Blinking in the brightness of the lightbulb moment

ZTD

Cat2011 wrote: »

I'm currently doing a part-time Masters, and my next module started today. That means I'm going to have to spend a lot of my time working on that, so will have less time to focus on money-saving . Hopefully it won't grind to a holt tho.

If you're focussed on your Masters, then you also are not spending.

Good luck with it.

Cat2011

Cat2011 wrote: »

Decided to keep track of the balance each month, as sig keeps changing I'm never sure how much I've actually paid off. I should probably have a spreadsheet for this...
Anyway - After August payday. Balance = -£7438.81

September payday!

The money has started coming through for the mystery shops, have had £63 so far, I am owed a few hundred more tho.

Managed to extract a bit from the bookies, but still have about £400 tied up there which I'm not counting at the moment.

So after September payday Balance = -7,420.20

Have managed to pay off another £18.61 this month :rotfl:. Not a staggering amount!, but did spend £935 on sofas, so guess I actually paid off £953.61.

Not planning on spending much in October, so can hopefully make a big dent next month.

Cat2011

So - it's Monday. A great day for sorting things out!

I came to a few realisations over the weekend. I'm currently working as a scientist, but I've been umming and ahhing about being a doctor for quite a while. Earlier this year I decided that it was about time I actually did something about it - so I'm applying for a graduate medicine course! :eek: . It's all very scary - but hopefully it'll mean that I'll be doing what I actually want to do with my life . The test I alluded to early in my diary was the UKCAT which is required to apply to some of the uni's. I spent most of Saturday narrowing down which uni's I want to apply to. I've got some caring experience, and have started filling in the UCAS form.... just got to write my personal statement . I'm so pleased that I've made this decision - but I'm very concious of how incredibly competitive it is. However I'm going to look on the brightside and assume I get in...

Therein lies the problem.

I have 7.5k of debt. I need 3k for my 1st year tuition fees, the rest will be paid by loan/NHS bursary. I can get about 5k in student loan, which will cover accomodation, so need about another 5k to actually live on.

So - By next October - I need to pay off 7.5k in debt and have earnt 3k+5k to see me through my first year - which means saving 15.5k in the next 12 months - just shy of £1,300 a month :eek:.

So how am I going to do this?

Cat2011

• Stop spending money

I've been sneaking in a few top up shops, cups of coffee at work, drinks at petrol stations etc. So I'm going to try really hard with the no spend days. I shouldn't be spending a penny Mon-Fri - bar diesel. I've managed a NSD so far today .

• Get a 2nd job

There's no oppourtunity for overtime in my job, so I need to get another job. Now is an ideal time, as it's the run up to Christmas, and lots of places are recruiting - but I'm a little concerned that this is going to take time away from my Masters. I guess there's no harm in applying, saying I can only do 8hrs a week, and see what they say. I can definitely work an extra job or two after Christmas, but don't want to waste the next few months, and working when they're desperate for people, might get me a foot in the door for after Christmas...

• Sell stuff (eBay/Amazon/car boot sales)

I have every book and DVD I own listed on Amazon, but they're selling really slowly. I need to go through everything I own and put anything I don't need on eBay. Will carboot anything that hasn't sold next summer once carboots start again (and I've got some tables from my parents at Christmas time).

• Rent out another room

I currently rent out some rooms in my house. There is a box room I could rent out as a single, probably bring in £300/mth. Only issue, is I would need to buy another fridge/freezer, as we're tight on space at the moment. In theory I would also have to register my house as an HMO (house of multiple occupation) with the council, costing £375, and taking up to 12 weeks.... But maybe if I just get short term people in I could avoid that. I'd also have to get furniture, and might upset current housemates if they lose some storage space. So the costs might negate the profit? Will have to think about it.

• Interest-only mortgage

I might be able to drop my mortgage to interest only - but again that might cause more problems than it solves.

• Sell my car next October?

As a student I might not need a car. So that would give me maybe £2k. But I'd have to pay for public transport and how do I get home for Chistmas? Most of my hobbies (cycling/triathlon/climbing) require a car to take me and my kit somewhere. Think that might be a non-starter.

• Grants

Once I know I'm in I can apply to every grant-making body I might be eligible for. But these are rare, and will likely only be £200 max. Every penny helps.

• Surveys

When I'm not working/studying I'll try and do some surveys.

• Mystery shopping

I'll keep up the mystery shopping and try and chase some more visits. It's gone very quite at the moment, but I'm hoping that's just because it's the end of the month?


Ummm..... how else can I make/save money? Any ideas?

Think I'll also keep a running total of everything I put into my savings accounts. At the moment I just look at how much it's increased at the end of the month, so have no idea how much I'm actually saving up on a weekly basis... If I keep a running total, I can use it as an incentive to keep working hard all month.

Claree__x

Have you thought about Avon or something like that? I make around £50 every 3 weeks, it's not much but it does help - and that's just selling to friends and family so there's minimal effort involved.

Good luck with everything - you seem to be doing really well and I really hope you get into the course, personal statements are scary but you just have to get over the fact you feel like a prat and get on with bigging yourself up

ZTD

Is this course instead of/as well as the Masters?

And a rather more personal question: How old are you? Can the postgrad medical course wait a year?

Cat2011

Thanks for the Avon example. I'll investigate.

This is as well as the Masters. Hopefully I'll finish the Masters next Summer, and then start Medicine next October. I'm 28 now, I'll be 29 when starting the course - so I am getting on a bit. Now you've said it waiting another year does seem a sensible thing to do (but I want it NOW!! ), I never really considered that. I am getting on a bit so I need to decide how many times I'm going to apply. Just once? Or repeatedly til I get in? I'm aware I might be damaging my science career if I'm always putting it on hold "in case I get into medicine".

I'm very much of the view that you can achieve anything that you set your mind to. Hopefully I'll get in - but if I don't at least a silver lining will be that I have another year to pay off debt and save up...

ZTD

Cat2011 wrote: »

This is as well as the Masters. Hopefully I'll finish the Masters next Summer, and then start Medicine next October. I'm 28 now, I'll be 29 when starting the course - so I am getting on a bit.

Ooh...29...Methuselah...

Cat2011 wrote: »

Now you've said it waiting another year does seem a sensible thing to do (but I want it NOW!! ), I never really considered that. I am getting on a bit so I need to decide how many times I'm going to apply. Just once? Or repeatedly til I get in? I'm aware I might be damaging my science career if I'm always putting it on hold "in case I get into medicine".

Right, first of all, why do you want to go into medicine? Is the current state of your science career anything to do with it?

Cat2011 wrote: »

I'm very much of the view that you can achieve anything that you set your mind to. Hopefully I'll get in - but if I don't at least a silver lining will be that I have another year to pay off debt and save up...

First thing to do is examine *why* you want this. You are making a commitment in time, effort and money, so you want to be sure it's not just a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Cat2011

October Tally of savings.
Need £1,300. Saved £4.50

£4.50 - Daily round down of bank accounts

Cat2011

October Tally of savings.
Need £1,300. Saved £8.98

£4.50 - Daily round down of bank accounts
£4.48 - Daily round down