No more being "FinanciallyUnsavvy" in 2014!

FinanciallyUnsavvy

sassychick2014 wrote: »

Morning hon

Another £20 is brilliant! Keep it going x

Thank you my lovely :-) xx

elfy1807 wrote: »

Hi.

I've just caught up on your entire diary and would like to say you're doing fantastic!!

A couple of things caught my eye though.
Firstly - your attempts at WW... "attempts" are all I do as well =(
I lost 2 and a half stone last summer and got to my goal weight, and since then I've put on about 5-7lbs (up and down throughout the year since november 13) and have lost all my motivation.
One week I'll be perfect, on it like a car bonnet, then the next, eating whatever I like.
And then get bummed out about not being slimmer =(
But hey ho.

The other thing that got me was living with your partner.
I'm looking at saving for a deposit to live with my boyfriend in maybe 2016.
But as I've never lived away from home before, and I haven't lived with him (other than the month last October where I was at his house practically every night - he has his own place but is currently renting that out and living at home again to save - but I wasn't paying any bills there, just providing my own food), then it's going to be a big change for me.
So something I'm considering doing is seeing whether he'd rent for 6 months somewhere, see how I get on with bills, see how we get on living together etc before committing to something as big as a mortgage together.

But my point is - is this something you could suggest?
You said having him move in would save you about £300 a month, but daren't speak to him about it because you'd be explaining why - ie the debts.
Can't you use the "why" as wanting to see how you get on together as a couple that lives together & shares bills in a not so permanent situation??

Just an idea.


Anyway, keep up the good work.
Subscribed =D

Wow Elfy, thanks so much for reading through all my ramblings - you deserve a medal! :rotfl: very nice to have you on board, thank you for the support!

Re WW... Yeaaah that's taken a massive nosedive - well it's never really got off the ground to begin with! I'll have little bursts of motivation and do really well but they last the whole of about 2 days. I like food too much! I have lost 2st on WW before though so I KNOW I can do it.

As for the co-ha biting situation... it's not really a case of being scared to ask as he'll find out about the debts. He knows I've got a bit of debt and he knows I'm paying it off (not sure he realises just how hard I'm trying but hey ho!) I just haven't told him how much. No, the problem is me, I just find it impossible to raise the question with him. Or anything really. I can't speak my mind on stuff. That's a whole other issue and is not one for here! :-/

Thank you again for stopping by- it really does mean a lot to have support! Xx

FinanciallyUnsavvy

I have a confession to make... I've just committed a Non-MSE sin. In fact my first proper sin since I started my journey...

I renewed my mobile phone contract!! :shock:

Currently I pay £32 a month. My contract runs out at the end of this month. I've been adamant all along that I'd cancel and get another year or 2 out of my current phone (iPhone 4S) with a sim only deal for less than £10 a month so I could save £20.

I REALLY was going to do that. But then it got into my head that I wanted a new phone. And once an idea like that gets in, there's no escaping it :rotfl:

To cut a long story short, I phoned the upgrade line to see what they could offer me a couple weeks ago. It was stupid, anything half decent was going to be £40+ a month. I saw an amazing deal online on a third party site. A Sony Xperia Z1 (£500 new, top of the range) with 500 mins and unlimited text/data for £28pm. I went into the Orange shop (who I'm with) and mentioned this deal and they could go nowhere near it - told for a similar price I'd get less inclusive stuff and pay about £200 for the handset. Thanks but no thanks. (I got my heart set on a Sony Xperia you see...) anyway, phoned the disconnections line today, said outright I want to cancel. They put me through to retentions and after being passed from pillar to post and spending about 50mins on hold they offered me an almost matched price - free handset, unlimited calls/texts and 1GB data for £29. A similar package is upwards of £40 on their website. So I agreed.

So Thursday I will get a new shiny phone! :-D

I KNOW it's naughty but it's not setting me back. I'm still going to be paying less each month than I am now - albeit a grant total of £3 but hey, it all helps. Plus I'll be able to sell my current phone for about £150 (already got a potential buyer in my boyfriend's sister) AND I'll have a new toy to play with.

That's how I've justified it to myself anyway! I'm slightly better off each month and I'll have a £150 lump sum to throw at the debt, which I wouldn't have if I kept my current phone.

That's not bad, right? Right...?

elfy1807

FinanciallyUnsavvy wrote: »

Thank you my lovely :-) xx



Wow Elfy, thanks so much for reading through all my ramblings - you deserve a medal! :rotfl: very nice to have you on board, thank you for the support!

Re WW... Yeaaah that's taken a massive nosedive - well it's never really got off the ground to begin with! I'll have little bursts of motivation and do really well but they last the whole of about 2 days. I like food too much! I have lost 2st on WW before though so I KNOW I can do it.

As for the co-ha biting situation... it's not really a case of being scared to ask as he'll find out about the debts. He knows I've got a bit of debt and he knows I'm paying it off (not sure he realises just how hard I'm trying but hey ho!) I just haven't told him how much. No, the problem is me, I just find it impossible to raise the question with him. Or anything really. I can't speak my mind on stuff. That's a whole other issue and is not one for here! :-/

Thank you again for stopping by- it really does mean a lot to have support! Xx

Woop woop.
Medal for me
Haha

I've been to Zumba this evening and was wearing a slightly tighter top than normal and I could see my little podgy belly sticking out over my leggings. So I've decided (again) that I've gotta stick with it.
My weigh in day is on a Thursday, but tbh, I've kinda lost interest with that meeting and the people there. Maybe that's why I'm not sticking to it.
I've also decided to give C25k a go. I want to do my nearest race for life in July, so should really get on with training (haven't registered yet, but waiting til the weekend - it said to enter a code if you're a tesco eomployee - well I'm a recently recruited tesco employee so was gonna ask about the code next time I'm at work).
I know what you mean though - I LOVE food. And I figure that whilst I'm having a bad day, I'm going to eat everything that's nice in the house because when I'm being good, I don't usually have it.

As for not being able to speak your mind - I'm very much like that as well. The conversations I have with my boyfriend in person are much different to the ones I have with him over text. I'm awkward in person. I feel uncomfortable talking about my feelings (with anyone, not just him, although I'm more comfortable with him than I used to be). I hide behind my phone so they can't see my face. The first time I said the magic words to him was in a letter (I now say it to his face most days I see him).
Would you be able to write him a letter? Or get a little notebook that you can pass back and forth to write little things in to each other? And then bring it up subtly in that?

I'll leave it at the for now otherwise I'm gonna have to give my medal back to you for managing to read through my ramblings =(
And I've only just earned it too. Haha

elfy1807

FinanciallyUnsavvy wrote: »

I have a confession to make... I've just committed a Non-MSE sin. In fact my first proper sin since I started my journey...

I renewed my mobile phone contract!! :shock:

Currently I pay £32 a month. My contract runs out at the end of this month. I've been adamant all along that I'd cancel and get another year or 2 out of my current phone (iPhone 4S) with a sim only deal for less than £10 a month so I could save £20.

I REALLY was going to do that. But then it got into my head that I wanted a new phone. And once an idea like that gets in, there's no escaping it :rotfl:

To cut a long story short, I phoned the upgrade line to see what they could offer me a couple weeks ago. It was stupid, anything half decent was going to be £40+ a month. I saw an amazing deal online on a third party site. A Sony Xperia Z1 (£500 new, top of the range) with 500 mins and unlimited text/data for £28pm. I went into the Orange shop (who I'm with) and mentioned this deal and they could go nowhere near it - told for a similar price I'd get less inclusive stuff and pay about £200 for the handset. Thanks but no thanks. (I got my heart set on a Sony Xperia you see...) anyway, phoned the disconnections line today, said outright I want to cancel. They put me through to retentions and after being passed from pillar to post and spending about 50mins on hold they offered me an almost matched price - free handset, unlimited calls/texts and 1GB data for £29. A similar package is upwards of £40 on their website. So I agreed.

So Thursday I will get a new shiny phone! :-D

I KNOW it's naughty but it's not setting me back. I'm still going to be paying less each month than I am now - albeit a grant total of £3 but hey, it all helps. Plus I'll be able to sell my current phone for about £150 (already got a potential buyer in my boyfriend's sister) AND I'll have a new toy to play with.

That's how I've justified it to myself anyway! I'm slightly better off each month and I'll have a £150 lump sum to throw at the debt, which I wouldn't have if I kept my current phone.

That's not bad, right? Right...?

If you weren't selling your old phone then it would be worse. But the £150 for debt is great.
And £3 is £3. In 12 months that's £36. That's over a whole month's contract saved.
So definitely better.

Orange are stupid.
I'm with them too and went into store to change to a sim only plan and got told they can't do it in store, only over the phone.
What's the point in having a store then?!?!?!?!
I hate using the phone to strangers. That's why I went in store.
Anyway, I plucked up the courage to phone them and went prepared with information about deals from other companies.
They almost matched Three (I believe it was).
Three was offering a decent deal (with unlimited internet) for £15.
I got them to change their £16 deal from 500mb to 1.5Gb and 2000 mins (that I wasn't too bothered about - I just wanted the internet allowance) and unlimited texts.
From £42 a month (24 month iphone 4s contract) down to £16 sim only plan. I'm currently debating whether to look into upgrading myself in November when my 12 months are up. Spose I'll see what the financial situation is like then.

They've sent me 2 letters this week though. One saying they're increasing the contract by 2.7%. Which is annoying, but only another 50p. Still don't think they should be allowed to do this as I entered a £16 p/m contract, not a £16 + 2.7% contract.
The other letter was saying that they've reviewed my usage and they can save me £17 a month. I'm quite interested in receiving the next letter telling me how they plan on doing that as I only pay £16 a month anyway.

FinanciallyUnsavvy

elfy1807 wrote: »

As for not being able to speak your mind - I'm very much like that as well. The conversations I have with my boyfriend in person are much different to the ones I have with him over text. I'm awkward in person. I feel uncomfortable talking about my feelings (with anyone, not just him, although I'm more comfortable with him than I used to be). I hide behind my phone so they can't see my face. The first time I said the magic words to him was in a letter (I now say it to his face most days I see him).
Would you be able to write him a letter? Or get a little notebook that you can pass back and forth to write little things in to each other? And then bring it up subtly in that?

I'll leave it at the for now otherwise I'm gonna have to give my medal back to you for managing to read through my ramblings =(
And I've only just earned it too. Haha

Haha, oh, we sound so very similar!

It took me over a year to tell him "the magic words" as you say, and when I finally managed it it was in a text. Even now, when we've been together over 2 years, we don't say it in person. It's so annoying.

I doubt a letter or a notebook would work. He'd probably think it was silly! Which it is really, it is silly I can't just say what I want. Wish I knew why I can't. It causes me so much stress tbh.

But hey ho- this isn't the place to pour out all the millions of reasons why I fail, so I'll try my best to stick to just my financial fails instead.

sassychick2014

Hello lovely

I don't think it's bad at all. You're still saving money, you've got a lump sum to throw at your debts and you've still got a phone so it's all good. If it was a few quid more & no lump sum then I'd've said "what ya doin!?!?!?" but it's not so all's good. Have a good day x

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Hey good people

Nothing really to report today.

Thanks for the support re the new phone! I half expected to have my head bitten off! I know myself it's not the most sensible thing to do as I could have made do, and switched to save £20 a month. But I'd have only ended up wanting a new phone anyway and either using the money I was saving to buy one, or use my savings, which I wouldn't have been happy with. This way is certainly the best as I am still getting a bit more money to throw at the OD, and my cravings for new technology are satiated!

Only managed £5-odd on 63336 last night. Very disappointing, as it was busy so I could have easily got a decent chunk in a couple hours. After spending over an hour on the phone to Orange though, then needing to have a bath, cook my tea, eat tea.. it was almost 10pm by the time I just got to relax, and I was far too tired to do any.

No ebay sales today. It's gone a bit quiet again. I need to find a few more things to list. I'm running out of anything worthy of listing though - I don't like listing stuff that I KNOW is only worth a few £ as after fees, postage and the hassle of packaging and going to the post office, it really isn't worth it for £1-£2 profit. I'll have a scout around over the next few days, I'm bound to come up with a few things.

An odd thing that does sell on eBay that you'd never expect to is perfume. If it's a decent brand, even if it's half used, they seem to go for a lot. I'm not a very girly-girl so don't really have many but I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who have TONS they don't use - so worth checking

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Happy Friday everyone

Nothing to say today. Two weeks 'til payday. Urrrgh.

I've not had a great month so far. I've slipped back into old habits of making too many little spends that amount to all my money. Don't get me wrong, I've not gone over budget, BUT it's only half way through the month and all my "fun money" funds have gone. All I have left is enough for two weeks groceries. I'm just hoping nothing comes up that I need to make any extra spends, I so don't want to have to dip into the savings or anything like that.

I'm going to have to do a No Spends Day challenge again I think to keep me on the ball. Last thing I want to do is to fall completely into old habits. I think I'm getting a bit complacent in that the debts are going down so I don't need to worry so much.

sassychick2014

Morning hon

NSD challenge is really good so if you want to try that again then go for it. I stopped doing it because I found I was beating myself up if I spent and justifying the need to feed my child! lol It's worth a try though if it worked for you before.

Have a good weekend hon x

misstara

FinanciallyUnsavvy wrote: »

I've not had a great month so far. I've slipped back into old habits of making too many little spends that amount to all my money. Don't get me wrong, I've not gone over budget, BUT it's only half way through the month and all my "fun money" funds have gone. All I have left is enough for two weeks groceries. I'm just hoping nothing comes up that I need to make any extra spends, I so don't want to have to dip into the savings or anything like that.

I'm going to have to do a No Spends Day challenge again I think to keep me on the ball. Last thing I want to do is to fall completely into old habits. I think I'm getting a bit complacent in that the debts are going down so I don't need to worry so much.

Hi Kim, hope you had a good weekend. I think doing the a NSD challenge is a good idea because it makes you think 'do I really want to spoil my NSD by buying x, y or z'. I also find posting my spends every day (although not particularly exciting reading ) keeps me on track. I used to spend a small fortune in the shops on the way home from work but since starting my diary, not so much as its too embarrassing to admit that I have spent money on juice and chocolate every night! And as sassy says if it worked for you in the past, then its definitely worth trying again.

I think also once the initial buzz of clearing debts wears off, it can be quite hard to stay motivated - keep going, you're doing brilliantly