Catriona's Credit Card Countdown

catriona79

Well, well, well. I am sitting in bed drinking coffee and eating a chocolate. Feeling absolutely shattered from work and doing something nice to psyche myself up for the day ahead.
I am getting closer and closer to my decision to leave my job, take the payout and start afresh. Seriously considering London as well, as I think I'd love that - except for the commute perhaps and the housing!... The payout would pay off all my CC debts with something to spare, but as the CC are on 0% for another couple of years (roughly) then that would give me more leeway.
I am really excited and a little bit scared of what's to come (but in a good way!). More than anything I really need a change from where I am at the moment, and seriously need a new job, as where I am now doesn't offer any career pathway to me any more.
Come end of financial year, I will go back to my old salary which will mean about a 15% pay cut and no realistic prospect of progression, no matter how hard I work (public sector reality at the moment). So it's time to go!

It's also time to get up me thinks!!!

Hope you are all doing well with paying off your debts.

catriona79

I've had a good week spending-wise, as been working really hard and so been too tired to go shopping/spending! It has been enjoyable, being busy, though.
But I am so glad it's Fri night!

Tomorrow I am going to drive to ikea to pick up a Christmas tree. I. Sure you all know about the offer of buying a tree for £25 and getting a £20 voucher to spend in store in January?

I can't wait to have a tree in the house! It will be lovely.

I have been ever so good, I've not bought any clothes in probably about a month! My bank balance is looking healthy and I think I'm pretty much on track for this month. I need to start sending off for presents for family as Christmas will creep up soon enough, and it would be lovely to have all presents wrapped and ready to go. I fly home on 21 Dec for a week. Whoop whoop!
As I am thinking of taking redundancy from work and finding another job (which may take a few months), I am not going to be paying off much of my debt other than very small overpayments over the minimum amounts. I am going to try and save as much as possible though, to make sure I have made provisions for the time of unemployment.
My savings are currently £6500, and I hope that by end of March (when I become unemployed), they will be at £8k, any my redundancy will be £14-15k. I also have the income from my spare room, which looks like it will be taken until May, and then I shall find another lodger.

I think it's time to go back to my spreadsheets and make sure I work out worst case scenario.

What a thing to do on a Friday night!!

I am going out for a few drinks later on though

Non_compos_mentis

Hey Catriona,

Just wanted to check in and see you getting on with the challenge.

Hope the resume is done and that you have a replacement job lined up before your VR period ends.

Whilst London is an extremely vibrant and exciting place, I totally understand your concerns about London! Having said that, I don't think I personally would be able to swap London for any other city in the UK.

catriona79

Non_compos_mentis wrote: »

Hey Catriona,

Just wanted to check in and see you getting on with the challenge.

Hope the resume is done and that you have a replacement job lined up before your VR period ends.

Whilst London is an extremely vibrant and exciting place, I totally understand your concerns about London! Having said that, I don't think I personally would be able to swap London for any other city in the UK.

Hello NCM, thanks for popping by!
I think I've been doing ok, better than previous months, as I've not been going out that much. Last Sunday I spent a little bit on presents and a single (!) article of clothing, which by my standards, is really good. I went to Warehouse for it as well, not COS! So, in short, I have been a very good girl.
In other news, my terrible romance is back on, my ex and I are back together. We had been seeing each other as friends for about 8 weeks until last Sunday, and have decided to take the plunge, once again! We will have to see how it goes. The cynic in me just wants to make fun of it and say how we are going to be broken up before we can say the word, but that's not the right attitude! So I am going to be optimistic and positive.
So, the new / old boyfriend took me out for food - he is generous and does always insist he pays a bit more than I do, which is kind. It is nice to have him to talk to and consider options with.

On the money front, I need to do some sums, but I'm well in the black, though will have to spend a fair bit tomorrow on a skip - there's a green toilet in my front garden, which has been there forever, and finally tomorrow my amazing builders are going to get it all sorted and tidy up the front as well! So i will be able to put a few plants in the front garden and all the unfortunate bits and pieces will go in the skip and stop cluttering up the house and the back and front gardens. It's going to be lovely!!! I'm really looking forward to it. That will be the house done and dusted. Except for the bathroom at some stage, though that will only happen of I manage to get a job soon after VR.

I will do the sums on Thursday night I think!

I am going to London this weekend for a little Xmas shop. Going to go to fortnum and masons for some Moroccan mint tea and have a look round liberty's. I am also going to finally meet my good friend's boyfriend - think they are quite serious and he sounds amazing. We are all going to have dinner together.

Right, time to do some work now!

Hope everyone is on track!:)

karmachilovething

catriona79 wrote: »

I am going to London this weekend for a little Xmas shop. Going to go to fortnum and masons for some Moroccan mint tea and have a look round liberty's. I am also going to finally meet my good friend's boyfriend - think they are quite serious and he sounds amazing. We are all going to have dinner together.

Enjoy London, but be warned it's like a zoo! We went up that way a couple fo weekends ago and Liberty was shuffling room only! I was half tempted to buy some nice candles or something but couldn't face the scrum; we went and hid on the top floor (home furnishings) and had a rest on a lovely velvet sofa! Still I love all the Christmas lights and window displays.
KC

catriona79

karmachilovething wrote: »

Enjoy London, but be warned it's like a zoo! We went up that way a couple fo weekends ago and Liberty was shuffling room only! I was half tempted to buy some nice candles or something but couldn't face the scrum; we went and hid on the top floor (home furnishings) and had a rest on a lovely velvet sofa! Still I love all the Christmas lights and window displays.
KC

Hello KC :j
I got myself to Liberty's yesterday, as well as to F&M. Got some nice teas to give as gifts and for me too! :coffee:
Have done some bargain shopping too!
Got a £45 leather tote bag from B!ba for my mum
An Acqua di Parma gift set for my boyfriend which was 15% off and that brand is hardly ever reduced. This will be his main present. We are being really good and doing sensible, though nice Xmas pressies this Christmas.
What else did I buy?... Oh yes, I got a gorgeous liberty make up bag for my good friend who is an excellent money saver and a single mum and who has built herself up over the last 5 years and managed to save enough to buy a 2 bed flat for her and her little boy - all due to her amazing determination and ability to defer gratification. She has not been treating herself much over those years, and I really wanted to get her something pretty. It's practical enough for her as well, and she loves teal, and that particular liberty print has a fair bit of teal in it. I hope she likes it!
I'm going back to Regent St today as the sales have started in some places and perhaps it would be a good time to pick up some bargainous clothes for work.
I am loving London and think that I could be happy living here.

I will probably spend a bit more money today, but that's ok! They are all sensible amounts and presents for people who get me presents too. Christmas is an expensive time of year and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
Maybe I should start putting money away for Christmas from January... Though if I do take VR, all of my saving will end, until I've found a new job!

Right, time to start making a list!

catriona79

It is my last day at work today, woo hoo! Still can't believe it, and I've got over 2 weeks off for Christmas this year, amazing! Have t had two weeks off in one go for ages.
After work, i will be seeing a good friend to swap gifts and cards. Then tomorrow is going to be a great, fantastic first day off!
I love Christmas!

Spending wise, I don't know what the damage was from going to London, will have to look. Pay day soon, so will make some repayments which always makes me feel good.

Will have to look at the totals on Tuesday night.
I am off to Glasgow on Wed night until Fri late, and going to see the Mcintosh museum, never been and I love the design.

Time to get up now!!

catriona79

I have told my boss about leaving the job, she did understand that it was the right decision for me to make. So now I don't need to worry about having the conversation over Christmas, but instead I can start looking to the future and planning my next move.
Exciting! (Though a bit scary)

Going to London and having a chat with friends there did help me make my decision.

I have also got myself another balance transfer card. My FD card was coming to an end (the 0% period on it) and I could have transferred the balance to my V!rgin Money card, but the fee would have been 3%. I thought I'd take the risk and apply for the N@tWest card with a 0.9% balance transfer fee! and if I get it- grand; if not, I'd still have been able to transfer to Virgin at the higher fee. So I have done that. I have also transferred the balance from my every day card on which I bought my new phone and some presents to that card. Though it would be better at 0.9%, I would feel safer keeping the cash, as it does give me potentially another month of job searching freedom.

Non_compos_mentis

Exciting times!

Good luck with your move to London, I am sure you will love it. Just be mindful that you don't get caught up in the rat race like most of us .

dktreesea

Hi Catriona,
Good luck with your move to London. I hope you find a decent estate agent to take care of your house. I found it (surprisingly for me) hard moving from a house to a flat, even though I hate gardening and for the most part avoided going into the garden. I find the proximity to the neighbours a bit claustrophobic, after being used to having a fence and some land between the house and both of our neighbours.

It's good you still enjoy shopping. I can't say I do. We were up in a large shopping centre near where we live the other day, and everything I looked at, I was thinking "space stealer!" and "hoarding addiction feeder!" Even the useful stuff. I lived in Japan for a while, and miss the places I lived there to this day. One place had a room with just a low table in the centre of the room, for eating. That was it. In the bedroom one wall was devoted to storage. No furniture. Just a futon which was rolled up and put away every morning, and a yoga mat which I left out permanently.

So I gave myself a lovely Xmas present. We had a good December for the business, so yesterday I celebrated by paying off my credit card in full.