New Grad DFW

moneyonmymindsam · 14 February 2017 at 11:32PM

Happy Valentines:rotfl::happyhear

Just spreading the love

:kisses3::lovethoug:happyhear

ab_saver · 19 February 2017 at 7:52PM

I'm now all caught up with diaries and pretty much back in the right time zone.

OH and I went to see lego batman last night using free club Ll0yds cinema tickets - we just paid £1 each to upgrade to 3D and for an ENORMOUS drink - thankfully we had planned to share.

We did then go to the HUGE Mr T extra to stock up on a few things. I somehow ended up spending £57!! This did include enough comfort for 114 washes (the OH joked it'll probably move house with us!!), some beer for the OH, as well as cheese, meat, fish, 3kg of conchiglie (I'll be dreaming of fusilli before long!!) and a large number of packets of crisps. So a bit indulgent but will keep us going for a little while.

I've been plodding on with uni work and am getting there but have a major non-negotiable deadline looming. :eek:

9 days to payday (and my important deadline) - back to work really early tomorrow (they've made the start time earlier since I went on holiday!) and will need to plough on through uni work.

Onwards and upwards...

ab_saver · 19 February 2017 at 7:56PM

In better MSE news - I have just ordered another £5 voucher from SB (and got notification of a price drop on GoT for kindle

) - as well as being above the £5 payout threshold for prolific - although I'm tempted to see if I can get to £20 to avoid losing out on PayPal fees.

I have also identified 3 pairs of shoes that might be good candidates for eBay - but I've never sold anything on eBay before so it makes me a bit nervous. If they don't sell I can always give them to charity.

ab_saver · 21 February 2017 at 9:09PM

Yikes I'm tired!

MSE wise things are pretty good - admittedly I've been too busy to spend any money. I am going to have a simple dinner (think fish finger sandwich

) and then try and get an early night to recover. The earlier starts at work combined with getting home late and then trying to uni work aren't a great combination, but needs must and all that.

I've done my meter readings so hopefully my next bill should be accurate. I'm slightly concerned that it'll be eye-watering! Other than the occasional SB/prolific there's not much else to do other than wait until payday. After then I'll set up a short-term savings account - a regular saver without penalties for withdrawals. I'm thinking of putting about £150/month into that (in addition to the £200/month into HTB ISA and £100/month into high interest regular saver). This would give me a savings rate of about 25% of my post-tax income, which I think is pretty good. I don't want to leave myself short by doing this, which is my only concern.

ab_saver · 23 February 2017 at 9:20PM

More good MSE news today - my pay since the start of December was mis-calculated, and I'm owed nearly £700 in back pay (before tax!). I'm thinking of splitting it between my EF and short-term savings (with a focus on driving lessons/ potentially a small bit into holidays if I can pass without needed to spend too much more!).

I'm now watching shop well for less, a spin off from the food programme. These things makes me feel very MSE

ab_saver · 26 February 2017 at 11:20PM

Ooh terrible grammar or typing in my last post. Honestly I've had a really hard time this week, and I've had a weekend of self-care and relaxation, but I'm still dreading going back to work tomorrow.

I did do a meal plan and have thus far made tasty and filling pea and ham soup from store cupboard and YS'd ingredients.

I have also made my flat much more habitable, and re-potted my plants, including the purchase of a couple of new ones. That was very satisfying. I'm also trying some of the free mindfulness available. I need to write some very difficult emails to tell work about this but starting to do this is triggering further stress.

ab_saver · 28 February 2017 at 9:39PM

Unsurprisingly work wasn't as bad as I thought. My boss has been lovely about it.

The cheeriest things about my day were two surprise phone calls - one from a uni friend, and one from my OH, both very happy that I'm much happier.

Oh... and it was payday. Yay :P

ChasingSunshine · 1 March 2017 at 9:53AM

Just popping in to say you are doing really well. Lovely to get some back pay when not expected.
I suspect you are in the same line of work as me though a few years behind. All the juggling of work, shifts, projects etc gets a little easier with time though being on a more social work pattern and good support definitely helps!!

ab_saver · 1 March 2017 at 8:35PM

ChasingSunshine wrote: »

Just popping in to say you are doing really well. Lovely to get some back pay when not expected.
I suspect you are in the same line of work as me though a few years behind. All the juggling of work, shifts, projects etc gets a little easier with time though being on a more social work pattern and good support definitely helps!!

Thank you for popping by! Had lovely chat with surprisingly supportive boss (of older school so wasn't sure would be keen to discuss personal concerns). Apparently last week was department's busiest week in past 20 years... Regarding back pay, our payroll/HR people aren't the most efficient so I'll believe it when I see it. This seems universal across my line of work...

I'm now much more on top of things - I made a giant list with lots (51!!!) of boxes with categories work/ academic (uni)/ home / self and health. I've been putting things that are important for health and sanity on there so I can do them without guilt! I've decided I can only focus on one thing at once - so this week has been sorting out my professional development type stuff, as I have to complete a portfolio by May. I'm not as behind as I thought - certainly no further behind than my colleagues.

My work pattern is getting antisocial again as I'm working this weekend, off next, working again the weekend after, and doing an interesting assortment of hours. It'll be fine, and I'm a bit sad to only have a few more weeks in this department. I finally feel like I've got to grips with it.

MSE wise I'm VERY pleased with myself. House fund now a very pleasing £1310. £200 gone to HTB ISA, £100 to long term/high-interest savings (to go in LISA later this year), and I got the statement for my savings certificates, which have gone up in value by £10 since last year.
I have also opened another regular savings account at slightly lower interest (but more than my current account), but with the benefit of penalty-free withdrawals. This is for my driving fund, holiday fund, and for my professional expenses (ever-increasing).

Do you have a diary ChasingSunshine?

ChasingSunshine · 3 March 2017 at 9:48PM

Well done on your savings. You are making loads of progress.

Feel your pain about mix up in pay, luckily I usually stay on the same rota for longer than you do so not as much of an issue except for the first month or so of each post. Having said that I recently got some money back as was underpaid this year so it doesn't really change unfortunately.

I haven't started a diary as by the time I found MSE was not in debt, well except student debt. Feel my ramblings aren't that interesting so just pop onto other diaries for inspiration to help control my spending. Years of bad habits and bad case of wanderlust mean that despite decent salary I don't have the savings that would be expected. Never too late to start but may have to leave the SE at some point. Decision for a few years time though.

Sorry that rambled on way longer than planned, apologies!!!

New Grad DFW

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