Story of one man's LONG road to financial recovery

turbo.jet

Opened my sealed pot today - £163.01. Not bad considering I only really started in earnest in October. I paid it straight into the bank and put half of it in my "Flat mortgage deposit" savings account (ISA) and half in my "Treat" savings account (High Interest savings account). I plan to treat myself to a new bed-frame which I have my eye on when my "Treat" account reaches £210.

LondonGirl252

That's loads! Well done, nice that you can put it towards savings and treats now

turbo.jet

Thanks... there was once a time where if Id wanted something like a new bed I'd just get it on a credit card. Now I get so much satisfaction for buying treats for myself with my own money.

Even though I'm doing a 50/50 split this time, usually (ie any windfall money or with my usual monthly savings allocation) I make sure the amount I am saving towards my deposit is significantly more than my savings towards a treat. I believe you have to have the smaller treats (can you call a bed small? hehe) otherwise you end up falling off the wagon. You need to reward yourself for all the savings efforts because if they aren't rewarding in the short term, you won't associate any good feelings towards it. Well... that's my theory anyway

LondonGirl252

I think it's a very good theory!

turbo.jet

Hi...

Haven't posted for ages I know... I guess I haven't had much to report finance wise until today.

The savings hasn't really grown much thanks to the Christmas period etc. However it was great to have the first christmas where I didn't use credit, meaning that as soon as I got my January pay I was able to resume my usual monthly savings regime.

I'm a bit excited today too because I just received my £100 incentive from Santander for switching my household bills account to them. I moved the £100 straight over to my savings account, then initiated another switch to Halifax. Haha. Martin Lewis just called me a slag on twitter, but I wasn't offended.

Halifax actually pay £5 a month when you pay in £1000, which our rent + bills will cover, so not only will I get another £100 for switching, but £5 a month. I like the idea of a company that pays its customers to be with them! hehe.

I haven't bought the bed I mentioned above, even though I have saved plenty. I just can't bring myself to spend the money on something so expensive that I don't truly need. Oh my how times have changed. I still may get it one day, but not at the moment. I did give myself a reward/treat for getting out of debt and saving so much money at the end of last year too which is preventing me from making another purchase.

The other piece of financial news is that my photographer friend has said she'd like to teach me how to take photos (previously she'd only used me to print the photos at events) so hopefully I should get a lot of night time work with her doing that. I love working with her who knows, apart from being a bit of extra cash towards the mortgage deposit, it could be an exciting new career direction for me

Hope everyone is well.

LondonGirl252

Hey!

Well done on your first xmas in the black, that's awesome. Im sure the savings will soon pile up especially with all that extra cash from moving around - love it - you schlag! haha

No need to rush into spending the money, something you want even more might come along. Funny how us debt busters go from one extreme to the other.

Really exciting about your new photography career could prove to be a very useful skill!

Well chuffed its all going in the right direction for you mate

Creasey29

It's nice to read about life after the debt and that you are doing so well! Hope things continue to be positive for you x

turbo.jet

Thank you, I do hope there are people who appreciate hearing my ramblings I also hope you too can soon feel the benefits that come from being debt free.

Had a crazy emotional and tiring weekend this weekend. As you'll know the UK was covered in masses of snow on Saturday night. It was particularly heavy in the area my sister lives in and the roads all became beyond impassable. The motorways were struggling with overturned vehicles and closures and all in all it was a disaster. So obviously this is when my sister goes into labour :eek:

So, because of the snow and traffic carnage, and because the labour was VERY very quick, neither the midwife, her deputy, nor the ambulance could reach my sister in time and my mum ended up delivering my beautiful new niece on the dining room floor as directed by the 999 operator. The ambulance eventually got close enough to the house for my sister to trudge up the road in the snow with baby to be taken to hospital to complete the necessaries of childbirth (the details of which I'll spare you! ).

Thankfully both mum and baby are both well and back at home. It was a very emotional day for everyone concerned, exacerbated by the fact none of us had any sleep during the night. I was so so so proud of my Mum for doing such a great job as midwife, and especially proud of my sister for being so strong and brave.

The mad thing for me was, I had actually been up at my sister's house earlier that day, and had eventually managed to get home to London after battling the snow for hours myself. It was only a couple of hours after I got home the above all happened, so I set off in the middle of the night to try and get back up there again and relieve my exhausted, tired and emotional mother of babysitting duties. The journey there took me about 6 hours in total and involved miles and miles of trudging through snow, a coach ride, a stint in Stansted airport trying to get a taxi, then being rescued by a friend of my sister's who had a 4x4.

I was looking after my sister's other baby yesterday who is 18 months old and required every remaining shred of my energy. I slept like a log last night! All in all, I'm very very happy to welcome my beautiful new niece into the world. :T

LondonGirl252

Oh my goodness!!!

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS!!! Uncle TJ round 2! That's an incredible story, what a star your Mum must have been! And well done for getting back there! So pleased to hear all are OK after the drama and what a story you all have to tell about the birth

You must be proud as punch xxx

turbo.jet

Thanks, I'm so pleased. I now have a niece and a nephew - what more could an uncle want? I can't wait until she shows her personality and starts interacting with people. It is SO rewarding when I see my nephew, he gets very very excited to see me and I get such a kick out of it.

I forgot to mention, from an MSE perspective the ad hoc trip in the middle of the night to get there blew the carefully panned budget for this month well out of the water - worth it of course and I have no problem, but might have to pull a little out of savings to bring me to the end of the month without having to resort to credit! That's what savings are for though right? Well... partly anyway.