Miss Optimistic's Diary to stay focused & stay organised!

MissOptimistic

Lots of reasons to be cheerful today

• Came home from work to a letter saying that the mortgage has gone down by another £72! - (That makes it nearly £300 cheaper per month than we were paying before christmas)
• Just sold a few bits on ebay - made about £30
• Business is picking up - lots of new enquiries
• We also sell on the internet and had two really good internet orders this week

I start my new job on Monday and am still feeling really apprehensive, part of me thinks if business is picking up, maybe I don't need this job, but the more DFW side of me thinks, if business picks up and I have this job as well, we may finally be able to make inroads into this monstrous amount we owe.
I am going to have to grunge down for work - I am generally a really smart person, even at weekends, but the dress code for my new job is really relaxed (I mean really relaxed).
I have bought a lunchbox and sorted my P45 but Don't think I will need to iron my smart trousers, they can lurk at the bottom of the ironing basket for a little while longer :rotfl:

clearmydebts

Hiya,

Just want to wish you the best of luck with your new job on Monday! I am sure you are nervous but I bet it will go fine!

That's great news about your mortgage going down. Are you able to pay off some of the credit cards with the extra £300 leftover?

MissOptimistic

Well, that was my first day at work done with, in actual fact they let me leave at lunchtime because there wasn't really anyone there to show me the ropes so after the usual induction stuff (location of fire exits) etc, there wasn't much to do. Tomorrow is my day off (well, not really - I will be working in the shop)
But it will split the week up and when I go again on Wednesday, I will get into the mindset that its downhill to the weekend!
The only problem seems to be the public transport here - There is a choice of bus or train but they both come at roughly the same time and only once an hour (the train is one every one and a half hours) Really, it would be best to get a train in and a bus back but that would work out dearer, it cost me £3.10 single on the train, but its only £3.20 return, so that is something I will have to figure out!
Was really good and did a packed lunch for us both today, so that is something I aim to keep up - it has been too easy to nip to Cooplands and buy a sandwich, but it adds up, as we all know.
Listed some more stuff on ebay last night and have another batch to add on Thursday, I have about £40 waiting to hit my account from Ebay and a further £20 from play.

MissOptimistic

clearmydebts wrote: »

Hiya,


That's great news about your mortgage going down. Are you able to pay off some of the credit cards with the extra £300 leftover?

Unfortunately not, we had a massive deficit each month, hence the reason why the debt was going rapidly up, but now with these cuts plus my new job, we can finally meet all our minimum repayments, pay all our bills, eat and break even!

pavlovs_dog

glad to hear you had a positive first day in the new job.

on the bright side with the commute you have time to indulge in reading :j

would cycling or a lift share be an option at all? can you walk a little bit further so that you are not crossing through so many 'zones'? does a weekly/monthly/seasonal ticket work out any cheaper? its worth checking whether the bus and train company are in cahoots. I know when i was in uni i could buy my ticket from one company to get from A to B and for no extra cost get one free return journey from B to C because of some agreement between the two. check out their websites and see what you can find.

as a last resort with the train can you get tickets any cheaper in advance through a site like thetrainline? or at the very least get cashback on your ticket by going through quidco or similar.

MissOptimistic

Thanks Pavlovs, there are some really great tips there! - Unfortunately cycling is not an option, it is about 8 miles along some really busy dual carriageways and some big hills - I'm not that fit! - I certainly intend to read, although its only a short trip (about 15-20 minutes by train) - I will check to see if I can mix and match my journeys though, to make the times work for me

MissOptimistic

Well, that's Wednesday done and dusted! - I caught the train too and from work, and although I arrived way ahead of everyone else, I explained that I am trying to be green and use public transport, so I would be working 8.30 till 4.10pm roughly every day and they seemed fine with that. The train cost me £3.40 return and although it is a short journey, i put the time to good use by reading a bit more of my book. And at least it is daylight both going and returning from work.
I really missed my little girl today - we have hardly spent any time apart since she was born, so its hard, but I took a piccie of my kids into work so they were always watching me!
Last night I drew up a list of things I want to achieve this year, and another list of things I want to do before I die (hopefully I will have plenty of time to work on that list:o )
I looked back at my goals for January and they are almost all completed (the important ones anyway - one of them was to sell 20 things on ebay/amazon/play/green met, and I have actually sold 22 so far, so thats added money to the pot this month as well as helping with the decluttering - I have also freecycyled/charity shopped quite a bit of stuff too

clearmydebts

Hiya,

Just wanted to pop by and say hi. You are doing so well and it is an inspiration that you have gone out and found a job. Hope your OH has come around to the idea now.

MissOptimistic

Ah, thanks very much - I don't feel very inspired I must say, maybe when pay day comes around though

Lewby

Hi Miss O,

Just wanted to pop by and see how the new job was going ... well done for taking the plunge! What is the new job? I'm intrigued by the 'dress down' idea!

I agree with you about having the opportunity to pay the debt off more quickly. In the past when we have had a bit of extra cash we have seen it as an opportunity to splash out on something ... now we see it as a chance to pay the debt off more quickly! It's a real change of midset. I am inspired by your ebaying ... must get on with listing mine!

Hope you have a great weekend.

Lewby xx