Balancing not just the budget

stepuptothepl8

RosaBernicia wrote: »

Which included a lovely moment where I was able to say 'all my credit cards will be clear at the end of this month'.

Rosa xx

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j brilliant!

RosaBernicia

Thanks StepUp - and welcome

It's a little weird realising that I may finally be at the end of this journey. Feels a bit like when you fall asleep on the train, then wake up at your stop and stumble off in a daze wondering how that happened :rotfl:


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

Small things for the day...

I've cleared the MyBank card again, it just had one £20 transaction on it from a Kickstarter item that I haven't received yet and was planning to pay off when I got it. It's already in the budget for this month too, so doesn't affect my calculations.

The reason for this is that the mortgage advisor pointed out it would help not to have too much available credit showing when I apply. So once the card is completely clear I will ring up the bank and either close it, or cut down the (ridiculous) limit by £3.5K. (Closing it does have the benefit that after 6 months or so I could reapply for a card with that bank which would probably have a good deal - however, it's not likely to match my LowRate card with the permanent low rate and now 0% on purchases anyway.) I will definitely be closing the LastCard account, so that would leave me with a max of 2 cards with reasonable limits, plus the Debenham5 one which has a small limit anyhow.

I've also got a reminder of the PIN for the LowRate card so that if I do need to use it, it is available. If I need to put college fees etc on a card this is where it will go as hopefully that will mean I can get the 5% discount for paying in full but still not pay any interest.

I've just checked TCB and found I can get 3% cashback on my interview train tickets .

AND went through YNAB again and realised that one of the payments for this month can wait til next month as it's on an invoice - so that's another £50 available for clearing the Last Card.


Rosa xx

vasseur

All looking really good! Bet you're crossing off the days now. :T for the interview.

RosaBernicia

vasseur wrote: »

All looking really good! Bet you're crossing off the days now.

What a good idea

Hopefully 20 days til I am free of 'old' debt. I will have my interview train fare to pay back to the 0% card in April if I can't quite manage it on current money, and college fees will be either cleared by end of May or if the higher rate, perhaps June.

That will then leave me with the car loan from my parents, which is flexible so I'm inclined to not count it in the same way and just up payments to be rid of it sooner. If I do look at buying somewhere then the deposit would partly come from my parents, but I think I can count that under getting mortgage-free rather than debt free.

vasseur wrote: »

:T for the interview.

Thank you :A

Am having slight wibbles as the idea of moving gets more real, but it feels really good to be actively seeking a change and not just waiting on my current employer. Taking charge of my life again!


Rosa xx

kerri_gt

Wow, I'm off here for a few days and its all go. Sounds super positive all round Rosa. I hope you'll still talk to us DFW when you are debt free

Aaleigha

so few days left
you really must be an inspiration to those that have been following you from the old thread to this

I see about your crafty collage - and her was I thinking you were pompom making :)

RosaBernicia

kerri_gt wrote: »

Wow, I'm off here for a few days and its all go. Sounds super positive all round Rosa. I hope you'll still talk to us DFW when you are debt free

:eek: well of course - I don't know that I would be this close without these boards :)

I will probably stick around for a while to make sure the lessons have sunk in!


Rosa xx

Buffythedebtslayer

Wow, Rosa that is great news on both the debt and the job and the moving


I know exactly what you mean about the arriving at the station and stumbling about for a bit. I paid off my cc at the start of the month with money I had saved up and it felt good but surprising....I keep looking at my bank account and the cc account just to check it really happened.


any how good luck with it all, so good to read XXXX

RosaBernicia

Well this weekend has turned out a bit more hectic than I intended with some social stuff. Managed to squeeze in a last minute eyelash appointment as realised I now won't be around next weekend.

Spending has been OK - I snuck chocs and a drink into the cinema as I resent spending their prices on rubbish when I could have much better and healthier things for the same money :rotfl:. I treated myself to a couple of my favourite scrub bars from Lu5h as my skin is in need of a bit of a boost and have had an evening spring cleaning myself! Now all deep conditioned, exfoliated, pedicured, etc and looking forward to being able to wear all my pretty summer dresses now that my skin has cleared up with being off gluten properly :j.

Which leads me to a slight confession as I've bought a summer dress that's £20 over this month's remaining clothes budget... though I still have enough leeway to cover it. The other thing is that having tried it on I have realised I need to lose a little weight and tone up for summer. I looked up personal trainers the other day at a friend's suggestion, and found one who sounds lovely and will do a monthly meet up with weekly email tracking in between, so that sounds ideal. Much cheaper and I don't really want to be working out with someone three times a week, I just want some advice on figuring out my goals and keeping myself motivated. I will fill in her questionnaire and get in touch with her tomorrow - or rather today since I've just realised it's past midnight!

I've booked my train tickets today and ended up putting them on the CC - dithered for ages about it as it did cost an extra £3 compared to the debit card - but to put them on the debit card and still clear the old CC this month would have meant emptying all my pots and I didn't quite feel I could do that. So I should still be able to pay off and close the old card, and the train tickets will be repaid on payday next month which means they should be interest free anyhow.

Plodding a bit faster


Rosa xx