My diary - getting rid of my debt deamons!

Learning2Budget

Excellent well done! !!! L2B.x

in_need_of_direction

So only 17% of the way through the year and already 30% of the debt cleared. Amazing!

Kei

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

So only 17% of the way through the year and already 30% of the debt cleared. Amazing!

Thank you misstara, learning to budget and in need of direction for your comments! INOD that is such a good way to think of it, when you put it into a % like that I am doing ok!!

Today though, was interesting. It started with a 121 with my manager which i had been dreading, reason being because i needed to speak about my pay and I think i was making it out in my head to be worse than in actually was. That part went fine, and the good news is that this year I will be getting a pay rise (after 2 years still on my low starting salary), but the bad news is that it is not going to be what i want and deserve. He didn't tell me the figure, but the way he pitched it told me that it would not be enough. So for me that leaves 2 options; either fight for more if it is not enough when I do get my letter through with the figure, or look for a job elsewhere which pays more. And I plan to do both! Especially when I obtain my MA, all that hard work, I think I deserve to be rewarded for it!

So then I went to get some library books to help with my study, but I overstayed my welcome parking wise and got a lovely prize waiting for me when I returned, yep, a parking ticket!!! It is actually the first time that I have had one in my 12ish years of driving!! But £25 that could have gone to a better cause is now going to the council. (I could have bought a text book new for that then sold it on Amazon when I finished with it )

Home now, straight in PJs and put on a face mask as my skin is looking awful, as it usually does with stress. V busy week this week, must keep on top of brining lunch to work and not get caught out with parking tickets again!!!

Kei

£230 just paid which brings my total debt to £2,500, I feel like I have really made a dent in the debt now! There are 2 more weeks until payday when I will be making my next payment

I need to pay the parking fine and also have bought a bday present for my brother. Apart from that no other planned for spends this month

Kei

Just paid my parking fine of £25 - booooo. I do have £25 in my paypal account from ebaying though, so I will transfer over to cover this.

I should mention, I am doing really well with cutting back my spending, I haven't bought one item of clothing this year, no accessories or shoes or anything like that. The only money I have spent 'treating' myself is for a haircut and colour and some hair products to keep it looking nice. I have only bought toiletries that I really need. It does feel good as I know that I have enough stuff already to get by easily for a while.

I also have spent no money on lunches at work. No money whatsoever!! I never thought that I would go this long bringing my own lunch to work, I thought one day I would forget or be in too much of a rush, but I have been really organised with this. It has made a big difference. I don't go to an office every day, but if I did buy my lunch I would be spending between £5 and £20 a week, but instead I have been saving this money!

Not too far to go before I am 50% of the way towards my goal!

misstara

Hi Kei, noticed you've not posted for a while - hope you're ok and your debt busting is still going well.

Kei

Hello,

Thanks Misstara. I have been a bit quiet, just getting on with work and the dissertation and not that much else! There hasn't been much to report, I haven't made any progress debt busting apart from minimum payments - but this is because I have been putting aside money for a holiday just lately. My dissertation is due in 28th April, and soon after I am going to treat myself to a holiday as the whole 3 years of studying will finally be complete. I have £600 aside so far, which should buy a lovely week away somewhere hot. After the holiday, it will be back to paying off the CCs.

So work wise things have been busy, I have been travelling all over the South and had some pretty tiring days. I am also really disappointed with my salary review. I finally got a letter through on Thursday, I got a couple of hundred pounds; that is barely going to make any difference to my monthly salary. After 2yrs and 4 months in my role, I am hardly off the starting salary. So rather than cry about it I am determined to find a job elsewhere which pays what I deserve. As I am almost fully qualified, this should make the search easier.

So with just over one week to go until dissertation deadline, I have been frantically writing, reading study books, and spending my weekends at the library. Yesterday I had a little tantrum over some data analysis software that I just couldn't get my head around, but I worked out how to use it and today I shall mostly be writing up my findings chapter. I have about 16,700 words on paper, but it all needs editing. I still have the conclusions and recommendations to write. Whilst I am sort of glad that I did this course, and whilst I know that I am going to be so proud to achieve the Masters, I have decided that studying is not something I will be doing in a hurry again any time soon. It is so damn stressful and since January I haven't had any weekend time to myself.

Anyway, updates and rant over. Happy Easter Sunday everyone!

misstara

Hi Kei, sounds like you've been really busy recently - you will definitely be needing that holiday. Where are you planning on going?

So disappointing about the salary review, good luck with finding another job that pays better.

Hope your dissertation writing is going well. You deserve a big celebration on the 28th when it is finally handed in :beer:

Kei

Hi Misstara, thanks for your comments and encouraging words! Need all the motivation I can muster over the next 3 days to get everything finished and ready for Monday.

One. Last. Weekend. Of. Study.......................EVER!

The salary review was a bummer but have applied for a few jobs recently and I am positive that the right opportunity will come along soon.

Holiday, eeeee how exciting! Don't know yet where we will go but will be something reasonably priced probably in the canaries or Greece.

This week, aside from Tuesday I have been working at home and working on my dissertation in my spare time. That also means that I have barely moved apart from to take comfort breaks and trips to the kitchen. I have been eating rubbish and I feel truly awful for it! Sluggish, tired, restless all at the same time. My skin is bad, my clothes don't fit, ugh. I allowed myself to eat junk food as a comfort for studying. Next week that all stops, I am sick of craving rubbish, eating rubbish and feeling rubbish. I need to shed a few pounds to get back into my clothes comfortably. however I am thinking that because I have done zilch exercise and healthy eating, that when I do get off my bum next week the pounds will fall off :-)

Tomorrow is pay day, so I will review the financial situation and see if I can make some debt payments.

in_need_of_direction

sounds like you've got a plan. let us know how you get on