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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Frugality In Action.

Firstly let me say, Hello!! to my new follower - Flourgirl. Thank you so much for visiting! x

Being frugal is an every day occurrence here at W Towers it has to be, to keep to budget and pay back those darn credit cards.

I feel on top of paying everything back and I can see an end date now of December 2012 when I will be debt free, perhaps even earlier when the commission starts flowing again. It makes me feel good to know that I am taking action. I do have bad days when I feel like it is taking forever, but the truth is it is not. "The End" as they say "Is Nigh".
In order to fulfil my goal, I have to ensure that every day thrift is adhered to. I have had 2 No Spend Days is a row, and I feel good.
When I do spend money it has to be on items that will last and are good value.
Tuesday, I bought that cooked chicken for The Chap and I to have. I served it with tinned peas/sweetcorn and the last of the potatoes I bought a couple of weeks ago. Ok, as romantic meals go, it was not the best but it was cheap. The chicken I got reduced for £3.25 and in the end it has served up 4 chicken dinners and there is another serving which I froze for another day. Plus, I boiled up the bones for a good hour and hopefully at the weekend I can make soup. Hmmm, tasty and frugal 5 meals and soup. I reckon that means that the meat has come in at 46p per meal.

I also bought whilst at the supermarket a bottle of own brand caffeine free cola for 60p and a bag of white strong flour for 60p. The food budget for Feb now is down to £15.47. I need a few things and am planning to spend a lot of that over the weekend.

I do make sure now that whatever I buy lasts - I picked up a huge box of own brand washing powder at Morrisons over Christmas and whilst they suggest using 30g per wash I use less and so far my clothes come out clean, I also bought a small bottle of fabric conditioner, then decanted it into a larger bottle and topped it up with water. My clothes still smell fresh. I could probably do away with conditioner all together but when this bottle has already done me 2 months for £1 with still over half left then I can justify buying it.

I air dry all my clothes now and avoid the tumble dryer to cut down on electricity. However, I hate the scratchy towels air drying creates, so instead I air them over night until they are about 80% dry then bung them in the dryer to fluff them up at the end.

I would have liked to do so much this week after work - bake bread, ironing etc but the truth is my family and The Chap came first, deservedly so. My sister has dropped off my nephew with my parents for half term week, at 3 years old he is a bundle of delight, giggles and energy so Monday, Wednesday and tonight I have popped round after work to spend some time with him, bath him and put him to bed. That, if you ask me is a joy. I am taking him out for the whole day on Saturday, and budget be blowed!

Tuesday, was valentines night and of course I spent it with The Chap. He bought me a beautiful card and a box of chocolates in a heart shaped box. I am so touched, no man had bought me chocolates before especially in such a lovely box. 

So, all those pesky chores have got put to one side and I will tackle them on Sunday when I have the time to do it. Bread making here I come.....

To sum up, being frugal this week has not been pesky, and spending time with 2 handsome chaps is never bothersome.

I have also made an extra payment off credit card 1, only £7.01  (such a small amount but it covers the interest payment for Feb and a couple of extra pounds too) I thought things were going so well this month I could afford it, plus nowadays it gives me more pleasure than visiting House of Frasier during my lunch hours. The result today and yesterday I walked round the block in my lunchtime, passed no shops and just felt pious for doing so.

Life really is good.
Frugally Yours
Abigail
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Simple Solutions, or How I Am Not Cool

I am not cool.For you see, I am never up to date on the latest tv.

I don’t own a sky box, this make me an enigma amongst pretty much everyone I know.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have Sky as there is so much good entertainment on their channels. But, I will not pay the money.      

I invested a few years back in a Humax recordable freeview box, and I love       it.

It was a one off payment and allows me to do a lot that Sky can do. I can       “series link” a favourite programme.

I can record straight to the hard drive and I can record two channels at       once.

So, I am happy with this, but I do like a lot of programmes that are only       available on Sky. Their cheapest package is £20 per month, and I refuse to       pay that. So what to do?

Well this question was answered about two years ago now, when I joined Lovefilm. They also carry complete box sets of tv series. I am on a high usage package  - 3 unlimited discs per month for about  £13, £7 cheaper than Sky and as I do not mind watching the series I like about 6 months after everyone else then it really works for me.

Currently I am working my way through the latest series of Criminal Minds, and Fringe, plus watching on DVD or Blu Ray means I get to watch episodes back to back.

I would say that my Lovefilm membership is the one of two luxury items that I still have. The other is my private healthcare which costs about £70 / month just for me. This really is a luxury item, but one I can currently afford so I am keeping it.

It amazes me how many of us out there have unnecessary monthly bills that       could easily be culled if you went through your outgoings.      

If you do have Sky do you need ALL the channels, or really could you survive with just a basic package and no movies etc? Do you need that subscription to a website, or a bank account that is costing you money each month?      

I manage my money now pretty well, 2 days after getting paid, a large chunk is sent off to another account by standing order. From this account the       following bills are paid
-               mortgage
-               insurance policies
-               council tax
-               tv license

I then know that the balance must still pay for my utilities, petrol and food. What’s left is for “fun and games” or to fritter. Except it was, now debt gets paid off and savings grow. The fun and games element has been severely reduced.

This is my idea of thrift, constant and consistent review of expenditure.

This is not cool either, talking about thrift. After careful consideration,,, I can live with that.

Frugally yours
Abigail
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P.S. Spent £1.70 today, £5.80 left until Friday.

My Frugal Five, or Beating the Money Fritter

I am a Marvel, Magician and Illusionist Extraordinaire!

For you see, I can make money disappear! 

It is so easy to just scatter money away, it seems to fall through your finger tips and disappear into the black hole of “money spent frittered on nothing in particular”.

How often have you visited the cashpoint in the morning and taken out say £50 and by the end of the day there is only £12 or £7 left and yet you cannot pin point where it went as you mentally back track through the day. “Nope, you bought your petrol with a card” you think as you look at your depleted funds and lack of newly acquired physical possessions.

So where did it go? I can give you examples the £3 coffee, the £5 at the car wash, £2 on a magazine, the list is endless and really if we stopped and thought about it, these are amounts that we are happy to spend and yet can really eat into the notes in our purses and wallets.

I will give you an example, today I popped out at lunchtime from the office and just walked to the nearest corner shop where I bought a bottle of diet coke £1.20 and a TV magazine 42p. Total £1.62. I only had £5 on me so got change of £3.38.

How quickly could you fritter that £3.38 away? Or would you be heading back to the cashpoint for more then? 

So Here are My Frugal Five or tips to try and beat the “money flew”

1)    Take lunch to work. If you spent £4 a day on lunch a day that is £20 per week, which is roughly £960 per annum (for only 48 weeks per annum) that is the price of a holiday.

Really when it comes to lunches at work ignore the glossy magazine recipes and KIS – keep it simple. It is so much more likely to work then.

I often in the summer turn up on a Monday with a loaf, a few tomatoes, butter and salt. I toast the bread, butter it add sliced tomatoes and sprinkle salt. It really is delicious and costs tuppence ha’penny as my grandmother would have said. Winter, I wander in with a tub of soup (sometimes homemade and sometimes from the supermarket).

Forget trying to impress colleagues with you culinary expertise. Just buy a few basics for the cupboard and freeze a couple of loaves of bread and you will always be ready to go. Or make extra dinner and take some leftovers.
 
2)    Turn the heating down. I was out for a couple of hours last night, so as I left W Towers, I turned the heating down from 23 to 15. I am not paying to heat it up when I am not here. I also often get home on really miserable days and hop straight into the bath to warm me up before I start making dinner etc

3)    Remove all 20p that pass through your hands and place them in a savings box. You will amazed how quickly this will mount up without you noticing them going. At the end of the month, I bet you have about £20. Just saving these could net you up to £240 towards Christmas if you start now.

4)    Is your bank worth it? Two years ago I looked at my main bank account and realised I was paying nearly £20 per month for it’s use.
“But”, they argued “You get all this free with it”

AA Membership
Mobile phone insurance
Credit / debit card insurance
Holiday insurance.
Overdraft facility to £500
A very sexy gold debit card (actually this was my favourite part of the account – how shallow!)

It is not free! I am paying for the privilege – just under £240 per annum. I started looking into it.

I got AA membership with work, my mobile was covered under my household insurance anyway. I was only going away once per annum and could get covered for about £12 for the trip. And the bank would give me (then) a free overdraft with a basic account, which cost nothing per month.

Result? Within 1 month, I had a very unsexy debit card in a mouldy colour, but had saved myself a couple of hundred pounds per annum.

Your account may or may not have such freebies, if they do, look at the actual cost and check out whether such services are worth it.

5)      If eating out and you want to cut the bill slightly my absolute “go to” tip is when ordering drinks always always always order tap water. I love diet cola, could drink it by the bucket load. But, when I go out for dinner with friends, which is about once per month. I always order a diet coke and a glass of tap water AT THE SAME TIME. By doing this, it stops you spending extra on drinks soft or alcohol which can increase the bill a lot. A couple of cokes in a restaurant could add £4 to your bill. One day I may get to the point of always asking for tap water and never buying soft drinks / alcohol. In the mean time, baby steps..

Not all these might work for you, but just writing this list had made me think of all the areas where money can be saved. And I would love to hear your tips too!

Frugally yours
Abigail
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