I've just been advised that I have a new colleague starting the second week of December.
While I've been glad of the unlimited overtime over the last couple of months, I'm definitely feeling the strain now, and I'll be glad to slip back to some semblance of normality.
I'll still have plenty of opportunities to do overtime as and when - after all, we each get 30 days holiday a year, plus there are always trips to other sites, training courses, etc, which require covering.
It's times like this, I'm forcibly reminded that I'm not as young as I used to be, and not in the best of health. Although I have extraordinary reserves of energy, and an ability to process information swiftly and grasp concepts and relationships that far exceed the average, there is a finite limit to that energy and intellectual ability. And the one exponentially affects the other - the less energy I have, not only am I slower to grasp things and complete tasks, but I have less enthusiasm and drive to get things done.
I'm about to take a rare day of leaving at my contracual time, so I'll leave this now, but I'm sure I'll return to this theme.
Tuesday 25 November 2008
Tuesday 18 November 2008
Flexible benefits = win
As part of my salary from my main job, I get just under £2,200 per year in "flexible benefits". Basically you then choose to take this extra in a bunch of different ways, including things like insurance, pension and childcare vouchers, and (the biggie) shopping vouchers. The choices for vouchers are "Love2Shop" which is a variety of high street stores - Woolies, Wilkos, HMV, etc - or Sainsburys, Asda, M&S or John Lewis/Waitrose.
Alas, no Tesco or Morrisons option.
So I plumped for Sainsburys because a) my Mum likes shopping there and we buy several things there that we can't get elsewhere, b) nectar points, and c) you can use them for petrol.
If I was living on my own, I am confident that my vouchers would cover almost all of my monthly food/household spend. However, since my Mum is a bloody-minded spendthrift who refuses to buy own-brand stuff*, we've retained our Mum-buys-the-monthly-groceries-and-I-pay-for-everything-else agreement. My initial plan was that I'd give Mum the Sainsburys vouchers, and she'd give me the cash; but since qualifying for flexible bens last month, I've been doing so much overtime that we've done all the shopping online.
Therefore, my current plan is to buy ALL of the Xmas shopping with my vouchers, or at least as much as possible. That's presents AND food. I will also be checking out the distribution of Sainsburys petrol stations on my route to pickup littl'un from his dad's at Xmas (it's a round trip of 800 miles so I can't do one leg on one tank; I usually can only get 350 miles out of one tank. My car isn't particularly economical.)
So, if all goes to plan (ha ha) my Xmas spending will be tightly controlled. It's fairly tightly-controlled anyway since we've agreed between me, Mum and my sis that we won't be spending more than a tenner on each others' pressies, but it's buying littl'un's gifts that has previously got me in trouble...
*When and if my Mum eventually moves out in about 2 years' time, I'm going to have to acclimatise myself to own-label stuff again. Kind of annoying since I've already gone through it once. I still buy own-label stuff for myown use as often as I can in the hope that I won't give in to the luxuriousness of quilted toilet roll and whatnot.
Alas, no Tesco or Morrisons option.
So I plumped for Sainsburys because a) my Mum likes shopping there and we buy several things there that we can't get elsewhere, b) nectar points, and c) you can use them for petrol.
If I was living on my own, I am confident that my vouchers would cover almost all of my monthly food/household spend. However, since my Mum is a bloody-minded spendthrift who refuses to buy own-brand stuff*, we've retained our Mum-buys-the-monthly-groceries-and-I-pay-for-everything-else agreement. My initial plan was that I'd give Mum the Sainsburys vouchers, and she'd give me the cash; but since qualifying for flexible bens last month, I've been doing so much overtime that we've done all the shopping online.
Therefore, my current plan is to buy ALL of the Xmas shopping with my vouchers, or at least as much as possible. That's presents AND food. I will also be checking out the distribution of Sainsburys petrol stations on my route to pickup littl'un from his dad's at Xmas (it's a round trip of 800 miles so I can't do one leg on one tank; I usually can only get 350 miles out of one tank. My car isn't particularly economical.)
So, if all goes to plan (ha ha) my Xmas spending will be tightly controlled. It's fairly tightly-controlled anyway since we've agreed between me, Mum and my sis that we won't be spending more than a tenner on each others' pressies, but it's buying littl'un's gifts that has previously got me in trouble...
*When and if my Mum eventually moves out in about 2 years' time, I'm going to have to acclimatise myself to own-label stuff again. Kind of annoying since I've already gone through it once. I still buy own-label stuff for myown use as often as I can in the hope that I won't give in to the luxuriousness of quilted toilet roll and whatnot.
Friday 14 November 2008
Muesli freebie
Free sample of new Jordan's ruity Fibre muesli
I've not enjoyed Jordan's products I've had before, but I'm willing to give it a go...
I've not enjoyed Jordan's products I've had before, but I'm willing to give it a go...
Robbed!
Whilst doing my regular bank statement check on Wednesday of this week, I noticed a charge to [BANK X] CREDIT CARD. I sat and looked at this for a moment, and then I said to myself, "Hang on, I haven't got a credit card from BANK X - I closed that card ages ago!"
I looked on my previous statement, and there was a charge last month as well. I remember seeing it last month, but as it had gone through at the same time I'd paid my actual credit card bill, I think I'd mentally just gone "credit card, yeah, that's right" without noting the actual name.
So there I am with a £99 charge and a £111 charge and no clue what it was for.
I called the phone bank facility and asked the somewhat clueless bloke if he could help. He couldn't, but he did put me through to the credit card dept, where I spoke to a more helpful woman. She confirmed that my BANK X credit card had been fully paid off in Jan 2007 and hadn't been used since. She advised me to go into the branch where they would be able to investigate.
So I printed off the relevant statements (I no longer get paper statements because it's a. better for the environment and b. one less way for fraudsters to steal your ID) and went into my local branch that afternoon, which is luckily only a few minutes' walk away.
It's a tiny,old-fashioned branch and I had to queue for about 15 minutes before getting to speak to someone. She had a look on my account, and couldn't work it out, so she ended up phoning credit card services herself. At this point I overheard the words "joint account" and suddenly the penny dropped - it was my ex-husband.
Now when I split with my ex, over 2 years ago now, we had originally agreed that I would open a new bank account and he could keep the BANK X one up, because since he had very little credit history (he had never had a bank account before I added him to mine) he thought he would have problems getting a new account elsewhere. However, he then applied and was accepted for an account at a different bank, so we decided instead that he would come off the BANK X account and I'd retain it as a solo account. I got a form from the bank to switch it to a solo account, and gave it to him to sign his part and send to the bank. He told me that he'd done it. In fact he told me twice that he'd done it, because I sent him a second form after I went into branch and checked whether he'd been removed, and found that he hadn't.
Only it transpires now that he hadn't, because his name was still on the account. And the charges on that account are from the collections department of the credit card, because they've been writing to his old address (he's never informed them that he'd moved) and presumably he's still been using his old BANK X card, and not paying the bill. So they've taken the step of directly debiting "his" bank account because they haven't had a response.
So. Bit of a disaster. My immediate impulse, of course, was to phone Ex and scream my head off at him. However, I restrained myself for two very good reasons: firstly that historically, any time I've argued with Ex for any reason, he's cut off my access to stepson, and secondly, I'd be effectively informing him that he still has access to my account - and he might decide to nip up to his local branch with some ID, tell them he's lost his cashcard and could he please draw some money out.
Instead, I made an appointment for yesterday afternoon to see an advisor in the branch. I sat down with her yesterday and we created a new solo account for me, and transferred all my direct debits and balance into that.
Although I will have to swallow the £200+ charges that have already gone out (I'd need to pursue him via a solicitor, and by the time I'd paid the solicitor's fees it would be more than the charges) in the long run, I'm going to wind up better off. Because the advisor upgraded my savings account to an instant-access ISA, which I didn't even realise you could get on an instant access these days, and it's paying me six times as much interest as my old savings account.
I also came away with some deposit slips all prepared for paying chunks off my loan, which I shall be starting to whittle away next year, as soon as the (real, actual) credit card is down to zero.
Lessons learned from this:
1. Always check bank account every week and scrutinise every charge carefully to be sure I KNOW for definite what it is.
2. When someone says they are going to do/have done something, don't take their word for it - check up on it.
3. Don't have a joint account. Seriously, just don't ever do it. When you split up with that partner, it will just be a huge headache. Even if you are terribly romantic and think you'll never break up with them, don't get one. Because if you have a problem on the account, then you're both stuck with the problem. If you keep separate accounts, then you always have one as a back up, because the chances of both accounts getting hosed at the same time are small.
I now have to work out how to approach this with Ex. There is a possibility that it's not actually him who's run up the charges and that he's been a victim of fraud himself. Because he didn't inform the credit card company that he'd moved, so if they sent him a new card and pin at that address, then whoever lives there now could have had it. If that's the case, he needs to know about it, because he'll have to get legal help to clear his name. (No problem for him - he's got no income, so he'll qualify for free legal help.)
In fact, that would be the best scenario - because if he can successfully claim for fraud, then I might get at least some of the money back. I can't claim for fraud, because he had legal access to the account... so if it was him who ran up the charges, then I can kiss the money goodbye.
I looked on my previous statement, and there was a charge last month as well. I remember seeing it last month, but as it had gone through at the same time I'd paid my actual credit card bill, I think I'd mentally just gone "credit card, yeah, that's right" without noting the actual name.
So there I am with a £99 charge and a £111 charge and no clue what it was for.
I called the phone bank facility and asked the somewhat clueless bloke if he could help. He couldn't, but he did put me through to the credit card dept, where I spoke to a more helpful woman. She confirmed that my BANK X credit card had been fully paid off in Jan 2007 and hadn't been used since. She advised me to go into the branch where they would be able to investigate.
So I printed off the relevant statements (I no longer get paper statements because it's a. better for the environment and b. one less way for fraudsters to steal your ID) and went into my local branch that afternoon, which is luckily only a few minutes' walk away.
It's a tiny,old-fashioned branch and I had to queue for about 15 minutes before getting to speak to someone. She had a look on my account, and couldn't work it out, so she ended up phoning credit card services herself. At this point I overheard the words "joint account" and suddenly the penny dropped - it was my ex-husband.
Now when I split with my ex, over 2 years ago now, we had originally agreed that I would open a new bank account and he could keep the BANK X one up, because since he had very little credit history (he had never had a bank account before I added him to mine) he thought he would have problems getting a new account elsewhere. However, he then applied and was accepted for an account at a different bank, so we decided instead that he would come off the BANK X account and I'd retain it as a solo account. I got a form from the bank to switch it to a solo account, and gave it to him to sign his part and send to the bank. He told me that he'd done it. In fact he told me twice that he'd done it, because I sent him a second form after I went into branch and checked whether he'd been removed, and found that he hadn't.
Only it transpires now that he hadn't, because his name was still on the account. And the charges on that account are from the collections department of the credit card, because they've been writing to his old address (he's never informed them that he'd moved) and presumably he's still been using his old BANK X card, and not paying the bill. So they've taken the step of directly debiting "his" bank account because they haven't had a response.
So. Bit of a disaster. My immediate impulse, of course, was to phone Ex and scream my head off at him. However, I restrained myself for two very good reasons: firstly that historically, any time I've argued with Ex for any reason, he's cut off my access to stepson, and secondly, I'd be effectively informing him that he still has access to my account - and he might decide to nip up to his local branch with some ID, tell them he's lost his cashcard and could he please draw some money out.
Instead, I made an appointment for yesterday afternoon to see an advisor in the branch. I sat down with her yesterday and we created a new solo account for me, and transferred all my direct debits and balance into that.
Although I will have to swallow the £200+ charges that have already gone out (I'd need to pursue him via a solicitor, and by the time I'd paid the solicitor's fees it would be more than the charges) in the long run, I'm going to wind up better off. Because the advisor upgraded my savings account to an instant-access ISA, which I didn't even realise you could get on an instant access these days, and it's paying me six times as much interest as my old savings account.
I also came away with some deposit slips all prepared for paying chunks off my loan, which I shall be starting to whittle away next year, as soon as the (real, actual) credit card is down to zero.
Lessons learned from this:
1. Always check bank account every week and scrutinise every charge carefully to be sure I KNOW for definite what it is.
2. When someone says they are going to do/have done something, don't take their word for it - check up on it.
3. Don't have a joint account. Seriously, just don't ever do it. When you split up with that partner, it will just be a huge headache. Even if you are terribly romantic and think you'll never break up with them, don't get one. Because if you have a problem on the account, then you're both stuck with the problem. If you keep separate accounts, then you always have one as a back up, because the chances of both accounts getting hosed at the same time are small.
I now have to work out how to approach this with Ex. There is a possibility that it's not actually him who's run up the charges and that he's been a victim of fraud himself. Because he didn't inform the credit card company that he'd moved, so if they sent him a new card and pin at that address, then whoever lives there now could have had it. If that's the case, he needs to know about it, because he'll have to get legal help to clear his name. (No problem for him - he's got no income, so he'll qualify for free legal help.)
In fact, that would be the best scenario - because if he can successfully claim for fraud, then I might get at least some of the money back. I can't claim for fraud, because he had legal access to the account... so if it was him who ran up the charges, then I can kiss the money goodbye.
Tuesday 11 November 2008
Some freebies
Free samples can really help stretch the average budget, as long as you use them sensibly.
Obviously manufacturers and retailers offer free samples in the hope that you'll like the product sufficiently to then carry on paying for it. This can be a bit of a double-edged sword for the frugal, because if you really like the product but it's something you don't normally buy, then it can be tempting to start getting it regularly.
The freebies I like most tend to be "consumables" such as perfume, lip balm, laundry products, or food samples (healthy ones!)
I can only think of a few times when I've switched brands because of a freebie, the immediate one that comes to mind being my Wilkinson Sword razor. I have extremely sensitive skin AND I'm prone to ingrowing hair follicles, so having a decent razor is essential to me.
Anyway, here's a couple of free sample offers I've just sent for:
Moxie Sanitary Towels - click the "Cosmopolitan Mag Promo" link and enter COSMO1 as the code.
Free sample of Ghost's new perfume "Sweetheart" - I'm not convinced mine went through as it just returned to the same page...
Free sample of Coffee-Mate's Latte Creations - looks yummy, although perhaps a bit fattening!
Tips for freebies: use an email address that you don't mind getting spam through. I use the same one for prize draws.
Obviously manufacturers and retailers offer free samples in the hope that you'll like the product sufficiently to then carry on paying for it. This can be a bit of a double-edged sword for the frugal, because if you really like the product but it's something you don't normally buy, then it can be tempting to start getting it regularly.
The freebies I like most tend to be "consumables" such as perfume, lip balm, laundry products, or food samples (healthy ones!)
I can only think of a few times when I've switched brands because of a freebie, the immediate one that comes to mind being my Wilkinson Sword razor. I have extremely sensitive skin AND I'm prone to ingrowing hair follicles, so having a decent razor is essential to me.
Anyway, here's a couple of free sample offers I've just sent for:
Moxie Sanitary Towels - click the "Cosmopolitan Mag Promo" link and enter COSMO1 as the code.
Free sample of Ghost's new perfume "Sweetheart" - I'm not convinced mine went through as it just returned to the same page...
Free sample of Coffee-Mate's Latte Creations - looks yummy, although perhaps a bit fattening!
Tips for freebies: use an email address that you don't mind getting spam through. I use the same one for prize draws.
Cheaper petrol - the calculator
Yesterday I talked about working out the cheapest option for petrol, even when the least expensive petrol station is some miles away.
I sat down and did some calculations to try to come up with a formula that could be applied in multiple situations. Here it is.
Petrol price lowest = L
Petrol price nearest = N
Distance difference = D
Fuel efficiency = mpl
Tank capacity = T
Cost of tank nearest = N*T = CTN
Cost of tank cheapest = L*T = CTL
Price per mile = N/mpl = ppm
IF CTN-CTL > ppm*(D*2), then it's more efficient to drive to the cheaper station.
IF CTN-CTL < ppm*(D*2), then it's more efficient to fill up at the nearer station.
Obviously that looks horribly complicated and not exactly quick or intuitive to work out, so I created an Excel calculator that will work it all out for you, and you can download it from here :http://depositfiles.com/files/36xs2tajx
Enjoy :)
I sat down and did some calculations to try to come up with a formula that could be applied in multiple situations. Here it is.
Petrol price lowest = L
Petrol price nearest = N
Distance difference = D
Fuel efficiency = mpl
Tank capacity = T
Cost of tank nearest = N*T = CTN
Cost of tank cheapest = L*T = CTL
Price per mile = N/mpl = ppm
IF CTN-CTL > ppm*(D*2), then it's more efficient to drive to the cheaper station.
IF CTN-CTL < ppm*(D*2), then it's more efficient to fill up at the nearer station.
Obviously that looks horribly complicated and not exactly quick or intuitive to work out, so I created an Excel calculator that will work it all out for you, and you can download it from here :http://depositfiles.com/files/36xs2tajx
Enjoy :)
Monday 10 November 2008
Today's Tip - cheaper petrol
I managed to fill my car up yesterday for a better price than I've had since December last year, thanks to a 5p-off-per-litre voucher that I got in Morrisons a few weeks ago.
I usually shop Morrisons anyway since their pricing is definitely better than anyone else (unless you go to Netto or Lidl - but because of the amount of fresh veg and fruit I eat, this isn't an option since their selections are very disappointing in that area.)
The best ways to get cheaper petrol:
1. Join petrolprices.com (you only need give an email, and I think I've only heard from them once since joining two years ago) and search for the best prices. You can make up to 20 searches per day, based on any postcode you input. I usually put in my home and work postcodes and look for stations where I can fill up on the way to or from. Because if you're only saving 0.5p per litre, but you drive more than 3 miles out of your way, you've just lost money. (This is quite a complicated calculation and I'll try to add my method later.)
2. Don't drive when you don't need to. Sounds obvious, but I know waaaay too many people who get in the car to go somewhere less than 10 mins' walk, even when they've nothing to carry.
3. Load your vehicle evenly and make sure your tyres are inflated to the correct psi.
4. Look out for offers such as "Spend £50 and get 4p off per litre" but watch for which supermarkets it is. If the supermarket itself or its petrol is not competetive, then you could end up losing money twice - once by paying more for shopping, and again on petrol if you could have got it cheaper even with the discount. I have been caught like this by Sainsburys before.
5. When you have got a voucher, wait until your tank is low - like below a quarter - before you fill up.
And today's looking like a NSD, hooray...
I usually shop Morrisons anyway since their pricing is definitely better than anyone else (unless you go to Netto or Lidl - but because of the amount of fresh veg and fruit I eat, this isn't an option since their selections are very disappointing in that area.)
The best ways to get cheaper petrol:
1. Join petrolprices.com (you only need give an email, and I think I've only heard from them once since joining two years ago) and search for the best prices. You can make up to 20 searches per day, based on any postcode you input. I usually put in my home and work postcodes and look for stations where I can fill up on the way to or from. Because if you're only saving 0.5p per litre, but you drive more than 3 miles out of your way, you've just lost money. (This is quite a complicated calculation and I'll try to add my method later.)
2. Don't drive when you don't need to. Sounds obvious, but I know waaaay too many people who get in the car to go somewhere less than 10 mins' walk, even when they've nothing to carry.
3. Load your vehicle evenly and make sure your tyres are inflated to the correct psi.
4. Look out for offers such as "Spend £50 and get 4p off per litre" but watch for which supermarkets it is. If the supermarket itself or its petrol is not competetive, then you could end up losing money twice - once by paying more for shopping, and again on petrol if you could have got it cheaper even with the discount. I have been caught like this by Sainsburys before.
5. When you have got a voucher, wait until your tank is low - like below a quarter - before you fill up.
And today's looking like a NSD, hooray...
Friday 7 November 2008
Holiday target completed!
YAY, I've filled up the holiday fund! Whoopee!
I'm now going to divert the overtime and tester pay into the credit card, until that's paid off.
So current strategy:
All overtime pay + tester pay + £250 of admin pay goes to the credit card bill
All "creating" pay + any bits and bobs goes on the MP3 player fund.
I'm so tired today I could just go back to bed right now. I mean the overtime is great but it's starting to get really exhausting. It's so dark when I get up at 5.30, and then it's dark when I go home from work. And I haven't got time to concentrate on making anything. I'm going to try to finish at my normal time today.
I'm now going to divert the overtime and tester pay into the credit card, until that's paid off.
So current strategy:
All overtime pay + tester pay + £250 of admin pay goes to the credit card bill
All "creating" pay + any bits and bobs goes on the MP3 player fund.
I'm so tired today I could just go back to bed right now. I mean the overtime is great but it's starting to get really exhausting. It's so dark when I get up at 5.30, and then it's dark when I go home from work. And I haven't got time to concentrate on making anything. I'm going to try to finish at my normal time today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
