Lost in the middle - getting organised and debt free

Marru

Ok, I will get my correspondece/calls done tomorrow.

Today I have been planning my holidays. I have heard that in my new job it it really difficult to get holidays approved but I shall try anyway. Hoping to be able to spread them having long weekend in February, week in April, two weeks in August, week in October and if I have anything left and I can get holiday approved, three days between xmas and new year.

Also I have been playing with pound converter. No, it has nothing to do with exhange rates and everything to do about how much weight I need to lose. My BMI has just slipped from over weight to obese :eek: and to be in my ideal weight I should lose 3 stone :eek: :eek:

So perhaps I shall go now to listen PMK CD and get up early in the morning to do shred (way too tired to even consider attempting that in the evenings). Wish me luck...

boultdj

Hope they let you have your holliday's.

Marru

Hello boultdj :j nice to see you here

So I am up early but no shred. DD woke up when she heard me. So I really need to get my arris in gear in the evenings to do it.

I forgot to take my phone when I left work yesterday meaning that I had no means of an alarm to wake me up this morning. I have been waking up almost every hour to check what the time is. Perhaps I should go even more over my frugal budget to get an alarm clock, one with display so that I can see the time in the dark. Shall investigate on lunch break.

Marru

I have ordered an alarm clock but it hasn't arrived as yet. Shame as I forgot my phone at work yesterday as well. This time slept until half four and then started waking up every half an hour to check the time. I remembered my phone today thou so shouldn't have any problems on Monday morning as I don't think my alarm will arrive over the weekend as it hasn't be dispatched as yet.

Yesterday I decided that I won't be putting any preassure on myself on weekday evenings until I can shift this flu/cold/whatever completely. However that leaves me with a huuuuge list for the weekend. So here goes:

[STRIKE]- Take DD to Saturday school[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- Do shopping and stick to the list unless good whoopsies[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- Do washing up[/STRIKE]
- Tidy kitchen
[STRIKE]- Cook from storecupboards (except lunch on Saturday I am going to treat us and buy a pizza from Mr T)[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- Get washing upto date[/STRIKE]
- Tidy clean clothes away
- Unpack suitcase that has been cluttering my bedroom floor last week
[STRIKE]- Start Matrix 100 day challenge[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- Go out with DD me walking, her scootering[/STRIKE]
- Go and find out about swimming lessons for DD
[STRIKE]- Build that drawer thingy[/STRIKE]
- I have a big pile of stuff (where I keep rummaging when I have lost something) still unpacked from the move. Idea is to at least get the lot divided into following piles: books to sell, books to keep, IT and elctronical, needlecraft, paperwork, other)
- Write letter about the last loan I am trying to get a FF for (write to bank, CC DCA)
- Call tax credits
- Call 02
[STRIKE]- Bake bread[/STRIKE]
- Make joghurt
- Make soup for next week's lunches
[STRIKE]- Fix DD's school skirt[/STRIKE]

Marru

I am actually very pleased about how much I did manage to get done. The remaining items will be transferred to the next week's list. I will definitely do the first three from work tomorrow.

- Write letter about the last loan I am trying to get a FF for (write to bank, CC DCA)
- Call tax credits
- Call 02
- File tax return
- Tidy kitchen
- Tidy clean clothes away
- Unpack suitcase that has been cluttering my bedroom floor last week
- Go and find out about swimming lessons for DD
- I have a big pile of stuff (where I keep rummaging when I have lost something) still unpacked from the move. Idea is to at least get the lot divided into following piles: books to sell, books to keep, IT and elctronical, needlecraft, paperwork, other)
- Make joghurt
- Make soup for next week's lunches

Feeling rather rough today. Hardly have any voice and the cough is getting worse. If I am not feeling any better by the end of this week I really need to go and see my GP.

Marru

Marru wrote: »

- letter to DCA afout FF
- Call tax credits
[STRIKE]- Call broadband provider[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- File tax return[/STRIKE]
- Tidy kitchen
- Tidy clean clothes away
- Unpack suitcase that has been cluttering my bedroom floor last week
- Go and find out about swimming lessons for DD
- I have a big pile of stuff (where I keep rummaging when I have lost something) still unpacked from the move. Idea is to at least get the lot divided into following piles: books to sell, books to keep, IT and elctronical, needlecraft, paperwork, other)
- Make joghurt
- Make soup for next week's lunches

I am shattered. After being a bit off for fourth week now my throat is really giving me trouble and had such a bad sinus head ache today. At work I just struggled. And the fact that excel was sooooo slow didn't help my mood. Sometimes I do wonder about the fact that I work for a software company when the tools we use don't exactly work in speedy manner.

Anyway while I was waiting for my excel to crash (which it eventually did) I had time to pull my notebook out and scribble some more things to do:

[STRIKE]- find tax login info[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- find P60 for TY 09-10[/STRIKE]
- Cancel self employment NI
- claim back ovepaid self employment NI
- Calculate tax credits for 09-10 and find out why they think I have been overpaid
- Sort out the council tax mess with the previous council
- Do PER1

I have marked three (four in this case as I can do the self employment NI thing in one letter) most important tasks with blue and continue doing that daily until they are all done.

Magaged to call broadband provider today. Due to my move I have been changed to more expensive tariff (they don't have any other tariffs to this area) and I can't get out of my contract until beginning of September :mad:

Anyway, better tackle the blue tasks now...

ETA: tax return done and I should be getting over £700 back :j (now why didn't I do this earlier...)

Marru

Woohoo, I am making progress:

[STRIKE]- letter to DCA afout FF[/STRIKE]
- Call tax credits
- Tidy kitchen
- Tidy clean clothes away
- Unpack suitcase that has been cluttering my bedroom floor last week
- Go and find out about swimming lessons for DD
- I have a big pile of stuff (where I keep rummaging when I have lost something) still unpacked from the move. Idea is to at least get the lot divided into following piles: books to sell, books to keep, IT and elctronical, needlecraft, paperwork, other)
- Make joghurt
- Make soup for next week's lunches
[STRIKE]- Cancel self employment NI
- claim back ovepaid self employment NI[/STRIKE]
- Calculate tax credits for 09-10 and find out why they think I have been overpaid
- Sort out the council tax mess with the previous council
- Do PER1

Marru

The word that have been haunting me today is: focus

This diary doesn't have a focus, my blog doesn't have focus, my life doesn't have much of a focus. Or putting it on the other way. My life is pretty much mirror image of this diary. One todo list after another. Being too busy putting off fires and no time to prevent them happening in the first place.

Also my home at the moment is reflecting my life. Lots of stuff that doesn't have a place, lots of stuff that I hang onto just in case it will be usefull later.

I seem to flitter from one thread to another giving snippets of my day in each and not really coming here to draw a cohesive picture. Perhaps that is also how I am living my life. Having different sides to me and showing small amount of those sides to different people. There are very few people that have seen all those sides. Perhpas there are no people that have as I am not sure that even my BF fully understands who I am.

What I am going to do from now on is to try bring here all the things I am talking about in the other threads and talk a bit more and have todo lists a bit less. I would only have three things to do at the time and those three things would be the once that would make the biggest difference to my life/well being when done.

So my first three are:
- Call tax credits
- Sort through that pile of stuff
- Sort out the mess with previous council

I am reading a book called The Heart Of Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation. I have read loads of books and always been thinking that this is it. This book will change my life and then the book goes back into the book shelf and nothing changes. I am so determined to make changes this time and I will be recording my thoughts here. So far the book is really resonating with me and that is why it would be devastating if that jewel of a book would end up gathering dust when I keep plodding on with no change.

Marru

As much as I like my new job I am so relieved that it is Friday tomorrow. I have had this flu/cold/don know what now for four weeks and I am feeling rather run down.

Today a study provider came to promote their courses and materials. I think I might swap to them when it is time for the next round. They have what I was going to go for with a different provider and with personal tutor contact for less price. :T So everything I save will go into my holiday pot.

My February long weekend and my April holiday has been approved. I haven't checked as yet if my August holiday has been approved as well. Note to self to check tomorrow.

Another little celebration is that Monday will be my last day on trial period. Somehow I don't think I am going to be kicked out now :rotfl:

I said I am not going to put long todo lists here anymore but during the weekend I really want to make headway with the boxes of stuff. They are really pulling me down and especially if I want to get something done it takes so long and is a bigger chance than necessary because I can't find anything. BF might come around and I don't know how to feel about it. On the other hand I am looking forward to it but on the other hand I wish I could just be left to myself. He tried to call me tonight and yet again I didn't pick up the phone

About the court case with the ex: Last I heard was that it is being transferred from court near ex to court near me but the new court hasn't been in touch as yet. I offered in my statement and in my email to ex to go to mediation but said that I only do it if we go near where I live. He wants me to do 250 mile round trip to see a famility solicitor (not even a mediator) that I can only guess is working for him (so not objective).

Ok lets talk about positive things. I have got FF offer from the last DCA :jI was going to try get it a bit more down but we are going to just pay it and move on. This means that I owe now shedload of money to BF. I found a new challenge on the DFW board it is called pay as much as you can in 2011. I am hoping to pay off £6,300.- this year (inculding two of the three other outstanding debts - see next paragraph).

I still have three other outstanding things that I owe for. One is a DD's holiday club from last summer and I should get it paid by the end of March. Then there is very old tax credit overpayment that I failed to stick with the payment plan and they surprisingly have not chased. Must call them to find out the balance. And then there is the old mess with previous council that I have no intentions of paying (it is less than £200.- but this is now a matter of principle). So I need to spend some time with it to put my facts together and do more research and then hit the bailiffs and council with that. Hopefully I can get a conclusion to that soon.

I am too tired now to update my spreadheets and signature but will do it before the end of the weekend.

Marru

Just had a quick read of what I wrote yesterday and I can see that I completely forgot to check if my summer holiday had been approved. Must try to remember on Monday.

I am absolutely pooped. Since coming back from abroad I have been working flat out and not left anything in the "tank" for anyting else. There has been several reasons for this. First is that I really like my job and get into the zone while doing it and don't notice that I could probably take it easier. Secondly I have taken on new work (hence being abroad to learn about it) there has been lots to do to get top of things so that I am ready to hit the ground running next week when we start doing January month ends. And thirdly I am hoping that if I have passed my December exams I am in a position to negotiate my employer to pay my study costs. That would be absolutely amazing. Worse thing that can happen is that they say no.

Anyway must get some rest but also must start getting things that are getting me down unravelled. BF is here so I know he will feed DD in the morning and take her out with the dogs so that I can have some extra sleep. Bless him.