NTBY's sensible living and debt busting adventure

Nottoobadyet

Hit the sales a bit - got a much needed new kettle (for about £3!) and some sport clothes. I managed to lose my one really good pair of running trousers somewhere in Bangladesh (how, I don't know, I don't even remember taking them out of the suitcase!) so I got 2 pairs on reduction. Only £7 a piece, so not so bad.

Looking forward to a frugal new year! Joined some challenges so fingers crossed...

TheLightFantastic

Hi NTBY

Don't worry too much about the passport. They take about 8 weeks for the Tier 1 programme. I was going nuts when they had mine for that long and I was due to head home. Same thing happened to one of my friends as well.

I'll be keeping an eye on your progress. Am definitely trying out your butternut squash soup!

Cheers!

Nottoobadyet

Yeah its a pain! I have two passports (American and Israeli), and initially they told me I could travel on one while they had the other, but then changed their minds!! It was awful, I lost a trip to Budapest that was already booked and paid for. If it takes just the normal 8 weeks we'll be fine, but I have friends who didnt see theirs for up to 3 months. :eek:

On annual leave all this week, so I'll be catching up on some things I do for my voluntary work and trying to keep money in my pocket rather than out of it! also have some studying to do for a qualification that I started but never finished.

Oh oh, got my Christmas present yesterday! OH was going to get me a new pair of hiking boots (which I desperately need as my old ones are literally full of holes) in the sales, but we didn't find a pair that both fit and was affordable when we looked. So we went online and searched for his favorite brand, and found them on amazon for £29, about £30 less than they were available for on sale in the shops!:T Herald in a year of cheaper hiking and camping holidays!

Nottoobadyet

OK some new debt news - yesterday I did something I had been dreading for ages (years!) and called up my bank in Israel to close my account. I've secretly been terrified that all the DDs I had there hadnt been cancelled properly, so there would be a huge overdraft and fees waiting there for me. Turns out theres about £150 in there! Woot!

Even better, since my OH was helping me get all the documents together, we finally talked about his debt that is out there. Its about 110,000 shekels, or about £18,000. This is about what I guessed it was, since it went to paying for his MSc which cost about that. So this is on top of whats in my SOA.

Its a lot of money but at least now we are tackling it together.

Nottoobadyet

WOOOOT!!! Both our passports are back, OH's with a shiny new visa for the next 2 years and mine with extra pages! YAY!

Of course, this sets me up for more spending, as it means we'll be going home at the end of the month for his surgery (fun, I know...) and will need to buy flights for that. It also means I need to get set up on getting my visa renewed, which costs between £800 and £1000. Meh.

Swinstie73

Great news on the £150 NTBY, every little helps!

Have a very Happy Hogmanay, looking forward to finishing work, whenever that may be....

Nottoobadyet

exactly, Swinstie! Im actually going to have my OH put it towards his debt so we dont loose any of it on silly exchange rates.

TheLightFantastic

Nottoobadyet wrote: »

WOOOOT!!! Both our passports are back, OH's with a shiny new visa for the next 2 years and mine with extra pages! YAY!

Of course, this sets me up for more spending, as it means we'll be going home at the end of the month for his surgery (fun, I know...) and will need to buy flights for that. It also means I need to get set up on getting my visa renewed, which costs between £800 and £1000. Meh.

Am really pleased to hear about your passports. I spent ages gazing at my visa - and even had a few tears of joy.........:j

REALLY happy for you!

Nottoobadyet

I know! Isn't it wonderful? the little joys of expatriate living... where are you from, Light?

BWAH I am so skint this month! I've upped my monthly DD to the savings account (which goes towards debt periodically) from £400 to £600. That £200 is going to hit me pretty hard I think - today, after paying council tax, rent and gym membership, I have a towering £107 in my account! Yikes!

On the bright side, OH will pay me back his half of the rent once he gets paid next week, and at some point this month I should get a few quid of expenses back from work. Theoretically I should get a bonus from work at some point, but who knows when that will arrive. From this small pot I'll also need to pay for my ticket home, which will be about £200 (!!!).

So generally things will be tight :-) At least today was an NSD (walked in the park, made dinner from things we already had, which has left us with leftovers) and yesterday was a cheapish celebration. I think I'll just have to be very honest with my friends this month and let them know I'll be drinking soft drinks at the pub and that they are welcome 'round mine for dinner, rather than at a restaurant!

Deep breath...

Nottoobadyet

Low spend day today - went to the gym, and went out later for a walk. We passed a store that was shutting down and got a pair of sweat shirts for running, which were genuinely cheap (2 for £5) and which we needed for running in this cold.

Back to work on Monday. I'll be bringing in lunch all week, but I'll have to be extra vigilant to avoid drinks out with colleagues after hours. A friend is coming by for help with some docs on Tuesday, and will bring dinner with her so thats covered. Other friends will come over during the week and get Spag Bol, I think. We'll do a big shop on Tuesday once OH gets paid, and from that we should have plenty of meals so long as we can sit our hands and stay in!