Catriona's Credit Card Countdown

bellevie

£10 is nothing to be sniffed at! £120 a year!! I'd do exactly the same

catriona79

Aaaah, I may have read that wrong. Think it's only a deal that's available for existing customers. But I'm getting a very good deal too mustn't grumble

So it's all going ahead as before. Still a saving of £140 a month.

I'm beginning to think I've become obsessed with this MSEing but that's not a bad thing

Just had a sleeping pill, as hoping I won't wake up at 4am again, would be nice to wake up with alarm clock.
A weekend of studying ahead and I'm determined to sort out my food cupboards. Also, have just arranged to see a friend and also got a date with a half French half Irish man on Tue next week, and thinking of a few others.
My ex has just been completely unnecessarily mean to me and it's one of those moments when I think it's really not worth it. What a waste of energy. But, as before, the search continues.

bellevie

I did wonder why you had commented so early in my thread, assumed you had to get up extra early for work!

Hope you sleep better tonight.

Half French, Half Irish - interesting combination. Id be interested in hearing his accent!

You are of course right, its not worth it but not to worry you will find better in the end x

catriona79

bellevie wrote: »

I did wonder why you had commented so early in my thread, assumed you had to get up extra early for work!

Hope you sleep better tonight.

Half French, Half Irish - interesting combination. Id be interested in hearing his accent!

You are of course right, its not worth it but not to worry you will find better in the end x

Thanks for popping by, Bellevie.

Yeah, I'm a bit of an insomniac. Hope it will sort itself out soon though. I was fine when I was in a secure relationship. Must be my neediness!!! :eek:

French / Irish guy - yes we shall have to see what he is like. It's hard work at the moment, as I'm not really wanting to go out and meet new people, because of the ex. But I have to, otherwise I will mess up my life big time. I think my ex is majorly unavailable for the kind of relationship I want. When I withdraw, he pursues. When he is secure that he has me, he doesn't put very much effort in. I now need to tactically navigate this relationship.
But I need to stop thinking about it, and bring myself back to the present, and this lovely weekend, where I have the house to myself this afternoon, which should be a treat.
I am going to do some studying too.

I probably also need to return some boots, but they were from eBay. See if I can do that, if not, I'll wear them for work. They are too wide around my calves, and look strange because of that.
I returned another pair, £50 back to my account, hopefully soon. Also, yesterday I was a little tempted to order a takeaway but didn't! All money saving

So today is going to be a nice day of breakfast and coffee and time with friends.

catriona79

Good evening lovely ladies,

I'm back from my date (?) and feel like I need to ramble on here for a bit of distraction and therapy.

Feeling a bit down after this date. Another man who has got himself in a right pickle though many rash and impulsive decisions. I am not attracted to that, too much insecurity comes with it. But a nice sweet guy and I wish him all the best. I've offered to help him as much as I can. He must be feeling very lonely at the moment. Gosh, why do people get themselves in such situations?...

So, as a result I'm in one of those moods when everything seems impossible - will I ever get my life sorted?

But I need to go to sleep - and tomorrow will be a better day. I'll go and get some Kalms Day tomorrow too, just to take the edge off.

I've started taking proper sleeping pills, not just the herbal stuff and they work. Thursday and Friday were so much better at work, I wasn't falling asleep. I've also not had that much food today and yesterday, which is also a good feeling. Tomorrow I'll have to go for a run, that will improve my mood, I'm sure.

In money news, everything is ticking over and I'm so happy because

1. Mortgage is at its final stage - the conveyancers have requested funds from Nationwide. Due to it taking a bit longer, I'm going to get a cheque for about £350 when it completes. So I may use that to pay off some of my card debt, or save it or put it back in the mortgage account. What would you do?

2. I've been given my rent by L1 and will get L2 rent on the 14th, that's only 7 days away! It's a really great feeling to know that I will be paying a card off rather than transferring it! Completely unprecedented. I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere.

I also skimmed through my first post here when my debt was at 16k, and my plans to be debt free by my 35th birthday, which didn't happen! Well, let's hope that I can maintain this level of income, because then I can pay it off by the time I turn 37, in May next year.

So, there are so many more positives to my situation compared to two years ago! I'm quite possibly getting some parts of my life sorted:) surely, the rest will follow suit
I need to remind myself that relationships are not all rosy, and that there are frustrations and downsides too. They are just different to the ones I'm experiencing.

Goodnight everyone

catriona79

Good morning, good morning!

Morning coffee in progress, and it's a leisurely Sunday morning!

I only managed 5 hours of sleep, but I may have a nap in the afternoon, after all it's Sunday!

I started my assignment yesterday and it feels good to have got somewhere. It's on research methods, so very useful and worth spending time on.

I am hoping to have a sensible day today money-wise. I'm going to go to the supermarket (Lidl) and try and make a Thai curry or a tagine in my slow cooker, to get me through Mon and Tue. I find that when I have a big hot lunch at work, I don't need an evening meal so much - maybe that's the right thing for weight loss. First Slimming World tomorrow night. I'll have to start tracking that too, though I think you get a book where they write down your weight every time you go.

I'll also get some cheap fruit and veg and a high protein and no fat yoghurt, like the Greek Fage or the Icelandic Skyer. They are amazing in the afternoon with cut up fruit and a little drizzle of agave syrup or even without the syrup. Highly recommended to anyone who gets sugar cravings around 3 pm.

Card pay off is so close that I can almost touch it!

I have put £400 of my rent money in an envelope to pay into my account or maybe just go to a Virgin bank and pay it in. I will wait until I have the full amount though, so that I only have to go once. Next Saturday I should get the second lot of rent and then from the on its only 2 weeks till pay day.

I have kept £100 for a hair appointment this Wednesday and have got about £20 for food shopping for the week. I have most of the stuff I need, just probably need a few pieces of chicken, so that should get me through the week - hopefully.

Also, normally I'd have to pay my mortgage on 28th of the month (same day as I get paid), but this month that will not happen, as it will be the first month of the new mortgage, which is normally the "long month" where you pay after 6 weeks or so. My mortgage is due to complete on 15 November, and the first payment should be on 1st January. I need to remember that when I budget! It might free up a little bit of money for the cards, especially with the mortgage now being £140 a month cheaper.
I am so glad this mortgage saga is finally over and it's ended well.

I'm sure you'll have heard the news last Thursday re the Bank of England not raising the rate above the 0.5% that it's been for 6 years. I'm sticking with my tracker and will not think of fixing for at least 6 months. I definitely overpaid on my fix over the time that I've had it, and I am going to hedge my bets. If it goes up, I will fix then.

Right, time to read some more about research methods!

Have a lovely morning everyone

beanielou

Use the £350 to pay off a card I think.
All sounding very positive money wise

catriona79

Hello Beanie!! :j:T:j:T:j

So lovely of you to pop by. I was thinking the same you know, re the spare cash from mortgage. Just get rid of the debt and every little helps.

How are you these days? Amazing weight loss I see. I need some tips from you, as I'm just starting out on that!

Hope you have been getting better in the last few days. How is that list for the inside of your wardrobe coming along?

Sending hugs your way.

C.

catriona79

I had a good day spending wise today. Nothing was spent except for £16 in the supermarket. This bought me a massive slowcooker of chicken casserole, fruit and veg and even a couple of GÜs which were reduced, for a treat.
It is unusual for me to not spend on a Sunday as there's always people wanting to do things, but today was great.

It was also wonderful as I had the house to myself most of the day - perfection!

I really cannot wait for that to be permanent, but for the moment it's until September, unless my lodgers decide I'm a slave driver. Neither did their cleaning this week and I can't be bothered reminding them, or doing it for them for that matter. Sod it! There are bigger things to worry about.
If the arrangement continues until September, then I should have my debt paid and some savings put by, if it finishes early, at least I've made a dent in it. Making hay!!!

I'll also now update my spreadsheet with the extra £350 I'll hopefull get in a couple of weeks from the new mortgage surplus.

Orange_Ena

catriona79 wrote: »

Gotta keep positive!!

I do have to say that two lodgers for a short time was the easiest money I've ever had.

I love having my own space, but once you're sharing it with one person, you may as well share it with two, only for a shorter time!
It's a really good feeling when the debt goes down and there are nice times with the lodgers too.

Ena, if I hadn't got the MSE bug and another lodger, I would now be drowning in unmanageable debt, I know it! How many times have I used the switch tricks and got paid to open accounts and compared various utilities.

It's great to have this place to come to, ramble on about my situation - sometimes just writing it down really helps make sense of things.

Thanks for the encouragement :beer:

You've definitely encouraged me with getting a lodger. I just hope I'm lucky enough to get a good one......and one that remembers to pay!

This is a great place for rambling and talking about money things. I love that I can say that I scan receipts on checkoutsm@rt for a 1p and no one thinks that's odd. Or at least they don't say I'm odd haha. And it's great to look back on to see how far we've come. Work in progress