Balancing not just the budget

RosaBernicia

My acting up money STILL hasn't been paid so that's two months worth they owe me :mad: and I need it for a dentist bill. :mad:

Otherwise, not making much headway - I didn't track my current account very well this last month, being rather distracted with work and things, so it's ended up well over budget. To the tune of about £200 :eek::mad:. Some of that is expenses and I really must sit down and sort out reclaiming those. But haven't taken it into account in the figures, or the acting up money, as guess I should work with what I've definitely got. Oh and £50 was starting up the house account.

So totals now standing at £9,514 total debt (a bit worse than last month, but about £120 of it is dentist that should have been paid with acting up money, and probably another £40 or so will be expenses). And £8,410 net status - this includes £100 in the new house account. Don't feel I'm exactly making much progress there lol.

Hoping to finish the spring clean (finally) this weekend and do better at meal planning this next month. But will also have petrol bill and probably hotel bill for a family wedding.


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

I just saved myself £80

Have been checking fleabay and the local online paper for single futons, just in case , even though I should have got rid of the boxes in the space it needs to go before getting one.

And just picked up one with mattress and in passable condition for a whole £10 which is much better than the £90 they are new. Was only 10 mins drive away too.

The mattress is a little bit grubby and the cover isn't really washable... but thanks to the lovely Polesalot that can now be easily sorted with a cheap cotton duvet cover .

Little moggy is already trying it out for size :rotfl:


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

Pfffft... slinking in to confess that have rather wandered off track.

Not being paid right doesn't help and neither does having to change what I eat as am currently being tested for coeliac disease / wheat allergy.

Or the family wedding this weekend. Or STILL not having claimed my expenses *slaps own wrist*.

However, the flat is coming under control, I feel good, and my parents have offered to loan me some help with a deposit.

Will get back on here on payday when I have to untangle it all!


Rosa xx

lionheartedgirl

Hi Rosa, was just thinking about how you were getting on yesterday.

I'm so sorry the new job thing didn't work out as planned but at least it wasn't a big surprise and puts fire in your belly to do something else instead

hope the mogs are behaving themselves a bit better. My hounds don't get on brilliantly, most of the time they are OK but every so often it all kicks off and there is growling and snapping. The boy is prone to having bouts of getting up at stupid o'clock in the morning and we're in the middle of another one at the moment. They have their funny little ways but I guess we wouldn't be without them

that's great news about the house deposit too!

RosaBernicia

Thanks LionHeartedGirl

There is a potential option to get the pay I was after in another way so I must get onto that - fingers crossed. TBH I am surprisingly unbothered as feeling very much more positive about other areas of my life and just enjoying that. Coming off gluten in recent weeks has made a huge difference to my skin and it's really helped both my confidence and my mood.

I think it is finally time to focus on having some fun

(Nothing to do with new job including getting to see two v cute colleagues, and having seen a third lovely colleague today who I would swear used to have a wedding ring and doesn't any more , or that two of those three have seemed very pleased to see me too... nooo, haven't been missing out in that area of my life... :rotfl:)


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

I, er, seem to be balancing other things better than the budget at present but here I am again to keep on track.

Good news

• Finally got my pay sorted for the last couple of months
• Am throwing it at the OD which should therefore end up nearer its interest free bit than in donkey's
• Didn't drastically overspend on cousin's wedding stuff. Booked a hotel I didn't use after all, but it was cheap.
• Have been sensible with both finding out about mortgage possibilities and working out what work I would want to do on the flat and what it would cost me

So-so stuff

• Still a possiblity of getting increased pay for next few months - should know in the next couple of weeks
• Waiting on £20 from Quidco - from ruddy January
• Waiting on £12 from Amazon as something finally sold
• Still haven't got round to Ebay pile but have nearly sorted rest of clothes so it is edging closer to top of list
• Getting better at food shopping now am used to altered diet, so that's helping with costs a bit.

Annoying stuff :mad:

• No overall progress this month due to spending on cousin's wedding (though was v good and only bought a pair of £25 shoes and a £3 vintage bag :rotfl:)
• Mortgage indication so far is a bit low so not sure offering it would be accepted. Have another couple of enquiries to try though.

So after today's payments the overall debt stands at -£8,805 and the net status at -£8,468. Hoping to bust the 8K barrier next month.


Snail's pace feeling... sigh


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

Well touch wood things seem to be going pretty well atm.

Have finally claimed my expenses which should clear the overdraft, paid £100 off the smallest card again, and as I'm already owed two month increased pay by next month there should be a nice chunk coming in. Total debts £8,685, net status not much less as not much in the pots. Haven't been paying off much as I want to keep cash free for potential survey and conveyancing costs.

Have put in an offer for the flat but not heard back yet. I pitched it at the point where I could cover the work that needs doing within market value, and the mortgage should be OK.

Got fed up with leaving the place a mess as there haven't been any more viewings anyway :rotfl: and have been tidying - also rented a council garage a couple of streets away to help with getting organised. This place is so small there's nowhere to put stuff while you sort, so at least now I'm getting stuff boxed up and out. Once I know what's happening with the job I will either finally start Ebaying or just donate those bags to charity.

Just discovered Preloved as was looking at kitchen trolleys and found the one I was debating for £50 new going for £20 second hand. Picking it up tomorrow and combining with shopping trip with a friend.

It's a bit weird not being skint any more - the pressure to get the debts down really feels a lot less now that the mortgage would be paying back the deposit rather than saving up for it. So have been allowing myself a bit extra leeway and a few little things - just a new brolly and pair of shoes, but those make me happy. As does my Cath Kidston laptop bag - was in the sale, and still makes me happy just seeing it instead of my huge old rucksack that I used to use for college. So worth every penny.

Car service and MOT were covered by the pot with £160 left over so I also put that towards the overdraft - figured I could zero it now and build up the pot again as my insurance is already done and was less than £150 :j . Haven't got anything in the gifts and holidays pots but will address this once I know what's going on with the flat.

Work still going well, no definite news on the permanent job yet but should hopefully be sorted by end of next month.

So slowly getting there


Rosa xx

kerri_gt

Lovely to hear from you Rosa, sounds like you're in a really positive place now which is great. Gumtree is also great for second hand things. As a thought - is there stuff you could eBay / give to charity now rather than waiting to know about the job, or is it stuff you could realistically need? Just thinking it would be another thing done and dusted.

Fingers crossed on the flat front xx

RosaBernicia

'Nother payday, 'nother update... don't know where this month went. And don't seem to have done anything but work

Still haven't been paid my acting up money, but did get my annual increment so that's another £50 a month :T I do know the forms have now gone so should get the four months they owe me next month, which is a handy way of saving it up lol. There is also a rumour that we should have been paid at an alternative grade all along, which would be marvellous, but apparently it isn't going through until they can sort out the whole department, so anyway am not holding my breath.

Having made my usual payments this month the total should be at about £8,060. It won't go down as much as usual due to a fab pair of LK Bennett boots . But the overdraft is pretty much sorted - must remember to do my expenses claim - as it's within the £250 interest free and will be paid off completely with my pay arrears. The smallest credit card is now also within reach of being transferred to the low life of balance one IF they will let me do that - and they've been very good about it so far so fingers crossed. If not, will focus on it the next few months and get rid of it anyway. Would be nice to have killed another one - I keep looking for the fourth bill still and being very pleased when I realise why I can't find it :rotfl:

No more news on buying flat as no reply from landlord for six weeks. Pffffft. :mad:

Job has got really silly in the last few weeks, I've been doing too much travelling and there's been too much silliness from supposed grown-ups. I knew it wasn't what I wanted in the much longer term but thought it would do for a year or so and to move me up - still think I'm right, but it won't do as a long term plan unless I decide to ignore all nonsense and put all my energies into other things. I've never been very good at that so far, I think work ought to matter, so am intending to try again for the fab job I went for last year.

On the bright side, the money situation feels much more under control - I know I can get things sorted on my basic salary, including if I buy the flat. That's a nice feeling and and I can't help wondering why I didn't figure this out 15 years ago and get it sorted first, instead of flinging myself into student fees and the resulting debt trap. I know the answer... I didn't want to get to this age stuck in a dull job. :rotfl: Ah well. I have no idea what I'd do with any extra money apart from do up the flat, which is frankly quite sad

I really do need to keep more time for myself though, and start booking weekend things to do. I restarted my Match account with thoughts of using it and have been so knackered the last fortnight I haven't even opened it again. And I haven't seen my favourite colleague in three weeks

Less work, more play needed


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

Well I have hopefully killed another credit card today - phoned B'ycard and this time got someone who knew what they were talking about, so have moved £850 off my smallest card to there. That takes the interest rate down from something like 17% to 6.8%, and I'll pay off the remainder and close it on payday. Even better, they confirmed that 6.8% is actually my purchases rate and so is standard for balance transfers... no idea how I got that, but am delighted because they also just gave me a credit limit increase of about £1,200. That means I can shift a big chunk of the other remaining card from its 19.9% to the 6.8% too . It will be lovely to have one less bill to deal with and paying off the rest of the other card will seem to go much faster too.

I have been misbehaving with the OD - not quite sure how but probably a combination of work expenses and not really being careful in the supermarket. It's not disastrous and will still be cleared on payday. The other bad news is that I do need some decent work clothes for winter - I started to get them out and not only did I quite sensibly clear out the not-right ones when I put the winter stuff away, I haven't really replaced them. So I need a couple of dresses as well as brown boots this year.

I was going to apply for a job this evening but have ended up deciding not to - you have no idea how unusual this is for me :rotfl:. Normally I would tell myself to go for it because you never know, and it would be a lovely town to live in and cheaper than here... but the madness of the current new job is slowly calming down, and I've come to the unusual realisation (for me ) that actually new work and more money won't really fix what I want to fix, it would just mean I was distracted and probably stressed for another few months. I'm OK where I am, I have a really good chance at an upgrade soon, and I no longer need to panic about house buying. The things I want to change in my life are about company and time to chill. I've had a lovely day relaxing and am finally about caught up on chores after the weeks where I just wasn't here, so can sit and read without thinking of all the other stuff that needs doing.

Now I need to sort out booking some time with friends, and it needs to be the friends I really want to see. And I need to really make space in my life for a relationship. I keep saying I will and then every time I try, I fill the space with other things because it's scary knowing the space is there and may never be filled. There, I said it. And now I'm off to tweak my Match account.


Rosa xx