Sorry folks, haven’t been around here much. Been meaning to get here and all but real life kept getting in the way.
I have been up to quite a bit on the financial front in the last few months, but equally I feel like a charlatan. The wife was given a financial “gift” earlier this year and that has helped us tremendously on our journey towards financial freedom. It wasn’t a life-changing amount for us, but for others it could so easily have been – so I chose my words carefully. It was enough to pay for our holiday outright and to clear a few of those niggling debts that I was paying off “bit by bit”.
Talking of holidays… we had some good luck again whereby we were given compensation that we were entitled to because of a flight delay.
Sadly a close relative has recently passed away and although it was expected it is still quite a raw emotion to deal with. As the estate is still being sorted out the wife is aware that she may be receiving a (to us) considerable sum in inheritance.
Maybe you understand why I feel like a charlatan? Finances, the same as life can’t always be bad luck, sometimes you just have to get a break.
But notwithstanding all of this I have still be working hard, trying to find the best deals, trying to save money. About 2 months ago I changed energy supplier because they promised to beat my current (dual-fuel) deal by £30 a month. This deal was recommended via a well known Money Saving Expert site. Last week I opened a new HSBC bank account using their switching offer. They even offered me “preferential” credit card. At first I declined it, but when I was told that I will get a £25 cash back offer as soon as I made one transaction, well hey, where do I sign? From this little venture I will net £265 for 60 minutes work (as that is how long it took to complete the applications). To top this one off I also get an introductory 12 month rate of 6% for a savings account. Get in!
And this morning I finally cut the umbilical cord of satellite TV. My current deal expired yesterday and I was paying £21.50 for the privilege of terrestrial TV (the wife loves her soaps!) and the Disney Channel. That’s it. Sky dangled another 12 month offer in front of me and for that briefest of moments it was tempting. But I had that steely resolve today (I have been working myself up to this moment for about 6 months!). I refused their offer, cancelled the TV package and then bought a new Freesat box direct from Humix. Offsetting what I would have been paying Sky, that box will have paid for itself in 7 months!
So there we have. I do hope to expand on some of this with some future posts.
Happy budgeting and saving people. I do hope that if you are going through your cycle bad luck that your fortunes soon turn for the better.
The Frugal Funghi 