InaPickle getting out of a pickle!

InaPickle

Right: quick pit-stop before bed:

1) Have been trying to figure out my finances for the next month to see if I can hit to £1000 target to pay off my overdraft. It's not possible to figure it out entirely as I need to see what I'm getting paid this month, but at least I know how much I need etc. and I do know that I'm getting paid £123 commission this month. I'm not guessing the rest as it's too complicated by the time I add my basic hours from this month, then add my overtime and Sundays from last month etc.

2a) Joined BingoBritain that all the bingo players here seem to be going on about and won £20! :jThe only disadvantage is that (for safety reasons) I used my CC instead of my debit card (which would have given access to my bank account) to make the initial payment just in case, and people are informing me that the bank might consider it a cash advance and might charge me accordingly! :eek: I've tried to mug up on my T&C as best I can, and so far have not found any terms stipulating this, but naturally I will keep an eye out just in case...

2b) The money I won also has to come out via the payment method I used and so will be debited back to my CC. This is hardly a bad thing in terms of decreasing my CC debt, but as my current no1 priority is getting to the £1000 mark before the New Year, I would have appreciated it in my savings account more. Ah well, you live and learn...

3) Have got lots of things up on Ebay and three particularly high value items have attracted some attention despite incomplete listings and not having been up for long. I have been working yesterday and today and am working tomorrow (but not until late), so I will get those listings completed tomorrow.

Battle plan for tomorrow:

~ Driving licence renewal completed (and pay them £20. Grr!)
~ Buy new batteries for weighing scales which are needed for Ebay listing and have died. Double grr!
~ Pack and post Ebay item sold.
~ Play BingoBritain again.
~ Apply for a job I've seen online.*
~ Apply for worke experience.*

* OK, so I'm probably, realistically not going to get all this done in one day, but it's on my imminent 'to do' list.

Then work from 5-11. Short night, but carp hours.*Sigh*

POSITIVE_AND_FOCUSED

Hiya In a Pickle,
You're a busy bee! All the best with your to do list. Im finding with ebay that I am best to do it at the weekend, during the week is just too busy with K and dd. Being Im a newbie to it I am looking forward to selling something on there for the first time!

Here is the mince meat recipe you asked for from one of my customers: (Smells lovely and very Christmasy!)

4oz veg suet
4oz grated apple (equates to 2 medium sized apples as i discovered)
1lb mixed fruit
4oz demera sugar
4oz blanched almonds
4oz mixed peel
Finely grated lemon rind and juice of one lemon
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
4 tablespoons sherry. ( Am not an alcohol drinker so I bought the cheapest sherry in Asda and will be using this for making trifle too in true MSE style)

Mix everything up, leave to stand for two days, stirring occasionally. Then pack into containers, store in a cool place.

Have a great day In a Pickle! x

InaPickle

POSITIVE_AND_FOCUSED wrote: »

Here is the mince meat recipe you asked for from one of my customers: (Smells lovely and very Christmasy!)

Ooh, thanks PaF! :T I've just been asked to a friend's house for some mince pies and mulled wine on Monday so I am going to make some mince pies to take with me. If I get the chance, I would like to use your mincemeat to put in them, but I'll have to see if I can make the time (and I just bought a big jar of it from the supermarket the other day before you mentioned your recipie so I'm not sure if I will be able to justify making it for this batch in true :money:style! Perhaps I'll make some and make some more pies for the house nearer Christmas Day. Mmm....)

Anyway, thanks for that: I totally appreciate it and I've decided that I definitely WILL make some to use after the pre-bought jar of mincemeat (which I bet won't be anywhere near as good!) for the home mince pies. x

P.S. Have just played through my final credit on the bingo of the fox and haven't won so much as a bean. What rubbish!

edinburgher

Hey Pickle

You sound redonkulously busy, which is probably good for this time as year (will be Christmas before you know it).

Sounds like you're managing to get a lot done - I know that if I was working evening shifts I'd probably just end up faffing about all day until I was due in. Kudos for at least planning to get some useful stuff done!

Good to see that you're sticking to your guns and paying down the debts. I've just found out that I'm actually getting a pay rise (shock horror) and I'm starting to believe that mine will go the way of the dinosaurs in 2010

InaPickle

edinburgher wrote: »

Hey Pickle

You sound redonkulously busy, which is probably good for this time as year (will be Christmas before you know it).

Sounds like you're managing to get a lot done - I know that if I was working evening shifts I'd probably just end up faffing about all day until I was due in. Kudos for at least planning to get some useful stuff done!

Good to see that you're sticking to your guns and paying down the debts. I've just found out that I'm actually getting a pay rise (shock horror) and I'm starting to believe that mine will go the way of the dinosaurs in 2010

Oh, don't: I have often found myself not doing much in teh days which is why I now try to be strict and get myself to do things in the day otherwise, as you say, you just end up phaffing about and getting nothing done.

I'm reallly glad to hear about your payrise: this will definitely help your debts. As a certain supermarket says 'Every little helps'!

On that subject I once read a useful piece of advice about how you should pretend that you just earned what you did pre-pay rise and then scoot the rest into a savings account (or to paying off a debt in your case). Of course, such advice is old hat to us DFW, but it's still worth remembering.

Right, here's for a bit of majorly good news: I just received a letter from my bank saying that they are extending the interest-free period on my bank account until July 2010! :lovethoug _party_ This has to be the only time I've ever wanted to hug my bank manager! As a result, it means that I can now move all my savings over to my CC, thus accruing less interest, and then start saving money towards paying off the OD from Jan onward as it will give me ample time to save enough money to pay it back. This is particularly useful as I'm getting paid early this month for Chrsitmas, which is great in one way but which means that I will have a massive 36 days between pay days. :eek:

So all in all, that was a nice piece of news. I'll just run off and calculate what that will do to my finances. Watch out for the new sig! :cool:

LeeSouthEast

Wow Pickle ! That's great news!

Christmas spirit from a bank? lol

InaPickle

LeeSouthEast wrote: »

Wow Pickle ! That's great news!

Christmas spirit from a bank? lol

Thanks!

And probably UNDER the influence of Christmas spirits is more like it: I bet they were just back from their Christmas lunch when it was drafted!

edinburgher

On that subject I once read a useful piece of advice about how you should pretend that you just earned what you did pre-pay rise and then scoot the rest into a savings account

That is good advice. Luckily for me it's taken me so long to sort out paying back my CC bill that the DCA still thinks I earn three buttons a fortnight. That's the way I like it

Really good news about the overdraft - love the shexshy new signature (think Sean Connery voice!) Hopefully good news comes in threes like bad news. You and I have been lucky today - who's next?

InaPickle

edinburgher wrote: »

Really good news about the overdraft - love the shexshy new signature (think Sean Connery voice!) Hopefully good news comes in threes like bad news. You and I have been lucky today - who's next?

Hwhyyyy thank you, Mr Moneypenny!

And on the subject of luck, I would be happy for either of us to fall upon the third piece for outsevles, but if that will kill the streak, we should send it to someone. Maybe Lee already had it in getting DF a bit early? Maybe I'm the last person to get it? Or maybe we can pass it on. *Looks out for worthy person to get the luck*

InaPickle

I have been doing some thinking:

1) Ed, your word 'redonkulously ' is brilliant and I'm adopting it. I will be using it at every possible opportunity from hereon in. Everyone who knows me will soon want to kill you, except they don't know who you are and won't know where I got it from.

2) Spent £1 on coke yesterday at work and I don't care as I was dead on my feet and it got me going again. I also bought some chocolate (same reason but less urgent, can't justify) and accidentally paid in Boots advantage points which means it was technically a no-spend but I'm cross as I was saving those points to go toward make-up or something expensive/worthwhile. :rolleyes: :mad:

3) Needed to replace batteries in electronic weighing scales for Ebay listings. Dropped into the supermarket near work on the way home to find that they had a 2 for £3 offer on and I managed to buy 2 packs of 2x little coin batteries for £3, which is a bargain (noramnlly £2.92/pack). I'm not sure that they will fit my scales, but I can always take them back. I actually went in looking for one of those rectangular batteries as mum has an electronic scales as well, but I would prefer to buy a rechargeable battery for that (better for the environment and more :money:), but they were nearly £7 at the supermarket, £3.50 for a standard one, and I can a rechargeable for less online. That's a nice bit of :money: work if they fit (and I can get a refund if not.) I just need to find the blummin' scales now!

4) Have been reassessing my finances. New OD runs out in first week of July and in my current job I don't get paid until the third week, so to all intents and purposes if I start thinking about paying it off from Jan that means I will have 6 months to pay it off. But I would rather be paying off the CC because of the interest. So I started to think how much I would need to pay it all off in that timeframe, and the magic figure is just under £402/month, which is now my new magic number!

The £402 does not include what I earn this month, so I hope to make some headway before I even reach my start line of January, and given how my hours vary in my current job, it may not be possible, but I'm damn well going to give it a go. If I get that work experience, that will have an effect, and if I get another job that will too (but hopefully in a more positive way!). Ebay earnings etc all get thrown at this, too. However, I will have room to plan for these eventualities.

Plan of action: CC first, OD later, if get new job which gives me decent earnings bung CC onto 0% card (by which time I should be able to clear it in not much time as all given the vast increase in salary.)

Then I only have to worry about the Bank of Mum. :rolleyes: :eek:

But first things first... I'm off to Tesco to avail myelf of their Sensodyne/Corsodyl special offer. It's Christmas for my teeth, too! :T