How can I save?

thevinternet

AliceBanned wrote: »

Just realised I am quite depressed and it is workplace related to a large extent. I really want to leave! have to give two month's notice and in any case I wanted to lower my debts first. Can't see myself staying here. . I've never been happy here but can tolerate a lot at times, then suddenly feel like I'm crashing. There is a lot of bullying which goes ignored, and no union. No one who really understands the issue properly so I have to carry on and ignore as much as I can. My manager is ok and the bullying is from other women on my level but I'm not sure about my plans because of this. I've been crying at work today and yesterday and at home at 5am this morning. It's exhausting.

Poor you - I have been in similar workplaces - 'working with dangerous snakes' I used to call it - and you really have to watch your back all the time, it's exhausting.

Remember that famous Einstein quote:

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

In other words, annoying as your colleagues sound, if you aren't happy then the power is in your hands to change that. I don't want that to sound harsh, but inspiring!

If you could find a job in the new year that got you a similar amount of cash but had a better environment, that would probably be just as good as a pay rise...of course if you can find a job with both, that's even better :T

I know there's not much out there, but there ARE jobs, it's just a matter of persistence and patience! I'm sure with all your interests and experience you would be snapped up, you seem like a bright girl. Life is too short to be crying about work at 5am xx

FreshPrincess

thevinternet wrote: »

Great tip - I thought my £15 per month O2 deal was the best, obviously I've been wrong!

Can I also ask which hair dye you recommend? I am trying to avoid ones that are too damaging as I have quite fine hair and it breaks very easily

I was with o2 when it was iPhone exclusive and my OH worked at o2 so got a 30% discount. When contract ran out I asked to leave and they tried to get me to stay, but when I mentioned Tesco's offer the rep said they just couldn't beat it so fair enough, here's your PAC code! I bought an iPhone 4S not long ago sim-free off eBay (just to add to my debt, why not!) and with the help of internet guides, trimmed the sim down to "micro sim" size, required for new iPhones. To my relief, it worked. Had I phoned up Tesco to request a new micro sim, they would have obliged, for a fee, and also demand I am shoved onto an "iPhone tariff", and pay an extra £5-10 a month. Ridiculous but true.

RE: Hair colour, what hair colour are you ... and what do you want to be? I have dark hair but have been blonde for 2 years. It's been every colour under the sun before that, and I've tried every dye going. It depends which colour you're going for, but if you have weak hair, defo try L'Oreal Casting Creme Gloss (replaces the old Casting range) as they are semi permanent and have no ammonia, and leave your hair nice. They do a good blonde range too that I use to refresh my colour. If you're using dark dye, I'd recommend them. For my blonde hair, I use L'Oreal Excellence Creme, as it's designed for weak hair as contains keratin (protein) and also has a pre-treatment serum. Defo doesn't ruin my hair as much as others. I love the Light Ash Blonde shade as it gets rid of the orangey tones of my dark hair. I'd be happy to help you with hair dye dilemmas if you gave me more info. BTW I don't work for L'oreal, lol.:rotfl:

AliceBanned

thevinternet wrote: »

Poor you - I have been in similar workplaces - 'working with dangerous snakes' I used to call it - and you really have to watch your back all the time, it's exhausting.

Remember that famous Einstein quote:

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

In other words, annoying as your colleagues sound, if you aren't happy then the power is in your hands to change that. I don't want that to sound harsh, but inspiring!

If you could find a job in the new year that got you a similar amount of cash but had a better environment, that would probably be just as good as a pay rise...of course if you can find a job with both, that's even better :T

I know there's not much out there, but there ARE jobs, it's just a matter of persistence and patience! I'm sure with all your interests and experience you would be snapped up, you seem like a bright girl. Life is too short to be crying about work at 5am xx

Thanks, that's so kind and helpful. you are right, i need to get proactive. I get scared thoughts that maybe it's me and I won't get on anywhere but nobody can be as bad as one woman in my office, she's a total nightmare. She's such a bully and really screwed up. I have problems but I tend to be a bit of a pushover instead of chucking my problems at others. it does scare me but there must be jobs - I have a mental block in looking and applying as the depression is stopping me at the mo. it is so exhausting. I'm booking a bit of time off for Dec and Jan just to be away from there and at least get some rest and maybe then I'll be able to start looking for something. If I don't act now I will get desperate and may end up resigning with nothing to go to.

Thanks especially for the last sentence in your message. I really don't feel like that but I need to start believing in myself. I let these snakes get me down.

I've even asked my manager by email whether I can work from home on the day of xmas party as it is in the afternoon and I just can't face all the bullsh"t. I'm not someone who has good Christmases and I don't want to bring anyone else down with me.

AliceBanned

ps thevinternet - I couldn't work out how to cross out previous figure for debt and add another, without crossing the new figure out - you have done it in your post so could you let me know please? Silly I know, thought I was reasonably pc literate lol but it won't work.

oldtractor

AliceBanned wrote: »

Hi all

I've just used the SOA as seen in another post and have posted it below. I feel frustrated that I go round in circles and feel I will never improve my situation. Apart from getting a lodger (in my one bed HA rented flat, would be a squeeze) I can't see how i can ever save to buy my own place. I could stay in rented accommodation and I like my flat but I feel like I'm not achieving anything and this has been going on for all my adult life - low levels of debt but in the past had big problems (1 ccj due to be removed end of Nov) and one default (removed) and one arrangement (2006 not removed yet). I feel I will never get anywhere and pay quite high interest and want to get 0% balance transfer to help me pay things off and start again. I paid £35 on my Halifax reward c/a this month in fees, £5 of whcih due to employer paying us a day late!! this is first time I've done this SOA - I did it years ago to get two arrangements. It's depressing to see and I feel i'm getting poorer, as I suppose a lot of us are in these times. I could try and get a better job - I do PA/admin work and have a degree in languages but could retrain. I feel i've always done low paid work and that has been the problem. This is the best paying job I've had but is in London so is average-low by those standards and my outgoings are higher because of it . thanks for any feedback. I think my habits may be the problem but I'm not extravagent, just like to live life a little bit at least. I don't have family and live on my own so socialising is important sometimes and I live far from friends so petrol prices add on to this.
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1564
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1564
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 330
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 75
Electricity............................. 20
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 2
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 15
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 200----this is a lot f0r 1 person , try to eat more frugally,make things frm scratch should beable to get t down to £100
Clothing................................ 100----use what you have for now
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 15
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 45
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 265
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15--redice to £5
Haircuts................................ 25£ let it grow or go longer between cuts
Entertainment........................... 100

---

reduce to £20
Holiday................................. 50

---

dont go on holiday ,wait until debts are cleared
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1469

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax cc.....................2000......20........21.9
Halifax o/d....................500.......20........17
Cap one cc.....................450.......15........12
Credit Union...................1100......110.......12
Total unsecured debts..........4050......165.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,564
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,469
Available for debt repayments........... 95
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 165
Amount short for making debt repayments. -70
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,050
Net Assets.............................. -3,550
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

I've made some suggestions,should save you about £300+ a month.

thevinternet

AliceBanned wrote: »

ps thevinternet - I couldn't work out how to cross out previous figure for debt and add another, without crossing the new figure out - you have done it in your post so could you let me know please? Silly I know, thought I was reasonably pc literate lol but it won't work.

Don't worry, it took me a while to get it too! Let me see, so you go to the User Cp, then 'edit signature'. I then write in the amounts first, ie:

'£500 £250'

Then I highlight the first bit of text, and hit the button with an S crossed through.

'[STRIKE]£500[/STRIKE] £250'

It should now have the words 'STRIKE' in square brackets before the text you want 'crossed out', and '/STRIKE' in square brackets immediately after it. So I guess you could try putting them in by hand if all else fails.

When my signature goes completely wrong, I just highlight the lot, hit the 'remove text formatting' button (it's on the top left, next to fonts) and start reformatting it. Hope that helps x

thevinternet

AliceBanned wrote: »

Thanks, that's so kind and helpful. you are right, i need to get proactive. I get scared thoughts that maybe it's me and I won't get on anywhere but nobody can be as bad as one woman in my office, she's a total nightmare. She's such a bully and really screwed up. I have problems but I tend to be a bit of a pushover instead of chucking my problems at others. it does scare me but there must be jobs - I have a mental block in looking and applying as the depression is stopping me at the mo. it is so exhausting. I'm booking a bit of time off for Dec and Jan just to be away from there and at least get some rest and maybe then I'll be able to start looking for something. If I don't act now I will get desperate and may end up resigning with nothing to go to.

Thanks especially for the last sentence in your message. I really don't feel like that but I need to start believing in myself. I let these snakes get me down.

I've even asked my manager by email whether I can work from home on the day of xmas party as it is in the afternoon and I just can't face all the bullsh"t. I'm not someone who has good Christmases and I don't want to bring anyone else down with me.

No worries, I have worked with enough rancid snakes that I know exactly what you are going through! That woman sounds like a horrible bully. She's probably just jealous, or doesn't realise the impact her actions are having on you. I too have a very long fuse with people (I tend to be a compromiser), but sometimes that means people think I am a doormat.

Yes, have a few days off and then that will give you some breathing space. Being away from there might be so nice, that you think about making it permanent by finding somewhere else to work.

Change can be very scary. Perhaps you could start with a very small, non-committal step, for example setting yourself the target of updating your CV?

As you recognised, the trick is not to let things get so bad that you end up walking out in a crisis. I have done this in the past, and it really screwed up both my finances and my cv for a while. You don't want to undo all the good work you've done :T You've already made a lot of changes in your time on this board so far, you are doing really well

AliceBanned

oldtractor wrote: »

I've made some suggestions,should save you about £300+ a month.

Thanks oldtractor - you probably didn't see my later SOA where I had managed to save about the save amount! Thanks for looking at this anyway, the savings were in similar places but I decided with entertainment and hols I will stick to what I spend or less. In fact during the past two weeks I haven't spent as much on going out or petrol, so my figures have worked out as a "maximum" spend which will mean I can pay off my debts even more quickly.

AliceBanned

thevinternet wrote: »

No worries, I have worked with enough rancid snakes that I know exactly what you are going through! That woman sounds like a horrible bully. She's probably just jealous, or doesn't realise the impact her actions are having on you. I too have a very long fuse with people (I tend to be a compromiser), but sometimes that means people think I am a doormat.

Yes, have a few days off and then that will give you some breathing space. Being away from there might be so nice, that you think about making it permanent by finding somewhere else to work.

Change can be very scary. Perhaps you could start with a very small, non-committal step, for example setting yourself the target of updating your CV?

As you recognised, the trick is not to let things get so bad that you end up walking out in a crisis. I have done this in the past, and it really screwed up both my finances and my cv for a while. You don't want to undo all the good work you've done :T You've already made a lot of changes in your time on this board so far, you are doing really well

She's insensitive towards people in the extreme at times. I just don't want her in my life but made the mistake of sharing stuff about myself. She is the sort who tells people everything, has no boundaries and is good at preying on vulnerable people to get what she wants out of them. As it is the workplace I keep reminding myself of this and telling myself I do not have to be her "friend" and can block her out as she is upsetting me. She even stalks me sometimes when I go to the kitchen to make tea - the next thing I know she is there behind me and wants to gossip. I just don't need this and have not been assertive enough.

I'm definitely going to take small steps towards moving on as I am not happy enough here for many reasons - some things are ok but too much is wrong. Thanks again your advice and support is so helpful.:)

Ophelia-Jane

Sorry you are feeling so down, money really is a constant worry I think for most. Its not easy to cut down when you arent spending much on things in the first place. I also think though that one becomes accustomed to a certain level. I have been absolutely in the gutter financially, literally emptying the penny jar to pay for a pint of milk, but conversely I now have some modicum of security. And when I say that, its all relative. I rent (£900p.m), own a car and have to pay to get to work. I have £10k debt, but I also earn a decent wage. |However instead of paying of my debt I go for expensive nights out and feed my shopping addiction. Its all good fun at the time but in my moments of clarity I wonder what future I am facing. A poor one Ill wager at this rate!

I hope you find happiness, and as easy as it may be for me to say, Im not sure your finances are the thing that is making you so down :-|