On a mission to free myself of debt...

Exerbusi

Lesson learned today - don't pay anything with a cheque!

I had to pay £220 for something a little while back, and I paid by cheque. I forgot all about it until yesterday morning when I checked my balance and saw it had gone out. Luckily I left myself with the £400 overdraft which provided me with a cushion, but still, I wasn't too chuffed.

Life is all about lessons, and there was one today - never pay by cheque as you can't control when they cash it.

As for today, I had a haircut which set me back £10.50. Bit more than I usually pay, but I was looking pretty scruffy so had to sort it out! It doesn't work out too badly though - I bagged myself an hour of overtime at work, meaning I will be £10 better off - paid for my haircut!

Roasting a chicken just now - meat for the next few days! Shopping day is Thursday, so hopefully I will get there about 8.30 and benefit from the bargains again.

Organised my £300 savings money to be transferred to my current account on Friday, giving me a nice cushion until pay day on the 15th.

miggy

That's a very impressive record so far! Even allowing for the unexpected pay, you've attacked it all very intelligently and even though it's not likely you'll get extra like that very often, it sounds as though you get plenty of opportunity for overtime, which will help.

Exerbusi wrote: »

Lesson learned today - don't pay anything with a cheque!

Sorry to hear about the £220, I hope there aren't any more such lurking in the wings. If you do have to use a cheque, just act as if the money has already gone from your account. That will be easier the closer you keep an eye on your finances, just take your bank statement with a pinch of salt. You could put a post-it note with the details of cheques issued onto your bank statement file if that helps.

Exerbusi

Nope - no more cheques waiting like that! I have checked! It was a cheque from a few months back that I forgot about as I thought it had been cashed. Not so!

Did a bit extra in work today, so I am £15 up already. Seeing another client at 12.30, and that will be worth £15 as well, meaning I will be £30 up today! I also have a few in for tomorrow, meaning I will have done well with my extras this week.

I have my council tax to pay soon, so that will be about £160 to come out, but my maturing savings accoutn should cover that. Long drive coming up too, but I has passengers giving me petrol money so I will certainly not have to shell out fortunes!

Will be a NSD today as I roasted a chicken yesterday which will provide me with meals for a few days!

Exerbusi

Haven't updated for a couple of days, but nothing much has happened!

I have spent one or two pounds on lunch when I was in desperate need, but now I am have shopped I am back on track! I did some overtime at work yesterday, and managed to get a £20 appointment done last night - easy money!

A nice boost ahead of christmas is a 2.45% payrise that was agreed by the union at work, which will be included in this months salary. Not a huge amount, but certainly appreciated! The payment was agreed from April, so is being backdated. Although that doesn't mean a huge amount in my pocket (I have only been in my job for 3 months), it is certainly a nice bonus!

Spoken to my boss about my job situation - I now have two possible promotions. One I have been offered, the other I have been asked to be interviewed for. My preffered option is the original job offer, but the pay is slightly less and the promotion chances are not as good as the potential job.

Either way, we have agreed to wait until the new year until any decisions are made. Whatever happens, happens. I should end up earning more money as of next year anyway!

Exerbusi

Interesting day today...

A potential business with a colleage has taken a large step forward. This would require an initial outlay, but hopefully not much. The important thing is that it woudl be quickly returned, and any risk is spread between tow of us!

It will be successful - my key to being a millionaire? I hope so!

Exerbusi

I am off work for a week, and I have a friend here to visit. This means I have spent a bit of money on food, days out etc. I have justified this by reminding myself I am on holiday from work, so it is a chance to relax. I haven't gone crazy, just spent a bit of money on nice meals etc.

In order to balance my ambition wth my spending, we went on a day to a city not far from me, one in which I really want to live. We looked around a few apartments (she has recently graduated in a property-related degree field) and it made me want to live there even more - re-ignited my ambition, so to speak!

Off home to see some family today, which is a long, expensive drive but will be fun. I have a few parties to attend whilst I'm down there, so that will be fun/expensive!

Pay day in10 days though, and it should't be too bad!

miggy

Enjoy your time off - are you aiming for any NSDs?
And let us know when to look for you on Dragon's Den (in whatever capacity!)

Exerbusi

I am back!

Holiday wasn't too expensive, despite my eating out every night and drinking often! I drove there and back, and my friends who came with me gave me £45 for petrol. I put that in the bank today, giving me a bit of breathing space until pay day in 4 days.

This month I have spent a bit of on the credit card, but it was a vital expense - council tax! I am going to pay that off though as soon as I get my wages through. My housemate is also going to give me his half of the bill too, meaning I will be throwing quite a bit of money at the credit card!

Most importantly, I have not gone over my overdraft limit, depsite reducing my overdraft massively in the last couple of months!

Two NSD's, so back to focus now!

Exerbusi

In work today to pick up £15 for 45 minutes work. I also havea client coming to the end of a block-booking with me, so she may book extra sessions which would be nice!

I had £10 of overtime booked yesterday which was great, and I have a form to fill in today which will provide me with an understanding of how much extra I will earn next month!

Today I want to investigate mystery shopping, and find out potentially how much money I could make on the side. My initial research led me to an obvious conclusion, that it depends on how much time you can commit to it. I am thinking if I could pick up perhaps £50-£100 extra per month it pays for something! That could be petrol, internet etc paid for with very little effort.

Anyone know of any well-paid and reliable companies I could use?!

Thanks in advance.

miggy

Welcome back!
Sounds as though you had a good break, enjoyed yourself but didn't go mad
I've never tried mystery shopping so I can't make recommendations but I gather if you 'shop' restaurants etc., you can actually be getting freebie meals out as well as earning, so you may get some fun out of it as well as cash!
And well done for not losing impetus. That total in your signature is looking good!