Back filling the big hole I dug with my credit card

Aesop

PBS, the most important thing to do is look after yourself!

You need me time as well. You need time away from ATS and the kids, even just an hour a week. And time for you and ATS without the kids.

About the computer screen at work, if the glare is too bright, adjust the settings to make it darker, if you can't, get the IT team to fix it for you. If that doesn't work, ask work to buy you a screen glare guard. It is health and safety and they have to comply.

Northern_Lassy

Am so glad you are starting to feel better x Take care of yourself x

PiggyBankShaker

Thanks Aesop and Northern Lassy,

I have more time to myself than ATS has, I stay in a nice hotel once a month for work and have a meal with nice work colleagues, I'm even having a 'girls night out' this Friday (although it is the first in, well, a LONG time) And I did ask my parents to have both kids for us one night last week so ATS and I could have a quiet night out and they said no, so that put paid to that idea. But I do take your point, I do need to look after myself better I know I need to, I just need to get better at it.

So, money? Well, I paid £90 off the dreaded CC debt this morning. I can do more but we are having a busy weekend and I don't know how much we'll need. I get paid again on the 10th and should have enough to clear the rest of the debt then - fingers crossed.

I have £46 sitting in PayPal from eBay sales, but I had a message form a buyer saying he hasn't received his goods (THAT old chesntut - grr) so I may have to refund up to £8.50 of that. We also have two more items to add, which ought to net a fiver each which would take me over my self-imposed £50 cash out level.

I have decided (and I haven't actually told ATS yet) to put the 'extra money earned' into a separate account and keep it for extracurricular activities for the kids or for us as a family. DD has just started a Saturday class which she loves and, whilst she is too young at the moment, I want her to try music and horseriding when she is older - both of which are expensive hobbies. This way if I start saving now, out of money we won't miss because its extra, then in a year's time when she is old enough we'll be able to have a nice financial cushion that won't affect our monthly cash flow too much.

PiggyBankShaker

Up and down week this week. On the plus side I have paid off the last £880 of my credit card debt. It is gone! And it feels amazing. I could not have done it without ATS or without MSE either. ATS has transferred to remained of his CC debt onto a 0% card and we'll pay the minimum amount for the duration, whilst saving like mad alnog side to pay off in a lump sum at the end.

The other reason we need to start saving like mad because I had a bit of - potentially - bad news this week. Work, having made me full time at Christmas, have now decided to restructure and I may be going back part time in 30 days. I say, potentially, it is still possible that they might not, but tbh I doubt it. I am looking for a new job entirely, but there is nothing around at the moment. Come May, if we don't get our other contracts renewed, we will be financially compromised, we could say.

But focussing on the positives. The 10 year old debt is gone - good byeeee! - We have three months to scrimp and save and at the end of the that three months we'll know where we stand for the next 4 years in terms of income in terms of minimum income levels.

wantabetterlife

Well done PBS...that is a massive achievement :j

PiggyBankShaker

Thanks wantabetterlife

PiggyBankShaker

My 200th post! I'll make it a quickie. Work is no better, some people have been told they have to reapply for their jobs (not me, but still sad about the 'part time' axe hanging over my head) morale is super low and a quick scout of the jobs pages show that nothing is out there for me at the moment.

ATS is stressed, which is unusual, and I am finding it had to keep optimism up. May feels a long way off and the uncertainty doesn't help my anxiety. Come May, if everything does stay exactly the way it is now, we'll still be worse off financially as our Tax Credits will come to an end with the changes coming in in the new financial year.

I haven't made the calls yet, but I am going to cancel all my outstanding credit cards, I think I have two; Virgin and Barclay, but I think there is a chance that an old Egg one is still live too. I remembering trying to cancel it before and it being a bit of a headache... It will feel good to get rid of the plastic. I still can't believe that the debt has gone. I feel like something should have happened, like a certificate or a congratulatory letter arriving or something. With the exception of here, it has passed entirely without note or mention. Even ATS is not that fussed. :cool:

Pay day is little over a week away and it will be nice to squirrel it away. I used to love saving as a kid/teen, and am sure I will get good at it again.

I used to find that saving was a great antidote to wastefulness, as you knew just how long it had taken to save the money and it put you off frittering it away. That's why I had such bad credit cards debts I think; it seemed so easy and guilt free. Ha! not any more!

PiggyBankShaker

Had a bad week money wise since my last post. Had about £400 in my account 9 days ago and I spent £650. In my defence, some was on new glasses (about £230) some (£100) was on expenses for work that I will get back and £75 was on a present for me and ATS. I spent about £50 on eBay for some bits for myself and DD and also £70 on horse riding lessons. On the positive side, I didn't spend anything on credit at all, and some of it will be coming back through work. The other thing is I feel totally different about spending money these days. Before I wouldn't have batted an eyelid at spending that amount and them some, and also I wouldn't have looked for second hand stuff on ebay, I would have bought new and far more expensive.

Still, it is spent now and not in our new squirrel account where it should be. I will be the most uber frugal it is possible to be after Monday and try and remember that its not my money I'm spending but the money we need to pay off ATS credit card when his 0% runs out.

I will do better...

PiggyBankShaker

First pay day has been and gone and with it all my money! Flat broke now until the 10th, but if I get me expenses in on time I will have a pay of £1562, most of which will need saving.

Transfered over to a new ISA after seeing an article on the MSE homepage, getting a rate of 3.1% now instead of 1.75%. There's not much money in there at the moment (£2,000) but we need to save like mad things the next few months and every little bit help, right?

Finally got an extractor fan installed in the bathroom today, need to give it a good scrub down and lick of paint and redo the silicone. After that it should look like new and be also be easier to keep that way with no condensation getting all mouldy.

I have applied for 2 jobs this week. One is full time and pays £34,500 the other is three day a week, 12 month contract and pays £35,000. Now I have more or less made my mind up to leave the current job, I can't wait to go. The only possible way I would stay is if the offered me a promotion, but at the moment I can't see that happening.

PiggyBankShaker

When accounting for all the expenditure this month I 'forgot' about the car insurance. Got a nice cheap quote - £346 (saving £100) but due to cash flow I had to put it on the dreaded Credit Card! It's only until the 10th March, but still I feel a bit disappointed. I had moved all our spare cash to the ISA and it would have defeated the point of it to take some back out again for 6 days.

Anyway, good news is I will be getting my expenses on time, all £442 of them. Yippee. This is a huge help and will offset the car insurance and part of my glasses. We hadn't budgetted for my glasses at all.

Also, as we bought the car insurance through Compare the Market we get the meerkat toy which we can sell for £15+ on eBay. We have a few bits to list but little time to do them at the moment. I need to pull my finger out and get on with this.

I am applying for jobs like mad at the moment. I have submitted two applications, have two more I'm working on an a fifth to do in a few days. They are all better paid and this will help hugely if we don't get the other contracts renewed in a couple of months time.