Edinburgher's balancing act

ruby1968_2

yes you!! i think it might take me longer than 18months, omg! you'll all be sick of me by then. but will still give it a go, including the complaining as it helps.

edinburgher

It was only 18 months of posting - it took me 6-7 years to pay it all off

Ps. I am now a Ruby diary subscriber - will give me something else to read with my cup of tea this afternoon.

ruby1968_2

brilliant another friend looking forward to all your advice.

edinburgher

D'oh! One week later and no sim from 3. Have called up and they will block the old sim and have sent a replacement. Not the end of the world, I'm just pleased to be slowly crawling my way back up the old credit ladder.

I have a confession to make After my successful application for the phone contract, I called Vanquis to apply for an impaired credit credit card (you know, the ones with the horrendous rates). The plan was to use it once a week or so to buy my Friday coffee (my treat after picking up the groceries).

No answer from them yet (it can take their underwriters three weeks to process applications with complicated circumstances), but I'm starting to regret the rash move a little. Yes, I want to get re-established on the credit ladder, but I should just have waited until I was 100% sure that my old defaulted account had been updated as satisfied on my credit report... Think the default may scupper me unless B, O & S update it quickly (unlikely)!

The GF is off home to Glasgow for the weekend and I'm being left to my own devices. My calves currently hurt like hell, as I did too much, too soon on the exercise front (as I was warned not to do). So, my Friday will consist of going to the bank, buying some elasticated bandages to compress my calves/ankles and sitting on the couch watching TV. God, I feel like an old person :rotfl:

InaPickle

Hi Ed! :wave:

Don't ask me how I've managed to miss your updated for the last week or so, but I have, so here's the update. And my, your posts have made me laugh!

edinburgher wrote: »

The funny thing is - I'm really not. My boss and another colleague have started caring for the plants and to be honest, I found it a bit silly at first.

Still, I admire people who stick to things and have been won over. My boss is a funny teetotal vegetarian who only eats organic food and was wowed by my revelation that you can make a diluted mix of coffee grounds and lukewarm water to act as a rudimentary plant fertiliser rich in nitrogen! So, we're now in an international development office voluntarily watering plants with organic fertiliser made from Fairtrade coffee remnants - are we hippies or what?!

:rotfl: And if you didn't live where you live I would be asking your bosses name as (s)he sounds like a few people I know. Hippies indeed, but why not?!

edinburgher wrote: »

Me??? But all I did was pay down my debts and complain for the last 18 months

That's all of us, surely?

edinburgher wrote: »

D'oh! One week later and no sim from 3. Have called up and they will block the old sim and have sent a replacement. Not the end of the world, I'm just pleased to be slowly crawling my way back up the old credit ladder.

I have a confession to make After my successful application for the phone contract, I called Vanquis to apply for an impaired credit credit card (you know, the ones with the horrendous rates). The plan was to use it once a week or so to buy my Friday coffee (my treat after picking up the groceries).

No answer from them yet (it can take their underwriters three weeks to process applications with complicated circumstances), but I'm starting to regret the rash move a little. Yes, I want to get re-established on the credit ladder, but I should just have waited until I was 100% sure that my old defaulted account had been updated as satisfied on my credit report... Think the default may scupper me unless B, O & S update it quickly (unlikely)!

The GF is off home to Glasgow for the weekend and I'm being left to my own devices. My calves currently hurt like hell, as I did too much, too soon on the exercise front (as I was warned not to do). So, my Friday will consist of going to the bank, buying some elasticated bandages to compress my calves/ankles and sitting on the couch watching TV. God, I feel like an old person :rotfl:

*Wags finger* Ed, I'm sure I warned you about all that exercise: I was sure that you understood that I included sprinting up credit ladders as well!

Oh well, I wouldn't worry too much, to be fair, as I've not heard from the A&L after two weeks, so maybe your application is also still at the underwriters, as is mine? (At least, that's what they told me!)

Best of luck on making your calves better and treat them more gently in future.

edinburgher

Cheers Pickle - I think I've been on the zany pills this last few weeks. Unlike tonight, where it's just good honest vodka {hic!}

InaPickle

edinburgher wrote: »

Cheers Pickle - I think I've been on the zany pills this last few weeks. Unlike tonight, where it's just good honest vodka {hic!}

:rotfl: All this paying off of debts took your feet off the ground. Nice to see the running has got them back on solid earth! {Nothing wrong with a vodka or two every now and again: must admit I prefer a G&T or a glass of wine myself, tee hee, and am currently drinking coke to give me the energy to do my nail homework. }

beanielou

Ive been on the vino & i am a happy beanie(For once!!!)

edinburgher

Only two and a bit hours left of work (GF gets back from home today and I'm keen to beat her home and make sure everything's perfect!)

I spent a very boring Sunday doing a thorough spring clean (changing the bed, washing floors, dusting ceilings, hoovering (including under the couch, which made disgusting crunchy noises) and removing limescale from sinks and kettles...

I also popped out to Argos and bought a bookcase, which is something that GF has been hankering after for months now! I'm not a big fan of flatpack furniture, in case anyone's wondering why the delay? Still, at £11.99 it was a bargain and was (only just) big enough for all of our paperbacks/travel books etc. My only new concern is the other 200 or so paperbacks we have in storage in Scotland, but I suppose we can burn that bridge when we come to it

Very little to report on the DFW rehab front (the stage straight after becoming debt free), although it's weird how quickly attitudes seem to change once the debt anchor has been removed from around our necks. For example, I've bought 3-4 coffees from the coffee cart at work/Pret/local Italian cafe and even went to KFC, a dump which I'd managed to avoid for the last 6 months I'm due a 'pay rise' at the end of May (when all my savings/debt repayments to my holiday fund balance out) and I'll need to make sure that I remember that my newfound freedom was hard won and not an excuse to waste my money on carp. Bad me!

InaPickle

edinburgher wrote: »

Only two and a bit hours left of work (GF gets back from home today and I'm keen to beat her home and make sure everything's perfect!)

I spent a very boring Sunday doing a thorough spring clean (changing the bed, washing floors, dusting ceilings, hoovering (including under the couch, which made disgusting crunchy noises) and removing limescale from sinks and kettles...

I also popped out to Argos and bought a bookcase, which is something that GF has been hankering after for months now! I'm not a big fan of flatpack furniture, in case anyone's wondering why the delay? Still, at £11.99 it was a bargain and was (only just) big enough for all of our paperbacks/travel books etc. My only new concern is the other 200 or so paperbacks we have in storage in Scotland, but I suppose we can burn that bridge when we come to it

Very little to report on the DFW rehab front (the stage straight after becoming debt free), although it's weird how quickly attitudes seem to change once the debt anchor has been removed from around our necks. For example, I've bought 3-4 coffees from the coffee cart at work/Pret/local Italian cafe and even went to KFC, a dump which I'd managed to avoid for the last 6 months I'm due a 'pay rise' at the end of May (when all my savings/debt repayments to my holiday fund balance out) and I'll need to make sure that I remember that my newfound freedom was hard won and not an excuse to waste my money on carp. Bad me!

Ed, you are a loved-up house-geek! :rotfl: I'm impressed with how houseproud you are. Is this a normal trait in an Edinburgh male? If so, I may need to go man-fishing up north. :rotfl:

I know what you mean about how easy it is to lose the momentum. Perhaps you need to trick yourself into being a bit more frugal. I mean, what about an offset account for the student loan that you have no intention of paying back, just in case interest rates skyrocket, or surely you and GF must be planning on buying a house at some point? You'll need a deposit, right? And those babies won't come cheap. Take your pick of reasons...now that you've had a week off from money hell.

Try the demotivators for your coffee (or put the money aside to buy your own posh coffee machine), and as for the books, Ebay/Green Met are calling (when necessary).

Glad things are going well and enjoy the debt-freeness.