Zig's 'Save for a House and Stay out of Debt' Diary!

zigmeister

Yep it's the Jamie Does ones. Spain is next week, I'm looking forward to it too - the food looked lovely.

You're right about the KitchenAid doing it all for you but I still love them! I keep seeing them on all the food programmes - latest spot: The Great British Menu.

Tete_en_l'Air wrote: »

I think she looks loads better slim than she did when she was a size 16 *exits*

I agree! But you kinda wonder how she got so skinny if that's the food she eats. Unless she just completely stopped eating because she was modelling.

Plan for today:

*Go and do RE interview for my essay
*Take clothes and laptop cooler back to Tesco
*Do some more work on citizenship essay.

Fun day ahead!

zigmeister

I have a bit of Life Plan...

I have decided to apply for Camp America

I graduate next year so I hope to go when I finish, spend 9 weeks (approx) out there then come back and do my NQT year etc and hopefully buy a house! That's the plan anyway.

These essays are driving me mental. I am so so tired but only have one more day to do one and a teeny bit. Argh!

My money is all good at the moment though. I have £100 birthday money for when I see something nice, and I sent back most of the Tesco clothes so that was £90 I didn't spend. And because it's been Easter and I've been stuck doing essays I haven't spent much on petrol etc. Yay!

I'm really looking forward to the weekend because myself, the family and OH are going for a picnic I'm going to make a quiche and cupcakes on Friday.

Tete_en_l'Air

Sounds good Zig, Camp America wouldn't be my thing (too many kids!) but I know a few people who did it durng uni holidays and it was a great experience.

Bon Courage to get you through those final essays, soon be over! Picnic sounds lovely! x

Dinah93

My dads best mates daughter did that when she finished uni - she met a lad there and 9 months later shes looking to move to South Africa to live with him! Should be a great experience for you x

zigmeister

Good to hear of the good Camp America experiences. I'm excited but terrified that 1) I won't get in, and 2) that it will complicate my job plans as I'm in the good position that I am in the first lot of new teachers that have an understanding of the new curriculum so that's a major plus point in interviews. But if I wait a year or whatever then there'll be a whole other set of new teachers to compete against. Hmm.

The picnic was great. I was really pleased with my quiche and choc chip cookies, although the oat and raisin ones weren't so great. My OH has just discovered he likes curry (finally!) so we are going for an Indian tomorrow. I bought the Gizzi Kitchen Magic book and really like it, and I also bought the Mexican Made Easy which is only ok. Finally got the Sophie Dahl one from the library and am glad I didn't buy it! There's only a couple of things I like the look of in it.

My money situation is good at the mo. I have £90 to last 2 weeks, £2020 house savings, and £100 birthday money. But we're going to Clark's Village tomorrow so I *must* stay away from the Le Creuset and Cadbury shops!

Placement is knackering and I cannot wait to go on holiday! Only 5 more weeks!

Dinah93

But you wouldnt be putting job plans on hold would you? You'd do it in the summer break?

zigmeister

Dinah93 wrote: »

But you wouldnt be putting job plans on hold would you? You'd do it in the summer break?

It would technically be in the summer break but I'd need to be around before the term started to prepare etc and it wouldn't look very good for my first job if I turned up at the last minute!

I went shopping today.. got 2 books from WHSmith (two mini Olive books) which I paid for using a giftcard, and I nearly bought a lovely maxi dress in New Look but I'm going to wait to see which size fits best before my holiday. I also bought some baby clothes in Tesco as it was the last day of the 25% off. I got him 6 long sleeve tops, a hoody and a little shirt and trousers set for £13.50

I can't wait til next weekend, it's been so nice having a bit of a break. I'm paying for it now though - got a lesson to plan for tomorrow.

ETA: Paid £100 into my House Fund

zigmeister

It's been a tough week.

I have been teaching more this week, and the class are a handful. I've had a cold which is now turning into a cough. I haven't stuck to my diet. Plus I'm worrying about money and houses and jobs and camp America and I'm tired.

I did some baking yesterday: the white chocolate and fig cookies were nice, and the brownies, but the green tea cupcakes were dry and the vanilla butter icing was weird and runny.

I also went on a mini bike ride with OH which was nice.

Need to get on with some planning now though. Even though all I wanna do is sleep cuz I was up half the night with really bad stomach cramps, and cramp in my calf.

Corfu in 3 weeks, thank god!

zigmeister

Gosh, it's been a while since I posted on here! I definitely need to start posting again though, to keep myself on track. And after a little nudge from the lovely Cinny, I'm back!

Update:

• I'm on my final teaching placement at the moment, and have a dissertation to write so I'm very busy.
• I'm not earning any money as I'm on a lifestyle break whilst I'm teaching.
• I don't know whether to hand in my notice at my job. The £200 a month comes in very handy for 1 day a week, but I'm enjoying having a day off at the weekend (Saturday is for doing things I don't have time to do in the week!) and also if I go to Camp America I need to hand in my notice anyway.
• I'm about to hand in my application for Camp America but it's late so I haven't a clue whether I'll get a place or not.
• I also need to start applying for jobs which is terrifying!
• I currently pay £45 a week rent, and my only other outgoings are my phonebill (approx £20 a month) and petrol (approx £30 a week) but this all comes out my savings as I obviously have no money coming in.
• My savings stand at £2000, but my Mum still owes me £1000 and I am £300 into my overdraft.
• I'm also still on a diet (as always) and it's not going fab but I need to lose weight for Camp America/graduation!
• Finally, this is the year me and the OH will be living together - be it rented or bought. Exciting, but expensive!

So, I need to use this diary to stop me spending unnecessarily and help me figure out my plan. This is gonna be a strange year - I don't know how things are going to pan out and I don't like the uncertainty! Everything rests on whether I get a job and it's all very scary. Wish me luck!

Flower08

Good to see you back Zig!! Looking forward to reading what your upto