My Journey To My Pot Of Gold

MuffinTops

Thank you for those images Sam. They gave me a much needed smile this morning.

Mr3TL is doing a great job keeping me entertained and happy. I'm not sure where the cynical MT has gone, but I'm liking her replacement!

MuffinTops

Wow - where did the weekend go?

Friday I had a busy day preparing 2 shows and then had my 2 trainees at the radio. The first guy didn't prepare much of a show and backed out of doing it at the last minute, which was fine as I'd prepared a show just in case so we had a little desk practice before going on air and then he was my co-host.

The second guy turned up half an hour before his show, which was great and as he's also very young the 2 lads got chatting together and that broke some ice. The second guy is really good on air, really confident. He has a slight stutter which he manages to control really easily which I found so inspiring. So my plan is to get trainee 2 (J) practising the desk as soon as we can and put him as the host of my show to give him practice. While he does that, I can be listening in and also giving trainee 1 (M) a chance to practice the desk in the non-live studio.

Saturday Mr3TL was with me and we went out for a breakfast and then got our bikes out and went for a 3 hour cycle near to where I live. The weather was beautiful and we had such a great time just riding around and looking at the views. I have an area of natural beauty near me, so we cycled around that and then diverted off when we could to add some miles. I hadn't eaten much the day before or for breakfast and haven't cycled in SO long so I was feeling pretty empty at the end! When we got home he went to get us food from the local takeaway and we stayed in watching a film and other rubbish TV until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer!

On Sunday I met up with friends in London for the Open House weekend. We started at Temple Church and then just found convenient places close by. We ended the afternoon (for me) with afternoon tea at a really trendy place! I then headed home while the others were booked in for a late show in the evening. I'd have had no way of getting home, and (shhh) I really didn't want to stay out that late!

The afternoon tea was really expensive, but I did have a great time and that was a brilliant way to end such a good day.

I have another spendy weekend coming up too! I've been too scared to look at YNAB, but after reading Rosa's post I think I need to be as open and direct with this as possible and just take a breath and update!

I've also prepared some cash pages to keep a track on what silly spends are going out on a far too regular basis!

bellevie

Sounds like an idyllic weekend

Good work on the bike ride, especially on an empty stomach - I don't think I'd have got round the block even

RosaBernicia

Yay for Mr 3TL and afternoon tea is worth it if you had a fab time.

I think I am just more scared now of not knowing what might me money-wise than I am of having to 'fess up to YNAB!


Rosa xx

moneyonmymindsam

Happy Hump day !! :P


Two more days until payday for me ....

MuffinTops

Wow! A full week since I've updated? That's not great!

Sam - you've been paid now? I'll have a peek in your diary to see how you're doing.

Rosa - Again, I need to get to where you are with being scared of not knowing what's happening in YNAB.

Financially I'm a bit confused after my weekend away. We tried to keep our costs separate as much as possible, but I'm sure there are one or two places that we planned a payback scheme!

I've decided to close down my credit cards, as I'm finding them too easy to spend on. I do pay back in full each month, but I'm not enjoying the fact that I'm living ahead of myself. I do pay for my oyster card online and my Santander card gives me cashback on that, so I'll keep that one and pay my travel budget onto my card each month.

I spent the weekend in Glasgow with 2 very good friends. One of them had been to Uni there so he knew his way around. The other has never been and is a bit of a travel snob, so it made for a very interesting weekend. We shared a room to keep costs down and had a great tour of the place.

Saturday night we had booked to see a cabaret. We were told to get there by 8:30pm otherwise we'd be charged to get in and miss the shows! We arrived on time to find the place deserted. No shows started until 11:30pm and there was no entry charge at any point! It wasn't even about making us buy drinks as we'd prepaid for cocktails and the deal we were given contained far too much drink for us to get through!

When the "cabaret" started, it literally lasted 15 minutes. There were 3 acts who were all on for a maximum 5 minutes each. It was so bad it was hilarious! A great night had. Fortunately the lads had drunk a fair bit by then too so they were very loose and jolly.

Mr3TL (who was fine with me going away for the weekend and sharing a room with 2 male friends) had an event on Sunday which went great. I haven't seen him since then but we're getting together this evening! Very excited.

I'm thinking of rearranging the way my outgoings are listed in YNAB as a way of helping me make the most of the rewards I get for the accounts I hold.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and are having a good week so far.

MTxx

bellevie

Sounds like you had a really good weekend with your friends

Hope you enjoy your evening - and good choice on closing the credit card :T

MuffinTops

Thanks bellevie. My evening was lovely. Credit cards will soon be gone. I'll sort that out either tonight or this weekend.

MuffinTops

Payday today and I've literally just heard a Whoosh as it's all shot out again! The beauty of buying on credit and paying off in full each month. It's going to be a very tough month! It would be nice if these uncomfortable months taught me lessons, but sadly they don't teach me anything long term other than how to get myself to a place that keeps me on track.

I'm going to need to be pretty good on meal planning and bringing lunches in this month too as silly food spends are what hurt me the most in my budget.

I've got a fairly busy month with plans, but I'm pretty sure most of those I can avoid having to buy food. I need a weekend away for Mr3TL's birthday, but I've found a lovely place which is reasonably priced, so I'm hoping they have availability. I've got this money put away in my "Trips" budget.

Wow, it's Wednesday already! I've got the dancing girls ready to go, but this message doesn't seem cheerful enough! I've got some exciting radio news to share with you all, so I'll save them and that for a new post!

Happy Hump Day all.

MTxx

MuffinTops

Friday was the MacMillan coffee morning, and it was really nice to see how many people and places got involved. As we're hospital radio, we very much joined in and had asked everyone we could for a song request which we would play for a £1 donation to MacMillan.

I was asked to arrive early as the 2 top people wanted to speak to me, which was nerve wracking as my thoughts always turn to the more negative outcome.

But, they've asked me to join the committee, as a training manager! Although I feel a bit overwhelmed at the expectation of a role like that, I'm also really flattered and feeling very positive. As I've only really been there a few months, I think it could also do my CV a lot of good as it's looking like my current job may be seriously questioned soon. We've had major changes in our department and are currently waiting for a Director replacement and that's always going to bring huge changes.

After we'd had the committee discussions, I was then asked if I'd do some overflow requests as not all presenters were prepared to do the requests we'd been given! Of course, I love doing people's requests and was happy to stay a while longer, and then I was handed a list of 45 songs, not including the list I had for my friends and family or a co host who had also brought some!

I was on air from 4:30pm until 10pm with the last request being played at 9:55pm. My poor eyes. I was told I could leave them for the next day if absolutely necessary, but that wasn't in the spirit of the day! People had donated and I had nowhere I needed to be, other than packing and in bed. That was all lovely, but trying to figure out what to say in between songs other than standard name and request was a challenge. Luckily ther were some obscure choices of songs though, so that helped.

We still don't know how much we managed to get in yet though, so I'm looking forward to hearing that as I think their goal amount was something ridiculous like £100.

So, without further ado, here are the dancing ladies to celebrate the above and to wish you all a happy rest of week!


MTxx