All I want to be...is Free!

jeanangeo

Thank you very much for the effort that has gone into this. I will be going through it in detail later this evening. Thanks again.

juststuff123

No worries, any questions, just shout

juststuff123

Hey Guys,

My December update is a bit late this month. And now I can barely remember what happened.

I applied and was accepted for a new credit card (0% of course!) This will be my new stoozing card. The other card is due to be settled in February.

I’ve managed not to have my heating on regularly throughout December. I’ve had my electric fire on for a few minutes in the mornings and the central heating on for perhaps 12hrs over the month. Those energy companies will get as little money off me as possible!

I got the final 20% of my bonus in December’s pay packet so that’s a nice little savings boost.

In non-money matters, the beginning of December was a bit of a non-stop party, I had 4 Christmas meals (not inc. the proper one). I had a lovely Caribbean meal for one of the meals. So my waist line has expanded somewhat this month!

I had my annual treat of an eye lash lift & tint; I also had a much needed massage and pedicure which I can claim the money back for. Yay!

I did a couple of secret Santa’s this year. I was a bit disappointed with some of my gifts so these were re-gifted or are planned to go on eBay.

Christmas day was spent at my Aunt’s house, it wasn’t as good as my parents but hopefully we’ll be back to normal next year. I didn’t get anything very exciting for Christmas; I got a new ceramic hob where all 4 rings actually work, so that’s a definite improvement. I have been a bit naughty and returned/eBayed some Christmas presents.

I had the entire Christmas week off work, which was lovely and went far too fast. I didn’t do very much at all, my plans for a trip to Cardiff were scrapped and I had several lie ins. I just can’t get enough sleep at the moment, I’m always so tired, I’m hoping it’s just a virus or something.

I bought a ½ price Hoop private lesson which I look forward to using in January.

My current status:

MFW & DFW - Goal - to be Debt Neutral by Dec 2018 Feb 2017
To pay: Mortgage -£45487/£66445 (started Feb 2010)
To pay: Parent Loan £5328/£15000 & Student Loan - £2600/£9479
To pay: Credit Cards (Stoozing) - £5951
Savings - £41045
Debt Neutrality - -£18321

jeanangeo

Sounds like it is going well, good luck for January

juststuff123

Goodbye January, Hello February and you MSEers.

So February is an important month for me. It will be exactly 1yr until my target debt neutral date. I’m still on track (thereabouts) I just have to keep up the good work for 12 more months.

This was the first month Santander took £5 from me. I didn’t like it! I renewed my contents insurance this month. I couldn’t get cashback for the company I went with so I went through c0nfused.com to get a free toy that I can flog on eBay.

I’ve started looking at Gas/Electricity and broadband suppliers for when my current deals come to an end in the next couple of months.

January has been a hard month, I’ve been so tired and work has been crazy stressful. I’m hoping for a calmer Feb, but I somehow I don’t see that happening.

I’m on a diet at the moment, the weight has been creeping back on and I was pretty naughty over Xmas. I bought a Jawbone (like a Fitbit), new food scales, & bathroom scales to measure body fat %. I’ve been doing Yoga, Pilates, Hoop or Pole most days a week I’ve been counting those calories. I tried a new Pole dance studio this month. The class is very structured and the teacher doesn’t let us cheat so it’s hard work! I’ve learnt a few nice new tricks though! My goal is to lose 4kg (8lb), so far I’ve lost 1kg which is pretty good, I’m small so loosing the weight is tricky. 1kg (2lb) per month seems manageable. I hope I don’t get obsessed, if my updates start to get weight fixated – someone tell me to ‘Get a grip’!

I gave blood yesterday, I was in and out in half an hour, it went much better than the first time round, I thought I was fine but did Pilates today and I was awful. So not quite as recovered as I thought.

Anywho, that's it for Jan, so see you guys next month!

My updated signature

MFW & DFW - Goal - to be Debt Neutral by Dec 2018 Feb 2017
To pay: Mortgage -£45232/£66445 (started Feb 2010)
To pay: Parent Loan £5180/£15000 & Student Loan - £2498/£9479
To pay: Credit Cards (Stoozing) - £6206
Savings - £42657
Debt Neutrality - -£16459

SuperSecretSquirrel

It's fantastic to see you on your 12 month countdown juststuff123!

jodles16

Wow Juststuff your diary is amazing! You are doing incredibly and I cant wait to see you kick your goals butt!

Jodles

juststuff123

Bye Bye February,

Thanks Jodles & … I get a nice fuzzy feeling when I get encouragement on this board! ‘Normal’ people just give me this look like I’m crazy!

An error in a calculation on my spreadsheet has shown rather than having to make up a £600 deficit to my my Feb target date, I need to scrape up a potential further £600. Bother! And that’s factoring in a minimum bonus which I’m hopeful I’ll get, though I doubt it would be much more since the poor cough/cold season has really affected sales.

I have an assortment of unclaimed cash back, amounting to approx £380. I can’t decide whether to claim it in April (the start of my financial year) or August, I can’t remember exactly why I picked that month but it’s the one that’s been in my head for a while.

There’s no slacking with the gas / elec and broadband I’m gonna scrape as much cash back as I can. If that means switching to separate suppliers so be it!... and that’s just what I’ve done I decided to split my Gas and electricity suppliers for the next year. I should save £60 on last years’ costs – I hate the way the comparison sites calculate the saving using the standard rate rather than your current plan, I feel it’s quite mis-leading. I have set up my own calculations to do a better job, though the MSE cheap energy club can do both. I decided to go through MSE to get £30 cashback. The utilities cashback offerings are pretty poor compared to what they used to be. I’ve also decided to switch broadband to Sky for the next 12 months. £17.40 line rental per month, free broadband plus £75 in M&S Vouchers (I already have a cash buyer lined up for these) and £70 cashback from Quidco. It works out at about £5.90 per month for the year. My current supplier called to try to keep my business, she actually said as part of the pitch that if it ain’t broke why change it for just a few pounds per year, I had to explain that I’m ruthless, disloyal and I count every penny.

A friend mentioned she thought her breakdown cover & car insurance was up for renewal but she wasn’t sure, and would probably just let them auto-renew like she does every year. After giving her a smack and a good telling off, I went through some comparison sites with her and helped her save £300 in 30 mins.

Does anyone know how to change an annual DD to a monthly one for TV licences? When I go online I only seem to be able to amend the date within the month at which they take the money.

On the weight front I’m ½ way to my goal.

I went to a pole workshop this month with the famous (in pole circles) Sally-Anne Giles. We spent the whole two hours leaning how to move and act confidently in routines and although I didn’t get to learn any new tricks I had a really good time. Though I didn’t have quite so much fun as later in the month when I did a Flying trapeze taster lesson. I thought my stomach might come out of my mouth on several occasions but it was worth it.

Booked a 3-day aerial workshop in Manchester, up to 16 classes, including silks, trapeze, hoop, straps, stilts and all sorts of other acro stuff. I’ll be broken! what was I thinking? At least I have a couple of months to mentally prepare

I’ve booked to do a Pole & Hoop photo shoot at the end of May. I’m going to ask a friend to make me some cool outfits for the event. I’ve booked to get my hair done just before – it was due about then anyway. I’m considering a radical colour change to dark brown, I’ll see what the hairdresser suggests.

Met up with a friend who told me all her wedding plans and another who told me all her baby plans, I’m excited and happy for them both but these things to tend to make you stop and evaluate your own life and realise you aren’t nearly far enough along that path as you ought to be. Right enough of that I’m getting depressed.

On to March!

My updated signature

MFW & DFW - Goal - to be Debt Neutral by Dec 2018 Feb 2017
To pay: Mortgage -£44977/£66445 (started Feb 2010)
To pay: Parent Loan £5032/£15000 & Student Loan - £2395/£9479
To pay: Credit Cards (Stoozing) - £280
Savings - £37168
Debt Neutrality - -£15368

juststuff123

Happy Spring you MFW lovelies and a belated Happy Easter.

So what have I been up to this month? Well I’ve been planning my budget for the following year (I run mine April to April like the tax year) and tweaking my spreadsheets, the calculations on them are so complicated though I was making minor adjustments and getting variance of over £3000 pounds. I think I’ve got them sorted now though. And I’m on track for next Feb if not sooner – it very much depends on my Bonus this year but I won’t know what that will be until July.

Since it is the end of my financial year I cleared out my cashback from TC, Quidco and medicash - £375, and cleared all the interest out of my TSB, Tesco and Lloyds accounts so everything is fresh for my new year.

I discovered a new Nationwide regular saver @ 5% so I opened it. I now put in almost £2000 per month in to regular savers, that’s slightly more than I earn in a month! So I’m effectively living off other savings at the moment. The regular savers mature at different times throughout the year to allow my current account to top up.

My Dad told me about a Peer-to-Peer site that he’s trying. The interest looks better than the ones I’d looked at previously he’s going to send me a link in April when the Isa is available. We’ll both get some cashback (£50) and potentially 7% return. So I’m going to dip my toe in the P2P pond and see what happens.

I’ve got a horrible cold at the moment, really I should be out and about spreading it around so we sell more medicine and I get a better bonus but instead I’m having a chilled week at home, I do have a massage booked for tomorrow (Free). I know you aren’t supposed to get massaged when you’re sick but stuff it, I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks!

Now I went and did something very un-MFW. I hired a cleaner for my flat, fully budgeted of course but still a very naughty indulgence. I just hate cleaning so much! I have a full time job and activities most evenings and weekends so I don’t want to spend what little time I have left over hoovering! In preparation I’ve had a massive clear out of stuff! I could have eBayed some of it but I just wanted it gone so 2 car loads to the tip and one to the charity shop. All that stuff and my flat looks no different! And I did have to buy over a dozen storage boxes, I also bought a new pot plant for the lounge and a new mirror for the bathroom.

See you next month!

My updated signature
MFW & DFW - Goal - to be Debt Neutral by Dec 2018 Feb 2017
To pay: Mortgage -£44715/£66445 (started Feb 2010)
To pay: Parent Loan £4884/£15000 & Student Loan - £2293/£9479
To pay: Credit Cards (Stoozing) - £786
Savings - £39187
Debt Neutrality - -£13492

selloptape

So envious of you having a cleaner! Will be first on my list when I've paid off my mortgage