The freezing, and the pain to come.

savingholmes

Hi FP - well done on earning all that money from your second job - and so quickly.

It does suck about the operation but you will get through this. I started the year with a blood transfusion and in some ways things went downhill from there - and I had an operation this year - I've also had some full pay and some half pay - but it wasn't really a problem as our mse ways were already established and other positives happened that helped turn things around. At least with what you know now - you are going to pay the short term cost of a train fare to get help from relatives rather than build up long term greater debt by not getting help when you need it. That is one big lesson right there - and you seem to have already learned that.

Rather than focusing on the negatives of this week - celebrate what you have achieved - which is a lot in a very short period.

Good luck - hope the operation goes well. Just do your best regarding cost saving / debt busting and just learn what you can from this experience so that when you are in a position to continue your DFW journey in earnest you have already got ideas and strategy in place

Want_to_be_free

Good luck with the operation...Good idea to go to parents...

financial_planner

Hi there!

Thank you all again for your encouragement.

Firstly, I should take back some of what I said about the NHS. The operation appears to have been a great success. The corrective surgery appears to have solved a major problem that was plauging me for nearly four months, they diagnosed it very quickly and operated on it within a week. I guess the bandages and surgical scars I can live with. As a female friend pointed out, they give me 'man points'.

Anyway, I'm laid up now at my parents, doing my best to follow the doctors orders. But I think I will be returning to action on Monday next week. If I can sit here and type on my computer, I might as well be doing the same at work.

In the meantime, I've not put the money saving on hold. This week I am just trying to keep the spending reigned in. The weekend will be expensive, guess it will be a few beers with some old friends tomorrow and then a wedding on Saturday. I guess that not having a social life isn't really an option at this stage in my life, and I might as well plan accordingly.

Spending this week (so far)

Monday

£3 Soup, bread, chocolate (lunch - forgot to take packed lunch to work:(
£2.38 mc donalds - comfort food day before surgery
£3 train fare back home - Can't wait until im back on my bike in 10 days time!.

Tuesday
£2.65 coffee in hospital, post surgery (not liking the NHS instant coffee!)
£6.97 wine for mum - as thanks for looking after me.

Wednesday
£1 coke
£2.30 coffee and soda water from supermarket
£0.60 strawberry milkshake.


= total £21.90, so far.

As for the weekend, I think it will be £10 tomorrow, and then closer to £50 for the wedding on Saturday (train fares,gifts etc).

Now that I'm laid up, though, I might as well use the time to try and plan out my future spending, for October at least, if that is possible!

Cheers
FP

savingholmes

Hi FP - don't rush back to work too soon - there is a big difference between surfing the net and being back in work. It takes a while for the anaesthetic to fully get out of your body. Also depending on what medications you are on they can make concentration more difficult. I went back to work too soon earlier in the year and had a few hellish months as I "hung on in there" in what is a nice job - I was just really struggling to do it. It made me more cautious after my recent operation. If you are not sure if you are fit enough either a) take doctor's advice b) take doc's advice and hedge your bets by going back part way thro the week and that way you have the weekend to recover before going back for a full week. I also tend to think if you are not up to simple household tasks you're not ready to go back to work so I would be tempted to test yourself out on some of those things first.

Just a thought. Hope you do feel better soon and hope the wedding goes well

chevalier

could some one give you a lift to the wedding by playing on the i have just had surgery card? just a thought
chev

savingholmes

Really pleased the operation was a success tho!! That sounds like it is a weight off your mind. does that mean that future operations are now less likely?

financial_planner

Hi all

Yep, I learned the 'operation recovery' lesson the hard way in the past. I tried to go back to work too soon, and ended up being useless, had to go on half time and ended up being referred to occupational health. So you can consider that lesson well and truly learned. Thanks for reminding me!

This time around it's a bit different, but perhaps not that different. I've refused all the painkillers and i'm nearly 48 hours on from the Anaesthetic, which is probably wearing off now with no ill effects. But its still too soon to tell. Need to be patient! But its difficult.

As for the wedding, think the train is the only option, its not that expensive and means that i'm not dependent on others if I want to crash out early.

Cheers, and onwards with the financial planning!
FP

financial_planner

oh yes - future operations - don't know the answer yet until I go to through the post op tests. Hopefully this is a successful conclusion, but its too soon to tell.

cheers

financial_planner

Another 'cold light of day moment'.

Well, two weeks on and the situation is not looking great. The consolation is that it could be a lot worse. I'm recovering well from the surgery, but I have to take another week off work, by order of the doctor.

Things went a bit crazy last week. I spent about £40 at home, mostly on gifts for my parents and of course also on myself. Then, at the weekend things went really wrong. I managed to spend £77 on going to this stupid party.

£13 for train there
£12 for a taxi to the venue
£4 for a card
£30 for share of a hotel room
£8 for train back, next day.
£10 on breakfast, lunch, yesterday.

To top things off, I spent another £5, at KFC. For dinner last night.

The crazy thing is, that if I look back, I could have done the whole thing for £13. Yes, £13!

All I would have needed to do, is take the train to a different station (nearby). And then walk to the party, and be disciplined and leave in time for the last train back. And eat my own food, that I have in my house. But, I messed it up.

The other piece of bad news is the finnish debt is closer to £450, not £300 as I had wrongly assumed. It seems like a pointless thing for me to be saying, but getting mixed up in foreign credit card debt is a BAD idea.

As for the bar job, well that was of course okay, but I was only paid £86 for 24 hours work. Problem is that I am taxed, then need to pay student loan contributions, and then National insurance. So, it ends up working out at £3.50 an hour. I guess for that kind of money you really need to enjoy working there.

On the other hand, I do feel like I am at a turning point, of sorts. Yesterday - a consequence of the party - I was walking around in my spiral of delusion about my financial affairs, thinking as always that 'it doesn't matter'. I even thought briefly of defrosting the credit cards. I was busy detesting all the 'sensible' people, having drunk lots of real ale and champagne the previous night (an unusually bad mix, leading to a rather toxic hangover).

(This mindset, of course, only plays in to the hands of the banks. I noticed that my bank deducts the interest and unauthorised borrowing fees out of your account just before you get paid at the end of the month. If your account (or your overdraft) is running on empty, this will push you even further in to the red, and they can take yet more the following month. But as you get paid so quickly afterwards, you probably won't notice. Clever, but moral?)

Anyway, this is all something of a digression. The point is that this morning I quickly called a halt on the delusions, made an appraisal of the damage, and faced up to reality.

miggy

Anyway, this is all something of a digression. The point is that this morning I quickly called a halt on the delusions, made an appraisal of the damage, and faced up to reality.

Damage limitation - always a good thing.

As you've said, pre-planning would have helped but at least you have the advantage that you can evaluate it it now and set things in place so that next time things don't go so far. If it were me, I think I'd even be tempted to write myself some instructions (- prestock fridge with things I like for under a fiver, - get train to X and walk, - set my alarm for whatever time to remind me I have to leave or pay the price, etc.).

What's done is done, but also gives you the opportunity to learn from real life. Sorry to sound horribly moralistic but it's true.

I'm pleased to hear you're recovering well. The week off will soon pass - could you spend some of it cooking for the freezer or something equally MS?

You're right about the banks and increasing the OD. That's why they have more money than us.

Time to pick yourself up and attack the problem afresh! Once the hangover's faded, of course.