner. Other than that, I spend my days on the couch or napping in bed. I only just checked Swagbucks today but I didn't have the energy to try to reach the goal.

I have not even thought about my goals for this year. Although, right now, my goal is just to get through January and February. I thought Oct 2013 was tough, I know this will be worse.

Unexpected Surgery

December 27th, 2013 at 04:36 pm

This is a short entry as I am still in pain. I ended up in hospital on 19/12. I had to have a laparotomy in the early hours the next morning. I finally got out dinner time on Christmas Eve. I had an infection, but they weren't able to find out the cause.

Baby is fine. Due 22nd June.

Payday Post

December 13th, 2013 at 07:58 pm

Another post for today but thought I would just give a quick update.

Today was payday. Nothing particularly exciting since I knew my pay would be the same as usual.

I paid my catalogue bill. This is the first payment with a BNPL item added to my minimum payment because I didn't manage to pay it off (a carpet). I am a platinum customer so I get 10% of my minimum payment back as rewards to spend, however, BNPL items are not included in this. I only received £6.xx rewards for a £127 payment. It's better than nothing but I'm used to getting 10% of my minimum payment back.

I'm waiting on my credit cards updating. CC2 is first then it's cc1. I always count down the days until my statement updates so I can make a payment straight away - less interest, right? If I had extra money I would make the equivalent of two payments but I don't...

I need to buy a wedding present - gift vouchers from John Lewis - this pay period. The wedding is in a few weeks, but only hubby is going. It's at an expensive hotel and I can't drink anyway, plus I will be at home with SG. That reminds me, I need to buy their card in too.

I'll be posting some Christmas presents next week. I'll post them second class so it's cheaper.

I introduced hubby to Swagbucks, I sent him a referral. I've been watching a lot of videos but hubby likes to search. I'm not completely sure how that works so I've rarely used it. I now have 1162SB so slowly getting there.

Hubby and I have agreed to save our catalogue rewards for presents next year, like we did for a while this year.

Tomorrow my automatic deposit of £10 will be transferred to savings. It's not much but it's something. I was thinking about increasing it by a few percent next year but when I look at my credit card I change my mind.

Apart from paying bills, today was a NSD.

I think that's all for now.

Meal Planning

December 13th, 2013 at 03:47 pm

I've spent a while today looking through the cupboards deciding what to have. I'm going for a bit of shopping early tomorrow so I'll start my meal plan from then.

- Tacos
- Leftover mince from tacos, need to find inspiration
- Gnocchi pasta grill
- Potato and brocolli bake

The Numbers for CC1

December 13th, 2013 at 02:08 pm

At the beginning of the year I decided to focus more on credit card one rather than credit card 2. My reasoning was that it was the smaller balance so would be easier to tackle and it would make me feel better seeing the balance going down.

I put snowflakes towards this credit card for some of the year, not the whole year as I had planned.

Well, I totaled up the total interest that I have paid on credit card one this year. I also totaled up the PPI payments that I'm also getting charged on it. I remember having Payment Protection Insurance for credit card two and I cancelled it, so i think I will be doing the same soon. Anyway, here's the numbers:

Total interest: £457.65
Total PPI: £134.62

At the beginning of the year my balance on this card was £1679.16 and my minimum payment was £83.96. Now it is £1323.30 and £66.17

I've reduced the balance by £355.86.

In total, I've paid £592.27 in interest and PPI.

Ouch. All I can say I will never use this card again.

More Thinking & Planning

December 12th, 2013 at 08:40 am

Just a few thoughts...

I'm going to get back into the habit of meal planning again. I haven't done a proper meal plan in weeks, and even hubby has noticed! Back to planning meals again, it's good for the budget.

Another thing I'm going to do before this year is over is to total up the amount of interest I have been paying on credit cards and catalogue. This was a suggestion from snafu and I think it's a brilliant idea. There's nothing like seeing it all in black and white for motivation.

I need to think of goals for 2014.

Musings

December 9th, 2013 at 03:07 pm

Last night hubby and I had a conversation about saving vs paying down debt. He said that because we only work part-time, it's only possible for us to either save or pay down debt - we can't do both. Ideally I'd like to increase my automatic savings deposit to £20, which isn't a lot but right now it's only at £10

I've been thinking a lot about next year. At some point, I will be on maternity leave again. The first time I was on maternity leave I used my credit card a lot whether it was for car repairs, petrol or shopping. I refuse to let it happen again. Hubby said he will do a lot of overtime while I'm off to make up for the money I will be losing (roughly £100 less than what I take home now) While I would like hubby to do some overtime, I know that if I can decrease my credit card and catalogue minimum payments life will be a bit easier. Right now, my catalogue payment is £127 and I pay £90 to both credit cards. I just realised that is £307. That's one of the reasons why I'm trying to pay off any BNPL items that I have on my catalogue so that they don't get added to my bill.

This post is all over the place. If you got this far, thanks for reading.

Thinking about 2014

December 6th, 2013 at 07:35 pm

On 18th January our utilities will increase by 3.7%. I just read this news today. I switched to this company a few months ago because I thought it would save us money. According to the news, the big six energy companies are hiking prices.

In April our rent will increase by 3%.

This year we each saved £10 every four weeks towards Christmas. Next year we're going to double that and save £20 each.

I need to increase the amount automatically deposited into savings. Right now it is £10 every four weeks. After years of blogging, it should be more.

One of my Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) items is due to be paid by 30th May. It's £199. When I get paid I will make the first payment of £40 towards it. I will factor this into next year's budget.

Checking In

December 6th, 2013 at 05:06 pm

My statement for CC1 updated. My minimum payment is 66.17. One of my goals for this year was to get this payment to £60 - so close. I'm going to pay it today. I need to update my sidebar, my new balance is 1323.30. Looking at my sidebar, it was 1679.16 at the beginning of the year. I've reduced my balance by £355.86. It would have been more if I had kept putting snowflakes towards it.

I've been trying to go onto swagbucks daily. I now have 823SB. I put a £25 Amazon gift card on my wishlist.

I've been trying to think of some goals for next year. I've got nothing specific yet but tackling credit card debt will of course be one goal. I'm going to try to make realistic goals for next year, especially since baby number 2 is due. I found when I had SG that my goals went downhill.

Decluttering, swagbucks

November 14th, 2013 at 04:48 pm

I had some time to myself today so I started decluttering my side of the room. While sorting through things, I found a book about Whitney Houston that I'd bought last year for either my mum or MIL. I must have forgotten about it because it was under a few books. I'll give that to MIL for her birthday along with the photoframe and DVDs that we bought using our rewards.

I keep forgetting about swagbucks. I've only got 89SB so I can't imagine how long it will take to be able to redeem rewards. Any tips?

Tomorrow is payday, thankfully. It's been a tough six weeks, but not actually as bad as I thought it was going to be. Yesterday hubby found twenty pounds in an envelope that we must have put aside months ago, so we used that today to top up our gas and electricity. It couldn't have happened at a better time.

Swagbucks

November 9th, 2013 at 08:17 pm

After my last post, I did a search for paid surveys online and swagbucks came up. At first I thought it was a mistake, but no there's a site in the UK. Right now I have 72SB. I'm not sure how often I'll get on it though, but I'll try my best.

Today's Happenings

October 11th, 2013 at 05:18 pm

Returned two out of three library books. I need to find the other one soon.

Posted the engagement card I got last week. 50p for a second class stamp.

Since I was at the local shopping centre, I went into to Co-Op to have a look. I spent £2.24. I bought a pack of short grain rice to make rice pudding and a packet of mini meatballs for SG. They were on sale for 99p rather than 2.xx, also the offer's finishing in the next few days, so I decided to pick them up while I was there.

I came home and made a batch of minestrone soup. We will all eat this.

Tomorrow I'm working. When I finish I need to pick up milk, sausages for SG, potatoes and carrots.

A Capital One fraud adviser just phoned me. She explained that the transaction was on a gambling website, and there was another attempt on the same website too. She asked me when I last used my card - told her March. She had to verify that so I had to wait a few minutes while she checked. I was right, 29/3 was the last transaction. She told me to cut up my card and that a new one will be with me in 7-10 business days. Not a problem, since I never use it. She did question whether anyone else knew my PIN, or used my card, told her no-one else knows it.

The conversation lasted a bit longer than it should have because we had trouble understanding each other. Oh well, at least it's sorted now.

Fraud

October 11th, 2013 at 10:31 am

I got a text from CC1 at 8.20 this morning:

"This is a Capital One fraud check for card ending ****. A £290.00 purchase was made on 11/10/2012 at 0820, if this was you please reply y, if not reply N"

Of course I replied N straight away, then signed on to check. Sure enough, a £290.00 cash advance was made this morning! Capital One said they've taken action to protect my account and they will call me within 24 hours with an update.

I haven't used this card in 7 months, and it certainly wasn't for a cash advance when I used it. It's been sitting in my purse doing nothing yet this manages to happen. And the icing on the cake it that I didn't even have £290 credit available.

Little updates

October 2nd, 2013 at 10:09 pm

We've almost officially changed utility suppliers. Next week it should all be changed over, hopefully we will see some savings.

I made carrot and coriander soup tonight. Before I starred cooking I had a good look in my store cupboard and there's a lot more than I thought. Tins of beans and spices and herbs kept getting knocked over. I thought I only had one onion left but I found a few more, plus one red onion. I also found a kilo bag of pasta. I thought I had to buy more soon, too. Good thing I had a thorough look.

I've been playing about with the budget for next pay period. Still deciding what to do. I'm hoping to continue putting extra towards CC1 though, and putting money towards the Buy Now Pay Later Items that I have on my catalogue because the last thing I want to do is pay interest. Also, savings are going to need to be replaced - probably very slowly though.

Shortfall

October 1st, 2013 at 02:39 pm

It's just over two weeks until payday. I asked hubby to check his minimum payments on his two catalogues last night. He didn't want to; I found out he usually just waits until payday, signs in and makes his payments. I prefer to know what's happening in advance. He checked and both of his payments have increased. Great. But I'm glad we know now so we can try to prepare. Hubby didn't say much the rest of the night about it.

I've been thinking about what to do. To make matters worse, hubby got minor surgery today so he will have to take a few sick days this week. Also, the last of my savings will be transferred to his account to cover his shortfall for this pay. I asked him to check his bank account before the catalogues. I'm glad I did.

The way I see it, we have a few problems: savings will be depleted after this transfer and there will be another shortfall next pay since there's been no OT since we've both been on holiday from work. When I go back to work next week I will try to get an extra shift but I can't do much since I have to look after SG.

I've got £41.46 of my grocery budget left. I'm debating whether to use this money to buy a meat pack from the local butcher's that's £25 and stock up on tinned tomatoes, pasta etc. Or trying to spend as little as possible and keep it for the shortfall next pay. Thoughts? What would you do? I'm also considering making a big batch of soup and freezing what's left.

Meal Planning

September 29th, 2013 at 02:05 pm

I've started watching a new show, Save With Jamie. I watched one of the episodes yesterday. He made "mothership sunday roast chicken". Then he made the leftovers into chicken stew.

After watching the episode, I went and bought a fresh chicken (£4.50). I'm going to try and make these recipes this week, but I won't buy in any extra ingredients, I'll just use what I have on hand.

Hubby was watching it with me, he commented how his last show was aiming to save the viewers time, while this show aims to save us money. It didn't even occur to me; I just like getting meal ideas.

So here's this week's meal plan:

-roast chicken with potatoes, cauliflower, brocolli and carrots
- chicken stew with dumplings
- vegetable frittata with chips
- carrot soup with crusty bread
- leftovers

Guilt-free anniversary

September 27th, 2013 at 06:40 am

Yesterday it was our fourth wedding anniversary. This year we did things a little differently though: we didn't exchange cards and, more importantly, I didn't use my credit card. (I think I used my CC last year to get a takeaway) I made us chilli minced beef in the slow cooker with tortilla chips. We had a glass of wine with dinner (a gift from my mum) and just relaxed.

Hubby did get a card though... from SG, a belated home made birthday card.

It's all in black and white now

September 25th, 2013 at 07:50 am

I asked hubby to write down all of his outgoings last night. He didn't want me to be there while he was doing it - he said I would stress out - so he waited until I was sleeping. Well, I've woken up this morning to a list in the livingroom. At least I know now how much his bills are. It's obvious that there's too much going out and not enough coming in. We both know that, so it was nice to see that he had written a note at the bottom of what he was planning to cut/reduce.

I copied his list into my daily notebook, compared with my outgoings and noticed he had missed a couple of things. As far as I can see, there's a £60 difference (not including bank charges) He's going to shop around for insurance for his phone and cancel LoveFilm. He pays for Netflix too but isn't willing to give that up because he loves it. I'm going to try to help without stressing. Also, it's pretty clear that I need to step in now and manage his finances.

Delayed Plans

September 24th, 2013 at 08:05 am

A while ago, I mentioned that we were planning on buying a carpet for our room with my savings. Well my savings have dwindled down recently because I had to help DH out. Although he didn't ask me to take the money out of savings, I did.

I found out the other day that DH was over his credit card limit again. The last time he was over I gave him money out of savings to put towards his card. That was in July. As it turns out, that was the last payment he made to his card. He said he couldn't find his login details and he had to phone the company.

I was feeling depressed last night since that money was meant for other things. Hubby didn't want to talk about it. He does think we can get the carpet in a few months, but I don't know.

This situation did make me think, what if that money hadn't been there? I need to replace the money so that it's there when we need it in the future. It all comes down to my lack of emergency fund. I've been blogging on and off for years, so I should have one, there's no excuse.

September Snowflakes

September 6th, 2013 at 04:19 pm

I found three shopping receipts from this month that I took out of my envelope earlier. In total there was £3.39 worth of savings (discount and 50p coupon) So, I've sent a payment of £3.39 to CC1. My first snowflake for September. Feels good.

Full Disclosure

September 6th, 2013 at 03:42 pm

My catalogue statement came through the other day. I saved myself £276.60 worth of interest by paying off the fridge freezer. There's a list of my other BNPL items on this statement too. Payment due date in brackets (D/M/Y)

1) £306.94 (15/11/13)
Interest £327.80 - I won't get this paid off

2) £75.00 (13/12/13)
Interest £61.03

3) £92.00 (10/1/14)
Interest £74.86

4) £193.00 (4/4/14)
Interest £157.04

5) £199 (30/5/14)
Interest £212.52

Of course my goal is to pay off as much as possible before the interest-free period ends.

Trial and Error

September 5th, 2013 at 11:27 am

My grocery money is disappearing fast - next pay I may have to increase my budget. I thought I had less than £10 less then I found a pile of pound coins at the bottom of my handbag. Quick calculation found that the household envelope was short £4, misc has barely been touched so it went back into a new grocery envelope. They're all sealed now and back in my bag. Maybe next pay I'll keep the coins in a money bag instead of in the envelope.

Fifteen days until payday. Dinner is in the slow cooker just now. It's chilli minced beef with tortillas. I found a reduced pork joint yesterday for £2.28 so that is in the freezer.

Saved myself some money

September 2nd, 2013 at 01:47 pm

A few weeks ago I got a couple of letters from my catalogue about renewing some guarantees I have with them. One was for a tumble dryer, which I actually bought for my mum a few years ago. The other was for a laptop (£198 a year or £3.81/wk) I told the customer service representative that I couldn't afford to renew. She did say I was entitled to a discount but I declined. If I hadn't phoned to renew they would have renewed automatically and it would have been added to my bill.

Some Thoughts

August 30th, 2013 at 07:57 pm

The envelope method is working for me. However, next payday I may adapt by dividing my budgeted amount in 4 (possibly using four separate envelopes then, keeping the other three at home) Grocery money is dwindling down fast, think I may have lost track somewhere or I need to increase my budget.

I realise that I haven't snowflaked towards CC1 for a while. I need to get back into the habit.

I planned all of our meals for this week, but didn't have time to update. Now I'm going to start thinking about next week's meals.

Hubby has done a bit of overtime. We're hoping to have some extra money for when we're both off next month.

Update

August 22nd, 2013 at 07:58 am

Wow it's been almost three weeks since my last post. I meant to update sooner but my attention was diverted elsewhere when we discovered that SG had her first case of head lice... We noticed this about dinner time one night, so I hurried over to the local pharmacy to get some treatment. I was stressing about how much this would cost - but we got it through the minor ailments service. It's still not away yet, and we all have it. I've been to the doctor's to get more treatment. He told me it's harder to get rid of in the hot weather.

It's payday tomorrow and I have £1.40 left. I had to transfer some money from savings to cover some spending too. It's times like this I'm thankful for savings, although we still haven't bought our bedroom carpet yet.

I've still been planning our meals.

Found a make-up bag reduced to 50p so I'm going to give it to MIL for her birthday, alongside her other gift (usually pyjamas)

I haven't added any more snowflakes, due to money being so tight.


<< Newer EntriesOlder Entries >>