Taka's MFW journey

taka

taka wrote: »

Plans - Nov 08 to end 09
Renovation costs - Save another £3k
ISA 2008-9 - pay in £3600 before the end of tax year - £758-92 saved so far.

Plans - Jan 2010 onwards
Actually make an overpayment to my mortgage :rotfl: I [strike]hope to[/strike] will make at least 1 OP before the end of the MFiT challenge :rolleyes: :rotfl:

taka wrote: »

Jan 2009
Mortgage £46396
ISA 2008-9 £2014

:hello: Ermmmm its been a good while hasn't it! :doh: Mustn't leave it so long next time!

Sept 2009
Mortgage £45317.77
ISA 08/09 Filled
Renovation fund Target of £6000 met this month! :dance:

I made my 1st ever OP too! A whole £25 on the 4th July for the MFW overpayment day! It was money I got for opening a savings account (that Finantial Bliss referred me to) - I though it was appropriate to useage of the money!

As of this payday I should have had a fair bit spare to start proper OPs but there is a bit of a change of plan... I'm seriously trying to arrange to do a PhD. :eek: I work in Academia anyway and am somewhat frustrated and unchallenged by my current job and this qualification would give me more options careerswise. Sadly I only got a 2:2 and its causing complications on the funding front in my very competitive field. My options are...

(1) Part time PhD - would take 6 years (but I only have just under 2 yrs of funding). Salary the same as now so I could easily make OPs even if I unsuccessful in getting a bursary to pay fees.

(2) Part time MSc followed by Full time PhD - Would take 2yrs PT MSc + 3 yrs FT PhD. (Again I only have just under 2 yrs of funding but could survive the last few months of MSc self funding). Salary initially the same then 0 then just over £1k/month (tax free) presuming I got a bog standard PhD Stipend. Could OP initially but not while not earning or doing PhD.

(3) Full time PhD - I've been advised that it'd be a struggle to get funding due to my 2:2 and no MSc (to make uo for it) despite over 9 years of relevant experience. Not really an option...

(4) Full time MSc + Full time PhD - Work out current funding time, save like a mad thing, self fund a MSc for a year (:eek: essentially a year living on savings :eek:), get funding for a FT PhD on just over £1k/month. Getting funding for the MSc is unlikely... I'd be lucky to end the time breaking even and not in debt. Certaily no OPs.

As you can see its all a bit complicated... :rotfl: I've talked to my boss and he agrees to support me doing this in some form or other while working with him but has been very slow to confirm whether my current funders are ok with me doing option 1 or 2 (my preferences) as part of my current job. Its been dragging on for ages and its really annoying me now - I wish my boss / Senior lab manager would give me a final answer. I feel like I'm being ignored... Time to prod my boss AGAIN tomorrow. :rolleyes:

Anyway until it is all resolved I'm going to fill my 09/10 ISA just in case option 4 has to happen. :eek: :eek: So no major OPs for the forseeable future...

I have however decided to OP 50% of my extra money (surveys / interest / £2 coins / vouchers etc money) so I can at least OP a wee bit. I got a £2 coin today so will OP £1 as soon as I remember how to do it! :rotfl: Anyone know if Nationwide has a lower limit on over payments?

evab_2

Well done on filling the ISA and making that overpayment, and good luck for sorting out your future PhD.

taka

Woo hoo £1 now winging its way to my Mortgage account! :rotfl:

StuartGMC

Best wishes in the plans for the PhD; you've noted it will give you career options but I'm not clear if this is to remain in academia or not?

Have you looked at the private sector and what they value; because 6yrs experience may be great for them rather than you pursuing the PhD which may mean less in respect of your experience than if you'd done so since graduating?

If the latter may be relevant please do explore it fully.

Is there any chance of industrial funding?

I manage a team of graduates and doctorates, personally opted not to pursue PhD and don't feel it has held back my career, but that's a personal decision only you can make.

Best wishes in getting some forward momentum on it.

taka

StuartGMC wrote: »

Best wishes in the plans for the PhD; you've noted it will give you career options but I'm not clear if this is to remain in academia or not?

Have you looked at the private sector and what they value; because 6yrs experience may be great for them rather than you pursuing the PhD which may mean less in respect of your experience than if you'd done so since graduating?

If the latter may be relevant please do explore it fully.

Is there any chance of industrial funding?

I manage a team of graduates and doctorates, personally opted not to pursue PhD and don't feel it has held back my career, but that's a personal decision only you can make.

Best wishes in getting some forward momentum on it.

As it stands I'd want to stay in Academia. I love it and I find it very rewarding!

A PhD would help for certain industrial research and development type jobs (in fact its a necessity for anything over a technician type job) although it would probably work against me in more sales/project managing type jobs (which is not where my interests lie anyway).

There may be an outside change of industrial funding but the VAT status of my building complicates that massively and makes it unlikely.

If I don't do a PhD I have very, very few options careerwise... I could stay doing what I do now but I'm bottom of the heap and don't get the recognition for my work that I'd like. Parts of my job I love and parts I hate with a passion and those won't change... I'd be stuck on more or less the same salary, doing the same job for the next 30 odd years... I could continue for a while but I'm getting expensive to hire and justify the cost without my having a PhD. The only other option is to get more involved in the admin side of things but I find that rather tedious as I love hands on lab based research.

I'm at the top of my grade now. I could theoretically apply for promotion to the next grade which is normally for Post-doctoral researchers but I would have to prove I'm doing all the sorts of things I'd need to do for a PhD to get promotion anyway! :rotfl: I may as well do a PhD while I do it! :rolleyes:

I'm lucky that my job is exactly the sort of thing (if it was a little more directed towards a theme that could be written up) that I'd do while doing a PhD anyway.

SmlSave

Well done on your first OP and second one of £1 Think its an inspired idea of putting half to your OPing.

Prod, prod, prod to your boss to make a decision

setmefree2

well done on all your progress and with your career plans:D

taka

Well my boss seems to be prodding himself (hmmm that sounds wrong... :rotfl:) about finding the PhD info out as the 1st thing he said to me yesterday (before I even said Hi!) was he still had no news but was organising a meeting with our Senior lab manager. :rotfl: I had a proper meeting with him this morning too and again the 1st thing he said to me was about that the meeting was still not organised but he was pushing for it ASAP. :rotfl: Lets hope it gets somewhere soon...

Looks like our pay increase has still not been decided! :rolleyes: They are continuing to argue over a 0.5% increase that should have started 1st Aug. Its a bonus that we are to get anything at all in the current climate though. It'd just be nice to get when it is due not months later... this happens every year - its normally Nov before we get it. :rolleyes: I just want it now as it'll be going to OP my mortgage! :rotfl:

*insert stompy foot smilie* :rotfl:

taka

:hello:

(1) Part time PhD

Looks like this is a complete no go-er. Bang goes my hope of being mortgage free by 40 even in time for my 44th birthday (the anniversary of when my 1st mortgage would have ended and the latest I would have liked to be MF by.

(2) Part time MSc followed by Full time PhD

Still an option but would now mean I'd have to live on savings for a few months... Boss supports this option but I'm still having fun trying to get my lab manager to be happy about it (and hence support it) and to find out if its possible on my funding.

(3) Full time PhD

Still haven't got conformation if 2:2 + experience is ok or not...

(4) Full time MSc + Full time PhD

This is still looking like my likeliest option... Not happy! :mad:

I'm getting really frustrated now - no-one seems to be able to give me a straight answer about any of this... :mad: Its not overly difficult or complicated info to find out in theory. I'm now saving as much as I can in as option 4 is the most likely to happen (throught departmental/university lack of action/politics if nothing else :mad:).

I have however decided to OP 50% of my extra money (surveys / interest / £2 coins / vouchers etc money) so I can at least OP a wee bit.

I've managed to OP £29.54 in the last month! :j Its all 50% of my extra money so I'm really pleased. Its about 3 times the amount I thought it would be! :j

Anyone know if Nationwide has a lower limit on over payments?

Lowest amount OP'd to date 29p! :rotfl:

evab_2

Hope the outcome for your studies is sorted soon, it must be very frustrating waiting for other people.

Well doen on your OP's, I which I could transfer odd pennies as and when it would be a good boost to OP regularly.