Ultimate Challenge. 457 days / £16600!!!

startingtogetoutofdebt

Sitting decluttering my paperwork and found an unopened letter from Mint (think I may have some more unopened letters to find) which I now wish I'd opened when it arrived as it was confirmation of acceptance of my DMP payment. Account terminated as long as I maintain the payments offered as part of my DMP and all interest etc frozen. Just need to find one from Sainsburys as they are the one company which were, last time I spoke to them, denying receiving any contact from Stepchange. Although I've just tried to log onto my account to confirm the balance and its blocked so am hoping that means they've accepted the terms of the DMP and stopped charging interest etc as that's the one debt still going up!

Made slight miscalculation when I withdrew spare money in November to save and went overdrawn by £5 for one day - its cost me £25 pound in charges plus £5 interest. That's my sons sports club subscription for this term down the drain - will have to make sure I don't withdraw to the last pound in future just in case - can only assume that I made a mistake on the calculator as there was nothing in my account transactions which I hadn't accounted for - very upset but not as much as my son is going to be when I tell he can't go to his sports club.

NinjaSavingKat

Good Morning WORLD!:p

I think I may have figured out how I can get around the exorbitant amount of money that I have to accrue these next months...just. I am going to collate about £500 a month ( at a push £700 ) and stash it in an account that is not being used. Once added ( over three pay days ) I can then be ruthless with how much I take with me to Italy. I find it easier to have lots of money and not spend it, then have hardly any and stop thinking about spending it. Does that make sense?.

If I have £2100 in my account before I go.. I know I will be careful with my spending, eating, days out etc.. but I will be adventurous with what I might try and get for free. I feel a little panicky if I am close to the mark with funds whilst in a foreign country....

So my flight has been paid for through blogging (£107 )... hotel is £379 (part paid by blogging elsewhere I think )... then I think I will need £700 to be comfortable for two meals a day, travel to Milan, Verona and Venice on my birthday. Entrance to some museums ( although will be checking out discount all inclusive cards ) and some sugar free treats... oh and a scarf from Venice...

Which will leave £1021 for moving ( no inclusive of blogging earnings in case that takes a nose dive ) .....humphhhhh this leaves very little to pay off my bike loan which would have been the £1000 moving money.

So annoyed right now it's unreal. Overtime now will rule my life. I have this weekend confirmed - a total of 16 hours ( 15 of which are double ) but it's due to snow and the trains are a 2.5 hours round trip... the following Sunday is also confirmed for 8 hours @ double time and I have put a bid in for the last weekend of the month for the same 16 hour stretch...

I will have to do this throughout Feb and March and all gifts for my 30th will be requested in Euro's as "treats" for my birthday... someone could buy the rail ticket to Venice ( 24Euro ), someone could contribute towards the scarf..( 30Euros ) that kind of thing. Although my family doesn't really do gifts so it might seem rude to suggest....

I have cancelled a "dinner" I was going to attend in February. This would have cost £50 and the more I heard about it at my meeting last night the less I thought it was a good idea.. plus having to find a floor length gown. Although TK Maxx has always come through for me I am not willing to spend the money....

I am going to have a chat with my landlady while she is feeling guilty about not having a washing machine for over a month and ask that I get my deposit back just before I leave. This will alleviate pressure to a certain degree as moving in with her I got rid of my ward-robes and might have to replace them .. although free-cycle will be my first stop.

Hummmmmmph trials and tribulations....

StGood I am so sorry about your predicament. I hate the banks for this though as if you aren't struggling enough without them adding to the weight with such a ridiculous fee amount. Perhaps take all the money out that you need for the month and leave it in the house - pay only in cash? I know it's hard though when there are things like food you do online... how is your son taking the news?...


Right then, I need to work.

Onwards and Upwards!!

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi ninja, I hope all the overtime is approved. Dont worry too much about the bike loan you will have time to play catch up when all things have calmed down. Have you found any places you are going to look at renting ??

have a nice day everyone xx

liltdiddylilt

Hello all!!

So happy that my poorly face/foot make you all so cheerful :P - I have a BLACK toe... it looks gangrenous.. I don't think my nail is going to survive... Face is fine!

I've been landed with an issue & some expenses in the last couple of days... My friend is getting married, 250 miles away in March. I agreed to be a bridesmaid as we have been friends since we were born. I now have to go for a dress fitting on the 9th February, which will cost me £24 each way on the train... Whilst I am there, I also have to budget for a raucous hen night, including meal out. Silver linings, at least it is all done in 1 trip. And I don't have to pay the £186 for the dress :eek:

The wedding itself is in March.... Sooooooo Kat, I have eaten brown rice, broccoli & baby sweetcorn with 2 hard boiled eggs for lunch. 4 pieces of fruit so far today, 5 yesterday (this is to stop me eating crisps and choc at my desk...!) I also bought a £4.99 dvd of hardcore exercise. I only had a small coffee this morning with 1 sugar not 2... and I've been drinking hot water with lemon all day & have a bottle of water I keep filling up!!! I shall fit into the dress!!!! I need to lose weight for Feb, and maintain it for March!!

Issue... I don't think I will have a toenail I know I have 9 others... but what will I do???? I have open toed heels... I can't have green nail polish on 9 toes!!! Do I stick a false nail to my skin :eek: :rotfl:

Work is fine, tiring in the extreme especially as I still have the stinking cold and keep getting woken in the night by either my lack of being able to breathe or jellytot's lack of being able to breathe... I've stuck to making sure I have my hours lunch break

Happy, hope your figures for maternity are ok. Do remember that (usually) babies come along one at a time & then you have to wait at least 10 months for the next one!! Thinking that, do you really need all those extra rooms to heat in the meantime...? I grew up in a HUGE house, with 6 bedrooms... 3 kids & 2 adults in the house & me & my little sister still shared a room until I was 11!!! In an ideal world we would all have acres of room to grow. But you turned out ok from your council estate

Kat, good luck on getting the overtime. Don't burn yourself out!!!

Abundant, I will pop into your thread when I have more time good luck with it & don't forget to come discuss debt busting and accidents

HM fantastic news about your hubby getting on board!! It really makes a difference when their own little lightbulb goes on!!!

StGood can't you ring the bank and plead with them to return it? I am SURE there is some kind of rule that they can choose to follow which means you may get the payment back. Go IN to the bank if you can?!

Back to the grind... Only 3 hours til my 2 mile walk home with a broken toe It's been fine though!! wakes me up in the morning & in the evening ready to go for playtime with the little un!!

Tata all!! x

his_missus

lilt - try not worry about the toe just yet, March is a while off, maybe you'll have a bit of toenail to fix a falsie to. TBH I doubt many people will be looking at or taking photos of your feet so you'd probably get away with it.
Also are you keeping your bridesmaid dress? I only ask as my friend said I could keep my dress when I was bridesmaid for her as it was no good to her and I must confess I sold it on ebay as I wasn't likely to wear it again. It may help financially later in the year.

liltdiddylilt

I didn't think of that HM. The subject hasn't been broached! It's a halter neck mint green knee length number. lol

NinjaSavingKat

Hey Lilt - well done on the food!!! And not so well done on the missing toe nail. I slammed my thumb in my kick stand of the bike.. someone had parked so close the balance wasn't right so I had to do it by hand. Didn't realize it was so strong and my thumb BALLOONED, turned black and the nail disappeared. Took about 6 months to grow back strong.. I would think to just put a flesh colored plaster over the top.. as His Missus said you will easily get away with it.. I sold my bridesmaids dress as well!

Lilt I hope you get home okay.. I am leaving momentarily to see a friend I haven't seen in years... might get a free cuppa you never know.. (cuppa mint tea by the way )...:j

startingtogetoutofdebt

Evening, just had to type a letter for my dad to HMRC - they've sent him a tax bill for £500 - he doesn't have any income at the moment apart from a small pension so there's no way he can pay the bill and it's from PAYE error made 2 years ago - hopefully they'll write it off.

Lilt - I went into the bank when I saw the charges - the woman on the counter just said that they'd done me a favour paying when I was going to go overdrawn as they could have easily refused to pay but I'm going to write to the bank and ask that they refund the charges on the basis that it's excessive against the amount I went overdrawn.

NSK - son was sad about missing his club for about 5 minutes - its amazing how quickly they recover when the guilt is still tearing me apart!!!!

Hoping tomorrow will bring some inner peace - as it's Friday and I've got a bit of extra work on sunday and then off to see Gary Barlow - lovely !!!!

Oh no laptop battery dying - bye for now!!!!

liltdiddylilt

StGood that cashier sounds like she needs a kick in the bum. Hardly doing you a favour when it charges you £30 for the privilege!!

Ask to sit down with someone; there are always people in banks trying to sell you new accounts etc... Ask to discuss getting an overdraft (THAT YOU WON'T USE!!! [no good if you end up going over the overdraft with the next DD]) - You will soon be sat in a room with someone... Then you can say you want the money returning before you even discuss an overdraft - or you will take your business elsewhere

That's what I'd do anyway. I am the queen of getting free stuff/contracts made cheaper/charges back etc...

Good luck!!

abundant1972

Hi All,

Couldn't resist popping on to about Lilt's 'full length halter neck mint green number' ha ha! Bless you. I have a theory that all brides secretly pick the most gruesome dresses for their bridesmaids so they don't outshine them on the day lol. Did you ever watch Buffy? There was an episode where Anya was getting married and she made the bridesmaids where the most awful lurid green dresses! That's what popped into my mind hehe!

Good work Kat on the overtime! You've inspired me to sign up for some more too! We have so much work on at the moment it's crazy and if I don't do it my desk is going to be swamped under a sea of admin. I read somewhere - to visualise the outcome you desire... and put your energy into that... don't worry so much about the 'hows' and let the Universe provide the opportunities... Mind you - sounds like that's already happening for you... so well done!!!

Am feel 100% back on track, and optimistic about the rest of the month... and the year! Planning on a few more NSD's over the weekend. Have a good one folks!