Hello, It's me again, I have risen like a phoenix from the ashes, at least for this week any way. Thought I'd answer your lovely questions about Sky, although I don't know a great deal about it.
1. I am aware of the Sky TV/Broadband/Phone package. I happen to think it's quite a good idea, I think there a couple of other companies you can get a package like this from, Virgin being one of them. There are several reasons we don't have a package like this -
a. Neither Alex nor myself are sufficiently interested in television enough to be bothered about having more channels of bad programmes to watch. The only thing we would have got Sky for would be so we could watch Lost, but they don't offer that channel in their lowest price package.
b. We can't afford it. Sky's lowest priced package would be the equivalent of what we currently pay for our telephone and broadband, (tv is freeview) so would just be time wasting to change for no benefit. See above.
c. Neither Alex or myself are interested in football or boxing and have no wish to watch it constantly.
2. I have to say, I don't have much of an opinion on adverts apart from when I see them so often they become highly irritating, or they are very clever, in which case I appreciate them as a piece of art, not necessarily as an advert, or they have really cool music in, but I remember the music and not the advert. I don't really remember many adverts, that part of my brain obviously doesn't work.
So, speaking objectively, I think if I saw an advert explaining how much I can save with a Sky bundle, I could possibly be interested in finding out any benefits/savings I might make if I change, a bit like changing gas/electricity provider. If I saw an advert explaining what I could win through Sky, I would very sceptically probably laugh, and ignore it. I was brought up to believe you never get something for nothing, and if it sounds too good to be true, it is. If I see an advert with real people talking about how much they saved and what they spent it on, I would think they were actors for starters, and if they weren't, then I would think they were very sad individuals if they previously spent so much money that they saved enough to have a tangible amount after the change. It just gets absorbed into the big wallet in the sky. I think in that respect, the first option, even though on the face of it is very boring, would be the one that I would be most likely to feel positive about.
3. When do I tend to be thinking about value for money? Well, value for money is an ambiguous term. Someone told me a story once which I thought was VERY interesting, and VERY apt for my current situation. It goes something like this -
A rich man can afford to buy a pair of hand made Italian leather shoes, made to fit him. They are made from top quality leather and will cost a lot of money but will last him a lifetime. A poor man, can only afford to buy a pair of shoes made from cheap leather, which will rub his toes and wear out very quickly and need replacing every year. On the face of it, the poor man is getting better value for money, because he is buying cheap shoes, but over their lifetimes, the poor man has actually spent more money replacing the bad shoes, that the rich man.
My point is, value for money isn't actually about what you can afford. It is about quality, and what saves you money in the long term. Most people in my predicament can't currently afford value for money, because it means shelling out more cash in the short term.
My current mission, is actually to go as many days as possible without spending ANY money at all. At last count I have approx £20 to last me until the 20th of June when (fingers crossed) Alex gets paid, but that's another story.
So I think about value for money EVERY TIME I think about spending money. I weigh up whether I should a, be spending the money in the first place, b, can I afford it? c, is it poor value for money and am I only buying this one because it costs the least.
4. I think if I was likely to need advice about saving money, or looking for good value, I would generally use the Internet, and try a web site such as money saving expert, or just do a google search. But then I don't really have enough money to spend, to buy something that would require advice.
x
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Saving For Christmas
I know it's only March, but it is our turn to host the annual food fest we affectionately call Christmas this year. As my husbands family all eat as if a famine of biblical proportions is iminent, saying we go through a lot of food, is an understatement.
So hence my decision to start saving for it now.
Now, saving money is all well and good, but it's not one of the things that I am best known for. So last week while at Sainsburies I ventured to find out the location of the savings stamps machine and as I had a few pound coins nestled in the bottom of my purse I pulled them out and stuck one in the machine. It clanked and out popped a stamp. How clever! The kids thought this was great fun, so they both wanted a go. I gave them both a pound each and they dutifully popped in their coin, and out popped a stamp, all three attached to each other.
By this time I was feeling a little impressed with myself, Willow of course wanted to know what they where for and what you did with them, Oscar of course, didn't care. I must admit that along with the feeling impressed with myself, I also felt slightly embassed in case any one saw what I was doing. But why should I feel embarrased? What I was doing is surely a very sensible thing to do? I was investing in a very expensive time of year, when traditionally most people maxed out their credit cards and paid out later, I was paying out now, so I didn't have to. Even so, I still felt like a bit of a chav, especially when I had to ask the man at the help desk for a card to still them on.
Up until very recently, we have been living in a culture of buying now and paying some time in the future. If we want something we go and buy it, without any thought of when or how we are going to actually pay for it. Credit cards are a way of sticking your head in the sand. It is the proverbial ostrich. Anyway, we can't do that any more. Credit cards are the spawn of the devil, and I am reduced to more inventive ways of paying for things.
By the time I had got home, (and out of the public eye) I stuck my stamps proudly on the card, and put it in a safe place. Every time I go to Sainsburies from now on, I will stick a pound or so in the stamp machine and collect some more stamps. Christmas is going to be less stressful this year, I could even save enough money in stamps to buy Chritmas presents as well as food. In the long run, I don't really care if I look like a chav, I am saving money, and that's the most important bit. Actually the most important bit is the fact that I can save money in a place that I know I won't be tempted to spend it. If I put it in the bank, it wouldn't stay there very long, and under the mattress wouldn't help either, it is the format that it's in that's the problem. If it is in pounds sterling, then I will spend it. I can't spend stamps any other place than Sainsburies, and that's the draw. That's why they are the best way to save for Christmas.
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Procrastinating and the Art of not Spending Money
I have been living in a bit of a vacuum this past week or so. I was surprised to hear on the news today something about David Cameron returning to work after the death of his son. I had absolutely no idea that this had happened, and was quite shocked when I heard it. The only thing I am concious of hearing on the news is the murders in Northern Ireland by the Real IRA. I thought that maybe I should try a bit harder to find out about what is going on, so I have bookmarked The Telegraph. Let' see if that makes any difference.
To be perfectly honest, current affairs are either so complicated or just so down right miserable, it's very difficult to summon up any enthusiasm for the news. Is it any wonder that we all want to find out about celebrities and what they are doing? It's infinitely happier than the latest death toll in N.I.
But enough about that. This past couple of weeks I haven't done my usual big monthly shop at the supermarket, as I was very brassic this month, so I decided to be very frugal and just go when I needed to, and stock up on essentials as I ran out, or as I was going to use them that day. At first it sounded like a super idea, I mean it's not like the cupboards are bare or anything. There is tonnes of food in the cupboard, and the freezer, so none of us are likely to starve. But when you have to walk past Waitrose everyday on the way to pick up your son from nursery, it is difficult not to pop in for some basics, and while you are in there then you end up buying a little one of those, and a smidgeon of that, and oh, that looks ever so tasty, and before you know it you've spent twenty quid instead of five.
So now you see why this is a bad move. Instead of buying my usual items at a reasonable price from a cheaper supermarket, I go to the most expensive supermarket and spend a fortune. I seem to remember doing this not that long ago and documenting my stupidity on these pages. It appears I have not learned my lesson. I will be very glad when Oscar goes to school after Easter, which is no where near a supermarket and I won't have to pick him up at lunch time, therefore will not be out of the house at lunchtime, (do not pass go, do not spend £200). Think of all the money I'll save!
I am even more concerned about Alex and his job. He said that his boss has been giving them all pep talks about them pulling together and working as a team (in my book this inevitably means cut backs). They are all apparently working really hard to keep the ompany afloat. He has been going in early to do extra work, and I know from Alex's under-estimation, that if he says it's bad, then it's worse.
I read on the news website that house prices have fallen 20% in the past year, and could be set to fall a futher 50%. My god if that happens, and Alex looses his job, then we will be without a house and still have a massive mortgage to pay off. It doesn't bear thinking about. See, now I know why I didn't read the news.
To be perfectly honest, current affairs are either so complicated or just so down right miserable, it's very difficult to summon up any enthusiasm for the news. Is it any wonder that we all want to find out about celebrities and what they are doing? It's infinitely happier than the latest death toll in N.I.
But enough about that. This past couple of weeks I haven't done my usual big monthly shop at the supermarket, as I was very brassic this month, so I decided to be very frugal and just go when I needed to, and stock up on essentials as I ran out, or as I was going to use them that day. At first it sounded like a super idea, I mean it's not like the cupboards are bare or anything. There is tonnes of food in the cupboard, and the freezer, so none of us are likely to starve. But when you have to walk past Waitrose everyday on the way to pick up your son from nursery, it is difficult not to pop in for some basics, and while you are in there then you end up buying a little one of those, and a smidgeon of that, and oh, that looks ever so tasty, and before you know it you've spent twenty quid instead of five.
So now you see why this is a bad move. Instead of buying my usual items at a reasonable price from a cheaper supermarket, I go to the most expensive supermarket and spend a fortune. I seem to remember doing this not that long ago and documenting my stupidity on these pages. It appears I have not learned my lesson. I will be very glad when Oscar goes to school after Easter, which is no where near a supermarket and I won't have to pick him up at lunch time, therefore will not be out of the house at lunchtime, (do not pass go, do not spend £200). Think of all the money I'll save!
I am even more concerned about Alex and his job. He said that his boss has been giving them all pep talks about them pulling together and working as a team (in my book this inevitably means cut backs). They are all apparently working really hard to keep the ompany afloat. He has been going in early to do extra work, and I know from Alex's under-estimation, that if he says it's bad, then it's worse.
I read on the news website that house prices have fallen 20% in the past year, and could be set to fall a futher 50%. My god if that happens, and Alex looses his job, then we will be without a house and still have a massive mortgage to pay off. It doesn't bear thinking about. See, now I know why I didn't read the news.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Oxfam, Perfume and Red Pandas
Charitable Gifts are a bit weird aren't they? How do you give someone a gift, but not give them a gift? Also, it's almost like you are saying to the recipient - you are too much of a consumer and you think about yourself too much, so I am going to be charitable on your behalf. Almost as if you are doing your best to save their soul.
Having said that, I actually think charitable gifts are a good idea in principle. A couple of Christmases ago, I picked up a pamphlet in Oxfam all about charitable gifts, what you could buy, and were it went. I thought it was a great idea for presents for the family, neither mine or Alex's family really want for anything, and I do find the whole buying gifts for distant relations who you don't see from one end of the year to the other, very irritating, and a waste of money. Lets face it, you don't see these people above 10 hours out of a whole year, and haven't got a clue what they like, or have got, and then are expected to produce an amazing present for them, for as little money as possible, and to top it all they are doing the same for you. When you open the gift it's always some weird tat, that you wouldn't touch with a barge pole, and you wonder why you bothered spending all that time, money and deliberation on what you bought them. Any way, I digress.
I thought the charitable gift thing was a great idea, and when Alex came home, I rather enthusiastically explained the concept to him, and didn't he think it was a really good idea? He laughed in my face. After he got up off the floor from a mirth overdose, I asked him, rather irritatedly, what he found so funny? 'Can you see my mum's face when she opens that?' He said, 'she'd be really unimpressed.' I have to admit, that after thinking about it, I had to agree. I bought his mum a gift experience last year of a day to a perfume lab to learn all about how to make perfume and to make some perfume of her own. As she asks for perfume every year, I thought it would be a great idea. Incidentally, I bought my mum the same gift, and she thought it was amazing, and thoroughly enjoyed it. So, when Alex's mum opened her gift certificate, she read it from cover to cover and then looked at me and said, 'so, what is it?' It took me a full fifteen minutes to explain to her what it was, and that no, she didn't have to pay for it, and yes she could take a friend. She looked very dubious, and to this day, I have no idea if she went or not, and I don't want to ask her if she went, because if she didn't, I'd be seriously pissed of that I wasted £50 for nothing. So, this is obviously why a charitable gift would be way over her head, and it's not like she's stupid or anything, she was a teacher for crying out loud, so she must have some modicum of intelligence.
Personally I think charitable gifts are only good if you aren't going to see the recipient in person, or if you know the person really well, and know that they are something they really would appreciate. For some reason, a lot of people really don't like the idea of them. I think they are great, and if someone bought one for me, I think that would pretty great. Most of the presents we receive, aren't things we actually want, or need, and we have to pretend that we really like them so as not to hurt any one's feelings. Having said that, if my in-laws gave me a charitable gift instead of my usual birthday wad of cash, I can't say I'd be particularly impressed with that!
I haven't come across many different types of charitable gifts. Off the top of my head Oxfam is the first that comes to mind, as they were the ones I looked at. I also think other large charities such as Save the Children and Wold Vision do some. There are also charitable gifts such as animal adoption, which is also a great idea, although there is a great deal of variation from one company to another. Funnily enough, my daughter recently asked me if she could adopt a red panda (her favourite animal) using her pocket money which I looked into on her behalf. Most companies just go into adoption for the big selling endangered animals, such as tigers, giant pandas, rhinos, gorillas etc. You can also give money just to help a specific breed rather than an actual animal. For example, I give £2 a month to the WWF towards helping the tigers. Red Panda's aren't a particularly popular animal, so it was quite difficult to find an adoption scheme that not only benefited the pandas, but also my seven year old daughter. Eventually we found that at Chester Zoo (we go here often when we visit my mum), we could set up an adoption scheme that would help the animals, but would also give us some tickets to visit the zoo, and in particular, a special day where she got to meet the red panda keeper and ask any questions she may have. We decided that as it was a gift for her as well as being a donation to charity, that she could ask for it for her birthday, so as charitable gifts go, it's not massive, but for a seven year old girl to want to give part of her own pocket money to charity, I think it's quite amazing.
Having said that, I actually think charitable gifts are a good idea in principle. A couple of Christmases ago, I picked up a pamphlet in Oxfam all about charitable gifts, what you could buy, and were it went. I thought it was a great idea for presents for the family, neither mine or Alex's family really want for anything, and I do find the whole buying gifts for distant relations who you don't see from one end of the year to the other, very irritating, and a waste of money. Lets face it, you don't see these people above 10 hours out of a whole year, and haven't got a clue what they like, or have got, and then are expected to produce an amazing present for them, for as little money as possible, and to top it all they are doing the same for you. When you open the gift it's always some weird tat, that you wouldn't touch with a barge pole, and you wonder why you bothered spending all that time, money and deliberation on what you bought them. Any way, I digress.
I thought the charitable gift thing was a great idea, and when Alex came home, I rather enthusiastically explained the concept to him, and didn't he think it was a really good idea? He laughed in my face. After he got up off the floor from a mirth overdose, I asked him, rather irritatedly, what he found so funny? 'Can you see my mum's face when she opens that?' He said, 'she'd be really unimpressed.' I have to admit, that after thinking about it, I had to agree. I bought his mum a gift experience last year of a day to a perfume lab to learn all about how to make perfume and to make some perfume of her own. As she asks for perfume every year, I thought it would be a great idea. Incidentally, I bought my mum the same gift, and she thought it was amazing, and thoroughly enjoyed it. So, when Alex's mum opened her gift certificate, she read it from cover to cover and then looked at me and said, 'so, what is it?' It took me a full fifteen minutes to explain to her what it was, and that no, she didn't have to pay for it, and yes she could take a friend. She looked very dubious, and to this day, I have no idea if she went or not, and I don't want to ask her if she went, because if she didn't, I'd be seriously pissed of that I wasted £50 for nothing. So, this is obviously why a charitable gift would be way over her head, and it's not like she's stupid or anything, she was a teacher for crying out loud, so she must have some modicum of intelligence.
Personally I think charitable gifts are only good if you aren't going to see the recipient in person, or if you know the person really well, and know that they are something they really would appreciate. For some reason, a lot of people really don't like the idea of them. I think they are great, and if someone bought one for me, I think that would pretty great. Most of the presents we receive, aren't things we actually want, or need, and we have to pretend that we really like them so as not to hurt any one's feelings. Having said that, if my in-laws gave me a charitable gift instead of my usual birthday wad of cash, I can't say I'd be particularly impressed with that!
I haven't come across many different types of charitable gifts. Off the top of my head Oxfam is the first that comes to mind, as they were the ones I looked at. I also think other large charities such as Save the Children and Wold Vision do some. There are also charitable gifts such as animal adoption, which is also a great idea, although there is a great deal of variation from one company to another. Funnily enough, my daughter recently asked me if she could adopt a red panda (her favourite animal) using her pocket money which I looked into on her behalf. Most companies just go into adoption for the big selling endangered animals, such as tigers, giant pandas, rhinos, gorillas etc. You can also give money just to help a specific breed rather than an actual animal. For example, I give £2 a month to the WWF towards helping the tigers. Red Panda's aren't a particularly popular animal, so it was quite difficult to find an adoption scheme that not only benefited the pandas, but also my seven year old daughter. Eventually we found that at Chester Zoo (we go here often when we visit my mum), we could set up an adoption scheme that would help the animals, but would also give us some tickets to visit the zoo, and in particular, a special day where she got to meet the red panda keeper and ask any questions she may have. We decided that as it was a gift for her as well as being a donation to charity, that she could ask for it for her birthday, so as charitable gifts go, it's not massive, but for a seven year old girl to want to give part of her own pocket money to charity, I think it's quite amazing.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Snow and Redundancies
My friend Carol got made redundant last week. She is the first of my close friends/relatives to be struck by the recession. Very nicely they have given her a months notice to find another job, but she has worked for the council for about 15 years, and her job is very specialised, so I don't think it will be easy for her.
I mention her not only because she got made redundant, but also because her financial situation is very similar to mine. Carol's partner Andy has a very well paid job, but they have a large mortgage as do we, and work to a strict monthly budget. They don't generally go on holiday, as there isn't really any spare money for it. The only differences between us is: They have one child, we have two, Carol works part time, and they are very sensible with their money.
I am more than a little concerned for Carol, and watching how they will cope with the lack of that extra income, will be something I will be doing, with more that a normal amount of interest. I do believe they have some savings, though not much, (we have none) and their situation is not quite as dire as mine and Alex, so I am sure they will be fine.
BUT....
The fact that one of my friends has lost their job as a direct consequence of the recession brings the whole thing a little nearer to home. It makes it a little more real, not just a headline on News At Ten. The recession has definitely entered my life now and not in a way I would have wanted it to.
Closer to home, it has of course been snowing. Walking the kids to school on Monday, I damaged my heel, it is excruciatingly painful to walk on, but if I put an arch support in my shoe, it makes it bearable. I went to the doctors today, and I have 'Plantar Fasciitus'. Google it, I can't explain it myself. I have to do stretching exercises, apply topical anti inflammatory, and wear this thing in my shoe, and it might go in a couple of days, or a couple of years, who knows!
The snow has made everyone under the age of 30 feel very excited. The kids have been building snowmen, and tobogganing in Woodford Park. It's great that they have found a free method of entertainment. I still can't see what all the fuss is about four inches of snow. When I was a child in Derbyshire, we had snow so deep you could touch it from an upstairs window. My Grandad had to cut a tunnel through the snow around the side of the house. Now that's snow.
One more thing I should mention in relation to finances. At the weekend, my children asked their daddy if he would take them swimming. Unfortunately due to spending slightly too much at Christmas he was grossly skint, and I didn't have any money as my bank in their infinite wisdom chose randomly to cancel my bank card without informing me. The kids wanted to go swimming so much, that they both pooled their pocket money so they could go swimming and pay for daddy too. Our children are 7 and 4, and get £1 and 50p a week respectively, for helping around the house. I was very impressed not only at their ingenious nature, but also at their selflessness, as Oscar is free to get in, he paid for Willow, and Willow with more pocket money paid for Daddy, and also had money left over to buy herself and her brother a packet of sweets each afterwards.
See, it's not how much money you have, but what you do with it that counts.
I mention her not only because she got made redundant, but also because her financial situation is very similar to mine. Carol's partner Andy has a very well paid job, but they have a large mortgage as do we, and work to a strict monthly budget. They don't generally go on holiday, as there isn't really any spare money for it. The only differences between us is: They have one child, we have two, Carol works part time, and they are very sensible with their money.
I am more than a little concerned for Carol, and watching how they will cope with the lack of that extra income, will be something I will be doing, with more that a normal amount of interest. I do believe they have some savings, though not much, (we have none) and their situation is not quite as dire as mine and Alex, so I am sure they will be fine.
BUT....
The fact that one of my friends has lost their job as a direct consequence of the recession brings the whole thing a little nearer to home. It makes it a little more real, not just a headline on News At Ten. The recession has definitely entered my life now and not in a way I would have wanted it to.
Closer to home, it has of course been snowing. Walking the kids to school on Monday, I damaged my heel, it is excruciatingly painful to walk on, but if I put an arch support in my shoe, it makes it bearable. I went to the doctors today, and I have 'Plantar Fasciitus'. Google it, I can't explain it myself. I have to do stretching exercises, apply topical anti inflammatory, and wear this thing in my shoe, and it might go in a couple of days, or a couple of years, who knows!
The snow has made everyone under the age of 30 feel very excited. The kids have been building snowmen, and tobogganing in Woodford Park. It's great that they have found a free method of entertainment. I still can't see what all the fuss is about four inches of snow. When I was a child in Derbyshire, we had snow so deep you could touch it from an upstairs window. My Grandad had to cut a tunnel through the snow around the side of the house. Now that's snow.
One more thing I should mention in relation to finances. At the weekend, my children asked their daddy if he would take them swimming. Unfortunately due to spending slightly too much at Christmas he was grossly skint, and I didn't have any money as my bank in their infinite wisdom chose randomly to cancel my bank card without informing me. The kids wanted to go swimming so much, that they both pooled their pocket money so they could go swimming and pay for daddy too. Our children are 7 and 4, and get £1 and 50p a week respectively, for helping around the house. I was very impressed not only at their ingenious nature, but also at their selflessness, as Oscar is free to get in, he paid for Willow, and Willow with more pocket money paid for Daddy, and also had money left over to buy herself and her brother a packet of sweets each afterwards.
See, it's not how much money you have, but what you do with it that counts.
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Past Future and Present Poverty
So, you asked me a lovely question, which I will try to answer about finances and in the current climate, what we are doing in the long and short term to combat that.
Well, our mortgage is currently half way through a five year fixed rate term, on a very good rate, so even though my bank, and building society have been trying to convince me to change to them I am going to stick where I am until the term expires. The reason for this is - The rate is so low, currently none of the banks or building societies can offer a rate anywhere near it, so I would basically be a complete dunce if I changed, and the reason why we took out a five year fixed rate is because our budget is so tight anyway, that we needed to know how much we were going to be paying for a length of time, and that it wouldn't be going up any time soon. If we could have squeezed enough out of our budget to take on a ten year fixed rate, we would have done so, but it was a little above our means.
Insurance. We already have every kind of insurance known to man, and even some that aren't. We have had most of these insurance policies since we bought our first house eight years ago, and there were just the two of us. As our family has grown, we have acquired more and bigger policies, to cover our burgeoning family. We do pay out A LOT of money each month in insurance, and I'm not just talking about your common or garden car, house, buildings insurance either. We have insurance in case Alex looses his job, insurance in case Alex gets ill and can't work, insurance in case Alex dies and can't work (?), insurance in case I die etc, etc. Most of it is to cover the mortgage payments, and some of it is to give us an income if there is no-one working. We have all these elaborate forms of insurance for one reason only. We do not have any other back up if there isn't a wage coming in every month. We have no savings to fall back on, in fact there is probably more money in the children's savings accounts than in ours. And there's only a couple of hundred in theirs. Alex's pension account gets a whopping great big £20 a month, so we are going to be living in a one room tenement building huddled round a one bar fire when he retires.
The reason we have the mortgage we have, and all the policies we have is down to our independent financial advisor, who's name is Adrian. We met him while we were buying our first house, as at the time his office was in the estate agents we bought the house from. We have never paid him a penny, he gets paid from the companies we use, so he always looks for the best deals for us. I trust him implicitly. He is a lovely (family) guy, I've met his wife and kids, and he isn't pushy and never gives us the hard sell. Whenever we go to see him, he always finds us various options, and then leaves us to make the final decision.
Shortly before we our current house, the man who owned the estate agents we bought our first house from died in a car crash. He was a prominent business man in the community as he lived and worked in Woodley and was very well liked. His death shocked everyone, not more so than his wife and baby daughter who he left behind. Adrian (who had been a close friend of his) told us that when he died he left no financial security for his family. He had always laughed at the idea of insurance policies, saying it was for 'anoraks'. Although he had a very well paid job, his wife had to sell the large family home they had just bought, and his cars, as she couldn't afford to live there any more and had to move in with her parents.
If this isn't a shining example of what not to do I don't know what is. I often look at our bank statements and think how better off we would be if all that insurance money we pay out every month was freed up. But then I think of Sean, and more appropriately, his wife and daughter, and it all makes sense.
Currently, we have been spending more time on tweeking the pennies, as really that's all we are able to do. We don't have enough money in the bank to do anything else with. We pay some money each month into savings, but that usually gets used for things like car tax, mot, services etc. The big picture is already looked after mostly, apart from the savings, but that will sort itself out later. The children have savings policies which we can't touch, for when they are older and they go to university or whatever. The current situation with the country's finances will not stay like this forever, although I am quite enjoying the current cut in interest rates. It makes for an interesting time at the till! And our finances will get better. My penny tweeking has reached an all time high I think at the minute, and maybe if I had more hours in the day, it would be even better!
Well, our mortgage is currently half way through a five year fixed rate term, on a very good rate, so even though my bank, and building society have been trying to convince me to change to them I am going to stick where I am until the term expires. The reason for this is - The rate is so low, currently none of the banks or building societies can offer a rate anywhere near it, so I would basically be a complete dunce if I changed, and the reason why we took out a five year fixed rate is because our budget is so tight anyway, that we needed to know how much we were going to be paying for a length of time, and that it wouldn't be going up any time soon. If we could have squeezed enough out of our budget to take on a ten year fixed rate, we would have done so, but it was a little above our means.
Insurance. We already have every kind of insurance known to man, and even some that aren't. We have had most of these insurance policies since we bought our first house eight years ago, and there were just the two of us. As our family has grown, we have acquired more and bigger policies, to cover our burgeoning family. We do pay out A LOT of money each month in insurance, and I'm not just talking about your common or garden car, house, buildings insurance either. We have insurance in case Alex looses his job, insurance in case Alex gets ill and can't work, insurance in case Alex dies and can't work (?), insurance in case I die etc, etc. Most of it is to cover the mortgage payments, and some of it is to give us an income if there is no-one working. We have all these elaborate forms of insurance for one reason only. We do not have any other back up if there isn't a wage coming in every month. We have no savings to fall back on, in fact there is probably more money in the children's savings accounts than in ours. And there's only a couple of hundred in theirs. Alex's pension account gets a whopping great big £20 a month, so we are going to be living in a one room tenement building huddled round a one bar fire when he retires.
The reason we have the mortgage we have, and all the policies we have is down to our independent financial advisor, who's name is Adrian. We met him while we were buying our first house, as at the time his office was in the estate agents we bought the house from. We have never paid him a penny, he gets paid from the companies we use, so he always looks for the best deals for us. I trust him implicitly. He is a lovely (family) guy, I've met his wife and kids, and he isn't pushy and never gives us the hard sell. Whenever we go to see him, he always finds us various options, and then leaves us to make the final decision.
Shortly before we our current house, the man who owned the estate agents we bought our first house from died in a car crash. He was a prominent business man in the community as he lived and worked in Woodley and was very well liked. His death shocked everyone, not more so than his wife and baby daughter who he left behind. Adrian (who had been a close friend of his) told us that when he died he left no financial security for his family. He had always laughed at the idea of insurance policies, saying it was for 'anoraks'. Although he had a very well paid job, his wife had to sell the large family home they had just bought, and his cars, as she couldn't afford to live there any more and had to move in with her parents.
If this isn't a shining example of what not to do I don't know what is. I often look at our bank statements and think how better off we would be if all that insurance money we pay out every month was freed up. But then I think of Sean, and more appropriately, his wife and daughter, and it all makes sense.
Currently, we have been spending more time on tweeking the pennies, as really that's all we are able to do. We don't have enough money in the bank to do anything else with. We pay some money each month into savings, but that usually gets used for things like car tax, mot, services etc. The big picture is already looked after mostly, apart from the savings, but that will sort itself out later. The children have savings policies which we can't touch, for when they are older and they go to university or whatever. The current situation with the country's finances will not stay like this forever, although I am quite enjoying the current cut in interest rates. It makes for an interesting time at the till! And our finances will get better. My penny tweeking has reached an all time high I think at the minute, and maybe if I had more hours in the day, it would be even better!
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Eating Out and Other Such Dreams
Alex went out last weekend, with a freind and freinds of said freind. He goes out with this crowd a couple of times a year. They go into London (as most of them live in and around the capitol)and have a meal and go out for a drink afterwards. Most of the people are single thirty somethings with a large income and no dependants, so usually, despite living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, they have a fair bit of cash to flash about.
So, what usually happens when they go out for a meal is this - Alex is very frugal with his spending. He may have only one or two alcoholic drinks, and will order from the cheaper end of the menu, and depending on whether he is particularly skint or not he would miss out starters and deserts. Everyone else will be ordering lots of booze, bottles of wine, starters, deserts, and spending loads of cash, then there would be food left over. At the end of the meal the bill would be split equally between everyone, which obviously makes Alex cross, as he is then paying for someone elses food, which we can ill afford to do. Nobody plans ahead and decides before hand that this is what they will all do, it just evolves into this when they have all had a bit too much to drink and can't be bothered to work it all out. Fair enough if you know you've had loads to eat and drink and you know that it would come to a fair bit, but when you have especially been careful because you know you don't have much money, then it is particularly irksome.
This time however, was different. Before hand, Alex didn't seem to want to go, and when I pressed him about it, it turned out that he was reluctant to go because of what usually happened on other occasions. He was supposed to leave home at four p.m. and eventually left around two hours later. I told him that if splitting the bill was what they all normally did then he shouldn't worry about what he had, and instead of choosing what he could afford, he should just choose what he wanted to eat, as it didn't seem to make much of a difference anyway.
As it turned out, everyone seemed to be slightly less frivolous anyway. Possibly to do with the credit crunch, but who can tell? Starters and desserts where ordered but no food was leftover, it seemed that less 'extras' where purchased as part of everyone's meals. Alcohol too seemed to be consumed in less quantity. Even though they where celebrating someones birthday, everyone just shared bottles of wine, instead of buying lots of shorts.
Between seven people the bill with alcohol and tip came to £25 each. A rather reasonable amount of money to spend at a restaurant, but still almost half a weeks worth of food for my family. Not something that we can afford to do on any kind of regular occurance.
So, what usually happens when they go out for a meal is this - Alex is very frugal with his spending. He may have only one or two alcoholic drinks, and will order from the cheaper end of the menu, and depending on whether he is particularly skint or not he would miss out starters and deserts. Everyone else will be ordering lots of booze, bottles of wine, starters, deserts, and spending loads of cash, then there would be food left over. At the end of the meal the bill would be split equally between everyone, which obviously makes Alex cross, as he is then paying for someone elses food, which we can ill afford to do. Nobody plans ahead and decides before hand that this is what they will all do, it just evolves into this when they have all had a bit too much to drink and can't be bothered to work it all out. Fair enough if you know you've had loads to eat and drink and you know that it would come to a fair bit, but when you have especially been careful because you know you don't have much money, then it is particularly irksome.
This time however, was different. Before hand, Alex didn't seem to want to go, and when I pressed him about it, it turned out that he was reluctant to go because of what usually happened on other occasions. He was supposed to leave home at four p.m. and eventually left around two hours later. I told him that if splitting the bill was what they all normally did then he shouldn't worry about what he had, and instead of choosing what he could afford, he should just choose what he wanted to eat, as it didn't seem to make much of a difference anyway.
As it turned out, everyone seemed to be slightly less frivolous anyway. Possibly to do with the credit crunch, but who can tell? Starters and desserts where ordered but no food was leftover, it seemed that less 'extras' where purchased as part of everyone's meals. Alcohol too seemed to be consumed in less quantity. Even though they where celebrating someones birthday, everyone just shared bottles of wine, instead of buying lots of shorts.
Between seven people the bill with alcohol and tip came to £25 each. A rather reasonable amount of money to spend at a restaurant, but still almost half a weeks worth of food for my family. Not something that we can afford to do on any kind of regular occurance.
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