Catriona's Credit Card Countdown

beanielou

All sounding good today :j :j

catriona79

Thank you lovely ladies

Goodnight and sleep well

catriona79

Good news on the job front - safe for another year.:j
L2 is leaving though, and looking on the bright side, it's for the best. L1 getting annoyed with L2 today sent a message to a group we have set up, re cleaning, as L2 didn't bother doing any yet again.
So, money will be tighter but hopefully I'll find someone else very soon, hopefully only January will be empty.

Now that the job situation has been cleared up, I can use my savings as well to pay some of the debt, so there won't be a massive emergency.

beanielou

Great news on the job front :j :j :j
Brain fuzzy today, remind me do you pay off about £900 a month or am I imagining that?

catriona79

Thank you Lou!

It's been a tough day for me today on many levels and am so pleased it's the evening now.

I'm off tomorrow to do more work on my course, as beginning to panic now!

I used to save a fair bit each month, but my income is going to be £400 less now, though my expenses are going to be less too, so overall £200 down. But that's ok! It's all good really.

Ok, I reckon it's time to get on!

Have a good evening

bellevie

Good news all round - debt neutral - mortgage and job safe! What an eventful couple of weeks.

Might not be so bad having just the two of you for a month, Christmas is always so busy its quite nice to be calm after - but yes I understand a slight disappointment that you wont save as much as you would do.

Hopefully you will find someone 'in sync' with you & L1

xx

catriona79

beanielou wrote: »

Great news on the job front :j :j :j
Brain fuzzy today, remind me do you pay off about £900 a month or am I imagining that?

Oh you're kind. Yeah, I tried to save up my lodger income (£900 a month before tax, but tax isn't due on the whole amount), to become debt neutral. I'd then start paying the actual debt off when my emergency fund is stable.

Now, the lodger is about to go at the end of December and while I do think it would be the sensible thing to do to get another one, i also feel like I should just stick with one lodger...

Current lodger wants to leave her bed here (I don't really want it, it's too bulky and dark for the room), but I could ask her to take it with her and then get a cheap bed from ikea at a cost of probably £250. Maybe January sales would be a good time to do that. Having two lodgers vs one is a £400 difference in income (minus tax, but that's only on any amount after the tax break).

So, in theory, I know I should get another person in. The income has been amazing. But it's very tempting not to! :undecided:

I think what I'm going to do is the following:
Get the room cleaned after L2 moves out, and gets her bed out. Shampoo carpets etc. (they are in a sorry state, none of my previous lodgers left them like that). Wash curtains, clean window. Make it smell nice again.
Advertise the room in January and see who comes to view it. Then, if there is a person who's keen and who I think is respectable and dependable, I can get the bed then. If there's nobody, it will have to be empty. Can't have any more mishaps. The latest one is a broken latch in the washing machine, so we can't now use it. There have got to be people out there who treat where they live with a bit more care, and that's who I need to find.

It's nearly 7 am!

Had a second date, which went well, and been asked on a third one, a show and dinner.,very thoughtful and nice. Also, going on another date tomorrow night. Seems like he will be good fun, don't know much more. Scientist in a field that interests me, so lots of interesting stuff to talk about.

Have a good Tuesday everyone x

catriona79

bellevie wrote: »

Good news all round - debt neutral - mortgage and job safe! What an eventful couple of weeks.

Might not be so bad having just the two of you for a month, Christmas is always so busy its quite nice to be calm after - but yes I understand a slight disappointment that you wont save as much as you would do.

Hopefully you will find someone 'in sync' with you & L1

xx

Hello Bellevie,

Thanks for your message. How are things with you and you daughter? It's so cold now,the school run must be harder, as well as getting up in the morning

Yes, very sensible advice re finding someone who is in sync. There's no massive pressure. I guess the disappointment comes from just being three months away from debt neutral and kind of just gritting my teeth to get there.
But when I think about it, it's an opportunity to get someone in, who can be a friend. So really it will be for the best. It's not all about money anyway! It was more about the race and the purpose

catriona79

Money update: :money: :money: :money:

:money: L2 has paid, so bank balance looks healthy for the time of the month. Not in my overdraft! (Was only in it by a tiny margin and the first £250 is free)
:money: Cheque from mortgage company arrived, only about £170, but it's all money, gone to savings and will be paid off the Virgin card, when my salary arrives in the account on Friday.
:money: L1 rent due tomorrow.
:money: Pay day on Friday!! Woo hoo!!!

Spends wise, I've been very good, no clothes or perks, just a few Christmas presents, and a few more to buy. Been good with food and petrol spends and now hopefully can do even better next month. Fingers crossed!

On the downside, we had a mishap with the washing machine, not sure what happened, but L2 clothes in it and door wouldn't open. Washing machine was new when I had the kitchen put in, so it's a bit soon for the machine to break. Or is four years normal these days?
Anyway, we used the string trick last night (as per YouTube videos;) ) and it will need a repair, so that may cost money, and more importantly will have to be organised. And I've got my assignment due - Sod's law

On another note, both my current dates are good at stats - one has a degree in it and the other lectures it as part of the course. I asked for a tiny bit of a steer of the one last night, and he was v helpful.

Time to get on!

catriona79

Good one for the books re washing machine. I watched videos on broken washing machine doors and it turns out is IS from trying to wrangle the door open mid-cycle. (L2 was adamant it wasn't her, of course!) - I don't like fibbers.
But - I think I'll be able to repair it myself, after watching the video. Spoke to lodger and she will be ok paying the £12 it costs for the part. If it was me, I'd be trying to repair it, at least have a go! She just said deduct it from the deposit, but I knew I'd feel bad and an engineer would have cost £90 plus parts.

So, all in all a winner. I'd rather do that than have to charge her over £100 and feel bad about it later. Just wish she'd shown some initiative in sorting it out.

Fingers crossed I can repair it now!

Only a small spend today, £8 in lidl on ham etc and £2 on biscuits and chocolate buttons yumster!
(Needed them to get through stats!) fingers crossed it will be worth it.