Zig's new start (again!) on a budget!

Dinah93

What we go through to be women!

Definitely put it in a savings account, I always find if money is just left in my bank account it 'vanishes' magically!

zigmeister

Ok I'll do it that, will be funny seeing how much I would have spent on takeaway!

I'm fed up today. Fed up with Sky and Virgin. The guy from sky is coming today to install the tv stuff, but Virgin keep ringing and offering my Mum deals to stay. They've offered a free HD virgin+ box, with other stuff, for £45 a month. At the mo we're only paying £34 with Virgin! We're trying to save money but she's tempted by the HD. :mad:

I just hope I've done the right thing by moving her to Sky We'll be paying the same amount monthly (minus call charges - atm Virgin bill is always £45+, but package is £34) with Sky, but we get a Sky+ box free. It's all very confusing

On with the essays...

zigmeister

Today has been crap.

I found out that a family friend has died. He was 40 and we hadn't seen him for ages. Just wish there was something I could have done. So because of that I haven't done any of my essays. Everytime I try to work my mind drifts and I get upset. I feel so drained. Just wanna curl into a ball and sleep for a couple of days.

I need to email my tutor because I'm meant to have a tutorial tomorrow but I want to rearrange it so I can use the day to work because my essays are due in Wednesday Hopefully he'll be ok about it.

It's weird but part of me wants to go to Tesco and go shopping. Not sure why I wanna do that. Maybe to take my mind off everything because I like food shopping.

Roll on the end of May and the end of my first year of uni

Pamela1705

Oh Zig, I am so so sorry to hear your bad news and I hope you are feeling ok. If I knew how to do the hug smily I would!

I'm sure you've already done this but ring/email your tutor and explain the situation. The thing with tutors is that they aren't teachers - it's ok if you haven't done your homework! The course is there to help you and you need to take a rest tonight.

If going shopping makes you feel better, then at a time like this, it's what you have to do. But long term, you need to detach the feeling of going shopping and buying new things (which is ace, I grant you) but you need to detach that from your emotions - eg no more retail therapy. It won't make you feel better long term

But have some chocolate and some tea and maybe even some brandy! I hope you feel a bit better tomorrow

zigmeister

Hi Pamela,

Thank you so much for your reply. Got me all teary! I think everything has just got on top of me over the last few days and having that news today was the final straw kinda thing.

I emailed my tutor and I have been able to rearrange my tutorial which is good. Just gotta work like mad tomorrow to finish my essays. It also means I won't be able to spend Wednesday with my Nan which sucks cuz I was really looking forward to it.

I know, you're right about the shopping thing. I did go to Tesco though. And I actually did really well I thought. I only bought the stuff on my list which was stuff I needed. Actually, that's a lie, I bought a £2 baking tin as well. Still, came to £20 though

Well I won't be spending anything tomorrow cuz I'll be writing essays. Just hope I'll be able to focus. It's hard not to keep thinking of memories and stuff.

Anyway, on the one good note of the day - I managed to pay £100 off the money I owe my Dad because I received some money I was owed.

Thanks again Pamela for your reply

By the way how are you getting on with the debt-busting? It seems like you've paid more off by your signature but I could be imagining it! Well done if you have! It's a nice feeling

Pamela1705

Hello again,

Glad you are feeling a bit better, I know what it's like when things get on top of you, it totally sucks. I find it best to find a corner and get snug with a book but that's not always possible.

I know you have a lot of work to do tomorrow, and there is nothing more satisfying than finishing an essay, but even if you can't go round and see your nan, make sure you give her a bell. It's so important to make yourself feel better and it will have such an impact on your work. I remember the feeling of being so bogged down in work that I just felt like slamming down the books and telling everyone to go away :eek:

Thanks for asking about my debt busting. It's not going too bad, but it's very slow. Basically, it all started when I was a student. I had credit card and an overdraft and I used them (as all students do). I'm not ashamed of that, but essentially it just got me into a bad habit that I kept on when I graduated, of spending just over what I earned. I earn a nice wage so it never felt like debt, as I was keeping up with the payments quite comfortably - and I only graduated three years ago so I was not particularly worried.

The OH and I started saving for a mortgage and it made sense to pay off the debt rather than save, so I'm getting there. I've learned SOO much through this site, and though I'm nowhere near there yet, I do feel a lot better. It's just so slow and that's just what I regret.

I think it's made worse by the fact that I don't lead an extravagant lifestyle, I just frittered money away by overspending in Tescos and things like that, so I've learned a lot.

Still, no point crying over spilt milk. Just have to mop it up now! :j

zigmeister

I love to read, I have so many books that I want to get round to reading but at the moment I barely have time to cook decent food!

I'll definately give her a ring, she's only just retired so is feeling a bit bored so it'll make me feel bad that I can't go round but it can't be helped. Lol I understand that bogged down feeling well. Especially today. Tried so hard to get my head round assessment levels but just couldn't face it all.

It's so easy to get into debt being a student. At least it hasn't turned into debt that has become trouble if you know what I mean. Better to be dealing with it now while it's manageable! Dealing with it slowly is better than not at all eh!

Yeah I frittered away my debt too - so frustrating that I wasted that much money and have nothing to show for it :mad:

Do you have a diary? I've found mine quite useful actually, even though it's early days!

Dinah93

Another one here whose debt started with a student overdraft and a credit card HSBC just decided to give me one day. Knowing you have this huge student loan over you kind of makes you think 'well, another £30 doesn't really matter then'.... until it's 1000 other £30s and suddenly it matters a lot!

So sorry to hear about your family friend, hopefully by the weekend once your essays are in things will be looking up for you, and if the weathers nice you should try to do something nice, picnic in the park or a walk up a hill etc, I always find the outdoors makes me feel so much better.

zigmeister

I'm so pleased that I've decided to be sensible now and sort out my money, whilst everyone else in uni is drinking it away! I think it helps that my OH is older than me and working so it makes me want to join him and finally get a place of my own. I can't wait to finish uni.

My big mistake was carrying my credit card around and just buying everything on it. Cuz M&S gave me £1500 I felt rich! I was an idiot and never really thought about paying it back. Absolute nightmare! But it's gone now, yay!

Thanks Dinah Yeah I hope I can do that but at the moment it's not looking likely. My essays will be in by the end of the week but I start a 4 week block placement on Monday and so I need to make sure I have some lessons planned and my folder is up to date etc. Plus I need to go and get some more placement clothes because I've put on weight and as my OH says 'you can't wear the one outfit that fits for 4 weeks; you'll look strange.' So that's annoying, I don't really wanna spend any money. :eek: Just realised that that's the first time I haven't wanted to go and buy loads of stuff. How weird. But good in the long run I'm sure!

Hope everyone is having a nice day, the weather is lush here!

Zig x

Pamela1705

Hi Zig,

Yes, I do have a diary, but I'm not very good at links - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1545885.

I'll work out how to format that so it's nice later! :j

I think the good thing with this site is that it makes you think about the money you spend. It doesn't mean you should feel guilty about spending on necessary (or even treat) items - it's all about attitude I suppose! :T