PigginSkint's DFW Diary

PigginSkint

*zippy* wrote: »

Congratulations on getting below £22,000 :T

Aw thanks!! Love the Mexican wave - how did you do that?!

Shineyhappy

Congratulations!

I am really pleased you got a payrise (or 3!) and wahoo well done you for making so much progress in the last year!

I hope you enjoyed the HP book, I really did even if it made me cry

chocaholic110

Well done on the progress you have made this year! :T

Just reading back a few posts and you mentioned your student loan and whether it was written off at some point...I remember when I got mine people saying it was written off after 25 years though that may be an urban myth!! I had to start paying mine back this year after 10 years of avoiding it, grr!

Did you finish Harry Potter?

good luck with your next targets!

PigginSkint

Shineyhappy wrote: »

Congratulations!

I am really pleased you got a payrise (or 3!) and wahoo well done you for making so much progress in the last year!

I hope you enjoyed the HP book, I really did even if it made me cry

Thanks! I really appreciate it. And yes, I loved the HP book and it made me cry loads!

PigginSkint

chocaholic110 wrote: »

Well done on the progress you have made this year! :T

Just reading back a few posts and you mentioned your student loan and whether it was written off at some point...I remember when I got mine people saying it was written off after 25 years though that may be an urban myth!! I had to start paying mine back this year after 10 years of avoiding it, grr!

Did you finish Harry Potter?

good luck with your next targets!

Thanks!

I heard somewhere that it was written off after 10 years but of course that may be completely wrong! But 25 years? :eek: The way things are going though I may never pay it - I can but hope (that one day my income might be large enough and then the student loan will be the least of my worries!)

Yes I did finish reading Harry Potter (see my previous post). I finished it on Sunday.

PigginSkint

I suppose I ought to do an update today really! I have just got to go out to buy a card for one of my colleagues who is retiring tomorrow. I promise I will do a proper update later!

PigginSkint

Hi All

Right, proper update time!

Last night I finally got round to bagging up my Avon ready to be delivered, so that will be tonight’s job. Hadn’t better stay at work too late then!

As I was going out of the door this morning I grabbed my file for my windows finance out of the filing cabinet. I often find I am quite good at getting money saving jobs done at work! Anyway, I already had a draft of a letter done to GE money and what I needed to do was check the account number (good job really as I had missed a digit) and work out which address to send it do. I found a recent letter (not sure if it was the most recent but it doesn’t really matter) and in the notes attached to it there was an email address. So the letter I was going to post I have sent by email instead – I believe they will respond in writing. So hopefully soon I will have all the necessary information to decide what to do next.

Feeling a bit grotty at the moment actually. As I was in bit of hurry this morning I just quickly rustled up a cheese sandwich. I remember now why I stopped eating them – they make me feel sick! I am valiantly chewing on some chewing gum to see if that eases it, but luckily I do have a packet of peppermint tea here so I will have a cup shortly. You know what, it really p****s me off – I absolutely love cheese but I have to be so careful how much I have. Not long ago I couldn’t eat any at all because it made me feel so ill. I can manage a bit grated with a salad now, so that is an improvement.

Anyway, must go, I have an exam paper that I must put together this afternoon, so I had really better get on with it. After today I have only got 6 working days left and then I am off for 3 whole weeks. Yippee!!!

PigginSkint

Hi All

Thank Crunchie it’s Friday! That’s becoming a bit of cliché for me – I think I had better start thinking of something else!

Anyway I have been cracking on with some work this morning, only one left of my must-do-today jobs to do, so that is not bad going. Then I will go onto my must-do-Monday-at-the-latest jobs. However, I don’t know how much progress I will make with those today as I am going to out for at least a couple of hours at lunchtime – I am going off site to another of the university’s sites to see my colleague who is retiring today. They are having drinks etc at lunchtime and I have been invited.

I have had a little play on the walletproof site today that someone posted a link to ages ago. Very useful actually. It certainly shows what my shortfall is every month! However, I will say this, the shortfall is much less than it used to be. My shortfall is covered by other means, before anyone asks. This can be summed up in a few words (in no particular order) – OH, emergency savings account, Amazon sales, Avon sales.

I am spurred on by finally sending off my missive to GE money yesterday about my windows finance. I think this weekend I may do something for my buildings and contents insurance. This is one job I keep meaning to do but never seem to get round to it. I have 2 months to go before my insurance is renewed so I think it is time to make some preliminary enquiries so I am ready to shop around and get a better deal. I pay nearly 4 times as much as my next door neighbour does – how shocking is that?!

Anyway, lots to do and I’ve only got ½ hour before I go out. Have a good weekend everyone.

PigginSkint

Hi All

Well I had a bit of a shock to the system when I checked my bank balance this morning – I had gone overdraft limit! Arrgggghhhh!! :eek: Luckily only with payments that had gone out today so I have transferred some money from my other account to cover it – as I have done it the same day there won’t be any bank charges.

I had another shock last week when I got on the scales :eek: I have put on so much weight. I am really worried about a couple of things (1) whether the seat on the plane going to Poland will be big enough (2) whether the trousers that I am planning to wear for the wedding will fit. Anyway I have been very good and I have manage to lose 4 1bs already – yippee! I haven’t been doing anything special – just keeping off the naughty food (crisps, biscuits, cakes, too much butter etc) and not eating too much. I have only got just over a week until we go so I have really got to get cracking – lots of vegetables I think.

We came to a decision over the weekend – we are going to get some camping in this summer. I am a member of the Camping & Caravanning Club which means I get reduced rates at Club Sites (and they don’t charge you for pup tents, which is what DS will be sleeping in). We haven’t been on a Club Site for a while and I have decided we are going to do it this time – I am just going to try and find one that’s by a beach and has availability for when we want to go. We haven’t been camping at all this year and I am starting to get withdrawal symptoms – the lack of camping is the only thing that makes not having a car and being on a DFW quest hard to bear.

Anyway after last year’s debacle when we went camping in Wales, without a car (we went on the train) and it rained all the time, I have decided to hire a car this time. To keep the cost down we are only going to go for 4 days – so the car hire will be for 5. Going over a weekend will mean the car hire will be cheaper (the firm I use does special deals at weekends). Also last time I hired a car the manager gave me a card for 20% discount off my next car hire (when they asked me if everything had been O.K. I mentioned that they had been late picking me up again – so they were obviously anxious to keep my custom!) . I am going to make a couple of concessions to an easier life (1) I shall hire a slightly bigger car – which actually won’t cost that much more but is necessary for camping really, definitely need a decent sized boot (2) as we going to go over August Bank Holiday weekend I really don’t fancy driving back on Bank Holiday Monday so we are going to come back on the Tuesday instead. Having a bigger car will mean we can take the slightly larger sleeping bags – we have got mummy ones, which are fine if everything has got to go in a rucksack but I find them very restrictive (I am quite claustrophobic). Also we are going to take the bigger, better airbeds rather than the backpacker ones (ooh luxury). Taking the car means we can also take some proper camping chairs (the sort that fold lengthways) rather than folding stools. Ooh I am getting excited now! And the other thing is, if it is really really wet (like last year!) we have got a car to get in to keep dry.

O.K. so going camping may seem a bit extravagant considering we are going to Poland as well, but it is good for our sanity! We love it and it will make us feel so much better and more able to face the continuing DFW task. One thing I ought to mention is that I shall be using some of the money in my emergency/savings account so we won’t be increasing our debt to do it.

Had a bit of a chat with OH over the weekend – just a sort of in-passing chat – regarding our current situation. I have mentioned (again!) that he needs to find other sources of income. I also mentioned about the money I have in the savings account and that it won’t last forever, because I use some every month to make ends meet (bit of a guilt trip there, to spur him on). I also mentioned that the plan to have a new kitchen (cheaply of course) has been put on hold (we would have used money in my savings account) because of the reduction in his income (this is a bit of ‘carrot’ strategy – earn some more money and we can have a new kitchen). Hope it bears fruit!

I have to be careful not to put too much pressure on OH at the moment as he is on anti-depressants – he is a lot better than he was but obviously not fully better yet.

Anyway, this is my last week at work before my holidays so I really must crack on. Bye for now.

PigginSkint

I forgot to say, I never got round to doing anything about my insurance. The weekend was spent doing lots of washing, and basically trying to convert my house from a pigsty to a habitable dwelling!:o