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

NinjaSavingKat

Okay I am on tonight after I have a bath which is a superb novelty here at my friends house - more shortly... Whoop!

EDIT - I'm HERE!

Well my poor body is readjusting to room temperature after that epic molten lava-hot bath. It was amazing! I am now at my friends house and she has a 2yr old and a 3 month old boys. It's been a busy busy day and I have renewed respect for you Mums out there - however it makes the bath even more appealing.

So - currently in the Travel Account is standing at £8325 - thats with the couriers paid for and the extra parcels I had to send home. With my pay coming in at the end of the month sitting at least at £1900 and around £500 minimum from tax back I should be sitting pretty with £10,725 / $17,580 which I am quite happy with. The little overtime I did in august might see me pull in another £250 although that is debatable. I could just about scrape through with £11,000.

I have so far spent £4075. That adds up to a lot more than I thought I would have.

For those asking me if I am worried about what has happened in Thailand recently - the answer is no I am not. What will be will be.

It's a week today until I am on the ferry. I bought some chrysanthemums today as they remind me of home - Daddy used to grow them when I was little and they were the beginning of his green thumb and the proof persistence to learn something will produce great results ( you should see his garden ). Guess I know where my determination comes from then!

Right now I want to ge theme and see Mummy and Daddy, chill out in my garden and take life easy for a bit. I still need to think of a blog name and would like that down before I leave my friend next Tuesday considering she is helping with this .. and the one that knows how a blog works - :rotfl:.... Watch this space..

Okay it's food time and then bed.. More soon!

Sholly

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

Sholly!!! I remember you, we were on some challenges together!

Hope she doesn't mind me hijacking a little but How are you!?!?

And also, the BT Smart Talk App has 60 minutes free time a month, regardless of the time of day! Even to 0845 numbers etc. I did find it was way worse than Skype though in terms of how well it connected/quality of the call etc.

Siouxsie32 wrote: »

I remember you as well Sholly Good to see you again :hello:

Hi Lilt & Siouxsie! It's really cheered my day up that you remember me! I've missed all the virtual chats. It's good to be back

I'm great thanks Lilt, I've had such a busy (and expensive) year buying a new house and doing it up. My debt should've gone by now but I have a plan so I'm not worried.

I didn't know that about the BT Smart Talk app, thanks for that. My connection seemed fine when I was abroad so maybe it was just a signal thing. I haven't tried it from home so I'll give it a go

Deleted_User wrote: »

Thanks Sholly for the smart ap tip...I will be downloading that pronto, though sadly not for trips half as exciting as Kats! I often stay for work in a place with rubbish phone signal but great wifi. Sadly not all my parental contacts etc are skypers, so maybe that app will help me out then!

No problem

Sholly x

x__Indigo_x

Hi KAT! Quick question was the tax refund due to the p85 form or? As I leave work in a month so was wondering whether i would be entitled to anuything tback as i wont be earning any more money this tax year in the ul


thanks in advance!

Glad to hear your bike sold! you must be gettig super excited now you have not got long! ive started to do my rough packing list....arghhh!x

x__Indigo_x

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

Ah crap I didn't think of this!

You need to start calculating in dollars though. You have $16689.50 USD. Per month in SEA you will need at least $1000 - this leaves you with $12,690 dollars rounded up as you are hitting the other 4 countris right - Thailand / Laos / Cambodia and Vietnam?.....(As far as I remember you are not going to Myanmar which cuts out at least $1500 as it's a little more expensive)

• NHS will provide tetanus, dyptheria, thyphoid, Hep A and Hep B for free,
• You DO NOT need yellow fever (which is £75 saved )
• Malaria tabbies are cheapest from The Travel Pharmacy that I know of and calculate the EXACT amount you need plus 9 days extra ( 2 before and 7 after the dates of being within malaria area)
• Insurance only for the exact dates - This is a comparison I used although World Nomads might be the best for you and me.
• Rabies (£165) is definitely needed.
• Cholera you might get away without.
• You will not need Japanese Encephalitis.

Accommodation is in the quote of $1000 per month as is food. Please forgive me if this is a patronizing spiel but I really want to help you get to Oz...

You know what bag you want so that's sorted (£70?).

I am not bringing hiking shoes but got a hybrid runner/trail shoe but many are on sale now, minimal clothing as you know you can get anything over there unless you are like me at 5'8" and a large rear end that no Asian market will cater for (:rotfl:)...

Laundry is cheap, bring tops from Primark etc..

So that is about $2500 / £1500 roughly....

You still have $10000 USD left.... this is $10700 AUS..

That's a LOT left over..? Flights to Aus from Bangkok are CHEAP at the moment so you "could" if you really want to get there book your flight now..? Try Momondo....... And book your flight home - then make whatever you have left last. You are too close to Oz from Bangkok NOT to go so even for a month to see family who will look after you it will be worth it.

Howz that then eh??? :T:T:T:T:T:T

Also did you go with world nomads in the end??

Did you order your malaria tablets through the travel phamacy I take it it was fuss free?

thanks again Kat!!!!! x

NinjaSavingKat

x__Indigo_x wrote: »

Hi KAT! Quick question was the tax refund due to the p85 form or? As I leave work in a month so was wondering whether i would be entitled to anuything tback as i wont be earning any more money this tax year in the UK...

Yes you should - get the P85 printed and your P45 (which I am still waiting for) and send it off. They calculate you are allowed £10k a yes which translates as £833.33 a month tax free - however if you are not earning this for the remainder of the months leading up to the new tax year (April 2015) then you will be entitled to something back as I think they "might" guestimate on what you earned from last year - so do send it off. Apparently takes 5 weeks to process but who cares - you will be away by then. I used my parents address as my base address...

I have yet to do my insurance. Insure and Go are looking a little better if I am honest... and cheaper.. Check them out first.

Malaria tabbies through Travel Pharmacy and were with me within days - perfect service really!

Hope this helps!

liltdiddylilt

Honestly so excited for you Kat.

The start of an epic adventure. Sort the blog pronto please; I don't want to lose you for years

I wish I could relax in my bath once in a while. Invariably it has been drawn on with bath crayons, has sand in it, no matter how many times I clean & rinse it :huh: and is less than relaxing when the rubber duck net falls on my head spilling foamy letters and ducks everywhere. I give up and have a blistering hot shower these days. Lucky mine is a power shower straight from the boiler flow with wicked pressure!

Sholly of course you are remembered, but it is nice that you feel happy! Glad everything is going well, buying a house and doing it up is a worthy cause, and a reason most people go INTO debt, so don't worry!

x__Indigo_x

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

Yes you should - get the P85 printed and your P45 (which I am still waiting for) and send it off. They calculate you are allowed £10k a yes which translates as £833.33 a month tax free - however if you are not earning this for the remainder of the months leading up to the new tax year (April 2015) then you will be entitled to something back as I think they "might" guestimate on what you earned from last year - so do send it off. Apparently takes 5 weeks to process but who cares - you will be away by then. I used my parents address as my base address...

I have yet to do my insurance. Insure and Go are looking a little better if I am honest... and cheaper.. Check them out first.

Malaria tabbies through Travel Pharmacy and were with me within days - perfect service really!

Hope this helps!

Thanks kat! I thought you had already got it back silly me! Will it come via cheque to your parents address or straight into your back? Sorry bombarding you with questions

Im off work today ( leave rather than a sickie!:rotfl:) so been doing a rough packing list. Just had to purchase some ebag slim packing cubes as every blog i read raves over them and they were on sale on amazon!

Did you go with Doxy or malarone for the malaria? Think il use the travel pharmacy too thanks for that tip!x

NinjaSavingKat

Indigo is was the non-branded Malerone which works out cheaper. My friends bridesmaid is recovering from cerebral malaria. The is just learning how to speak again and write. It was touch an go for her for a while but she has finally been flown home from her travels and is recovering slowly so worth getting all that diet and long sleeved tops etc... It's been a year for this girl now and she still hasn't quite managed to walk yet.

Sholly I do remember you - how could I not. Sorry for not posting directly too you - whats the plan in life for you at the moment? Did you buy the house by yourself or is there an OH in there somewhere..?

So for those wondering I have a blog name which I will be using. Bookface and website will be purchased tonight but until I have some material on there I won' make it live. Personal messages to follow with my name...

x x x

Mich81

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

Yes you should - get the P85 printed and your P45 (which I am still waiting for) and send it off. They calculate you are allowed £10k a yes which translates as £833.33 a month tax free - however if you are not earning this for the remainder of the months leading up to the new tax year (April 2015) then you will be entitled to something back as I think they "might" guestimate on what you earned from last year - so do send it off.
Hope this helps!

Sorry to intrude, but tax is what I do for a living so I thought I could offer some assistance (and hopefully good news).

Basically, when you get your P45 - look at your Gross Pay, subtract £10,000 from that, and multiply what is left by 20% (I'm guessing from figures you've mentioned earlier in the thread that you're in the 20% bracket)

Whatever figure you get, is your tax liability for the year - so basically the difference between this, and the tax you've paid so far, is what you will get as a refund.

Another way of working it, is by saying if your final pay and P45 is dated September, then this is Month 6 of the Tax Year - therefore you still have £5k of your allowance unused as you only gain 1/12th of this each month.

£5k x 20% is £1000, so this is what you should get back :T

Hope that helps, been lurking in the thread recently and am both in awe of what you've saved and jealous of your upcoming travelling :rotfl:

Igamogam

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

So for those wondering I have a blog name which I will be using. Bookface and website will be purchased tonight but until I have some material on there I won' make it live. Personal messages to follow with my name...

x x x

Have been following your diary quietly and silently.......would like to continue with your blog. Please PM the blog name when you have it.