All I want to be...is Free!

juststuff123

Hi Gang!

I'm rethinking my goals at the moments (again!) I really need to pick one and stick to it. I may change to Mortgage Balance £0k & £50k Savings by Feb 2020 but I'll leave it as it is for now.

My Lloyds regular saver matured this month. I moved the money out and planned to open a new one like usual but I noticed they dropped the interest rate from 3% to 2.5% so I decided it was no longer worth my while and I only really kept the Lloyds current account (2%) for the monthly saver so when I saw Martin’s newsletter I decided to switch my Lloyds bank account to the B App thing and get £250 it will complete next month. (hopefully after I get my 6 free Lloyds cinema tickets). I’ll probably put the excess money into my mortgage next month but I haven’t entirely decided yet.

So the bulk of my Christmas shopping is done. There will only be a few bits and pieces to get closer to the date. And earlier this month we had an early Christmas because my sister will be out of the country on the actual day. I much prefer this one to the real one. We don’t have to get presents and it’s much more relaxed!

I used some free cinema tickets to see Thor at the weekend. It was very good, but I can’t really get my head around a Thor with short hair and no hammer!

I bought and installed (oo get me!) a new timer for my gas boiler. It’s been really quite mild so far this year. Usually by the end of October I’ve caved and started to put the heating on. This year I’m gonna see how long I can leave it!

I’m off to Rome in a couple of weeks so I bought myself a phrase book and I’ve been trying to learn a little bit if Italian. Unfortunately, it turns out I’m useless at languages! Still I’m sure I’ll get my with “Gracias” and a lot of miming!

I went to Frankfurt on a work trip this month. It was tiring but it was nice to have a break from the office. We had a new lady start work in our dept. this month. She seems nice and bright so fingers crossed she’ll stick around for a little while! We got some news at work that we may get a bonus after all. I won’t get my hopes up though. (but it would be nice). And we’ve sorted our office xmas do. We’re off to a steak house so I’m looking forward to that. There was a Raffle at work arranged by one of the cleaners he a learning difficulties and it was to raise money for his special needs social club. I donated quite a few unwanted gifts and bought £1 tickets. I won a Rugby T-shirt worth £50 and a little figurine worth about £15 on eBay. So I'd say I lucked out there. I'm not fussed about either prize I may try to sell the figurine I may give the shirt away, I haven't decided yet.

So in breaking news yesterday I was offered a new job completely out of the blue! It's only 2 hrs a week so I can't quit my day job but it's to become an Aerial Hoop instructor, I'll get trained up, paid and they'll also pay for me to continue to take lessons myself! I'm excited but very scared. It's a big responsibility! I start my training straight away.

See you all next month!

My updated signature
NEW GOAL – Mortgage Balance £0k & £30k Savings by Feb 2019
MORTGAGE: – £33406 / £0
SAVINGS: – £49062 / £30000
CREDIT CARD: – £2118 / £0

juststuff123

Hello MSEers

Looking back, it’s been a busy old month. Where to start? Money first.

My mortgage interest rate goes up tomorrow but my actual required payments go down due to my previous overpayments. I’ve adjusted my overpayment to compensate. I also decided to dump an extra £7000 in the pot this month. I may put a couple more in next month. I’ve had enough of this mortgage now, I want it done!

I got paid a Bonus at work this month. We’d been told we weren’t getting one so this really is a nice addition!
My 1st Direct regular saver matured today. A new one has already been set up!

All my xmas shopping is done and wrapped bar a bag of oranges, a couple of poinsettias and a couple of bottles of bubbly. Yep I’m feeling smug!

The switch from Lloyds to B app went smoothly and I still got my free cinema tickets! I used two already to see Murder on the Orient Express and Justice League. I was hoping to see Paddington at the weekend but somethings come up and I’ll have to see it later instead. I had a nice birthday, I got Lego! My Birthday Paddington treat has had to be delayed a week but it can’t be helped I have dress rehearsals.

My Hoop Instructor training has been going well. I said I’d perform in a showcase in a couple of weeks so I’ve desperately been trying to learn a routine – Eeek I really hope I don’t screw up! I’ve decided to take an extra online course too so I’ll book it in January.

I went to Rome for a weekend with a friend. It was great, I can recommend it. We took a day trip to Pompeii and saw all the main Rome attractions. The only downside was that I had to leave my friend there for an extra day because she lost her passport – Nightmare!!

But all in all it's been a good month. See you all after Christmas!

As usual here are my vital stats:

NEW GOAL – Mortgage Balance £0k & £30k Savings by Feb 2019
MORTGAGE: – £26366 / £0
SAVINGS: – £44388 / £30000
CREDIT CARD: – £2393 / £0

juststuff123

Happy New year MSE’ers. Has everyone decided their money saving new year’s resolutions? I joined the 2018 MFwannabes with a goal of £14k to pay off the mortgage for the year. Let’s see if I can smash that!

I’ll keep this update brief:

I bought an online Hoop training course & my Hoop Instructor insurance this month ready for me to teach in the new year. I had planned to do some training but I’m hoping the couple of weeks off will give my wrists time to heal a bit before I get back to it instead. I really need to get on with my lesson planning though. The showcase went well. Everyone was very positive about my routine and no-one seemed to notice that it was the worse I’d performed it!

I survived Christmas and the annual family get together! Not much more to say on that topic. Although I thought of the perfect gift for Mum & Dad too late for this Christmas but it does mean next year should be easier! They were both very tricky this year.

I went to see the Greatest Showman with some friends earlier this week. I’m not a huge fan of musicals but I really did enjoy this one. Perhaps because it was based on a circus!

I gave blood a few days ago. Fingers crossed they left me some iron & B vits this time.

I’ve been preparing my 18/19 budget to start in April, I haven’t adjusted much from last year actually. I’ve been looking at little holidays in Iceland but it’s pretty expensive so I also looked at Marrakech which is a bit friendlier on the purse. I’ve set some holiday money aside and I’ll decide later.

My updated signature
NEW GOAL – Mortgage Balance £0k & £50k Savings by Feb 2020
MORTGAGE: – £25821 / £0
SAVINGS: – £46454 / £50000
CREDIT CARD: – £3265 / £0

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE AND HAVE A WONDERFUL 2018

juststuff123

A little bit late this month but never mind..

So what I have I done this month? Well moneywise not all that much. I got new contents insurance and planned that budget for the communal flats budget. Oh yeh my P2P provider now has ISA options so I’ve just converted my regular P2P account to an Isa.

I've changed my goal from
– Mortgage Balance £0k & £30k Savings by Feb 2019
to
– Mortgage Balance £0k & £50k Savings by Feb 2020

I started teaching hoop, so far, it’s going well, no one’s died and everyone has left the class smiling so I’m taking that as a positive. I’m upping my hrs from 2 to 4hrs per week for the next month fingers crossed people will continue to show up! I’ve applied for self-assessment so that’s going to be an experience come April! I’ve already worked out what I think my tax is going to be and after all that for 3 months of work I’ll take home £10. I did have a lot of start-up costs so I should start making an actual profit in April.

The teachers took a trip to another aerial school to have a play on their equipment and learn some new moves. I pulled a muscle in my behind. It’s been 3 weeks and it’s not properly healed yet hopefully it will be by the time we go back in March. I’ve also ordered studio hoodies for all the instructors (It’s a surprise for the boss). I’m not sure how I ended up with the job. But I got a good price and the mock ups look good so I can’t wait to see how they turn out.

I went to visit a friend in Cardiff. We went to the park with her little son and had a nice day out.

We got new iPhones at work. I love the fingerprint ID feature and the fact that I have more than 5GB of storage!

I had my bi-annual eye test. I need to get new glasses, they’re so expensive and I have a weird small head so I’ve been putting it off. I’ll have to get on with it this month though.

I’ve also been sorting the flowers for my sister’s wedding. I found a lady who grows her own, I just need to work out what we need. I’ve been trying to find a dress. I’ve already ordered and returned 3 dresses with 2 more on route.

Anyway I think that’s it so I’ll leave my normal update and see you all next month.

My updated signature
NEW GOAL – Mortgage Balance £0k & £50k Savings by Feb 2020
MORTGAGE: – £25274 / £0
SAVINGS: – £47843 / £50000
CREDIT CARD: – £4059 / £0

Jelllibeanz

Well done you.

Thank you for an interesting read and food for thought x

juststuff123

Thanks for popping by Jelllibeanz!

It's a SNOW DAY YAY! Although It's really not as bad here as they said it would be. The wind is more of a problem for me, the Easterly direction hit's my windows in just the wrong way that it sounds like someone is standing in the room with a party blower! I've had to move into the spare room until it changes direction!

So what did I do last month? Well under the heading fun stuff, I went to see forbidden nights with some friends, I have to say I was a bit disappointed, I thought it was going to be hunky, gritty Circus acts but it was more cheesy strippers and I got stuck behind a woman with giant hair! Meeting up with the girls was fun though.

I've signed up and paid almost £2000 to learn to teach Pilates, I'm just waiting for the paperwork to come through, that's hit my balance this month pretty hard, I've put it on the 0% credit card for now but it does mean I'm going to have to start to look for a new one to put new spending on. (I stooze). I plan to pay it off with the money I earn Hoop teaching.

I've just arranged a switch to Halif@x to get the £125 switching money. not as my main account, purely for the cash.

I tried to switch broadband this month but it's been a real pain in the bottom. Sky (my current provider) said there is nothing wrong at their end, but talk talk are insisting I can't keep my existing number, first they said it was a problem with open reach, and that they would raise a case to get it sorted, when I called back another woman said that because I'd been with talk talk in the past with this number they wouldn't be able to take it back again which sounds utterly ridiculous to me! Has anyone else ever had any problems. I think it must be an open reach thing since I remember trying to switch to EE a couple of years ago and getting stuck, but I don't have a contact number for them. So anyway I'm stuck with Sky for the time being until I work out how to fix this.

I paid for my share of my sister's Hen do, were not especially close and to be honest it really doesn't sound like I'm going to enjoy it much (they had to change plans for financial and logistic reasons) I'm half leaning towards not going, paying my share so the girls can still do what the want but just skipping it. I don't know.

I did a first aid course this week, it was very interesting and it means I can get extra 'shifts' supervising pole play at the studio where I teach hoop.

Here is my regular update:

NEW GOAL: - Mortgage Balance £0k & £50k Savings by Feb 2020
MORTGAGE: - £24727 / £0
SAVINGS: - £48374 / £50000
CREDIT CARD: - £6061 / £0

selloptape

Amazing goals and progress!

juststuff123

Thanks Sellotape, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Happy Easter Folks!

I'll try to keep it brief this month!

I had a tidy up of my little interest accounts as well as Medicash, Topcashback & Quidco. And I got a new credit card (0% for stoozing of course). All the spreadsheets are up to date and the new ones are prepared for my new financial year (starting today).

I had to take my car to the garage, it's been broken since I bought it years ago, but whenever I took it to the mechanics in the past they dismissed it. Losing 1 ½ litres of water from the radiator a month isn't right! So new garage, new diagnosis, new radiator and my pockets almost £300 lighter!

I went shopping with my Ma, bought 2 dresses for my sister's wedding and returned them both. I found a different dress and I've just had the alterations done (shortening).

I went to a Hula Hoop workshop, it was good fun and nice to try something new.

I started studying anatomy for my Pilates course, It's so difficult, it's like a new language! Someone recommended and anatomy colouring book to help with remembering. I've ordered one so hopefully it'll do the trick.

That's me done for the month. Try not to eat too much chocolate! See you next month.

My monthly figures:

NEW GOAL - Mortgage Balance £0k & £50k Savings by Feb 2020
MORTGAGE: - £24173 / £0
SAVINGS: - £51357 / £50000
CREDIT CARD: - £7880 / £0

gallygirl

juststuff123 wrote: »

Someone recommended and anatomy colouring book to help with remembering. I've ordered one so hopefully it'll do the trick.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

What a brilliant idea, hope it works .

juststuff123

Hi GallyGirl, the anatomy book’s really good but a bit too detailed for me. But I’ll stick with it. I can't believe you're still reading my diary, I think you were the first person to post on here when I started this diary all those years ago!

I’ve almost completed my self-assessment I’m just waiting for my P60. It’s so frustrating, I could have been done weeks ago if I didn’t have to wait and they seem to be leaving it to the last possible minute to hand them out!

I did enjoy the £8.50 pay rise this month courtesy of the increased personal tax allowance. Somewhat offset by the fact that our Bonus scheme has been slashed by 40% across the board. (that equates to hundreds possibly thousands of pounds) I wasn’t really surprised, in fact I was surprised they didn’t do it last year. I’ve been remarkably chill about the whole thing I haven’t factored any of this money into my projections, so it won’t impact my plans. I don’t think the other members of the scheme were quite so prepared. The one thing that really bugged me though was the explanation the directors gave. They really had the nerve to suggest that it was in our best interests! Next year it’ll be even worse so much so that they might as well not bother, it feels like poring salt into the wound.

In happier news I paid off an extra £5k on the mortgage this month. A couple of regular savers matured so I shoved the money into the mortgage and opened new regular savers. I’ve been playing around with the idea of paying the rest of by the end of the year, we’ll see. I had a little browse on rightmove, so my little flat is probably worth about £110K so looking at the next rung up the ladder, there’s nothing that really interests me, it seems an awful lot more money for very little extra. I’ve decided that the only houses that really grab my attention are £400k +. I have expensive taste! I’m not really what that means for my future plans.

I went to Sunday lunch with the ‘girls’ we had a mini-baby shower, no games we all chipped in and bought a nappy cake (I got a great deal so I was able to spend a little more and bulk it out with some extras.

I went to Bath earlier this month with a friend, we didn’t have any set plans (fatal) we mooched about the shops and spent far more the either of us meant to – especially since we both said we didn’t want to spend any money! Bath is such a lovely city though.

It's gonna be a busy month next month (this month? May) so I look forward to boring you all with the details in a few weeks! Let's hope the weather improves!

Anywho here's my updated signature:

NEW GOAL – Mortgage Balance £0k & £50k Savings by Feb 2020
MORTGAGE: – £18628 / £0
SAVINGS: – £47875 / £50000
CREDIT CARD: – £8001 / £0