The Travelling Fund; £10,000 in 10 months!!!

NinjaSavingKat

Just need to put things down where I can find them. So I am writing this here. I am trying to figure out logistics ...

I "officially" finish work on the 1st October. I intend to use annual leave to finish on the 15th (Monday) then leave on the Ferry on the 29th (Monday).

That gives me two weeks for..

• Sell the motorbike to my mechanic.
• Get Japanese Encephalitis and Cholera injections
• Package everything I want to keep and post home.
• Move into friends house on the 22nd for a week with her and her family. (They are my closest friends)
• Give away everything that hasn't been sold.

Costings...

• Injections = £255
• Thai Visa = £80 (?)
• Taxi From friend home to Euston = £40
• Rail and Sail Ticket to Belfast = £87
• Citilink suitcases of stuff I am keeping to home = £90
• Flight back to London from Belfast at the end of Oct = £40
• Flight direct to Bangkok from London = £480 (poss excluding a few costs that I have yet to verify before booking)
• TOTAL = £1072

I might stay with the same friends before I fly out and they have offered to drive me to the airport although there is another friend I want to take with me so it will be a squeeze in the car - however I don't want to take advantage of their good nature by asking for a lift to Euston in order to catch my 0521 train if indeed I leave on the day ferry crossing. But then again I don't really want to waste days in London for the sake of it when I could be with my Mum and Dad so might so it all in one day or over night and stay somewhere near the airport as suggested...

So maybe I could take advantage of that taxi to Euston offer...:p

I just clearly need to get on top of selling my things - expensive leather cowboy boots / vintage boxbag / push bike - things I don't want to rush as they were expensive... All books will be given away as well and the LL wants to buy my heavy duty vintage baroque style 6ft mirror.

Just calculating bus fares for the next few months - £52 just on the buses. Might have to use that push bike until then. But cycling home late at night does not float my boat. Maybe I could only pay for late shifts..? Who knows. I need to think this through a bit more. I am however, starting to hate where I currently live.

So as it stands - the dates are as such....

Finish work = 15th September
Leave London = 29th September
Leave Northern Ireland = 3rd November early morning.(0700 - Luton)

Leave London Airport = 4th November late at night. (2100 - Heathrow)

It all makes sense. I just need to bite the bullet and make some bookings although need to verify annual leave because booking the above two weeks leaves me with precisely 4 days until then to use - guess I need to make up some "time" on my card.....


Back soon...........

Karmacat

NSK, if you've got stuff to sell that you don't absolutely need (and you may well need the bike, of course) then can I just chip in that you probably want to do it sooner rather than later - if you don't, you can end up advertising them at a pittance just so that they're gone (the voice of experience here!).

NinjaSavingKat

Karmacat that is exactly why I want to get them on now. You are right. I have read in other places where people leave it too late. I am off on Sunday so that is the main plan - get things listed! Or maybe tonight as it's free listing but weekend ending is always better....

NinjaSavingKat

I spent my lunch break in the Apple store in Covent Garden.

They quoted me £1500 or thereabouts for what I wanted...

1. MacBook Air 13.3 inch - £949
2. Extended Warranty - £200
3. One-to-One session - £79
4. External Hard Drive - £150
5. Protective Shell - £20
6. Protective Case - £30
7. Microsoft Office - £100

Watch me get it for A LOT less.

1. Refurbished MacBook Air - £799
2. Extended Warranty - Will work on this half price.
3. One-to-One - Intend on getting this free
4. External Hard Drive - £40
5. Protective Shell / Case - £30
6. Microsoft Office - £8.95 through a work scheme

Total so far - £977.95


Then I use the change to buy a flight! :rotfl:

lotti379

Lurker popping up to wave :hello:

Your post on fear resonated enormously with me. I am currently struggling with a workplace which feels it owns people! I hate not having a clear plan and an idea of where I'm going, but when you start to include other people they have a maddening habit of altering plans...

I just wanted to say I think you're incredibly courageous. Also, if you weren't feeling a little scared you wouldn't be human!

NinjaSavingKat

lotti379 wrote: »

Your post on fear resonated enormously with me. I am currently struggling with a workplace which feels it owns people! I hate not having a clear plan and an idea of where I'm going, but when you start to include other people they have a maddening habit of altering plans...

I wouldn't be suprised if we were in the same field but in my profession as opposed to the altering of plans there just isn't any plan. You are left to stagnate - it's too big in the scheme of things to worry about individuals. I have pushed for different skills but they clash as no department is willing to keep training me. I need to learn. I need more.

What is your plan though - stay or look elsewhere? Do you have a specific role or are you left to your own devises?

And thank you - fear seems to be what is pushing me forward as opposed to holding me back. I am riding the crest of this wave until I fear nothing.

lotti379

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

I wouldn't be suprised if we were in the same field but in my profession as opposed to the altering of plans there just isn't any plan. You are left to stagnate - it's too big in the scheme of things to worry about individuals. I have pushed for different skills but they clash as no department is willing to keep training me. I need to learn. I need more.

What is your plan though - stay or look elsewhere? Do you have a specific role or are you left to your own devises?

And thank you - fear seems to be what is pushing me forward as opposed to holding me back. I am riding the crest of this wave until I fear nothing.

Well it is tricky, on the one hand I should be in a great position as I am on (well, should be finishing, hence the frustration) a grad scheme - a couple of years older than most people on it!! Only a couple though, in this business I am still well under the average age :rotfl:. On the other hand, I feel I have no control over next (possibly permanent) role or location, and I'm sick of moving about! The last role was pretty much left to my own devices. I have more to do now, which is good, and I like this job, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to stay in it!

I am concerned as other people I started with have been basically given one option after their placements - to stay stuck in roles they have hated which haven't offered anything in the way of development. It seems an odd choice to put someone you bring in as a high-profile part of the business "succession planning" into a role without development opportunity. One of the three from our induction lot is leaving soon due to these issues! I'm due to work on quite a big project though, so I'm planning to stick with it until that is done, get myself on every course I can, and make the call in a year or so! It depends whether I am pushed in the direction I really don't want to go in - which was the path heavily implied by HR recently. :cool:

NinjaSavingKat

:T:T:T Flight to Bangkok has been booked. :T:T:T

£380.

Stop over in Vietnam for 2.5 hours.
I leave on the 4th November.

WOW!

NinjaSavingKat

So - now that the flight booking it out of the way I am back to thinking about the MacBook Air - although not willing to rush this purchase I would like to be ready to buy it the day before my birthday.

• I can get up to 18% discount through work. This means a brand new MacBook Air 13 inch 128GB + Apple Care Extended Warranty + One-to-One for 1 year = £1227

• Without the work discount a refurbished MacbookAir would bring the price to £974.20 as the One-To-One session is not available for a refurbed machine so the new total will be £974.20

• If I go in store ( like Siouxsie did ) and bat my eyelids, purchase a brand new model with the extended warranty and get the One-to-One free then it sits at £1148.80

So I just need to figure out if I need the One-To-One session which basically sets up my email and such like and they are on hand to answer stupid questions if I have them over the course of one year.

However this is nothing I can't find on Google, through Mac forums / chat groups / my techy techy Mac friends etc.

The other issue is the extent by which the refurbed models are tested. Under the returns policy if a product is returned to Apple nearly everything is replaced and tested three times over - where by a brand new model is assumed to be okay therefore you get it straight of the distribution line and into your grubby mitts.

So the refurbished, which is cheaper, tested better and still come to you brand new is the best option.

I have asked my work place for a code to use online with Apple, if I can run this purchase through a cash-back website I will do just that!

Click Here ; - The next question is whether I sell my beautiful, unscratched, unmarked, unlocked white iphone 4s 16gb?

It can get me £120 and I didn't pay for it originally.
OR should I keep it for when I am in Oz and use my little Samsung until then?
Do I need a smartphone while on the road?
Easy Camera or Ultimate Distraction?

NinjaSavingKat

Rail and Sail Booked!!!

£160 for me and my friend so my portion was £90 as I was going to pay for the cabin anyway and the dog lodge. We leave on the 30th September. Almost two years to the day of deciding to get debt free!