From Bad to Good and back again

Istartedontherighttrack

Argh. Something has gone very wrong somewhere. My credit card bill is at least £1,200 more than it should be. I have put in an expenses claim at work, so I will need to see how much of the unexpected spend will be covered by that, and what is just an overspend. After `i get paid next week, I need to sit down and work out a proper budget for my time abroad. Out in the real world, everyone just encourages me to spend.

Istartedontherighttrack

Evening MSErs!

My finances are still awry. When I got paid in October (for a week of September and all of October), my new company didn't take my pension contributions out of my pay. They are going to do this in November, so I will have less money than usual then by quite a lot.

In positive news, my expenses claim was £1,500, which means my overspend wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be.

I need to start a spending diary again. As ever, I am managing not to get into debt (just), but don't have anything to show for my money.

Hoolahoopcrispies

Hello,

I feel your pain! I similarly make my day more interesting by rewarding myself for getting through it. It's just such a pick-me-up to get a nice snack or treat when you're working long hours. I hope to look out for your tips on knocking that on the head.

P.S Have you thought about seeing a careers adviser? Your old uni might offer you one. If not, there's the free National Careers Service. It sounds like you are not entirely satisifed at work

Best of luck with your diary.

Istartedontherighttrack

Evening MSErs!

I have been super bad and haven't logged on here for 4 whole months. Oops. And my spending reflects that.

Thank you Sallybysea for the careers adviser. I have actually been looking into this. My uni careers adviser was partly the reason I ended up in this mess, but hey ho.

Since starting my new job, I have pretty much been a financial disaster. I am not in debt, because I am earning quite a lot, but I am wasting far too much. I have been on two surf trips and am going on a ski trip and another surf trip. After that, I need to start to focus my mind a little...

I have decided that I was allowed a few months to enjoy a bigger salary, but March is the last month of excess. I have set up a SIPP, and from April, Captain Sensible should return.

Istartedontherighttrack

Evening MSErs!

It's the weekend before pay day, and I have £65 to last the weekend, which is totally doable if I don't do anything extravagant. If I stick to this budget, then this month I will have saved 10% of my take home salary, on top of my pension contributions. I've also been overpaying my mortgage by £100 a month. However, I'm not ready to move over to the mortgage free wannabe board, as each month, I scupper myself with lack of discipline.

I'm going to come up with some resolutions this weekend. Spring resolutions are much more sensible than January ones.

Istartedontherighttrack

Happy Weekend MSErs!

After nearly two weeks of travelling on expenses for work (which I need to claim back), this month I am in the much better position of having £600 in the bank and £125 in my wallet to last me 12 days to pay day. If I am sensible, this will be the first month since I started my new job that I will have a surplus in my current account. I have also set up some direct debits so that from next pay day, 10% of my take home salary goes straight into long term savings, so I will effectively never see this money. This means I will have to be more disciplined with the remaining 90%.

My work trip to Milan was eye opening. I have never seen so many well dressed people in real life. A small beer was €7 and anything more exotic was even more...

Istartedontherighttrack

Evening MSErs!

I have had a productive weekend. I went out with friends and managed not to spend too much. Today I had an NSD, cooked for the freezer and claimed delayed flight compensation from what should probably be called the World's Least Favourite Airline. My flight was 26 hours late because the antique 747 was leaking fuel onto the runway. Last time I tried to claim this, I gave up because the airline refused, but this time I am going to stick up for myself.

Hope everyone has a good start to the week.

Istartedontherighttrack

Evening MSErs,

April was the first surplus month in a long time. I've put 10% of my salary into a savings account, and I have paid for a holiday for the autumn with the flight compensation - a MSE victory!

I had an expensive family party, so I am going to have to be careful for the rest of May. If I can keep this up another 30 years, I might be able to retire a millionaire. Ha ha ha.

Istartedontherighttrack

Evening MSErs!

As I have managed to stick to my May goals for a whole week, I am going to set them out in writing.

1. At least four lots of exercise a week.
2. Be able to swim 100m of butterfly again by the end of the month. Or maybe the end of June.
3. Eat vegetarian food at least two days a week.
4. Read Spanish for an hour a day. Or maybe twenty minutes.

Why did my motivation go. Grr.

Istartedontherighttrack

Evening MSErs,

I get paid before the end of the month, and for the second month running, I am going to have a surplus. This is really quite hard to achieve, given that there is so much temptation and I am surrounded by people who have a lot more money than I do.

Reading about other people's experiences on here really makes me think twice before I waste (too much) money. I still need to stop wasteful spends though...