This is Not a Rehearsal Anymore!

GoingToDoIt

Hi Rosy,
Sorry your hubby got finished up so soon. Maybe he will get the full time job anyway? I've done something similar with a temp although I was of course up front with her. I got a temp in as we absolutely needed someone, but she had a long holiday coming up after her first week. I had to end her contract and get a replacement.
The boss may have been too spineless to admit they didn't want someone who takes days off/might leave before the month is up, or their boss might have cracked the whip.
It can be a bit more brutal when you are an agency worker as the assignment can end at any time. It's just not guaranteed at all.
I'd suggest if there is a next time, saying at the start that he is looking for permanent work and applying for jobs- but will not resign before the end of this contract, however if an interview comes up, he wiuld like to be able to re-arrange hours to attend it, or if no other option, then take time off.
Don't bother having that discussion with the agency- my temp had fully disclosed her holiday and The agent said they had a back up holiday cover that they would send to me! He said this to me when I rang him to complain as well so I know she was telling the truth.

catriona79

Hello Rosy - your poor OH.... So sorry to hear it. Sending you a big virtual hug. X

dawnybabes

Oh that's so unfair :-(

Rosylee

Thank you GoingToDoIt, catriona79 and dawnybabes

Appreciate your kind words.

Quote:

I'd suggest if there is a next time, saying at the start that he is looking for permanent work and applying for jobs- but will not resign before the end of this contract, however if an interview comes up, he wiuld like to be able to re-arrange hours to attend it, or if no other option, then take time off.

Yes, I think perhaps they may have thought he might not stay the month...he should perhaps have been clear that he would be staying; it would not have been right to just ditch them. It still would have been nice if they had just told him first the implications of going for the interview. I appreciate their position, but had they been open and honest; they may have been surprised by his decision. Oh well, we live and learn.

So, the last of my Christmas presents have been bought, feels a little anti-climatic. I have always over compensated at Christmas...my daughter is an only child and all our extended family on both sides live abroad. My daughter has never experienced a full on family Christmas with gifts from my sisters and mum, the noise, laughter and craziness that I did etc. So I have always gone over board and it feels quite sad that this year while I have got her what she has asked for, there isn't anything extra, and unexpected. But... this is not what Christmas is about and its time we (my family and I) remembered that. It is not just about presents, but about family and love and remembering the birth of a special little boy. This year I aim to make Christmas the most special ever, not with presents, but with spending time together, having fun, doing something for those less fortunate and making memories that she will have forever. Having typed all this, I feel so much better, really excited, which is not how I started this post.

This week will be pretty frugal, apart from putting petrol in the car and toll charges (which will be reimbursed), my spending should be at a minimum.

It will be a busy week, so likely will only check in again at the weekend. Have a good week!

Rosylee

Well it has been a good long while since I last posted. I have been super busy at work, working 12 hour days just to keep up with the work. It's a shame there is no overtime...I would be debt free in 6 months!

It's all been pretty quiet on the money front. All bills have been paid, rainy day funds have been growing albeit very very modestly.

So on the eve of payday, my last, before I start overpaying on debt in earnest, I have tallied up the final totals for the rainy day funds...£317.92. I have never had any savings to speak of before so it's a nice feeling. I had hoped to have £500, that is still my goal, but realistically, its going to be around £400. I may get some extra money from expenses, and when this comes in, I will only send half to the RDF, as I feel it is important to account for Christmas spending on food. Its unrealistic to expect I won't be buying things like drinks (non-alcoholic) or something nice for Christmas Day. But as long as I plan for this, I will still be in control and they won't be impulse spends then.

For the longest time, my salary was never enough to pay the bills and every month I would reuse the £500 overdraft. To know I have around £50 in my bank account still is fantastic feeling. Granted that money is earmarked for specific categories, as every pound has a job to do, but at least I am in the black.

So I have worked the budget for December. Its going to be tight, but I am just going to have to disciplined. Today I was planning to go and buy a top. I have money in the clothing category, not much £25 or so, but I was so loathe to spend it, so I decided not to go as whatever I buy would wipe out the balance. Then I was thinking of going to the hairdresser (one open in Tesco) as I have a meeting tomorrow, but as I had no more funds in the personal care category, and I did not want to redirect the funds from elsewhere...because when its gone, its gone, and this does not qualify as an emergency, I have decided that I will NOT be going to the hairdresser today.

Paid my DD's £60 ice skating classes fees, all saved up so no problem to pay

I have to say that the notion of having RDF instead of throwing every single spare penny at debt, while frowned upon by some, has been the best thing for me. I love love YNAB!

Well that's all folks, not much of an update...pretty boring really. Have a good week

Rosylee

Just a quick little update...I am quite rubbish at posting regularly I know

I have tallied the new RDF balances and can now report that I have managed to save a grand total of £565!!! More than I had planned or even hoped for.

Granted this sum is fluid as it includes savings for clothes, school uniforms etc which will be used at some point but it will be replenished, even by small amounts.

My buffer stands at £155 and my EF at £50 (the EF is included in the RDF tally). The buffer is separate to the RDF.

Soon I will get 2 months off council tax payments as I pay over 10 months (£102 x2) - debating if I should pass this all onto debt or RDF or go half half on debt and RDF. I really like the security of the RDF and so far I have been disciplined about using the money as intended. But I also want to get out of debt. What to do??

Last week of work before I go off for 2 weeks. It will be a hectic week, involving long hours to make sure it is all up to date so I don't have to think about work while I am off.

Have a good week.

GoingToDoIt

"Soon I will get 2 months off council tax payments as I pay over 10 months (£102 x2) - debating if I should pass this all onto debt or RDF or go half half on debt and RDF. I really like the security of the RDF and so far I have been disciplined about using the money as intended. But I also want to get out of debt. What to do??"

Too much money!!!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
Well done, in just a few weeks you have got more money than you known what to do with....great work!

catriona79

Hey Rosy,

You're doing extremely well! Whoop whoop!
Bet it feels great to be in control.

Much positivity and completely goals for 2016 x

Rosylee

So on the eve of the new year, it's time to reflect on the last year and plan for the next.

The first half of 2015 was terrible as far as finances went. I was drowning in debt, barely able to make the repayments, constantly living in my overdraft and robbing Peter to pay Paul. Thanks to a repayment of interest from HSBC in July, I was able to make some inroads into the debt. I also took a chance to apply for 0% balance transfer cards in September which to my surprise was successful (as I hadn't applied for a credit card in about 4 years as thought I would be declined). Then I heard about YNAB around the same time and things just improved even more. I still have a long road to travel but at least I am not borrowing from Peter to pay Paul anymore. My salary is enough to cover all my bills, make small inroads on the debt now that it is interest free and save towards my general expected expenses (RDF). Of course, it's absolutely appalling that I spend £1000 of my salary on debt and that s**t has got to stop!

Which brings us to 2016:

I have a number of debts which I am servicing. Some I cannot overpay to reduce the timescale, eg my loan and my car. So it means I will focus on the CC debt which is on 0% until September 2018. I have a snowball plan in place which commences this month. I have today paid the final balance of Littlewoods ( I had moved most of the balance to my BT cards as the instalments were killing me). I have 21 payments left on my loan (£400 x 21) and when that ends I will be able to use that to pay the CC even faster.

The most important thing I took from YNAB is that you have to save for those expenses that you know will be coming up. Sure I could send that money to debt repayment, but then when those expenses hit eg car service, I will end up having to use the CC to pay for them and by golly I will not be making more debt!

So the plan is to follow the snowball and if all goes well, I will have paid £5000 off my CC by December 2016. My loan will also have decreased by £4800, my car loan by £2160.

I need to do better with the food shop as I am still far too extravagant, mostly in terms of the volume of food I buy. Did I mention I have 5 freezers???

I have some weight loss goals as well. My aim is to lose 3 stone this coming year. I am at Slimming World. It is Day 5 today. So far so good.

I don't have too many people who read my diary but thank you to those of you that do and and also those who take the time to comment. I am terrible at posting regularly, I will try to do better but my life is pretty boring and the debt busting is going to be a slow process.

As the curtain closes on 2015, I wish you all a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year x

GoingToDoIt

Thanks Rosie, it's great to se you starting the new year happy and confident! We started around the same time and although our stories are very different, I think we can both say it's been nothing but positive, albeit painful at times!
I think that this is just the end of act one- I'll be back for curtain up after the interval (which I've sneaked my own sweets and drinks in for- not paying rip off theatre prices!!!)