A Debt-Free Wannabe Student Diary

On_A_Student_Budget

So this is my first diary on here, thought it would be really motivational for me to be able to keep a record of my debts that I can update easily and also be able to read all the other wannabe diaries on here for support and guidance.


About me:
I've got an unconditional offer for a university course that I will be starting in September 2015 (127 days to go!) I've been eagerly waiting to start this new chapter in my life for well over a year after deciding that going straight into manual and dull jobs after leaving college (with great grades I might add :T) was a bad idea. I don't want to be working in low paid, unmotivational jobs for the rest of my life, and also trying to live a high-earners lifestyle is to how I thought getting credit cards was how I could sustain myself :embarasse . So I applied for university and thankfully got accepted after 2 weeks


Debts:
Compared to some on here, this may not seem such a high amount but to me on a minimum wage part time job and the inevitable job loss and student budget lurking in September to go to uni, this is quite a lot to be constantly worrying about So...


Tesco Credit Card - £2360 0% until August 2015
Lloyds Bank Credit Card - £40
Very - £290 BNPL runs out on 1/1/2016
Grandad's Loan - £375 left from £1000


Now I realise that clearing the Tesco CC will be impossible before August so I will balance transfer to a hopefully 36 months CC in July whilst technically I'm still employed and have a regular income. And then only pay the minimum each month and try to chop extra off if my budget will let me over the years at uni.


I think that's enough for my first post, will hopefully be updating this weekly (as I get paid weekly)


:beer:

On_A_Student_Budget

My income and outgoings for this week:


Wages £198.37


Outgoings

Bills
Rent to Mum - £30
Phone Bill - £3
Car Insurance - £22
Breakdown Cover - £5


One-offs/ Misc Payments
Holiday - £20
Uni Accommodation Deposit - £20
Cat Food - £10 N/A this week


Savings
Cash for Uni - £30
General Savings - £5 came out of last weeks leftovers


Debt Repayments
Loan repayments to Grandad for my first car purchase - £25
Tesco CC -£5
Lloyds Bank CC - £0
Very - £10




Total Outgoings = £ 170
Leftover - £28

On_A_Student_Budget

I helped my mum today at her work, just did the vacuuming for an hour as she's a cleaner and she said to knock £4 off my rent next week I feel like teenager getting pocket money again but as it was my day off and had nothing better to do, that's an extra £4 I can put towards my debts plus extra calories burnt to help me lose weight, win win

thegreenone

Congratulations on getting your place, well done you!


My first thoughts:


1. can you smile sweetly at Grandad and ask if you can pay him £20 per month while at uni. and add £5 to the Tesco's £5? Pay it off quicker.


2. Can you get some more cleaning experience with your Mum before you go so you could find a job for a few hours a week which would help with finances, so long as it doesn't affect your studies.

On_A_Student_Budget

thegreenone
Congratulations on getting your place, well done you!


My first thoughts:


1. can you smile sweetly at Grandad and ask if you can pay him £20 per month while at uni. and add £5 to the Tesco's £5? Pay it off quicker.


2. Can you get some more cleaning experience with your Mum before you go so you could find a job for a few hours a week which would help with finances, so long as it doesn't affect your studies.

Hello thanks for the reply
Well I aim to pay off the last of the loan to my Grandad in August (hopefully) because I don't want that hanging over my head whilst at uni :P
And I usually do pay more than £5 a week on the Tesco CC, but I have to renew my prescription medicine this week so needed £16 for that :eek: but I will resume usual payments next week.
I was thinking about asking my mum to let me help her more, I'm sure I could find a part time cleaning job whilst uni thank you for that suggestion

On_A_Student_Budget

I went to my older sisters baby shower this afternoon, which was held in a local pub. Which inevitably meant money was going to be spent Good news was that everyone else bought me a drink, bad news was that I bought me and my little sister a bowl of chips each which was £4 down the drain but it was paid from a five pound note that I didn't realise was lurking in the depths of my purse so I suppose it wasn't all bad
:beer:

On_A_Student_Budget

So I've managed to actually get a permanent position helping my mum with one of her cleaning jobs It's only for an hour a day, 5 days a week and just doing the vacuuming at the pre school in my village. As she earns £9 an hour, I'll earn £4.50 an hour and instead of paying me in cash, I'm taking what I earn out of my rent money that I give to her.
Last week I only did 4 days for her so I earned £18 but that meant I only gave her £12 in rent last week.
I told her I feel kinda bad for not giving her much and for taking some of her income away from her by doing her job but she says shes happy as shes been asked to work more hours anyway. Still, £12 a week still just seems kinda shabby

On_A_Student_Budget

Last week I lost a days wages due to the bank holiday so I had around £50 less to play with this week. I cba to write down every single outgoing so from now on I'll just record what debt repayments I made:


Income this week: £154.38


Debt Repayments
Loan repayments to Grandad for my first car purchase - £0
Tesco CC -£10
Lloyds Bank CC - £10
Very - £0
Next - £3.99 (£93.99 order total)


Both pairs of my jeans decided to get holes in right on the crotch area at the same time so new jeans were needed. I ordered two pairs at £45 each plus £3.99 delivery from Next (made use of my credit account on there so I could pay them off over the weeks instead of forking out for the whole lot with money that I just don't have). I usually buy them from f &f waaay cheaper but the only skinny jeans they were stocking were 'super skinny'. And I am NOT super skinny. I have tried a pair of them on when I was in Leicester a few weeks ago and let me just say, they are definitely not made for bigger woman. They looked ridiculous and emphasized my tree trunk thighs ( I also started the slim fast 1 2 3 diet this week ) and so decided not to purchase them. I feel a bit disappointed in tesco for only selling 'super skinny' instead of just 'skinny', I've bought my jeans from there for years as they always fitted well and for a cheap and cheerful price, but now I just feel pushed out because I'm not stick thin.
Anyway,I stitched up my old jeans as best I could and have decided to only use them for work as I get dirty and smelly in my job so I don't want to ruin my new expensive jeans.



I also met up with an old school friend and we went to Nottingham for the day. I only bought a couple of things half with my spare cash and half with my Lloyds bank cc, but I think I only spent in total about £15 in total that day which isn't so bad for a one off day shopping.