New Year New Me, the journey continues.........

thrifty_fifty

Yesterday withdrew that remaining £100 of my loan money, so really looking forward to paying that off tomorrow.

Achieved nothing yesterday, other than getting through the day. OH and I really seem to time being ill at the same time, with a scary precision.

For the last three weeks one or both of us has been ill, or too tired or too busy to get anything done. The cold that I've had for the last two weeks is still hanging on, the house literally looks like we are squatting in it, because neither of us has the energy to tackle it. We were both worn out yesterday-me partly from having such a stressful week at work-getting stomach cramps at one point.

You may wonder why I even want this job still? I have to wonder myself, but the re-interview is tomorrow and I need to spend today swatting up. Then due to the fact that some business in friday's meeting couldn't be resolved we need to have the meeting again on tuesday. Physically and emotionally I'm running on empty, this level of work is going to be relentless for the next few months. I'm going to book plenty of annual leave in December, and just relax and enjoy my new debt free self.

We looked at the next money saving targets. We are tackling OH next who has 10k of debt, so the month after I become debt free, there will be no respite and I will be diverting that money which was used to pay my debts, to start paying off his. We should be done by August next year. Then we can spend the remainder of next year pooling our money together to start saving for the house-finally!!

We have decided that we need a holiday next year. Perhaps a caravan by the sea. The last few years have been relentlessly stressful, and there needs to be some fun again.

I don't know if anyone else finds this, but the nearer you get to your debt free date, the harder you find it. I'm starting to realise that I can start to have a bit of moderate fun again, and the date seems to be taking forever to come round. I have to say I found the thought of victory short lived, as I don't even get 1 month with my own money to celebrate before starting on OH's debt. I have said that he needs to ebay stuff and also that he needs to reclaim his £600 from HMRC where he was overtaxed in 2004. He's been 'meaning' to do it since we moved in here, and it's three years in December. I have sacrificed a lot to make a dent in my debts, and he needs to do the same.

Anywho, onwards and upwards.

thrifty_fifty

Oooh, it's finally here.Loan paying off day. Can't wait. Plus I'm picking up my order for my lovely treats above. That candle is definitely going on this evening. Interview today aswell. Eek! Hope it isn't too hot in the office

Current spangly things I love.

http:///www.mulberryhall.co.uk/Item/Special.16/Baccarat/Vega/RubyRhineWine.html

needingaccountability

Congrats on paying off the loan. Hope all goes well with your interview.

thrifty_fifty

Going into the bank yesterday was a great feeling. This months loan payment had been taken on saturday, so the system was still updating itself, consequently it was still registered as owing £602 rather than the £401 it should have been. The lady took the money and will apply it to the loan today, so I'll be getting a lovely confirmation phone call at work today to say it has been paid off and the direct debit cancelled. Now that's the kind of call I don't mind the bank making to my landline at work.;)

The interview was majorly stressful, I think I messed up one of the tests, and the interview was really probing. All the questions that you don't expect to come up, came up, so it was more of a fighting fires excercise. I hate it when they ask you the ins and outs of what the job entails-I haven't done this or anything like it before, so I can only guess. Hopefully my guesses were correct.

Well because everyone else has their interviews spread over the next few days, I now have the gruelling wait until thursday to see if I got it or not. Not good.

thrifty_fifty

Find out about the interview today. Yesterday everyone was stressed. Today I'm going with whatever. If I didn't get it, it means that I'm not very good at interviews, I know deep down that I'm good at my job, and have consistently demonstrated that I can think on a level of those two or three grades above me. In the end I will find something that suits me.

If I do get it, then operation trip to Paris for the day swings into operation. Yay!

Either way, I'm awesome. xx

thrifty_fifty

Well I got the job, but I can't say that I'm happy about it. It's a relief not to be in the position of being forced to look for another job and that is all.

Throughout this process it has been interesting seeing peoples true faces show, and a lot of what I have seen, I haven't liked very much atall. In particular one congratulatory comment of 'oh look, only the winners mugs on the tea tray'. The look I gave this person was literally a double take. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Whooppee I won, having two hours before have to see and console good colleagues and those who have become close friends over the years, be utterly destroyed by being told they weren't successful.

I myself was given congratulations and then character assassinated, being told that my character is quite child like, because I'm giggly. Well that's my personality, and let me tell you, the reason I do my job so well and that people do what I ask of them, is because I treat them like human beings and they respect me for that. You can't work in a team without it. Also having a bit of banter in the team gets you through stressful times and monotonous boring tasks. I bet it doesn't tell them that on page 35 of their bullcarp management guide.

Grrrrr!

thrifty_fifty

I've decided that I'm going to divert a little of my spare cash towards me next month. OH is going away for the weekend, and so to give me a confidence boost I'm going to Paris on my own. I'll go for a day or a couple of days. This means I'll only be diverting £500 towards my debts next month rather than the planned £900 but it is important for me to do this, and the opportunity will not come up again this year. So I'll be debt free in October rather than September, but I'll still be debt free.

needingaccountability

Wow amazing, I love Paris, have a wonderful time :j

Just noticed your sig, you so deserve to treat yourself!

thrifty_fifty

I don't know whether it is pre-ladytime speaking but I have felt rage at OH all day today. Brought on mostly by a throw away comment made on monday. As I have mentioned before at the end of my debt free journey, I was going to help OH with his. He can put around £300 towards his debts each month, I was going to give him £900 then wanted to reduce it slightly to leave me £50 or so for the neccessarys, now I'm wondering whether it should even be 50p. When I mentioned £700 to him for the drive into work, he said 'that will do for now', in a cheeky way, and then went on to say, well it would be good if I could clear my Lloyds account by Christmas. The beacon of reality hit me, he is making all these plans for us, and I'm the highest earner. He is showing me no respect at the moment, and I will not be seen as the bank of girlfriend.

I ran it by a trusted work colleague of mine, who basically gave me a reality check 'he pays his own debts off'. I've seen OHs face steadily grow bored by my post work rantings and I made the fatal mistake of saying I didn't really get on with his best friend-who happens to be female. At the moment I fail to see what this person has to offer me. He is getting lazier, now he's being rude and he thinks I'm going to give him £700 every month towards his debts when he has made no effort to put his things on ebay, or apply for the tax rebait he has been due since 2004. I have been asking him to do this since we moved in-this is nearly three years ago.

My head says 'alarm bells ringing' but my heart says 'no'.

What a predicament.

thrifty_fifty

Well I'm over the above. I think it was hormones talking, and as for the Paris trip, I've decided not to go as I want to get to the end of my debt free journey. I'm allowing myself to hang onto £200 next payday as I've got weddings and so on to go to. I can't even bring myself to buy a new dress because I have plenty in my wardrobe. Check me out!!