no debt, no savings, no assets, just blah. HALP!

LondonGirl252

Sorry posted above before realising how old the post was oops!


Hope you're doing well, good luck!

lessavyfav

No, that's cool LondonGirl, your advice is still valid! And I read through your diary and you have achieved a lot getting your debts down so well done to you..it's pretty hard being in London surrounded by all the noise, and the pretty, expensive, fun stuff, it certainly is easy to succumb to - I find it a real struggle. But it's all a learning curve, just got to keep plugging away and not be hard on yourself when you do sometimes fail.

I am still waiting on some invoices to be paid and hoping it's this side of christmas - I am trying for £5k before the end of the year but not sure how realistic that is.

I am also liking the idea of £1 a day to put towards xmas/gift fund, so that's another one to aim for.

Am dying for the holiday break to come, I'll be spending time with the boyfriend's family. We hardly ever end up spending any money when we're there as there's not much to do - it's so good! And I get to sleep in and wear pyjamas half the day :T

Brightspark87

hello from another Londoner! Congrat on getting low rent honestly I have no idea how you've done it. Mine is £617.50 just split with other half. stay in touch x

lessavyfav

Ah yes Brightspark, very cheap rent but that's because my boyfriend and I share with 3 other people. It's a big house but we have been craving some privacy for some time now.

Great news is we've found a place which we'll hopefully move into at the end of this month...it does mean my rent goes up to £650 p/m, plus bills of course, but I think it's going to be worth it as we'll have a spare bedroom for guests and a lovely backyard. Cannot wait to get in there, just waiting on the refs to go through.

The new place is unfurnished but we have most things, including bed, rails, chest of drawers, coffee table, chairs, etc. But we're missing two major things: a sofa and a dining table. Unfortunately, there's a lot of ugly sofas out there; it's difficult to find the balance between comfortable and stylish, but I think we've found one in Habitat. It's not exactly cheap but I guess sofas are one of those things you will hopefully have for years and use a lot, so it'll be worth the investment.

I still haven't been paid my old invoices which is pretty annoying, so will need to chase that up, but will have to use that money for a trip to see the family (expensive!) + moving costs. Hopefully there'll be a tiny bit spare!

I found out just before Christmas that my contract isn't being renewed either. I was half disappointed as it's a company that offers regular rewards for those who work hard and I probably would have been up for a nice little bonus in April but I'm leaving end of Feb, but it's a pretty intense job for one person so I am also relieved to move on at the same time. I will need to find a perm job next though, aiming for it to be even better paying!

So things are pretty exciting but also a bit uncertain on the money front. I think the first few months of 2015 I'll have to be pretty tight with my money in order to keep up with my savings goal but I really need to do it if I'm ever going to be a grown up..

I even just swapped bank accounts for the first time since I moved the the UK in order to get more interest since I was getting 0.10% on my savings at HSBC. On my way there..

Listerbelle

Hmmmm.

I am sorry to hear that you have lost your job.

I don't think that you have had your lightbulb moment.

You have lost your job yet are moving to a more expensive rental property, want to buy a NEW sofa from an expensive-ish shop, AND consider the sofa to be an investment. How will the sofa make money for you?

(I realise that it is possible to make 50 quid plus a week from a couch surfer - I have done this on a free futon - but I dont think this is what you aim to do.)

If nothing else, get a free sofa from somewhere until you are working.

I wish you well.

lessavyfav

Hey Listerbelle, I am not in debt so I don't think I need a lightbulb moment as such. I am just trying to accumulate more savings as I didn't have any this time last year.

The aim is to have a job lined up once the contract expires - I was on maternity contract so it isn't a huge surprise anyway, I always knew I might have to keep looking!

But I see how it might seem frivolous getting an expensive-ish couch if I for some reason can't get a job right away. And by investment, of course I'm not being literal, I don't mean it will make money for me, but it is something I will use over and over so I want to make sure I find it both comfortable and aesthetically pleasing when I do decide to get one. Different strokes, right?

lessavyfav

A lunch out today with friends but only had one glass of wine so it was a little cheaper than our usual spend. I have taken out £70 for the week which will be my spends for lunch/dinner out/treats, and already hoping tomorrow will be a NSD as I'm currently cooking lunches to take in throughout the week.

Only two pays left for my before my contract ends, plus a trip away to see the family for 3 weeks after that. Usually when I go back to see my family I tend to not spend a lot of money as a lot of time is going to the beach, having meals at home and spending time with the fams and friends, etc, rather than shopping. Last time I came home to a pleasantly flush bank account actually! So here's hoping it'll be the same situation this time round as I really want to avoid having to dip into my current savings.

The aim for the next two pays is to save about half of it as a buffer in case I don't get any work lined up, whilst the other £1,000 I'm owed from freelancing should cover air ticket and moving costs. I still need to do my calculations to make sure it's doable as I know it'll be tight..about to go do that now.

lessavyfav

It's been almost six weeks since last pay day, i cannot wait for Friday! Other exciting things, we get the keys to our new flat on Friday and move on Saturday. I am beyond happy to get in there and making the place feel like our own little haven. We won't have a sofa, dining table or tv yet though - might be a few dinners in our laps for a bit!

Our dining table is on going to be delivered next week, managed to get that at 25% off in a sale, which was a good deal and will go perfect with our chairs. Sofa is still a while away but the rest of the house will pretty much be furnished once we're in.

I've been doing a lot of investigating into the best deals for energy and broadband so we get off to a good start and won't be spending a great deal more than what we do at our current house. I feel like such a nerd obsessing over it but secretly love a good deal.

As for the job hunt, things are really picking up this week in terms of jobs advertised. I have an interview Thursday and another place contacted me today, so hopefully another interview lining up there..both paying better than my current job by a few thousand which is great. I have updated my folio and CV and starting to feel good about the opps out there as I know I've worked hard especially over the last year, I just hope that everything lines up for me so I can start pretty much after I'm back from my holiday! Boy, I cannot wait for that holiday too!

Still not had my freelance invoices paid, which is frustrating but at least it's not being spent and will be a good buffer if I am not working for a few weeks...but i am hoping I won't need to touch it.

lessavyfav

ah how things change so quickly!

I've finished up my year-long contract and went on Australia on holiday, back already..managed to spend only a small amount of money from my UK account, the rest was from money I had in Australia. I've just started a short contract which pays well, 3 weeks of pay is more than I'd normally earn in in a month on my old saray, so that gives me a bit of breathing space till I find the right job. However, I am thinking of continuing the freelance thing as it pays so well and my boyfriend just proposed to me! which means a wedding to save for...so now my priorities are having to move around a little bit!

My parents will help with some costs (catering and dress, which is huge!) but we are going to pay for the rest. My job involves a lot of production and I know a lot of suppliers so I am hoping that I will get some good deals. I recently read the average UK wedding costs £22,000; this seems staggering to me!!! We won't be getting married till later next year but will still have to knuckle down on the savings as we also still want to save for a house deposit.

So yes, lots to think about at the moment.

And boring errands to do in the meantime, like working out what my boyfriend and I owe each other (first few months of moving into a place and trying to figure who owes what for paying different bills), Thames Water charged me twice, so getting on the phone to them and doing some tax stuff, which I hateeee with a passion.

Packed my lunch to work today, that's a start!

Happier_Me

Congratulations on your engagement:T

We are all different of course, but weddings really don't have to cost a fortune. It is just one day after all and what really matters is spending the rest of your lives together. I got married 13 years ago (so a while ago now) and my wedding cost £1,500 and only because I was 'forced' to have an evening do (I don't like fuss). My brother got married the same year, beautiful wedding in Turkey that didn't cost a fortune and doubled as their (and our) honeymoon. Had he got married first I would have done the same thing as the whole fortnight was fantastic, an experience to never forget. We have holidayed in the same place since and will go back there when the children have flown the nest.