ERNIE

The Chap had a letter from his bank the other day, they are transferring his ISA to another ISA and reducing his interest rate from 2% to 1.3%. He was not happy and we were discussing where best to save your money.

In these days of large debts and poor interest rates on savings, trying to get a decent savings rate is pretty impossible.

I do not know what TC will do, but I have started to put some money into Premium Bonds. I am not advocating this as a savings plan to anyone, but in the last 12 months I have had a 7% return on my money, much more than I would expect on the high street at a bank or building society.

If you are not from the UK, you can read more on Premium Bonds and Ernie here. Interestingly, according to the Premium Bond Probability Calculator on MSE If you hold over £100 per year the chance of winning anything is 4.5%.

Just be aware that some years, I have not won a penny for over 12 months then had a bigger win of say £100.

I like Premium Bonds, I like receiving the Long White Envelope with a cheque enclosed and enjoy the thought you never know I could win a £1Million!

I can get my money back at c. 10 days notice.

But beware, the rules for buying Premium Bonds have changed a lot recently and its pretty annoying if you go in the Post Office unprepared.

Some Thoughts

1)      If you already have some bonds, make sure you have your Holders Number to hand when you buy more so they are amalgamated together with that £25 your Aunt Bertha gave you on your Christening.

2)      Do not go in to buy them with cash, the post office will not accept it, due to cash laundering regulations. Seems ridiculous to me as most of the time one is only buying them a £100 at a time.

3)      You will need your bank details, as they have very recently changed the payout from a cheque to bank transfer.

4)      If buying them for someone else, e.g. I often pick up some for The Chap, you will need them to sign the form.

And finally, you can only buy Premium Bonds in multiples of £100.

It is a faff to buy them now to be honest, TC has registered to buy them online and says that is irritating too.

I like having them though, as it is a bit trickier to get at your money quickly so no impulse buys of shoes etc, but I can still grab my money back if needed within 2 weeks.

One last thing, if you do have an old £1+ premium bond knocking around, write to National Savings and Investments Agency, immediately as chances are it is registered to the wrong address and they cannot find you if you had won. When I did this years ago I got a nice cheque for £100 as they numbers had come up more than once in the 20 years since it was bought.

Frugally yours
Abigail
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Mission Statement, Tested.

11^th January, and already my mission statement for 2013 has been put to the test.

Allow me to elaborate.

Imagine it is Saturday night, you have been clearing kitchen cupboards all day and furtively filling up neighbour’s bins with rubbish from your soon to be rented flat.

You return home and have 25 minutes to shower and change before meeting friends for a curry that has been re-arranged from November.

Your almost-but-not-quite-perfect-boyfriend then decides to wear one of the new shirts you bought him for Christmas from Ted Baker that cost an arm, leg and a couple of kidneys.

Now imagine the shirt is too small, you didn’t know, as someone had not tried it on before….

Hmm, now I was a little shirty… (boom boom!)

Well, as TC sorry the almost-but-not-quite-perfect-boyfriend is violently allergic to returning anything, I then folded it up and dug out the original bag and on Wednesday lunch time took it back to my local House Of Fraser for an exchange.

Wednesday 9^th January was the last day House of Fraser would refund Christmas gifts, and the item needed to be refunded as my local HoF did not carry that line.

To cut a long and rather tedious story short, I had to take the shirt back home with me and search out the receipt, which of course had been packed into one of the 64,392 boxes during the move. All of which are now spread across, TC’s house, my parents house and the cupboard under the stairs back at the flat.

It is a minor miracle I found it at all, but I was a woman on a mission as HoF would now only give me a credit voucher / or exchange if I presented the receipt or proof of purchase and I was not going to loose out, nor was I about to wave a bank statement under the nose of some snotty faced sales assistant in the menswear department.

Last night when TC and I were watching the final episode of The Polar Bear Family and Me (amazing btw!) I said I had returned his shirt and got the money put on a gift card.

I realised by his response that the chance of him going in to buy another shirt was between nil and zero.

He told me to pick up some pans for the kitchen instead.

The Chap has been working on our new kitchen since well before Christmas and had paid to have a brand new induction hob put in. If you know nothing about induction hobs, well all I can tell you is that they don’t get hot, though the pan does. It is all to do with magnets, and mirrors and quite possibly magic. It was one of those Physics type moments when TC starts talking and I find it easier to nod, smile and intersperse both actions with an “Oh, okay!” and “Well isn’t technology clever?”

The sauce / frying pans TC had and the pans I have are not compatible with induction technology. So since November, if it could not be baked or microwaved then we couldn’t cook it at “Southfork”. Even though the induction hob was in, and ready to use.

As I am always happy to go shopping, lunchtime today I popped back to House of Fraser, with the mission statement in mind.

"Keeping It Simply Thrifty will endeavour over the next 12 months to reduce debt to £0.00, increase savings and whenever possible seek out cheaper alternatives to branded goods whilst ensuring that items purchased are done so to ensure longevity of use or (as frugal girl puts it) heirloom quality."

I was going to buy the best quality we could afford, so it would last forever, even if that only meant buying one pan today and slowly adding to it over the next 12 months.

My idea was to buy some Le Creuset, which are the price of a small bungalow on the coast to start off my collection.

I went in fully intending to purchase a saucepan. Until two things happened

1) I saw the price

2) (this was the deal breaker) I lifted one.

Seriously, as good as these pans are and look, they are the weight of a baby rhinoceros being ridden by a kangaroo… in wellies….juggling barbells.

And this is before being filled with chocolate sauce water and vegetables.

Remembering a female’s right to change her mind at the last moment, I asked some advice from the helpful lady in the department and bought some Tefal Preference Pro, after wandering off pretending to think about it when actually I was using my smart phone to check reviews online (all good, bar the usual miserable sod).

A Stirfry Pan and an 18inch saucepan. (see below for a picture)

This will start us off nicely and allow me to introduce fresh vegetables to the “Southfork” diet next week, as well as stop a reliance on pizza and expensive pre-prepared food.

The best part?

House of Fraser had both pans reduced in the January sales with 20% off and they gave me recognition points, even though I had already got them from buying the shirt, and the combined price was £67.20, which leaves me with 80 pence left on the gift card. The shire was £85, and I bought it during one of their 20% off 48hour promotions.

Only one thing remains that worries me greatly…….does this mean that I bought The Chap kitchen utensils for Christmas? and if so does this mean he can buy me an ironing board or something awful like that in return on my birthday?

I think I feel sick…..

Frugally yours

Abigail

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October Pay Day

Pay Day Today! *singing happy days are here again!*

Had a go at The Debt.

Credit Card 1   was £164.05      paid £24.50    now £139.55
Credit Card 2   was £174.00      paid £26.50    now £147.50
Overdraft:       was £400          paid £0.00      now £400.00

Starting Debt: £1990.80
New Total: £687.05 in the red.
% Debt Paid off: 65%

I am not paying off huge amounts at the moments, but I am trying to keep the momentum going as I do not want another month like September, where ultimately the debt has increased.

Still not great, but I have put £200 into savings, which means I hopefully now have enough to complete the task preparing the flat ready for rental.

I still need to

• Get the carpets cleaned.
• Obtain the electricity safety certificate
• Obtain the gas safety certificate
• Arrange a Man with a Van to move furniture

BANG! There goes the majority of the savings

I also now only have 3 more weekends to complete the clear out, that is, if someone wants to rent W Towers. Watch this space M'dears!

Frugally yours
Abigail
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So THAT'S Why I Have Savings...phew!

I have known for quite a while that my front door is on the...well.. "knackered" side of acceptable, and this morning is when I finally accepted it's imminent demise.

For a couple of years it has always stuck during the winter months and currently I am in a situation where only a couple of rather suggestive hip or bum thrusts can open it, or for that matter close it again either.

It has been planed to death, so much so that during the summer months I can daylight around most of the edge.

Today, it finally got it's "last rites". When I tried to close the door this morning it got wedged so badly I had to go in via the garage and close it with a strategic should thrust from the inside.

Lunchtime today found me sat at my desk with the phone attached to my ear getting quotes. I want a UPVC white front door  in a Chatsworth Style  to let in a bit of light.

Like this..
http://www.justdoorsuk.com/upvc_door_detail.asp?ID=1206

What amazes me is the discrepancy in price. The most expensive has come in at £600 and the cheapest at £450. The cheaper one would also be fitted in 7-10 days time and is my parents recommendation as they have used him before.

Who am I to ignore my parents advice?

It is such a shame to spend so much money, but that is why I think it is vital to have savings. So unexpected situations like this can be resolved without resorting to credit cards, loans or crying in a pathetic sodden heap.

I am sad at having to spend the money, but I can afford it. Each month I put money aside to pay into my savings account. I am glad today I did this.

So, I am saying, whilst paying back my debt is top of my priorities, a close second is save save save. Thank God I do!

Frugally yours
Abigail
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