Debt free by 40 -- 19 Months and counting

StressedSteph

When_the_going_gets_tough wrote: »

Hi stepf have just stumbled on your diary. Just wanted to say your husband should make a claim for Esa for his op period. Provided his ni contributions are up to date this could bring in about£73 per week not much but a help. You make the claim over the phone, you can have it backdated to the day of his op and you will need doctors certificates. Well worth a punt maybe? Good luck with it all you sound a very capable manager.

Hi When the going gets tough,


Thanks for posting. Going to be embarrassing now, but we are not up to date with NI contributions. I do MEAN to pay it but it never really happens so I doubt very much they would pay us anything.


Once we are back on our feet I do intend to get back into paying them as it is pretty important.


Eeeeek

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

Just checking in XX


Hope all is well and you aren't over at the in laws XXX

Hi Buffy


Thanks for checking in.


Alls good here, inlaws are still thinking up things they need me to do. They are all moved now and keys handed back to landlord for their old house. I managed to avoid the big clean up at the old house as G.I.L had her two sisters down and after the amount we had already done, I let them do the cleaning.


G.i.l now wants me to go over to hang curtains for her, even though FIL is perfectly capable to do it. I really do feel like saying that people would visit more often if they thought they weren't going to be given a list of jobs to do everytime they came round. I really don't mind doing things I know they are not capable of, but an awful lot of it feels like its just stuff she can't be bothered to do, so its easier to get someone else to do it for her. :mad:


Trouble is that makes me distance myself from them and then they get annoyed that we never visit.


FAMILIES!!!


Hope all is good with you Buffy, will catch up with your diary soon xxx

dawnybabes wrote: »

She's on the book of face and is having a great time Buffy :-)

Hi Dawn,


Hope all is good with you. xxxx

StressedSteph

Morning Diary,


Sorry I haven't been around. Summer holidays have thrown me out of my normal routine and that has made me forget to post .


Spending got slightly out of hand last week with an impromptu MacDonalds visit and an awful lot of petrol money spent. I have to remember that with my big truck, it might be a picnic on the beach but it still costs me £20 in petrol to get there and back


Have reined it in a lot this week and we are going to have to find things to do abit more local. Ds has a friend over for a sleep over last night and after lunch we are planning on hitting the local skate park to while away a few hours.


Finances are super tight as last weeks work hasn't paid yet. The guy hubby is working for is a dairy farmer, which scares me a little due to all the milk price drama at the moment. I certainly hope he pays up soon :eek:.


Ebay annoyance struck again last week. We have an old mini-motorbike in the barn which a friend of hubbys gave to us to tinker with. We are not really motorbike people and we never really had the time to do it up so I stuck it on Ebay last week. I got hit with tonnes of questions from a bidder who came across as abit of an idiot. Typically he won the auction!.
I then noticed that he had ZERO feedback and has now proceeded to disappear and not reply to any messages.
Typical Ebay!!!.


I have opened up a dispute as it cost me £10 to list the bike!.
It finally sold for £85 and I could really have done with that money. The Ebay dispute will not end until the 5th September, but I really want to list the bike again to get the money. but slightly worried that this guy will suddenly appear on the 4th September and want to collect the bike. Not sure what to do .
Why is nothing EVER simple.


Not much else to report here, going to scout around for other things to sell, although its slim pickings here nowadays.
No work from the Spa since the holidays started, even though we really need the money, I am quite glad as it saves me the childcare issues while I do the treatments.


Still constantly searching for something I could make or do that would sell well, it infuriates me that I can't think of something. Keep feeling tempted to start the craft work again, but I just don't think it paid very well versus the amount of hours I spent on each item.


Oh well...Have a great day all xxx

fern44

Hi Steph
you sure about your Ni contributions some of it is paid if you are self employed with your tax return 9% on profits
the monthly payment is about £12 per month but this has just stopped so no need to pay it any more and it will only be collected
when you pay your tax bill unless you have an upto date statement it might be worth checking ?


but apart from that it probably is not worth trying to claim sick pay unless you are off for a long time it takes too much effort and you would have to pay for a sick note from the doctors anyway !!!

StressedSteph

fern44 wrote: »

Hi Steph
you sure about your Ni contributions some of it is paid if you are self employed with your tax return 9% on profits
the monthly payment is about £12 per month but this has just stopped so no need to pay it any more and it will only be collected
when you pay your tax bill unless you have an upto date statement it might be worth checking ?


but apart from that it probably is not worth trying to claim sick pay unless you are off for a long time it takes too much effort and you would have to pay for a sick note from the doctors anyway !!!

Thanks for your help with that Fern. We do pay the NI on our Tax return but not the Class 4 (unsure) that is extra.


Hoping hubby will be back to work after two weeks maximum so like you said it is probably more hassle than its worth xx

StressedSteph

Quick note:-


Just restarted YNAB. I had done my usual and over complicated the whole thing. Easy to do really as we are weekly paid but I have too many categories so I re started and it looks so much better now.


Hoping it will also help me keep it all under control as I only have about 20 items on the list.


Fingers Crossed

supersaver1000

Steph, I had that with an eBay item. Just offer it to the next bidder or re advertise it. If they want it just refund to the original buyer and the worst they can do is leave you negative feedback,which really isn't that bad (you can always leave a reply if it happens). SS x

StressedSteph

supersaver1000 wrote: »

Steph, I had that with an eBay item. Just offer it to the next bidder or re advertise it. If they want it just refund to the original buyer and the worst they can do is leave you negative feedback,which really isn't that bad (you can always leave a reply if it happens). SS x

Thanks Supersaver.


I have just gone and offered it to the bidder that was highest, will see if he still wants it. Fingers Crossed xxxx

StressedSteph

Eugh had a horrible morning at my cleaning job.


Every week the old lady that I clean for sits me down for half an hour and tells me all her troubles which is fine and I see that as part of the job (i.e keeping her company). But as the months go on she seems to moan at me about silly things more and more.
(she is an retired head teacher so you can imagine how stern she is ).


Well last week I had to take my daughter along with me because I had no one for her to go to. I rang the lady first and told her and she seemed quite happy about it. My daughter is a quiet little thing so she took lots of colouring books and I sat her down at a table in the old ladies lounge and thought all would be well.


The lady took it upon herself to try to entertain my daughter, who would much rather have been left alone, but I over heard Dd laughing etc so thought all was well.


I also had the job of watering the ladies pots out the front so I got my daughter out to help me water.


Anyway I arrive today to the lady complaining that she thinks my daughter pulled out one of her plants in her pots. Now if it had been my son I might have believed it but my daughter would never do that, she is far too sensible.


Well I defended her but apologised if she thought she may have done it and tried to explain that it is just not the sort of thing she would do.


Anyway she then went on to complain about the washing up of her cat bowls from the week before. The lady has two cats and feeds them from a new cat bowl each about four times a day so every time I arrive to clean the kitchen sink is full of plastic cat bowls. I couldn't get the bucket into the sink to be able to mop the floor so I washed the bowls for her, stacking them upside down on a tea towel just like I have seen her do in previous weeks.


Anyway apparently I stacked them wrong and they all went mouldy, to such a degree that she had to throw some of them away :mad:


Aaaarrrgggghhhh


All of this for £20!!!.


She has now asked that if I can't find a sitter for the children to not worry about going that week :mad:.


I am trying very very hard to not take it personally, She makes me a list each week but then tells me that if I see anything extra that needs doing to just get it done, but then she complains about EVERYTHING.


My house is pretty clean and tidy, I know how to clean a house and I can't believe that she find something to complain about every week. It is usually her complaining that I have made her kitchen floor sticky, even though I only use the same product she supplies every week and I give it a wash over with plain water afterward. Grrrrrrrrr


I think what annoys me most is 10 years ago I was working in a PR department, traveling to Paris Air show and earning 30k per year and now 10 years later I am scrubbing the floor of a picky ungrateful old lady for £20!!!!!!!! I could CRY


Ok rant over...... I seriously need to start writing down ideas of how to make money OTHER THAN CLEANING

dawnybabes

Aw she sounds like she needs a life ! Just smile and repeat this is not forever !

crazy_cat_lady

She's a grumpy old so-and-so isn't she? I suspect that she's one of those who will never be happy - no matter what.