Time to sort my finances out

Smodlet · 3 August 2016 at 1:51PM

Wow, Flowers123, that is amazing news! I wish you the very best of luck; please keep us posted. You would have so many options if you were able to move home for a while.

Well done on the meal planning, not going to the shops until necessary, etc. You, like Tonkaaaa and so many other people on here seem to be making exceptional progress. Have you tried re-reading your diary from the beginning? Do you see how much more positive and determined you already appear? Well done to you. It is a joy to see.

Flowers123 · 3 August 2016 at 8:18PM

Evening everyone.

Hi Ash, yes if I could live with parents for a few months it would help me to either save a bit or clear debt because if I sell up I need to factor in stamp duty and moving fees. If I lived more rural my fuel costs will go up a bit but it would probably be cheaper as I would be able to have friends and family round more often. I am currently nearly 80 miles from them so it can be hard to arrange things which is why I end up going out with work colleagues and spending a fortune.

Hi enthusiasticsaver. I am in a very fortunate position and it has taken me a few years to realise how lucky I am but I have been a bit stupid. I got given a lot of money by my family when I was 18 and I bought a house without much of a mortgage. My car was a present a number of years ago so I own it without finance and the jewellery was a gift from my 21st birthday. (I sound so spoilt but I know I am very fortunate) All my debt is from spending on way too many holidays and rather a lot of handbags and shoes and designer clothes. Over the last 5 years I've been to Australia, Dubai, Eygpt, New York, Ibiza, Turkey, Sweden and a number of other places in Europe and this is the cause of most of my debt. Wow, I see you have saved a huge amount this year. That's incredible! Where do you put all your savings? Interest rates are so low at the moment

Hi Smodlet. Thank you, I'm not going to get my hopes but it would be a fantastic opportunity. I left the company on good terms and worked for them for a number years until I left for a new opportunity which turned out to be a very bad move. This diary is really helping me to sort my budgeting out and I love reading everyone's diaries and getting ideas on how to be more frugal. I don't feel like I'm making much progress this month as I dipped into my overdraft last month due to another holiday but by next month my budget should improve and I'm going to put some money away for Christmas and in my emergency fund. I really want to get rid of my credit cards as quickly as possible and improve my credit rating. My credit rating is 819 on experian which isn't that great. I haven't missed any payments ever but I'm unsure why it is so low.

This evening I've been to the shops to get essentials. I went and stocked up from the cheap shops on crisps and snacks for work as I won't have time at the weekend. I didn't quite stick to my list as I saw some plastic tubs which I got for £1.49 for 3 and I'm going to use them to freeze meals for after work. I also got some salad and fruit as i feel I need something healthy. I've been looking at ideas for work lunches and have considered making a mini ploughmans lunch as I usually have the items anyway and it's a bit different to the usual pasta salad or sandwich. Looking at my finances for the rest of the month I'm concerned I'm going to dip into my OD again this month. It's interest free up to £100 and it's a £6 fee but this would be better in my pocket. Before I start overpaying my credit cards I'm going to sort out my budget and reduce my groceries spend as i spend way too much for a single person.

I really really hope I get an interview for this job. It's all I'm thinking about at the moment. I have been thinking about moving home for a while and I think it would be a good move as I'll be around close friends and get to see my family more and also it would mean I would be able to properly move on from the ex. We still get on extremely well but we broke up 2 years ago and it would probably do both of us some good if we weren't living so close to each other. Life can be so confusing at times.
Flowersx

Flowers123 · 4 August 2016 at 7:37AM

I'm hoping today will be a NSD :j I prepared my lunch last night and I'm leaving my purse at home again so I don't have any temptation to spend. We have a chocolate machine at work and sometimes i end up buying some but not today. I did enquire about overtime but I'm not sure. I really could do with the extra funds but it's hard enough dragging myself to work to complete my standard hours. It's my birthday this month and I am busy every weekend so I'm going to use that as my excuse for not doing any. I will make myself do at least 4 hours next month. Fingers crossed I hear back about the job soon, the closing date is August 12th. I mentioned it to my friend back home and she said about living with her for a bit as she could do with the extra money but if I stayed with my parents they wouldn't charge me which could mean more money in my savings :T have a good day everyone

Smodlet · 4 August 2016 at 10:24AM

"My credit rating is 819 on experian which isn't that great. I haven't missed any payments ever but I'm unsure why it is so low."

What is it with your generation and credit scores? No-one but you sees your credit score and different lenders have their own criteria as to whom they consider a good risk, or not. More to the point, why are you even thinking about credit? I thought this was about getting out of debt, not deeper in.

If you think this is harsh, you better hope zx81 does not happen along.

:D:D

Flowers123 · 4 August 2016 at 6:02PM

Ah yes my only reason for worrying about this is that I want to try and get a better rate on my loan. It's currently 12.8% :eek: My bank won't reduce it until I improve my credit score. I never want credit again after getting myself into this pickle.

Well today has been extremely busy. Had to go for a lunch meeting with work colleagues. Luckily I had "forgotten" my purse so I ate my own lunch and then my close friend and colleague bought me a drink. I will just have to buy the drinks for us both next month when we go out for lunch but this can come from my £50 socialising budget. I don't intend on buying lunch like my colleagues do. That's the problem with working in a city, we have places on our doorstep and it can be very costly :mad:

I bought some cheese triangles from A*di last night and I'm not impressed. I prefer Dairyl*a! At least I tried!

More items have bids on which should finish this weekend. I may keep the money in my current account as this month is extremely tight and I am trying to avoid using the overdraft. Hopefully my budget next month will improve and cutting down my grocery spend is going to help enormously. I have cancelled my gym membership and Netflix :T once my finances are better and I can get through a month without going in to OD I will look at getting them again.

Quiet evening tonight. I'm going to watch some catch up tv and pack ready for the weekend :j

Smodlet · 4 August 2016 at 6:19PM

Good for you, Flowers. I have been reading far too much on here recently about how posters' debts are "the banks' fault" and, "if I wait another year it'll just drop off (my credit file) won't it?" Drains my energy, it does... speaking of, so many of us use the Cheap Energy Club, MSE is trying to improve it, yet there seems to have been little feedback and few votes on their poll, as yet. I hope you do not mind my mentioning this. Feel free to ignore if it is not of interest but it has saved me £100s over the years.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5502668

Please may I ask you and your readers to look at the poll on this thread and consider voting/commenting? The graph is quite pretty, imho.

Many thanks and keep the faith, you will get there.

Any idea when you might hear about this other job where you used to work?

Flowers123 · 4 August 2016 at 10:15PM

I'll take a look at the link Smodlet. I'm very interested in finding out ways to save any money I can

Slight drama in the flowers house this evening. My washing machine has decided to give up on life :mad::mad::mad: I put a wash on earlier and it was making a strange noise and it wouldn't spin so i tried to drain it and that didn't work so I've ended up with a rather wet kitchen floor. It's quite an old machine and I was hoping it would last me another 6 months until I had saved some money in my emergency fund for it. Rather annoyed!

enthusiasticsaver · 5 August 2016 at 12:03AM

Flowers123 wrote: »

Evening everyone.

Hi enthusiasticsaver. I am in a very fortunate position and it has taken me a few years to realise how lucky I am but I have been a bit stupid. I got given a lot of money by my family when I was 18 and I bought a house without much of a mortgage. My car was a present a number of years ago so I own it without finance and the jewellery was a gift from my 21st birthday. (I sound so spoilt but I know I am very fortunate) All my debt is from spending on way too many holidays and rather a lot of handbags and shoes and designer clothes. Over the last 5 years I've been to Australia, Dubai, Eygpt, New York, Ibiza, Turkey, Sweden and a number of other places in Europe and this is the cause of most of my debt. Wow, I see you have saved a huge amount this year. That's incredible! Where do you put all your savings? Interest rates are so low at the moment

Flowersx

Yes you are fortunate but never look on travel as stupid spending. Just moderate in the future and pay for it by saving rather than putting it on cards.

I save in current accounts and regular savers so am getting between 3% and 6% . I also have a stocks and shares isa. All helps with the early retirement plan.

Flowers123 · 5 August 2016 at 7:57AM

That's a good idea enthusiasticsaver. I may put my emergency fund into my TSB account as it pays some interest. It won't be much but better than nothing.

Yes I think I'll be saving in future. I want to be debt free before my 30th in just over 4 years which I can definitely do if I'm careful. I can then think about saving to go back to NY

For some reason I feel guilty my work colleague bought me a drink yesterday. It was only £3.25 but I don't like to owe people but I know they would find it strange if I gave them the money for it.

Lunch prepared for today along with some fruit and chocolate to get me through the last day of the week. Will be a NSD apart from the fuel to drive home. Car still filled to the top so I'm going to make it last until payday on the 25th.

Waiting for a few more items to sell on *bay. Hopefully this will boost my grocery fund for the rest of them month. Going to have to put a new washing machine on my CC1

my loan payment hasn't gone out yet so I'm hoping my overall total amount of debt won't increase that much.

I really need to get an EF built up very quickly and save for Christmas. Not buying too many presents this year. It will just be close family and my best friend.

Smodlet · 5 August 2016 at 11:01AM

Hi Flowers, and thank you for looking at the poll.

This may be a daft idea but is there any chance you can use a friend's washing machine at least until you hear about this job where you used to work? If you do get it and move back to your parents'/a friend's house, a new w/m will just be something else you have to move and store. Just a thought.

Time to sort my finances out

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