New Years Goals and Career Changes - A diary for a better me.

myteeduck

I have been looking at options for voluntary terminating my car agreement and walking away. Unfortunately I need to have paid off £9K to do this and I have only paid £3K. It will be why the finance company give me the option after 49 months when I can choose to get a new one, send it back or pay the bubble.

I have no choice but to keep my car until April 2018. It is a good job I do love my car and hopefully the time will pass and it will be time to make said decision.

I have decided that the money that I will get from switching bank accounts will be going off paying my car insurance even quicker - this will allow me to send all available cash to my accounting course.

I can't believe that in the morning (providing I am paid early due to the BH) I will be able to make the final payment to my CC. I am so excited that I have spent potentially my last evening ever being broke! I think its funny that I have had to celebrate this by borrowing cheese from my mother to be able to have some tea/lunch tomorrow, but if all goes to plan, I will be doing my food shop on the way home tomorrow, going for a coffee with friends on Saturday and going for my meal out on Monday. I will make time for a relaxing bubble bath on one of the evenings.

1 more week till my boss gets back off holiday and then everything will really settle. I need to hurry up and find a new job, however the operation is hanging over my head like a bad smell, stopping me from taking days for interviews and stopping me from being able to put my CV forward for anything.

Grrrrr xx

myteeduck

I DID IT!!
My final payment to my CC is paid!

Anything going on it now is covered in full!

I can't believe it. I nearly cried when I did the last bit!

x

AspiringButAnxious

Congratulations! :j

myteeduck

Thank you ABA!

I think this is where I am going to need this diary more than ever.
I get out of debt with credit cards and go mad. I did it when I reached target with SW. I think nothing of picking up a doughnut and before I know it I have eaten 2 - something I am guilty of today.

I have £96 that is not budgeted to anything, however I need to keep hold of as much of this as I can. I need a tiny bit of leeway as I have a friends leaving do next Friday and the drama group are having a meal out the night after. I probably wont spend alot at the drama meal as we are using the group profits to have a do out - we are disbanding I think.
However the night out may be a spendy. I also need to be restrictive ish on Monday.

I am having a small treat of a hot choc tomorrow - I will eat before I go - then the only spending, is the birthday money spending - I have £20 and I am treating myself to a Pandora charm as I want something to show for it.

I am sticking with my food budget. I overspent by about £10 today but it is first week of my month - my cupboards were bare and I wont spend as much next week. I am also hoping that when I have my op I will save a week of fuel so this will be my fall-back. Today was a lot less than normal first week shopping - I should have gone with a list, but as work hadn't paid me this morning, i thought I would have had to defer shopping to tomorrow which would have been chaos.

I got my friend a small birthday gift (she is the one who got me the £20 for the pandora charm above) so it only seemed right to get her a little something. I have put it in the grocery budget and we should be ok.

It is a total one off - I wont bother next year - it was only because her birthday was a biggy too and she got me something - we normally don't bother.

Monday should be ok - I am getting a lift from my friend which will save on taxis - I am not a big drinker so the pennies should be low - plus we will hopefully get the 50% off food offer.

Its next Friday that is scaring me - I need to get a train - luckily as we are going out after work, and last train home - not much time for tooo many drinks.

Other than that - the money is staying in my pocket/bank - I will use as needed. I am being strict because a) I want to save for AAT level 3 b) I want to clear my car insurance as fast as I can c) I have lived with no money for so long - I am used to it as money is scaring me d) The next 3 months don't have as much left over, so the more I can save from this month, the better.

Well I'm off to put a wash on and clean the cat litter out - the joys of Friday nights!!!

x

myteeduck

Hi all.

I went for the coffee and spent £5 odd in cash so I have £20 for Monday night. I also got a crochet magazine for £0.99

I walked to the big S afterwards and got a few little needed bits - Horliks, a can of kidney beans for tea and a face scrub. I also bought a colouring book which was reduced on my points to £2.50!

I have placed a online order on Amaz0n for some pens, pencils and another colouring book, signed up for a free trial of Prime so I get free delivery and got 5% discount - its being delivered tomorrow, so when I have my op, I will have plenty to keep me occupied. Just need to remember to cancel the Prime - I have put a reminder in my phone.

I need hobbies at home so that I don't fall asleep on my sofa, so I can now:

Learn to Crochet
Colour in my books
Do my accounts course
Watch Netflix & Amazon Prime video

I am not spending anymore money on bits for me - everything now will be an essential with a shopping list and part of my few nights out (which will be budgeted to the hilt!)

I though it would be nice to treat myself while I have spent so long being stupid with credit cards, so now I have a few things I will go back to budgeting. YNAB will be my best friend!

x

Orange_Ena

Yay well done on paying off your credit card, absolutely fantastic :T I think I'd cry too

You certainly sound very organised with things. I'm sure that'll be a great help going forward with your plans. I'd love to learn how to crochet, it looks so relaxing. Have a great week

myteeduck

I had my birthday meal yesterday - I had all my drinks paid for and the meal only cost me £7 with tip!

I got a lift there and back as well, saving on taxis and I was also given £40 in cash as a present of 2 of my friends, so I am going to put the £10 that was budgeted for drinks with it and save it for something really special (when I find something).

Feeling nice and de-stressed - nothing seems to faze me at the moment - maybe mum was right and money problems were always my downfall.

x

myteeduck

Hi

I got some pretty good news yesterday and if it is true then I should be slightly better off money wise soon. I pay for a Netfl!x subscription which I get at a cheaper rate (been with them a while) and I have always let my sister and BIL use my account (under their name) - well yesterday apparently my BIL has said he will pay my subscription for the next year, so he is going to be giving me a big chunk of the amount which I will be able to use to pay for my passport - its not quite the whole amount but its most

If all goes to plan, my disposable income will be its highest its ever been come January 2016, rather than April! It doesn't seem like much but to me - it is.

I haven't been the best this month - I have squandered a lot of my money - but its is the first month since I have had any so I'll accept it and move on.

x

myteeduck

Hi all

The money from BIL hasn't materialised just yet but I haven't seen them so not bother yet.

I spent way to many pennies at my friends leaving do the other day, but I have £25 left over which I have moved in to my ISA.

I started another diary - its in the 'How much money have you saved' board. I am tracking my savings over there.

I am also looking at changing my home situation, but we need to see first so I don't want to be saying to much and jinxing things.

x

myteeduck

Morning,

I have a credit card again - well its the original one with a balance on it. I am being good with it. It has my car insurance on it. Its is £380.16, but there will be a lot of this paid off in October and the majority in November.

I will pay the following:

£30 already saved on payday - the 30th September along with:
£120 - £60 from my budget, £60 already materialised from the passport from the BIL
£200 to be paid on or after the 20th October - this is from switching my current account from Sant***der to Nati0nwide on a referral.
£30.16 from November pay which will materialise on October 30th.

So hopefully by the time November 1st arrives or thereabouts the card will be gone again

Watch this space to see if I succeed!

I am looking at moving home as well. I have had my flat valued and if all goes to plan and it sells for this price, I may clear a £20,000 deposit for a new home, under my own mortgage. I am not getting excited looking at furniture, paint or even Rightm0ve because it all depends on the mortgage company meeting next Saturday. But hopefully things are heading in the right direction.

As I said the £60 from my BIL would be used on the passport, I have budgeted a payment in October, which will replace the £60 for the passport, so this wont be affected by the payment to the CC for the insurance. I made sure that the money will be there when I need it and I promised I wouldn't waste it. My spreadsheet is tracking every little bit of my money, so I can see just where everything is.

I went out last night for a meal with my old drama group. The meal and one of my drinks were free, so I spent less than £4! I am so proud of myself for sticking to budget. However I have less than £8 in the grocery fund - this will be topped up by what I didn't spend yesterday, plus, as I am having an operation on Friday, if I can't drive for a week, then the diesel money will either move to the food fund or move to the ISA.

Anyway off to do some studying - need to get this last exam done and dusted! Happy Sunday everyone.