London Socialite Sees The Light

LondonGirl252

miggy wrote: »

We will let you off for not posting - just this once, mind you. The celebrations sound fab, all the more as you actually got a bed to sleep in later!



*Migs tugs cap, shuffles feet awkwardly*

Thanks! Yes I didn't feel bad about the boys sharing the sofa! tee hee!

Need to curb the celebrating and get money saving!

Buffythedebtslayer

Hello Londongirl,

I barely post these days but figured you would have your results by now!


I am SO chuffed for you, that is FANTASTIC NEWS.

Hope the celebrations continue this weekend!!!!!!

Love Buffy xxx

mark55man

to be honest no I wouldn't start a new diary. you haven't changed the journey - you just changed the speed

Really getting to 0 isn't really the final destination - just a fabulous point to stop for a bit be proud (again) of how far you come.

as an older gent (not that old) I would far rather have done without some of the stuff I had in my 20s/30s and spend it on more important stuff now.

Mr Micawber was right : remember - when you are ahead in the money game it all works for you, when you are behind it all works against!!

determined_new_ms

Hey LG just caught up with you. Congratulations honey! Am sooooooo happy for you that all your hard work has paid off! I haven't been around much as have so much on. But wow look how far you have come in a year! Very proud of you treacle x

Angry_Bear

Just got back from hols and saw your good news. I still lurk, but figured this was a good enough reason to surface with a big

WELL DONE! :beer::j

Erme

Sorry I haven't been on for a while but like just wanted to say

WELL DONE LG (so sorry this isn't in fancy colours or like bold or anything)

Knee playing up and OU starts next week - bring it on!!!

So funny last night in the lift. Snobby polish girl upstairs came back from a round the world trip and said 'are you still smoking' I said 'you know when I smoke cos you can smell it and I've had 2 oz all year' 'so what's that in your hand' 'an e-cig - vapourizer. I'm not smoking. I'm vaping' 'ooh (smile came right off her face) as I quit cold turkey 3 months ago' I thought...yeah...and I did it over a year ago

E

LondonGirl252

Thanks everybody, it is so nice to be receiving congratulations still, can't believe it was two weeks ago nearly!! Its flown by!

On the 27th September it was a year ago that I started this diary, I remember it well. I had a couple of days off from work and spent most of it in tears over the state of my money and spent most of those 2 days on this website and since then I have paid off £5,940.80 in debt (45% of my original total)! I'm a tad disapointed that I can't say I'm halfway there as I think if I had been able to keep up the higher re-payments pre-exam season I would have smashed that 50% mark!

I'm still really pleased though and the last 6 months have been the toughest, the exams really took it out of me and I know that now they're done I can take a fresh look at this and gear up the debt-busting.

The current state of finances:

Halifax credit card: £367.14 (I had to pay fees to CIMA to transfer to be a full member - waiting for work to re-imburse me)

Nationwide credit card: £150

Nationwide loan: £3,877.23

Post Office credit card: £3,112.22

All the direct debits for this month have been paid except the Post Office which is £78.

Hoping that work will re-imburse me for CIMA fees before payday so I can make this months figures look better, they pay it into my current account then I will need to transfer over.

No more news on the salary change, its being discussed with management and HR I would love for it to happen by pay at end of October but there is a chance it won't so trying not to get my hopes up. So far I haven't made any budgets or plans for the new salary as I don't know how much it will be and don't want to get over-ambitious. When I do get it, it should be back dated to the date I got my results - again not guaranteed but I could use the back pay to back off a large chunk to make up for the smaller re-payments recently.

Plan

1) Halifax and Nationwide credit cards. Nice small balances, hopefully be gone this month, if not, definitley next month which will leave me with 2 debts by 2013.

2)Post Office credit card. The 0% runs out at the end of January, so as soon as I can overpay all the extra ££ will go to this one. We get bonuses at end of Feb so I would like to think that rather than having to balance transfer to get another 0% deal that I can wait a month and just pay it all off with my bonus. (providing we get one - rumour mill says yes)

3) Nationwide loan. Last but by no means least! The balance stated above includes the interest for the entire loan, if I pay it off in one full and final settlement I will save on interest. So once the rest are gone, I will be transferring a sizeable (hopefully) sum into a saver account every month and once I have enough to pay it all off I will do that!

Current debt free debt is 25.01.2014 this includes no payrises or bonuses or share scheme money. I am hoping to bring this forward by a huge 9 months and be debt free by my 25th birthday in May 2013. Which should be fine if payrise and bonsus is as expected and hoped for, I know none of it is guaranteed hence I haven't changed my spreadsheet yet!

In March the new share scheme will be launched and I will have the option to cancel my current one and start a new one (or not) by that point I will have £1,500 saved in my current one, so if I feel it is a better idea there is nothing stopping me cancelling that plan and using the £1,500 to pay off a chunk of debt.

That's the overall plan.

This month has started OK, I think I'm about £80 short for the month as this weekend involves a ball, Ascot and my nieces birthday!

Ball is paid for and Ascot is free tickets, I have budgeted £40 for each night/day and will take just that cash, nothing more. I reckon I can come in below that as the ball ticket includes all drink and I don't need to drink at Ascot just need train fare and lunch! No plans for the rest of the month so can save money by staying in and being good!

The last few months have made me realise I'm most frivilous with money when I am not checking my spreadsheet everyday and therefore not keeping myself in check. No matter how busy I am at work I am going get back into that habit and that will make me realise I cannot afford to do all the things I have been doing recently.

Now winter is coming I am going to print off some soup recipes and start filling the freezer back up with batch cooked meals. There never seems to be as much room in it as there used to be so going to give it a clear out and try to get my flatmates to bin some stuff they dont want!

I got sent a mag in the post the other day and my mug is printed in it from the day at the races I went to in August! SO funny, quite a nice picture too so sent Mum and copy!

Granny is back home now and recovering well which is a releif!

Looking forward to the new flatmate joining us at the end of October. P has given his notice to the landlady so just waiting for her reply. We have a sneaky suspicion she will use it as an excuse to increase the rent as that happened when I moved in. If she does, we have a list as long as your arm of things that need to be fixed before we part with a penny of extra cash!

LG252 (CIMA) Yay!

Horace

Well done on passing the exams LG:j:beer::T

Sorry I havent been around much - I have been doing stuff around the house (I still cannot match mother's standard of cleanliness..humph) and I have been doing a lot of digging in the garden - my front garden is totally done at long last - all I need to do is plant bulbs which I am not looking forward to.

It would appear that I am now an old crock as I have osteo arthritis in my knees and possibly my ankles and feet too judging by the pain I have been having and the clicking of my joints (all caused by falling off things and by gymnastics as a kid).

Glad to hear that your Gran is now home and recovering well too.

miggy

I can see the debts beating a hasty retreat as you type!

You mustn't feel the debt-busting wasn't on target recently, even if you weren't paying off as fast as you would have liked. If you think of it, what you were doing was longer-term debt-busting. The increased salary will enable you to pay back far faster than your previous income, so a little more spending to get you through exams was in fact money well invested.

I'm in soup-making mode too. There are some good recipes on the Forum, as I expect you've discovered! http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=346783... for example.

Horace, sorry to hear you're in the wars. If it's any consolation, apparently gymnastics as a youngster is fantastic for building good bones.

LondonGirl252

The debts should be quivering in fear! Their days are well and truly numbered :eek::eek::eek:

I like that long term view Miggy and at least the number has continued to decrease each month, this time a couple of years ago it was soaring into the sky never to be restrained.

Thanks for the link, will check that out now!

Thanks Horace :j

Sorry to hear about your knees, can you have any physio or treatments to ease the pain and make it more comfortable?

Have updated my spreadsheet for today, have £17 in my purse and £130 in the bank for the rest of the month which equates to £6.68 a day. The ascot and ball money is separate and no real plans for the month after this so hoping to come in on budget.

Tried on my ball dress this morning, a little tight but still looks nice and found my old shoes. Just not sure what to wear over it as the drinks reception is outside (no rain permitting) and will be cold... hmmm ideas?

I bumped into D, the guy I was dating a while ago this morning. He over took me on the walk to the tube and then I caught his eye as he waited to buy a ticket (I sailed through on my season pass) smiled, said hi, was a bit awkward so I stuck my head down and went through the barrier! Then he got on my carriage, so we stood chatting for the journey until I switched lines which was pleasant enough!

Time for a new dating adventure now I am free of the books? I think so!