Ms_London is MSE-ing in London

ms_london

The moment that I have been dreading for ages has finally been and gone.... I turned 30!!!! So as I do with every birthday, but ten fold with this one, I start having deep and meaningful conversations (with myself) about where I am in life, where I want to be, etc, etc, etc. So in between eating the profiterole tower that was my birthday cake (30 of them I'll have you know, yum), I set about thinking about what my next step would be...

I feel like I belong on the DFW board after coming here 6 years ago to seek advice and swot up on how on earth to pay back the £19,000 I owed at the time. Unfortunately Martin couldn't give me the winning lottery numbers, but with all of the helpful advice and community spirit, I set about the hard slog to being a debt free wannabe, and finally made it in Oct 2005! Yaaaay. By this time I was on a roll so continued saving at the rate I had paid off my debt and had saved £10,000 in 10 months (I had 2 jobs at the time and lived like a hermit!) so decided to leave for sunnier climes and go travelling... I lived in Australia and New Zealand and with a bit of work thrown in, I got to travel around these beautiful countries, along with visiting Thailand, Hong Kong and the States (Hawaii, LA, Vegas, NYC & Maine). Very very lucky and I had an amazing time.

Naturally life couldn't be too easy to me so I arrived back in the UK hitting the recession full on and have spent a lot of the last 2 years trying to secure a permanent job, and a good amount of the time being out of work. This resulted in a £6,000 debt which was a massive blow to me as I vowed NEVER EVER to get into debt again, but I have learnt (and it has taken the full 2 years) that I cannot control everything, and also how important it is to have a bit of a safety net in the form of an emergency fund. I don't think I ever quite appreciated that some people do end up in debt as a result of circumstances out of their control, I also was quite arrogant about not wanting to be in debt again, nor ever wanting to rely on credit again. Ooops, that'll teach me!

Soooooo, once again I am debt free, well, teeny tiny lie, I have £500 on a 0% credit card, and then that is it, Project Mortgage can commence.

I am a single girl, so Project Mortgage is going to be a tough task, but being the independent woman (all the woman who are independent, throw your hands up at me. Ahem...) I am, I am going to get my own little 2 bedroomed flat, even if it kills me. I am going to have my wooden floors and my big grey couch... I think I am going to need at least £10,000 but if I could save nearer £20,000 that would be better. Gulp.

Martin, about those lottery numbers......

I am just a normal girl, on a normal wage, but thanks to MSE, I know what I have got to do to reach my goals, I just need to throw in a little effort and it will all be worth it in the end.

Any advice or support would be great, I know I am technically not in debt any more, but this is the part of the board that feels like home to me, so please don't kick me out I beg of you!

Lots of love

Ms_London

hypno06

As if we would kick you out - you should know us better than that

ZTD

ms_london wrote: »

The moment that I have been dreading for ages has finally been and gone.... I turned 30!!!!

Oh noes!!

ms_london wrote: »

Any advice or support would be great, I know I am technically not in debt any more, but this is the part of the board that feels like home to me, so please don't kick me out I beg of you!

Lots of love

Ms_London

We wouldn't kick you out...welcome back!

hypno06 wrote: »

As if we would kick you out - you should know us better than that

I'd watch her though - she's a tricksy one. She'll have you jumping up and down in your living room so much, your neighbours will be thinking "football team" and then you'll go and clean your oven... :eek:

Mrs Motivator in her purest form... :T

brummiebabe

Welcome back MS_London.......I remember reading your diary last time!!! Good luck with your plans x

urg123

A fellow Londoner stepping in to wish you luck and to say you can do it - I did! Even bagged a bloke along the way.

Good luck on your journey - subscribes!

Urg x x

sammy115

Hello Ms London.. lovely to see you back...

Good luck on the mortgage challenge. Always good to have a goal in life and I think you have lived more in your few years than most people have in a lifetime.

And ZTD I have missed you!

IAMIAM

The memories of MsLondon - wow