A new debt free journey

lcc86

Hi Belle, I know cancer research are doing a driathlon in September, I was thinking of joining but I only just asked family and friends to sponsor me for something else so probably won't get many takers! I drink very rarely, which is probably why I felt so horrendous yesterday!! Lol can't complain, all self inflicted...

lcc86

Argh I know I said I wouldn't really have time to come on here but I had to, I made a boo boo with my salary. I've just seen my payslip for my main job and my 'big' zero hours job and I forgot I get paid one month in arrears! In hindsight I really really should've known this as I've done 2 jobs for this employer before and it was always a month in arrears. I guess it's been a while so it slipped my mind.

Anyway the upshot is that instead of getting paid for 24 additional hours this month I'll be getting paid for 6! I can still afford everything I need to and everything I've budgeted for so it's not a huge issue. And on the plus side, I'll have more money than I thought in October, which is a bonus as October is 5 weeks between paydays for me. So every cloud and all that! Lol

Orange_Ena

Phew! At least you'll be ok this month then. A happy accident

lcc86

Payday tomorrow so just one more day to get through before I can start shuffling money around. I am still chasing an expenses payment for my volunteer role so must get in touch with them today.

I managed to speak to Sainsburys the other day to confirm they received my first overpayment. Once I get paid I'll make another overpayment and start trying to clear it quicker as my credit card is 0%.

Working late this evening so I'm going to do some food shopping this morning. I was going to drive to lidl and Tesco but figured that as I didn't enjoy the food I got from lidl I'll just walk to sainsburys instead. Saves petrol and time! Got my list and my budget so I'm hoping I can get back on top of my grocery spending.

belleandthebudget

Good luck with the grocery shopping, that's always my stumbling block! So many nice things! I think I need to make it more of a challenge to myself so there's an incentive to be stricter (other than getting debt free of course!!).

lcc86

I agree Belle, I used to only spend £80 a month on food the first time I was trying to blitz my debt, and my diet was shocking. Nothing fresh, basic noodles, pasta, pizza, jacket potato.... I can't face going there again :rotfl:

Payday today and I have officially paid off my bed and sofa now :j the rest of the debt payments go through early next week so I'll update my signature then.

I had an interesting email yesterday from the manager at the place I volunteer telling me there is a job being advertised tomorrow for the field I want to get into, and it relates to what I'll be studying. Talk about bad timing what with just changing jobs but it is too good an opportunity to pass up so I'm going to apply. I feel like a massive hypocrite for saying a matter of days ago that I need to settle somewhere but these sorts of opportunities don't come around every day. Plus it pays 7k more a year so even factoring in commuting costs I'll be much better off. A lot of the time when looking at jobs I've really wanted the big thing holding me back is that they don't pay well enough given my current financial situation, but this is different. So I'm going to put in an application, if I don't get it, it's not the end of the world, I'm happy where I am for sure so I've nothing to lose.

Orange_Ena

Brilliant news. Good luck, such an opportunity

lcc86

Another week is almost over. I volunteered for a shift for my big zero hours job tomorrow so just have that to get through. Horse riding tomorrow morning which I'm so looking forward to. Can't wait for the day when I don't have to worry about working two or more jobs just to make ends meet and overpay debt. Don't get me wrong I like what I do and I value the experience I'm getting, I just want to look forward to a time when one job will financially be enough :rotfl:

Speaking of, the ad for the potentially awesome post came out today so I must apply this weekend. I'll do my best, I'm not pinning all my hopes on it like I have done in the recent past, I think if I was still working in my previous job I'd be desperate and stressing about it constantly. If it doesn't happen I'll keep volunteering with them and build up my experience that way.

Money wise I spent £14 on hair dye and mascara yesterday. Today was a personal NSD but I topped up with petrol so £20 spent there. Tomorrow horse riding will cost £35 but no other spending planned. Sunday I'm off to a friend's birthday party but after last weekend's experience with alcohol I'm driving as this will mean I can't be persuaded into drinking! It's funny I've felt sluggish and tired all week, whether that's to do with the alcohol or just a coincidence I don't know, but I've definitely not felt 100%. I haven't exercised once! Tomorrow will change that and I hope kickstart things, I'm going to make myself go running on Sunday too. I find once I get into exercise it's fine but if something happens and I leave it for a week or two I really struggle to get back into it.

I haven't done any surveys this week as I've been working so much. I'll try and do some this weekend.

Right, off to dye my roots and read through some more diaries for inspiration

lcc86

Today has been a little spendy, £35 on horse riding but well worth it I asked them about the possibility of volunteering to learn a little more about horses in general and they said they are always happy to have help and can give discounts on rides in return. I wasn't expecting that at all but it's given me food for thought! Only issue is they prefer help during the week as it's less busy (so less idiots like me around ) so I'd need to see if I could work some TOIL at work, we shall see. Booked my next hack anyway for a fortnight's time.

Am at work atm but it's so quiet, most of the kids are on holiday and the one who is still here has gone out so it's just me for a bit. Only working until 10pm then off home via Tescos for a cheeky choccy pudding I fancy :eek:

I also spent about £13 on toiletries and household stuff today but it was all budgeted for so no dramas there.

Tomorrow I plan on having a lovely long lie in (OH is away for the weekend with friends) and then I'll start my application for the job I mentioned previously and crack on with some chores.

I noticed that this week I didn't hit any of the mini targets I set for myself (exercising, running and meditating - I set these goals every week with a set number of targets depending on how busy I am). I think I'm being too ambitious perhaps and the goals aren't realistic, especially when I made myself so groggy for a few days after that heavy night with friends - it really made an impact on how I felt for half the week! Definitely sticking with being booze free for a while! Next week my mini targets are lower so hopefully I stand more chance of actually hitting them.

belleandthebudget

Good luck for the job LCC, opportunities to make good money doing something you want really don't come by that often so it's worth taking a shot!

I'm in exactly the same position with mini goals and targets. I've been trying to do too much and then becoming really disheartened when I don't meet what I aimed for. I'm going to try and be a little kinder to myself in that respect and find some balance.