The "time to be a grown up" diary!

HarrysMummy

Hey


sounds like you're doing great so far. I found the taking lunch to work hard before I changed jobs. I now work a nice drive away from anything so if I don't take lunch its a real pain and I barely have enough time to get something and get back before lunch is over. Saved me a fortune that job change!!!

betsycat

Hi HarrysMummy, thank you!

Wow – that's one way to get into a habit! glad it's working better for you. Do you tend to make lunches especially or cook extra for dinner the night before? I tend to take leftovers but my OH buys umpteen tins of cream of tomato soup... I'd be very bored

Have to admit I did slip up this week... mostly took my own lunches but it's hard to resist when within 2 mins walking distance I have Leon, Tossed, Itsu, Pret, Starbucks, Tortilla, Crussh, a huge M&S, a japanese place that does great katsu curry, Sainsburys Local, Tesco Express, a lovely little food market that does wonderful falafel wraps for £3... the list goes on!

clearmydebts

betsycat wrote: »

Hahahaha dfod I didn't know that either! How funny aw bless him, kittens can test your patience (understatement!) but it's so lovely watching them grow up! He must be a lanky adolescent by now, right?

Thanks clearmydebts! Why did you move away if you don't mind me asking? For us it was work – OH works in music and there are only a few studios down in Brighton, lots up here in LDN (can't remember if I wrote that in my first post, sorry if it's repetition!)

We're thinking five years – at my current rate of paying off debt, (assuming wages remain the same and there are no emergencies – unlikely but I can dream) I'll have paid off debt in 2 years and saved £20+k for a deposit on a flat down by the seaside in another 3. Hopefully by then my credit rating will have sorted itself out to make applying for mortgages a bit easier!

Do you have any plans to move back?

We initially moved there because OH studied music for 2 years then moved away because he couldn't get a job (he is an engineer).

We don't have plans to move back because we are back living in Ireland now and have 2 young kids, so it's important for them to be near family I think. I absolutely lloved it there though. I had a really relaxed job when I was there and because OH was a student we had a very carefree time there.

betsycat

clearmydebts wrote: »

We initially moved there because OH studied music for 2 years then moved away because he couldn't get a job (he is an engineer).

We don't have plans to move back because we are back living in Ireland now and have 2 young kids, so it's important for them to be near family I think. I absolutely lloved it there though. I had a really relaxed job when I was there and because OH was a student we had a very carefree time there.

Ah I see! It's such a lovely place to be when you're young and relatively carefree. Just being so close to the sea is good for the heart and mind!

clearmydebts

betsycat wrote: »

Ah I see! It's such a lovely place to be when you're young and relatively carefree. Just being so close to the sea is good for the heart and mind!

I have to be close to the sea. I grew up in a seaside town and am back here now so it's part of me.

debtfreeoneday

We moved to live by the coast 4.5 yrs ago and I would never move back now.. knowing I can drive past beaches and sea on the way to work and be on a beach in 10 mins is lovely!

The cat is a lanky teenager absolutely.. he was in kennels for a couple of nights recently and the owner said, he's just a massive kitten - he has grown rather large and is pure black, but still such a kitten when he comes to playing and messing about.

betsycat

Aw debtfreeoneday he sounds like a lot of fun!

I'm jealous of the both of you living by the sea... can't wait until we can again! Sounds lovely where you are dfod!

At least I've got the paying off debt/saving for deposit to keep me occupied until we can

Just did some credit card shuffling so going to post it below so it's clear in my head... I've just made things a lot more confusing for myself!

betsycat

OKAY!

So.

Barclaycard came in the post today, have activated it and I have 0% on balance transfers for 35 months, but with a high fee of 3.5%. I was going to just plonk everything on there and actually pay the loan off first since that has 3.7% interest, but because of the fee I've ended up only transferring over the last of the balance that wasn't interest free.

SO, new balances below (in order of paying off)...

Lloyds credit card (0% 10 months): 927
Barclaycard credit card (0% 35 months): 1138.50
HSBC credit card (0% 33 months): 1461.16
HSBC loan 3.7%: 9739.13

Total balance: 13,265.79

So it's gone up a little from before, but I'll pay less interest as before these two new CCs I was going to be paying 18% on over £2k so I'll have saved the £60odd back in a couple of months.

Phew! Direct debits are already set up on Lloyds and Barclaycard, I've got a form coming to me in the post for HSBC as they don't have the facility to do it online.

With my £600 allotted to debt per month, whatthecost is still saying January 2017 as my DFD, so I'll stick with that (even though some months I'll be able to put in more, as I'm sure there'll be months when I need to spend! )

Right. Now need to update my sig!

HarrysMummy

Well i only work 2 days at the moment due to the little guy, so I tend to grab anything from leftovers to making a sarnie. But when I was full time I'd usually make extra dinner and take it in the next day. Big fan of pasta dishes so they worked really well heated in the microwave.
I worked in a supermarket before so would eat in the canteen or go to the shop floor and buy something, as well as buying all the offers on a daily basis!

debtfreeoneday

Well done on getting the last amount on interest free, now to bash that debt!!