TestCall's First Steps

InaPickle

TestCall wrote: »

My basic contract (iPhone) is £45, on top of that I call family in Ireland a lot, so can't really do much from what I can see.

There is something you can do - get a calling card! I have lots of friends who live abroad and when I was at uni I needed a way I could afford to ring them and I had no landline. I bought an international phone card online and then rang the number from my mobile, dialing the number I overseas number I wanted to ring afterwards. It's a small amount more hassle, but the savings are well worth it! A £5 card would last ages and it meant that I rang my friends all over the world and chinwagged for ages!

I can't remember the name of the card I used and I can't currently find the link I used either, but I will post it if I can find it. There are loads online, anyway, so try Googling something like 'international phone cards from mobiles' or something like that. Try to get the best deal for calls to the countries you call most.

(BTW, you have to pay the fee to call the number provided by the company to get the cheap international calls, but it was a landline number and included in my free minutes. Make sure it is for you as well, else it might turn out more expensive than you thought.)

shaun40400

i only have a mobile,,,
do you have inter-Webb??
i use skype for all uk and eastern Europe calls,
from the computer to landlines is cheapest,,, 2c a min..
spend about €10 every 7weeks...better still comp to comp,,,it €0:j
head set from tescos for 3.99 and away you go!!!

TestCall

Must look in to Skype - I've tried VOIP before and wasn't terrily impressed with the quality though.

Nothing much new today so far anyway. Haven't spent anything (yet), though my hair needs cutting - might do that tomorrow.

Apart from that, just being lazy.

Fun.

TestCall

Spending so far today:

£6.08 on ciggies - no duty free ones in my stash at the minute.
£0.50 on a newspaper - not neccesary, must stop.
£0.89 on a can of Coke - oops.
£2.97 at emmm... McDonalds - I know, I know!

£10.44 so far. Not good.

shaun40400

i use clearwire which is carp!!!! inter net but skype is still ok if you have good net,,,,your ok,,,sometimes i di have to shout especially to me old mum,,,,but i think thats her age as well:rotfl:
theirs several plans with skype that have a set fee,,,
i dont use them cus i call more than 1 country..

comp to comp is totally free and a cheep tescos head set is ok
as for your spending...

hypno is doing a £20 challenge from monday....how long can you keep it.....ave their is 15-20 days,,,,try it

TestCall

Might try to force myself to do that, but only because I have a full tank of petrol and all my bills are paid. 15 days though!

TestCall

TestCall is ashamed. Very ashamed.

I've had LBM #2. Hmmm.

Current CC situation is:

Vanquis
- Limit £750
- Balance £612
- Rate 39.9%

Aqua
- Limit £1550
- Balance £1202
- Rate 35.9%

Capital One
- Limit £200
- Balance £169
- Rate 34.9%

Barclaycard
- Limit £260
- Balance £226
- Rate 27.9%

Total Balance: £2209

So, main changes: Littlewoods have been paid off - they refunded the default charges and removed credit record marks that had been put on due to late payment (caused by the fact their payment dates change each month - confusing), this plus a payment this month has paid that off so less total debt, though at 0% it wasn't really a priority.

Aqua have upped my limit to £1550, though I haven't really made use of this, nor do I want to.

My overdraft has been upped to £1750, and shamefully I am using it to it's full extent. Again though, card debts are my main priority.

I have £200 worth of share scheme contributions which I'm cashing in as I'm really not all that sure I'll still be with my employer in three years' time when the options mature. I also have an Open Uni course grant of £260 coming, so £460 to pay in this month (normal payments have already been made).

From next month onwards, I'm toying with a budget along these lines:

Income

Job #1 - 1300
Job #2 - 250
Total - 1550

Expenditure

Rent - 350
Utilities - 50
Mobile - 65
Overdraft Interest - 20 (Remains fairly constant)
Car Payment - 160
Gym - 50 (Will go down about £10 in a month or so)
Total - 700

Right - I know what you're thinking. Where are the groceries? Petrol? I'm working this out an "unusual" way.

First off, how much would I like to pay off the CCs monthly? Well, £450 would allow me to meet the March/April 2010 target. So, take £450 away from the £850 surplus above and we've got £400 left.

This £400 is my "everything else" money. Petrol, groceries, haircuts, etc etc.

I know this seems pretty convoluted, but it's something I can get my head around. Paying everything at the start of the month and then giving myself an allowance is more work-able for me.

Yes, I'm odd.

You'll also see I haven't budgeted for car maintenance, insurance or tax. The car will be due a service in July, which is also when my insurance and tax need to be renewed. As I'm hoping to be CC-free by then, it will likely be a case of stalling the OD-clearing effort for a month or two to get these done.

So, we shall see what happens.

I still have a McDonalds habit, naughty naughty. Still need to learn how to cook, or at the very least feed myself for £5-7 per day. Any ideas?

Thanks for all your support everyone!

InaPickle

TestCall wrote: »

I still have a McDonalds habit, naughty naughty. Still need to learn how to cook, or at the very least feed myself for £5-7 per day. Any ideas?

If you are really useless, get a students cookbook as they show you the basics. Also, the best tip I can give you with regards to cooking is that learning how to cook indivicual things is really not that difficult: the hardest part it learning how to judge when to start all the different bits to end up getting them cooked at roughly the same time so that nothing is cold. Take for example, as a good Irishman, gammon, mash and cabbage: the first thing you would cook is the gammon, then you need to figure out roughly how long the potatoes would cook then start them that amount of time before the gammon has finished, then do the same for the cabbage.

Also, there's a great book called 'Cooking for Blokes'. It's particularly good for beginners as it tells you not only all the ingredients you need for the recipies but all the utensils, pots and pans etc. you will need. It really taught some of my male housemates how to cook (some of the girls should have taken a peek as well! :rolleyes:)

TestCall

Cooking for blokes - lol. I think I need cooking-for-lazy-people-who-burn-cornfalkes!

InaPickle

TestCall wrote: »

Cooking for blokes - lol. I think I need cooking-for-lazy-people-who-burn-cornfalkes!

I can't remember exactly since it has been a while since I've seen a copy, but I think it might teach you how to boil an egg!