London Socialite Sees The Light

LondonGirl252

Hi all,

quick update


thanks for your lovely messages about my friend, she had a really tough week in hospital but is resting from home now and slowly getting there.


My nephew was absolutley lovely, it was so nice to meet him


Work has been about the worst ever this month, with the combination of year end, month end and general carp I almost reached breaking point last week, I daren't count the hours I worked or I may faint.work have been good in buying us dinner in the evenings and letting us expense our taxis home but we have to pay upfront and I hadn't budgeted for over £100 in taxi journeys but hey ho.


Other than that having the separate spending account is really working and I'm finding it easier to control spending.


A very good friend of mine is having issues with a new housemate, she's going to speak to her tonight and if the girl agrees to look for a new place then I have agreed to move in! Its more expensive being in a swish part of London but the house is huge and the girls are all lovely and I know them well, it even has a garden and a bath which I dont have right now. Plus the rent deposit and tenancy agreements are done propoerly as her parents own the house and would be my landlords.

Currently my rent deposit is held by the landlady and we dont have a tenancy agreement so the extra peace of mind would be nice!so if that happens I will need to find £1000 in rent deposit until my £680 is returned and re-jig the budget to allow for slightly higher rent but hoping it shouldnt' set me back too much

Hopefully from next week working hours will be more manageable, it really is a struggle right now...

Erme

Och I hope you managed to get that nice flat sorted LG...

Sorry to hear about your friend but yeah with DFD looming it's so exciting

Re smoking FM1 - can't he can an e-cig. There's an e-cig thread on here somewhere - let me find the link - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1243625 - just go for the friendly info forum and not like every tom, !!!!!! and harry that spams that thread :mad

Don't go on the stop smoking thread as she makes it difficult and like can be quite patronizing (and get all my posts no matter what they say, deleted Oh to be brown nosing a board guide)

Anyhow how is DN1..how was the labour? he must be what? 6 weeks now

E

LondonGirl252

Hi

Its feels like its been forever since I wrote on here. Work just hasn't let up at all, its a lot of pressure and to manage that I've just been putting all my time into it I guess. To make sure I have some time to myself and have some form of a work life balance I joined the gym thats right on the way to the office, its really expensive but its so nice and I've been going every single morning before work and doing one of the classes and I love it, so I'm definitley getting my moneys worth! I feel so much better going into the office having had some time to myself doing something other than work.

I'm just starting to go back horseriding on Saturdays too, I took a break from that as I couldnt manage the 5am starts followed by a 12 hour day in the office. After my friend took her fall it made me realise I didnt want to take that risk riding big feisty horses so often but they're putting more and more pressure on us to ride as much as we can and keep making noises about asking people to leave if they dont come a few times a week. I'm struggling to want or be able to put that much time into it at the moment but I'm going to keep going Saturdays and if that isn't enough maybe its time to call it a day for riding for them. We'll see.

My friend did speak to the nightmare housemate and has asked her to look for somewhere else to live but legally she can't give her notice to leave for another 5 months so it just depends if this girl can/will find somewhere else sooner. So for now im staying put until she moves on.

Pay day tomorrow, since I have £900 left on my credit card I'm going to pay £450 off it tomorrow and the rest next payday. That will just leave me with my loan, I'm going to keep paying the direct debit of £104.79 a month off that until I have saved up enough to pay in full.

I had a statement from the bank for the loan which had my loan balance on and the amount needed to settle in full and the difference between the two really wasn't much at all. So whilst the idea of getting it paid of ASAP to be debt free is appealling I'm not really gaining financially from it enough.

I've made a decision therefore that since I'll be in a position in a month where I've paid off all my credit card debt and anything where interest can increase by me paying off slower that I'm going to put spending a bit of money on myself first, I'm going to go to California in September with my friend (we'll only have to pay for flights as we can stay with her parents). So when I get my bonus next month I'm going to book and pay for that and throughout the year as my savings increase, once I've saved enough to pay off the loan, I will but I'm just not going to bust a gut to do it within a few months and forfeit the holiday to do so.

Some people may not agree with my thinking but that's OK, all I know is that I need to start looking after myself a bit more. Too many friends have commented recently on how stressed I've been and its not healthy.

xx

JennyJenJen

Totally agree, if its not saving you anything to pay it off, you may as well as feel the benefits of having the extra funds instead.

Have you thought about saving with Premium Bonds? I have a couple of 0% cards at the moment (with balances) and have saved the money I need to pay them off in premium bonds. Obviously you dont get paid interest but for the amounts you (and I!) are saving its not a big deal I dont think and theres always the chance you might win the big million!! Easily accessible when you want the money back too

LondonGirl252

I hadnt thought of that but will look into it! Thanks

LondonGirl252

Over 75% of debt paid off!!! Just one more payment on my credit card to go and then I'll just be left with the loan

mark55man

In today's really really low interest rates PB's aren't too bad especially for tax payers - just remember to be careful/diligent and put the money in to cover your card spending, so when you take it out you have enough to clear the card.

LondonGirl252

Thanks I will look into it, I need to have a look at exactly how much I want to save after next month and where to put it.

Now, here's a question. When I book my flights to California next month I'm thinking there's extra security added when using a credit card? Yes? Is it silly to pay for such an expensive flight on my debit card? We're travelling with Virgin, I'm thinking that if I can be 100% sure I will be sensible it might be worth getting a card I can earn airmiles on? But I'm just really worried I might forget everything I've learnt in the last couple of years and spend on it. And I'd rather stick to my debit card for the sake of a few airmiles!

Needs thought I guess

I'm having a rare afternoon off at home on the couch under my duvet, 2 months today I fly to ibiza with the family and I can't flipping wait. It will be 3 years since i had a holiday!!!! I need a break from work, I think I am a workaholic. Hmmm

mark55man

some debit cards have purchase protection as well, but I think it is safest to use a credit card. I assume you have got your tickets from an agent who is part of all the proper schemes

I don't know about airmiles, most travelling done on the company dollar or private short haul. plenty of threads about them - I seem to recall Tesco did a good deal with the clubcards but that was a while ago and may not still be true

LondonGirl252

We'll be buying the tickets direct from Virgin, but I did manage to get a Lloyds airmiles credit card and I'm going to get the limit capped at £1k. I'm going to trial if I am good enough with spending now to use that for everday groceries etc and pay it off immediatley so I can earn airmiles for money I'd spend anyway

The first hint at me abusing it and it will be gone!

I can link my clubcard account to it and turn my points to airmiles too!