Quarter of the way there and full speed ahead

elantan

So here we are the third chapter

No1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3071580

and No2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3688361

quick run down of where we are and whats been happening along the way

I’m now 25 months into the journey and still determined to make it in 100 months, but have had a few bumps along the way,hubby was off ill for the first 5.5 months of the challenge ( all together 7.5 months), he has under went alot of changes,both in his personality and his work arrangements, he now works in the office of his company so no more digging, it hasnt been an easy time for us with his mental health and tbh i think he will have issues with it for the rest of his life, but on the whole he is in a much much better position now than he has been for years

then i think due to the stress of it all i took not well, i seem to be having one thing after another just now the most scariest of which for me has been the whole did i or did i not have a T.I.A.

I am still looking for a new job, this search is a total nightmare, i seem to be able to get interviews but cant turn the interview into a job, i think this is due to nerves so have joined a speakers club in the hopes of dealing with the nerves, i have also applied for I.L.A funding to do a computing course to bridge the last remaining gap in my c.v

Financially wise, we were doing really good and making such a huge in roads, until we used up the free flights ( we tried to give them away but couldnt find anyone to take them) which got us into much much more debt, then just after arriving back home the car failed it’s m.o.t miserably so we bought another car, which increased the debt to ridiculous levels, we got to the stage where we started paying some serious interest on the visa cards, so we decided to remortgage, and put all the debt onto the lowest interest way we could manage.

We know it is not advised and goes against everything this site talks about, but we feel we are now much more in control of our spending and having mr el along for the ride has meant that alot of the pressure has been taken off of me, this is still being sorted out but i think it will be completed fairly soon.

We have two holidays ( which we cant realistically afford) to go on this year so i am trying to sell things and do overtime to pay for them, the first one was paid for by the inlaws, so we just need to find spending money,the second is an all inclusive holiday we decided to go on after we returned from the west coast of the U.S.A, dont get me wrong it was an amazing holiday and i actually think i will one day go back to Las Vegas ( even though i hated the place) so that i can experience the wave and a few other natural beauty sites (but not for a long long time) but it was a very busy holiday and we came back exhausted, so decided to for the first time ever go on an all inclusive so that we didnt have to worry so much about spending money, we will still take some but not as much as we normally would.

because of all the changes in finances , money being owed left right and centre our current situation looks worse than it was to begin with, but i am determined NOT to loose sight of the ultimate goal, which is still to become debt free and to have savings,

so our current financial situation looks like this

Mortgage one

£32,750

Mortgage two

£20,000

Total debt owed : £52,750


The way i am currently working our debt repayment the amount owed divided by the months we have left, then every month i am trying topay that off as a minimum, this month we have £705 to pay off for example, i have set myself a challenge to get this below £700 as soon as possible

Please feel free to continue with me on our journey, and also if you have just found me please feel free to join our journey, all are welcome

elantan

so what have i done since my last diary entry?

well yesterday was a very productive day i completed all my list bar a few things that were out of my control, i didnt for example have that conversation with the boss that i talked about, but that was because i had sent her a text asking if she could talk but was informed that they were still on the mop up after the government based body visit, she said she would get in touch with me soon.

today i got some news about the changes to my nationwide flexdirect account, so i have been working out amounts to transfer etc to take advantage of the bonus that they are offering, i have also asked for a pay out from Amazon i got £10.42 the other day and today i asked for another £46.75 so that has been quite good for the savings/debt payments

the ebay item is close to finishing, so far it is sitting at £7.50 but has 13 watchers so i am hoping for a last minute flurry of bids

i had a conversation with work yesterday as well, i am only doing 45 hours per month overtime from now on but have already been asked to do more, so i said to the boss, look i know that you have been strugglin since december ( we have had so much sickness its been unbelievable) and i will do the 45 hours for you this month, but if X isnt coming back i want her contract ( we think maybe one of the workers wont return ... cant talk about it publicly, but i do think it would be for the best if they didnt) because doing all these hours are not good for me, and having to go looking for overtime is not what i want to be doing either, not only that but you know you have an excellent worker in me, and you have been asking me to do day shifts for a long time and even offered me rota's before ( the were rubbish though so i knocked them back) this shift pattern i would be willing to work for so i want it, the discussions are still ongoing and will ultimatley depend on if the worker returns or not, but i think i stand a good chance of getting this new shift pattern

i have been putting more feelers out for my sideline business, i am thinking i have this very good skill which although there are so many people that have the qualifications that i have, they dont have the experience that i have in dealing with individuals that could benefit from my qualifications. i think i would like to up this to 6 clients per week giving me £90 for 3 hours work after tax etc so would be a good thing to get the debt reduced quicker and the savings mounting up.

i am still in discussions with the individual about doing some N.L.P type courses, we had discussed doing this before but the other individual is currently dealing with publishers about a book they have written so we have put it on the back burner for a while now, before this person was dealing with the publisher etc i had had to call it off due to mr el's and my health ... hopefully now though we be able to go full speed ahead.

i have been in touch with the local education people and it appears i need certain qualifications to do this, just now i have enough on my plate but i do think in the future i would like to develop this ( maybe when i have done some of the N.L.P stuff i will have more experience to take with me to a college type thing)

NewLeaf_2

keep going, you have accomplished so much

tattycath

Wow! you have lots of get up and go El.
I think, despite the setbacks you're doing really well. :j

elantan

NewLeaf wrote: »

keep going, you have accomplished so much

thanks new leaf, you are right we have accomplished so much, i dont think i realised how much till recently, financially wise we havnt achieved anywhere near where we should be at this time, we have paid off less than £8,000 since the start, but we have got our "head in the game" so to speak and i think in alot of ways that is going to be more valuable than being lower in the debt stakes, so yes we have accomplished so much, just really not what i had thought we would've and it is something of more value

its funny how this journey is changing both myself and mr el in ways we never thought about, i really do like it though

tattycath wrote: »

Wow! you have lots of get up and go El.
I think, despite the setbacks you're doing really well. :j

thanks tattycath, i would agree we are doing well in spite of the setbacks, we had the potential to be in a worse position than we currently are tbh, so we are enjoying the learning along the way

skint_spice

Happy new diary El, great plans - hope they all go swimmingly:D

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi El, great to see your new diary and good luck with your plans. You have a great skill set which definitely can bring in cash

Looking forward to following your progress.

Someone posted on your old thread about not reducing your rate for additional services at work. Apologies but I can't recall who. However they were right. If you get the volume you could offer a discount but these days you need to protect your assets and your intellectual capital. You've trained, people can pay for your services. Your knowledge and skills have £ signs against them, which will help your journey.

Best wishes Tilly

taxi73

great new diary..you are doing well

GreyhoundAngel

Happy New Diary El

Wishing you all the Best on your continuing journey and here's to the next "Quarter" proving to be as good for you :beer:

Angel xx

PS ... I've remembered to subscribe this time

beanielou

Happy shiney new diary

gallygirl

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

Someone posted on your old thread about not reducing your rate for additional services at work. Apologies but I can't recall who. However they were right. If you get the volume you could offer a discount but these days you need to protect your assets and your intellectual capital. You've trained, people can pay for your services. Your knowledge and skills have £ signs against them, which will help your journey.

/\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\
What she said

Good luck El, your plans and hard work are starting to pay off .