Maldives & MSE - not your usual combination!

PollyBanwell

Hi - only just seen your thread - great title!!! Subscribed!

SOunds like you've had a bit of a rough start to the year what with the job etc, but chin up and look forward to that holiday! I booked accomodation for a holiday in March and that's already got me really focussed on saving for it! Using all our £2 coins!

All the best for 2011. Keep writing!

Polly

jtr2803

You are right EB, I never really wanted to go back to pub work but at the time I had good intentions. I will certainly enjoy not having to clock watch :rotfl:

Welcome along Polly :j

I guess it's better to get all these annoying things out of the way at the start of the year! I am going to have to get saving hard though if I can convince my OH to let me book my 30th birthday holiday though :rotfl:

I thought I would also tell you I have been very good and used my Wii Fit every night. My new EA Sports Active Kit turned up today too so I will have a go at that tonight when I get back from the medium man. Also booked car in for MOT at 4pm on Saturday, saves me getting up early, woohoo!

Woowoo

I am very impressed that you have used your Wii every night, that makes it a good investment

PollyBanwell

Loving your work!

ILGPink

well she sounds like a right piece of work nd you sound better off out of it. Plus I rekon that things happen for a reason which may not be clear at the start but eventually you see it was the best thing allround x

Feeling very lazy after your wii post; mine is gathering dust as i type

jtr2803

ILGPink wrote: »

well she sounds like a right piece of work nd you sound better off out of it. Plus I rekon that things happen for a reason which may not be clear at the start but eventually you see it was the best thing allround x

Feeling very lazy after your wii post; mine is gathering dust as i type

Don't worry hun, I didn't get time to go on it tonight

I went to see the medium and I think I can safely say that the only thing that was medium about him was his attempts to convinve me of his psychic powers :rotfl:. I went with an open mind but am really not convinced by anything he said, so much so, that I wont bother repeating it! It seemed very much a case of suggestion then question, everything he said could was either a follow on from something I'd said or just an educated guess!

I could have spent an hour on my Wii fit instead!

flimsier

jtr2803 wrote: »

Hello and welcome to my shiny new diary .

As you will see from my post count I am not a newbie, far from it actually, but now seemed to be like a good time for a new chapter in my journey due to some large changes in my debt free plans over the past few months.

I hope that all my regulars will soon find their way over and tag along again but for any newbies that are reading I will do an uber quick re-cap of my situation.

I started a Payplan organised DMP back in 2006 when I had circa £17k (plus a car on finance) of debt :eek:. It came from nothing specific, just over spending and a bad relationship. Anyway, I had been merrily paying this off when I had a little attempt at clearing it sooner in late 2009, but I didn't stick to it. Then I came back with vengeance in May this year with the hope of paying the remaining £7k off by the end of 2010. I did surveys, took on a second job, kept a spending diary and basically cut right back .

I set myself quarterly savings challenges and beat them except for the one that included Christmas typically! Now from the beginning of this plan I knew that the end result figured on me getting a lovely end of year bonus and I also hoped to get some F&F settlement discount. Even though I did well with savings, it became quite obvious that I was a few months behind so I extended it to February when another MSE-er (Hi Becs!) was going on a months trip to Borneo. Then the bad news came that my bonus was going to be less than it was last year, which was a major stumbling block. Then a half hour conversation with one of my main creditors revealed that they would take nothing less than the whole debt total...so no F&F either. At this point my £7k in 7 months started to become upwards of a year .

I suddenly realised that whilst paying all my debt off was a very noble and right thing to do, it suddenly made no sense to work my butt off for another 5 months when I was effectively saving nothing. Then I would empty my savings and have to start all over again...whilst we all know that's kinda how these debt busting plans work but I must admit that scared me. My OH, who is my angel (and very money concious) agreed that there was no point in me going back to nothing when I wasn't saving anything by doing it. So there I am, with savings of £1,400 in the bank...........

It has been almost a life long dream of mine to go to the Maldives, ever since I saw it in a Kuoni brochure when I was 14. Add to that my absolute love of Marine life and you have a dangerous concoction :rotfl:. My lovely OH finally agreed that as I had already saved the money for my half that we should go....AND WE ARE :j. The middle of next May I will be jetting off for a glorious two weeks split between two islands when I can sunbathe and snorkel to my hearts content. :cool: Now I don't need to talk cost, most people will have a good idea of what a trip like that costs and I still cringe when I think about the total bill.

That's the reason it was suggested I start a new diary, I was starting to feel like I was a 'fraud' for doing this or that I was rubbing people's faces in it. Obviously that really isn't my intention and I certainly don't advocate anyone doing what I have done! If this was a credit card and I was paying interest then it would have been a no brainer! I also did get a fairly nice year end bonus so I have a 'reserve' pot. My car is now getting old and likely to need a fair bit of work, I can't be without it as I work in a remote location so it makes sense for me to have a contingency fund. I haven't forgotten about my DMP at all, my current balance is in my signature and at the moment my DFD is December 2012.

I can't start a new diary without some goals can i ? So here are some aims for the new year........

1. Re-save as much as possible of my holiday cost before I go. I am setting myself a target of £1,000 by the end of April.
2. Lose 2 stone by the end of March. I am seriously over-weight and I don't want to look back at my holiday pics and be embarassed.
3. I need to stop smoking, I've had 2 chest infections over the past few months and I HATE being ill, whilst smoking is not the whole cause, being fit and healthy has to be a priority.
4. Knock 6 months of my DFD by either a lump sum or increased monthly payments.

There are some more but I think that will do for now!

I still currently have my second job but on Sunday just gone I was told there was going to be a 'reshuffle' due to some issues with the food side of the business, this isn't the first time it has been hinted that I may not have a job so at the moment I am waiting to hear whether I am needed/wanted back in the new year. I am also studying for professional Accountancy qualifications (how ironic?!) and have just sat two exams, I won't get the results until Feb so have to sit tight for now.

Once we hit 1st of January I will remove all old sigs and create on for the savings goal and one for the weight. Over the coming week I will start posting my plans for losing weight and gaining £'s.

Must end this post by saying a massive thanks to everyone who has supported me on my old diary, WooWoo, Beccie, LittleMoog, Kavics, Kat, Choc, Little Kel, EB, Pennies and absolutely everyone else who posted at any point. You guys have been absolutely amazing and without you, I wouldn't be the focussed, organised and Maldives-bound person I am today!

xxx

Good luck!
The Maldives is everything you could want. I'm serious! My holiday there was cut short (by the Tsunami - so I don't remember the holiday fondly), but for pools, relaxation, decent food, amazing beach and sea, and so on, you really don't get better. Full stop.

Kepp

Hey Jody,

Has taken me so long to catch up on your diary!

Sorry to hear bout your argument with OH - have you asked him why he's so against getting married? Just maybe if you understood his reasons it would bother you less or help you feel more secure?

Well done on the Wii - I haven't done it for ages and I really should!

Sorry bout the pub job too and all that messing about, I know the feeling and it's very frustrating. On the bright side though you will have more free time and maybe something else is just around the corner.

You must be reeealllyyy looking forward to the Maldives!! When is the exact date you go again?

Hugs for a rough start to the year, but onwards and upwards (or downwards in the case of the debt!) xxx

If_My_Pennies_Were_Pounds

Ohh Jody your Gym vs Wii thread was featured on Martin's weekly email! :T :T :T

jtr2803

Was it??? Oooh for some reason I don't get it!!! Where can I see it?