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

NinjaSavingKat

Hey Lilt - yes I have noticed that once you are trained in the mines and can drive one of those trucks jobs around the planet start springing up - last I saw Brazil was looking for something similar. So you never know I might visit my friend in Canada and take up a job there as well.

I am just beginning to realize how much I need to think about before I go. I have just been researching the Mae Hong Son Loop in Thailand which is 700km of travel ( funny enough in a loop ) which I will do on a motorbike. But I am tempted to bring my bike bag from here - which means the larger bag in my list above...

So much to think about really and there are times I get suitably excited and others I think "what on earth am I doing" - but hey if you don't do it now I will regret it.

And if I don't do that loop I will regret it as well. Then I wonder should I bring my gloves and balaclava as well which is one less thing to think about - and jeans cause there is no way I am getting on a motorbike in Thailand without proper protection with the minimum being jeans....

See - LOTS to think about.

duesouthtwin2

Hello, just lurking away reading to catch up. Love hearing your news

killerpeaty

There looks like there are a few specialist sites for getting a job while still outside of Aussieland. Have you tried applying to anything yet as you know when you will be available?

NinjaSavingKat

Nothing yet Peaty.... if you have links please add them on. I would be eternally grateful. Have to sit and research this next I think. Need to give it time before I go so best start now...

DST - great to see you on here... :T

Hotel booked for my first 5 nights in Osaka - that would be over my birthday and as it's the cherry blossom season the reasonable priced hotels / hostels are disappearing at a rate of knots. I will be close enough to Kyoto to do day trips and this hostel is women only - superb ratings on booking.com.

It is going to cost me £101 for 5 nights = £20.20 per night with free breakfast / free wi-fi and the owner has already messaged me asking for my arrival dates to meet me at their closest station so I don't get lost...

From there figuring out Japan has been interesting to say the least. I need to arrive before my birthday ( 5th April ) which is a Sunday. This means catching a ferry from Shanghai on the Tuesday before which arrives on the Thursday. Am tempted to get the cheap accommodation which is a tatami mat on the floor with 15 other women which will cost £116 as opposed to £219 for a room on my own or £232 to share with one other...

Every penny counts right...?

It has been estimate / guestmated on some forums that $80 is sufficient per day in Japan ( excluding travel which is another matter entirely ) - so this works out to be $2480 / £1455 just for a month in Japan. I think I might have that money available but am still doing costings.

Travel within Japan is by JR pass available for tourists only. I have calculated the places I want to go and it will costs about £474 - where as a 21 consecutive-day JR pass is £334. Unfortunately they do not offer a 31 day pass. The JR pass routes might be a little longer ( extra 30 minutes here and there ) but I won't be in a rush.

You can only buy it outside of Japan and only 2 months in advance. This means buying it in Cambodia at least AND booking the ferry and hoping space is available as that is only 2-3 months in advance as well. The hotel I have is free cancellation if I miss the dates altogether. The JR pass can be activated on a date within Japan of my choosing - but I will activated it the day I arrive and basically start my excursions straight away as inter-city travel will not be beneficial enough OR I might consider buying individual tickets for a few days depending on where I go as I will be remaining in Osaka for the first few days...

Otherwise come the 7th (check out day) I will have 21 days of using the JR pass and tripping about the countryside aiming for the top near Sendai first and Cat Island (google it please) and then working my way down to Nagasaki so I am near Kitakyushu for the end of the month (ish) to see that wisteria garden in bloom... then back to Tokyo for 4-5 nights before flying out to Australia.

Booking the flight out of Japan has me a little worried - the flights are non existant around that time with Scoot.com which is a lost cost air-line / company. I might have to book it sooner than I thought which is annoying as I wanted to keep my itinerary as flexible and open as possible but for the sake of cost I might have to book this flight.

My worry then is if I REALLY need to leave Japan early due to lack of funds I might not be able to move the flight - so as you can see some serious prep needs to be put in place if I am going to last there as long as I would like.

Some of the train trips are over night which will cut down the cost of hostels / hotels and some places could be reached in a day from Osaka - if I can push them all closer together and if I don't need to be in one place longer than an afternoon - how long can you spend on Rabbit Island - then I could aim for a 14 day JR pass which is only £261 and might be the best option to be honest...

Anyway - that's enough from me... I will be back with money stuff later I think.....

NinjaSavingKat

Ok sorry I forgot the more exciting news - my Hipknoties multi-way dress has arrived and I will be experimenting with it tonight. It's very long which is great and I can already see how it will integrate nicely into a capsule ward-robe. I just hope it's kind to my lump and bumps...

Secondly my colleague has written out an 8-week exercise programme for me which she is also following as we both want the same thing - less fat more muscle - but I am scared just looking at it. I will keep you all posted.

Anyone heard from Siousxie32? It's been weeks since she last logged in and I am getting a little worried about her. If anyone gets an inbox from her tell her to PLEEEEEASE check in here and let me know she is ok...

fufu_banterwaite

ok will do

NinjaSavingKat

Hello good people..

I am sat here at work thinking about ways to escape. I have been shafted with duties tonight and am seriously considering if being here in my spare time is doing me any mental good (having been doing this for 2 years ) despite the money it's bringing in.

Advise therefore is required.

I am down £140 a month now as Mumsy's monthly contributions have ceased as the land is now paid off ( we are joint owners)..

I can still put away £1000 a month without OT and £1500-£1600 with OT.

I have three paydays left from my calculations...

• End of July (£1500 / June's OT)
• End of August (£1500 / July's OT )
• End of September (£1000 and whatever OT I get in August)

At the end of September I will be at home in Ireland with no rent (£350) or travel (£239) to pay but moneies from normal food / cinema and other expenditures will go to Mummy to keep me for a month - so at least a saving of nearly £600...

I believe I will get at least £400 from the 5 days annual leave I am taking as pay.

A single persons threshold for non-taxable allowance is not £10,000. I will be filling in a P85 when I finish work ( expertise appreciated Lilt or Peaty) so might be able to claim back at leave £800-£1000 in tax.

I am not going to pay my full rent in September but pro-rata it which is £245 and not £350 as I am spending my last week in London with a friend. Is that bad..? I am not sure if I will get my full deposit back considering the scratchy mess Moggy has made of one corner of the bed - she has got it down to the cardboard....EEEEK!!!

So there is at least £5800 on top of my already gained £5500... which would see me saving £10800 which does not included the sale of my motorbike which I am still hoping will hit £2000...

I will be happy with £12800..............

So the advise required - can I please stop doing double crazy shifts like this one. It's giving me a headache... :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Honestly though I have applied for two shifts in August so far and won't know until I have them for a while. I will aim for a total of 4 and that's it.

Let the count down begin..........4....3......2......1.....


Onwards!!!

NinjaSavingKat

Looks like I have been completely and utterly shafted today as well for my shift starting later this afternoon - really want to tell them to stick it where the sun don't shine!!!!

NinjaSavingKat

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

^ This clown posts utter rubbish. How he got 'thanks' for that last spam is beyond me, unless it was sarcasm.

I am very intrigued by the Hipknoties dress Kat but I buy dresses and then do not wear them. I live in jeans and t-shirts if I am honest! Work barely manage to get a decent smart outfit out of me ha

Loving all of these plans. My sister spent a lot of time travelling Thailand and she actually brought all the silk ties and shirts she could squeeze in into her suitcase. Think she threw out most of her clothes which were either old or bought whilst she was there! The upshot is, she paid 50p for a silk tie, and sold it for £25 on fleabay... a few hundred of those and she was very much quids in on the trip!

Shame that won't be your last stop eh

Lilt this "dress" it literally a piece of material sewn in a tube style that you step in to and tie with bands they give you - I have banjaxed the ties already but could easily replace them with hair ties. I can't wear jeans on the beach, in 35deg heat and a horrible humidity - I need to allow some air flow... :rotfl:

I will be back to Thailand don't worry - although the desire for silk is less now considering how easy it is to get hold of.

Cashmere - now that's a different story...; -)

liltdiddylilt

Hey you! A P85 is a tricky form to fill out considering you won't have a 'permanent' residential address where you are going, nor do you know things like the start date of your job, or what income you may expect.

Are you going to be earning any income from the UK whilst you're away between now & April, i.e. money being made off your land (don't think so but still..) or any payments to you from work etc? If your last pay packet comes in after you've gone, then you have to declare it on the form.

You are right that the personal allowance is £10,000 but it is subject to change. Check your P11d (should have got it in the last couple of months from work) as it will tell you if there are any deductions from that allowance. For instance my work provides a health cashplan. It is taken from my taxable allowance. So last year my taxable limit was £9,440, MINUS that deduction, resulting in me having an actual allowance of £9316. There are other deductions for things like cars, claiming back petrol etc, depending on how your work et up a scheme and if it is applicable. At worst, if you can't find your P11d, and don't know if you have deductions, contact HR asap. You will also need your P45 for this form, so make sure you push work to give that to you quickly if you want to receive this money back faster!

As for the overtime... I've 2 ways of looking at it, you have done incredibly well for 2 years, paid off a huge amount of (self-imposed) debt and built up savings, therefore you are allowed to start to relax now that the end is in sight. At the same time, what is another month when you can see the goal right in front of you, that being travelling and hopefully a well earned break and rest from the madness for a while!? Only you can make the decision for yourself. You've always been a hard worker, but you know yourself and your body. Do as it is telling you, not us!

Hope this was even mildly helpful and not just more confusing! xx