Debt, get ready to kiss your @$$ goodbye!

HOK3Y

Thanks DB, I am definitely in a better place than I have been in a while - now to ensure it continues!

Hope everyone else is having a lovely holiday weekend. We have really enjoyed being at home with my two munchkins and I still have two days to enjoy with them. I haven't had this much time off since Christmas and it feels good to have a decent break. Maybe I'll have a few weeks out of work when I first move which might be a bit scary money wise but likely welcome from a stress point of view.

Tomorrow means a few more preparations for my daughters birthday and I might even convince the munchkins to take a long walk with me by the river. Definitely time for some more mellow moments before the craziness of moving really kicks in!

HOK3Y

Today was my 5th and final day off work (and a very badly needed break it has been) but it has also been my daughter's 14th birthday. We have spent it on a nice drive through the Yorkshire Dales, lunch out, and a movie afternoon/evening. She has had a giant jaffa cake style cake - the same as she had last year as she is a Jaffa cake loon. She has been thoroughly spoiled and we are also going out on Friday to get our nails done......just in time for me to pick up my ring from the jewellers where it is being sized.

Lots to take care of but so much of it is on hold while we the munchkins are here. They leave at the weekend and then the move will get a hard kick into overdrive! I still have nowhere to live and am struggling to get appointments to even look at the rooms for rent in the town where I work. My sister has offered me a place to stay but she is out of town and I would need a car.......and won't have one.....urg! Plus I really dont want to inconvenience anyone but it is really awesome of her to offer to put up with me!

Anyway, tomorow it's back to the office and it may be crazy when I get there......but that's just how it's going to be for a while. I am supposed to work 9-5 but I've been getting in at 6.30am recently and it's not enough. Hopefully we will have some interviews shortly to replace a staff member who recently left and then things should improve. Regardless, 5 days off will likely mean that tomorrow is a bit of a blur!

Hope everyone had a happy and peaceful Easter. I am hoping to have the pennies from my ring sale in the next few days and then I can pay off the car loan!!! Oh bring that on!

HOK3Y

3 days off lie ahead of me and you would think I'd be happy about it.......but there is so much work in the office that I think I would genuinely be happier if I was working. I am not looking forward to Monday when the build up will be waiting. It's all getting a bit barmy workwise. Not sure how we will get through it all. I mean, we WILL get through it but right now I am not sure how that's actually going o happen!


I have been trying to get some viewings on rooms to rent so that I have somewhere to live and am so far coming up bust. Seriously hope something opens up in the next week or I am homeless as of May 7th!


Tomorrow should be a nice enough day though as my daughter and I are going to have our nails done as a treat. Really looking forward to being spoiled a little.


Still waiting on funds from my ring sale - really hoping the money is there in the morning so that I can deal with paying for the move in full and kissing goodbye to the car loan. It's about all I can think about! Actually looking forward to the next month or so as I will be better off than I have been in, well, ever! Last time I was debt free was March 1997 but I had no savings as I had JUST paid everything off......only to have dipstick ex slam me into debt when we married that same month. So, once these pennies come in, I will be in the best financial position of my adult life. Now THAT is something to celebrate!


Hope everyone is doing well and chipping away at those debts. Lots of love and luck to all my fellow DFWs!

HOK3Y

Still no funds from the ring sale - I have been promised it will be done on Monday......we will see. That may still mean that I won't have the funds until Wednesday but I am hoping otherwise. Fingers crossed!


My DD and I had our nails done today and feel quite special. Hers are a bright mid blue and mine are a deep metallic midnight blue - absolutely love them! Will try to keep them up from here on. I really need to care enough about me to cut my hair regularly and have my nails done seeing as I will be able to afford it from now on. Looking like a train wreck has really not done anything for me but advertise to the world that life was giving me a kicking! Need to change that.


I am meeting some friends for lunch on Sunday and I might even wear a dress.......this is so out of the ordinary for me that my sister (who is also going along) might faint on the spot! When I am out of work I live in my jeans. I do not ever feel right in anything else but I am determined to be more feminine this year!


Tomorrow I get to pick up my ring from the jewellers as it was being sized. I really can't wait!!! It will not be leaving my finger other than for cleaning and maybe when I'm baking!


Once this move is over and done with, I need to start looking at increasing our savings. Once the dust settles and I know how much money we have to play with, I can start truly working some magic. At the moment it is all so up in the air. I should have a few thousand to spare after everything is paid for and I should be able to add to this every month going forward. We will need this money to work on the house and bring it up to par so I need to save every penny I can. The thought of taking out another loan EVER truly turns my stomach. I can actually feel my blood pressure going up when I think about it. So fixing up the house/buying a second car will be done with the cash we have available - no question. Even having a mortgage when we decide to upgrade our home will not be met with a smile - I have every intention of saving every spare penny so that we can upgrade with cash. I figure I've more than paid my interest dues. I'm not going to pay any more if I truly don't have to!

cottage_retreatist

I can't believe you're going to be debt free soon hok3y!!!!

So exciting!
X

HOK3Y

Thanks C-R! It's going to be a surreal time for a while I am sure! Really just a bit gobsmacking to have cleared all that debt in less than a year. Just so happy about it!


Meanwhile, I have picked up my ring and am over the moon!! We found it in an antique store and I am lucky enough to be confident picking out pieces as I know a fair bit about gems and jewellery in general. This was a no brainer - I loved it so much from first sight and I knew it was an insane price. Took hubby to some jewellers today for a peek in the windows and pointed out far smaller pieces for 3-5 times the price so even he knows we did very well. I will post a pic if I can get a good one. In the sun it is a blue and white fire ball!


So my little bit of spoiling is now over and it's back to business! The munchkins leave tomorrow so the financial haemorrhage should finally come to an end! I'm very sad to see them leave though. At least they will only be a 3 hour drive from me in the States - that part is brilliant!


Now to focus on the expenses of the next few weeks and all the hassle of moving. 2 weeks from now it will all be over and a new temporary reality will begin for us both. Hopefully I will secure somewhere to live this coming week and then I can relax a little bit. Somehow, I have to find the strength to tell work I won't be with them much longer. I am truly dreading that conversation.


Still, it has been a lovely Saturday which started with breakfast in Betty's for Mr HOK3Y and myself. Then lots of time with the kids before heading to the dump to offload a whole lot of junk that we don't need. Also dropped 2 bags full of clothes at Cash4Clothes and walked away with some pennies........and a chunk of them were clothes that the kids brought with them that were too small as their father doesn't listen when they say they are too short/tight.......well, there's one sure fire way to get that point across!! Yes, HOK3Y has been a bit naughty! And somewhere along the line I might have known all along that DD's nails would drive him nuts and lets not even talk about the underwear I bought her with the words on the back.....lol! Ah well, just the mental image of his face getting redder and his blood pressure going through the ceiling is enough to make it all worthwhile.


........where's a devil smiley when you need one.......

HOK3Y

Handshot - really happy lady!!

cottage_retreatist

gorgeous ring hoks!!!!

my goodness! got to keep this up on the computer for a while and give my OH something to think about for my birthday on tuesday!!! (not gunna happen but he can put it into memory!!)

glad you had fun having your kids round, although i imagine the chance to spoil them once every now and again does lead to some excessive spending!!!

xx

brizzledfw

My lord, thats one amazing ring. Fabulous. Looks so so lovely and well, yes the nails do certainly set it off

Have a great few days and fingers crossed with the room hunting hon..if you lived nearer you could be my lodger at knockdown rates ! (bit of a commute though I think :rotfl:)

HOK3Y

Thanks C-R! You know, if you need a sparkle fix without the kick to the wallet then believe it or not, QVC have some lovely sterling pieces - especially the Tova range.......print some pics out with prices and leave them lying around!!!

Thanks brizzle! I would love to be your lodger - just imagine all the MSE conversations we could/would have! I really hope I can find somewhere this week. I am truly hoping I can snag the one place as it looks lovely, even if it is more expensive than some of the others.

Meanwhile, the kids are gone and I've managed to stop crying. Mr HOK3Y is booking the car in for a serious clean and detail before it ships. I am staring at a boatload of boxes and foot lockers in the front room and wondering how we still own so much stuff! Can't believe that all of this will be gone in 2 weeks, including Mr H. Well, maybe it will be nice to live the single life for a while......well, kinda single....there'll be no wild parties or anything!

So another week in this crazy life begins tomorrow and I think at some point I need to find the courage to speak with work about what's going on - utterly dreading it. It just could not be happening at a worse time for them.