Debt Free by 40 Debt Diary

oakdale_minx

He better flippin' had do!!!!!!

I found a handful of euros in a glass in the cupboard, so I'm putting that in the envelope. It will pay for the coach into Girona, a beer and something to eat that night (Girona is very cheap to eat out!)

I'll cook a meal on his birthday (cooking is my passion) and then after my exam on the Friday I'll see if I can bend his arm for us to go out for a few beers. Think I will need it!!

There are some bargain flights to be had if you do lots of searching. These were penny flights with only 9.99 taxes. I've got some flights to Spain booked for next March which I booked last May (mad I know) and they were free other than taxes (offer found on MSE). I've paid the deposit on a hotel half board (I think there was a pricing error but I'm keeping quiet!!) after doing many months of searching/reading hotel reviews and that will be his Christmas present (obviously I'll be going as well!!). All in, it is 8 nights half board with flights for £140 each in a 3 star hotel. we'll ask his son to drop us at the airport and will only need beer/icecream (!) money.

moose53

As well as the cheap flight search on MSE, a good one is:

http://www.skyscanner.net/gbp/?redirecturl=28Alias

I find the best option is to use the monthly view - it shows the details with a bar chart.

Nice idea for a present O_M!

oakdale_minx

The only con is with Ryanair -they now charge you for baggage you want to put in the hold!! What a scam!! Bags only in the overhead locker are free, but 1 bag in the hold is £7!! One way of getting some of the money back I guess.

Apparently I've been paid by TNS for the mystery shop I did. But it isn't in my bank (£23). I'm wondering if I put my savings account on the payment details. I'll have to check next time I'm out.

I was going to do some of the print out vouchers where you can put your own 'present' in - ie redeem this voucher for breakfast in bed etc etc. I found the link somewhere on MSE. I didn't think he would ever use them though! I also thought of trying to get an updated photo of his son and daughter (he has an old one in a frame at his house) but he rarely sees his daughter and I've never met her, so I knew that was a dead end.

Verbatim

All sounds very inventive! I envy you your holiday on the cheap! Enjoy yourselves.

oakdale_minx

Verbatim wrote:

All sounds very inventive! I envy you your holiday on the cheap! Enjoy yourselves.

I enjoy looking for cheap flights and then finding a cheap but good hotel. Usually go for 1p flights if possible. The most expensive one was to Portugal a couple of years ago and was something like £60 each including the taxes!! I'm pretty sure there is a pricing mistake on the hotel I've picked as full board is massively more expensive thatn half board but I'm keeping quiet !!! The old me reared its head last night when I realised I could change the booking to All Inclusive for an extra £100 each........and 'only' a £10 admin fee.....I could hear in my head.......yes, but its still a cheap holiday.....no beer money needed...no, no, no!!! Just about managed to beat the little devil back, but I'll need to watch for it returning - changes can be made up to a week before arrival!!

Well, the start of a new month. White rabbits etc........

Busy month. Court on the 9th for Citicards set aside hearing, OH birthday on the 10th and exam on the 13th. :eek:

Did £675 on AQA in September. That will clear my next CC and pay off the bits I've put on my low APR one during the month. I'm hoping not to haveto use it this month, the £100 allocation questionnaire fee messed up last months budgeting.

Target for AQA this month....hhhmmm...need to be sensible as I have my exam. I will say £450, which is perfectly achievable. My unsecured debts left after paying off a CC this month are 2000 on Barclaycard, 1800 on RBS and 1200 overdraft. Think I will work towards clearing RBS next. I have the £437 from Capital One coming to me any day now and if I do £450 on AQA, I will be able to half the RBS debt over the coming month.

The slog continues!! :rolleyes:

ZTD

oakdale_minx wrote:

Did £675 on AQA in September.

oakdale_minx wrote:

Target for AQA this month....hhhmmm...need to be sensible as I have my exam. I will say £450, which is perfectly achievable. My unsecured debts left after paying off a CC this month are 2000 on Barclaycard, 1800 on RBS and 1200 overdraft. Think I will work towards clearing RBS next. I have the £437 from Capital One coming to me any day now and if I do £450 on AQA, I will be able to half the RBS debt over the coming month.

The slog continues!! :rolleyes:

Be careful! And yes I know I'm a nag, so you needn't tell me...

Your exam is more important than AQA. You should be in tip-top form for it. It would be a shame that £100 on AQA spoilt earning £000s because you didn't get the grade you should have.

gallygirl

oakdale_minx wrote:

I enjoy looking for cheap flights and then finding a cheap but good hotel. Usually go for 1p flights if possible. The most expensive one was to Portugal a couple of years ago and was something like £60 each including the taxes!! I'm pretty sure there is a pricing mistake on the hotel I've picked as full board is massively more expensive thatn half board but I'm keeping quiet !!! The old me reared its head last night when I realised I could change the booking to All Inclusive for an extra £100 each........and 'only' a £10 admin fee.....I could hear in my head.......yes, but its still a cheap holiday.....no beer money needed...no, no, no!!! Just about managed to beat the little devil back, but I'll need to watch for it returning - changes can be made up to a week before arrival!!

OM, what a cheapskate you are :j :j :j :j , thought it was just me!!!!! Have had day trips to Rome (x2), Venice, Genoa, Brussels, Lubeck, Milan, Stockholm. Plus long weekends to Poland, Lake Como, Lake Garda, some other Italian place I can't remember, Oslo. Plus 3 trips to Spain (next one in 10 days :j :j :j :j ). And accomm as cheap as possible for a decent quality (www.hotelscomparison.com). TBH I would resent paying super wonga for a break now!!!

oakdale_minx

anything over 9.99 a flight before taxes makes me thinkg twice now!! We've did a day trip to Glasgow and Barcelona,couple of nights in Dublin, 5 days in Portugal, and two holidays in Spain (Benidorm and near Lloret). None of the places are particularly exotic (Portugal was nice though), but it can be very cheap if you do lots of looking round the hotel websites - I usually use alpharooms. Last holiday was 6 nights in Benidorm in May for £100 each (flight and hotel) ..........but then looking at all that I can see that it has all added to my debt..........ahem........

I feel very down today. I feel trapped, work wise. i've started casually looking at the local paper and i've registered with Monster, but I just wish Iwas in a situation where I could afford to take a lower paid job. Dorset is really poorly paid and very expensive to live in.

With AQA, I could swap to another job and use AQA to suplement, but that would be scary. If anything happened with AQA Iwould then be stuck in a job on a lower salary. I just can't take the risk. i've got the bit loan to start hammering as soon as I can, so I'm definitely stuck for a long while yet.

moose53

Sorry to hear you're feeling down O_M, this weather doesn't help. I've been thinking I might be depending a bit too heavily on AQA too, have you considered working for https://www.82ask.com? I know it's just as risky, but worth thinking about.

Hope you cheer up soon!

Cassa

Hi Om,

Just wondering how you're getting on with the boss from hell?

Carole