Tales from a country cottage

Igamogam

I think I may pinch your stolen signature idea too

ani*fan

Feel free Igamogam.

Well, another mad week busy week nearly finished. Thank goodness.

I managed to add another couple of car trips to my expenses so the total, when it arrives, will be somewhere in the region of £240. Add another £60 and that's my supervision bill paid. :T

Another client has paid me early so I don't have the end-of-month panic I usually do. But I'm well aware I may end up spending next month's money. Not good.

I'm not doing very well with pre-booking train tickets. I just don't have the cash right now. I'll need to get onto it on pay day and buy the whole lot for the month in one go.

Checked online banking and have just had another charge added. I'm fairly raging :mad:. They have caused us so much grief by doing this you just wouldn't believe it. This cycle has been on the go for about 4 months, where they charged us which sent us into overdraft so they charged us again. It's outrageous they are allowed to do that. It really is. I would change banks but I realise they are all the same. Maybe closing that account is the only way to get it to stop?

Anyway, enough ranting and onwards with the debt busting.

ani*fan

I've managed to stick to my lunch plan this week. I've not bought a single sandwich or bottle of juice or anything. Also picked up another loaf of bread yesterday so I can make lunch today. This feels like a huge change in itself. Progress. :T

I also managed to avert a disaster yesterday. My pay slip arrived early, and it's NEVER early. Late, or not arriving at all is usual but not early. Anyway, they had forgot to add my new hours at work so my wage was the same as before. I managed to get it sorted out with about 5 minutes to spare before the wages went through from head office. It feels like the universe is behind me and encouraging me at the moment. It's good to have the support.

Only two weeks until I get some time off from work. It won't be a complete break as I still need to go to uni and do my private work but it will be much easier than these last two weeks have been. My first proper break will be christmas. Just hope I can keep going.

The only chores I need to do are:

• pay some cash into the bank
• pack my bag for this horrible trip with my team. I so can't wait until it's over. It will be such a weight off my mind.
• sort out the tax
• buy train tickets

I think that's about it for now. Have a lovely Friday everyone.

Igamogam

Bank charges - grrrr. Get on the phone and complain loud and long and if yiu dont get a refund then tell them you are submitting a complaint to financial ombusman and of course follow up with said complaint - its unfair if nothing else

Wages slip up - phew!

MSE actvities ( making own lunch) - yay!

Onwards and downwards - your debts that is IYSWIM

satchmo1

Hi Ani

You are doing so well, and I've really enjoyed reading your diary from the beginning.

Have you thought to buy your train tickets on t'internet via a cashback site? I use P1gsback and save up the points for M&S vouchers - useful for presents or to buy some yummy meal deals.

Also, for fuel expenses, do you take colleagues sometimes? Our organisation adds an extra 5p per passenger per mile. So 45p per mile became 55p per mile for a 60 miles journey last month, then 45ppm became 50ppm for a 160 mile journey last week. Ker-ching.

For socialising, a colleague of mine recently did a "Come Dine With Me" type thing over 4 weekends, where 4 couples took turns and they marked each others efforts. She said it was great fun, but sadly there wasn't a £1k prize at the end.

Can you sell your surplus fruit at work? Or the jam/chutney?

Have you cut down on the dreaded cigs?

Hugs, Satchmo x

ani*fan

Hi everyone! And hi satchmo1...great to meet you. :wave:

Feels like I've been away from here forever but it's only been 5 days. 5 crazy, busy mad days!

The weekend turned out to be cheaper than I expected (when does THAT ever happen? ) so we had just enough cash to get by. I had more fun than I thought and we actually won the game, which is a miracle. But it was a long tiring weekend and I didn't get home til late sunday night. So far this week has been a bit of a blur as I'm working hard and trying to catch up on sleep.

Satchmo, I've never thought of using a cash back site for my train tickets. What a brilliant idea. I'll look into that. I'll also suggest at work that we get extra cash for car sharing but I think they're too mean to consider it. It's worth a try though.

I got paid the correct wage on tues and got straight into taking out a tenner for a pint of milk and blowing the rest on rubbish. Grrr. :mad: I get so annoyed with myself when I do this. I'm working all these hours to get the debt down then frittering away the cash. Not clever. Fortunately I've caught myself in time before the whole of this month's budget is blown.

I'm pretty rubbish at making jam, not sure anyone would pay to eat it. Maybe I could pay them to take it off my hands?

Tonight I need to:

• check all is well with the bank account and no nasty surprises
• book train tickets
• contact a buddy on my course
• try and get the cottage looking as though its not just been burgled
• get to bed early
• do some reading for my course if i get time

My travel expenses will be through in the next couple of days so I can get one small debt sorted out. I'm a bit excited about this but don't quite believe it's going to happen yet. Fingers crossed.

Hope everyone is doing well and debt busting like crazy.

ani*fan

Also, I don't want to talk about the smoking. I'm ashamed of myself.

ani*fan

Right. Today I will not smoke any cigarettes. Tomorrow I might change my mind but just for today, I will not do it.

I'm away to join the quit smoking thread.

Forgot to mention, Satchmo1, the 'come dine with me' idea. Love it, love it, love it. Definitely considering that one.

I'm still on my 'take lunch to work' challenge and still going strong. It's easier than I expected.

Igamogam

ani*fan wrote: »

Right. Today I will not smoke any cigarettes. Tomorrow I might change my mind but just for today, I will not do it.

I'm away to join the quit smoking thread.

Forgot to mention, Satchmo1, the 'come dine with me' idea. Love it, love it, love it. Definitely considering that one.

I'm still on my 'take lunch to work' challenge and still going strong. It's easier than I expected.

Good one day at a time is probably best - hark at me I have no idea of course cos never been in your situation - but think of the money ani*fan, think of the money.........................:)

ani*fan

I know Igamogam, the money itself should be enought to get me to quit. But it's the sore throats and raspy chest that make me want to quit more. And the time spent inhaling poisonous fumes into my lungs.

I've decided to use the cash not only to pay off some debt but to give myself a makeover. I need a haircut and eyebrow wax, some new clothes and a bag for uni. This is a work in progress and will not happen overnight but I've decided to have a backlash against growing old and take better care of myself.

So that's the plan. Have just been over to the quit smoking thread and complained about nicotine withdrawal. It's still bad but I'm hanging in there.

Hope everyone is well in mse world.