Help to keep me honest

System

Ah when I went to the museum yesterday with my DGS it is next to the local university, we saw people with placards , wondered what it was about , now I know.

Sorry to hear this , especially when you are so near the finish line . However your pension is worth fighting for. Will you not get help from your union for salary lost . I know my union has a hardship fund.

glass_half_full

Hi Cumbria,
There is a strike fund, the priority being for those on low pay or insecure contracts. I wouldnt claim against this, at this stage I am prepared for this if is the price of supporting the action. I hope it gets resolved before the 14 days are up though.

glass_half_full

Good morning diary and all,
Need to get my thoughts down here. Today is day 5 of the strike. Back to work tomorrow. Yesterday the Union and the employers met in London and agreed to talks mediated by ACAS. The employers have agreed to negotiate the changes to the pension scheme, this is a move on their part. At the moment the action continues, I hope it is called off soon. The weather is perishing. We are a bit concerned about the forecast since we are hoping to attend a concert that my son is playing tomorrow evening, it may not be practical to get there, we will see.
Money matters have been thrown a bit into disarray. I’m not quite sure the impact of the strike, it will be between £400 - £1000 on take home pay at the end of March depending on how long it goes on. Also, I have a repair on the car, some work recommended at the MOT last July, I have been holding off aiming for when we were out of debt, which should be now. Should be getting a quote today. We are also planning to spend some money redecorating in the early summer, starting in June. We could delay this, but we are thinking about getting someone in to do the hallway, landing and stairs. I don’t think I can do this myself or at least not at a good standard or safely with the stair well. The person we want is hard to get and we have him booked for first week in June. He’s not cheap but the results are really good and last.
So as a result the planned repayments are as follows. These will all go out in the first week of the month.
March - £515
April - £415
May - £690
June - £900
July £430
So new DFD is now first week July.
Have a great day all.

System

How are things going for you ? Do you think your plan above will work?

glass_half_full

Hi Cumbria,
Haven’t posted in a while. I was more than a bit disappointed to miss the debt free date of February or March. I lost £400 in March salary due to the strike. Now the poor old car has needed some treatment. New brake pads for the front brakes (£90). Then the job that was identified at the last MOT has been estimated at £260. Nonetheless, it should be possible to clear the debt by June/July.
Today I am travelling with DS to a gig on the south coast where he is drumming. Good experience for him. I need to go an collect him later and then we need to pack the car and set off late afternoon.
Debt clearance plan
March - £515 (actual £415)
April - £415 (actual £415)
May - £690
June - £900
July £430
A group of us at work have entered a 10K. Its good to be doing something a bit different together.
I have some time off over Easter, looking forward to it.
Have a great day all!

System

Great to hear from you , have a good weekend with your DS .

The plan sounds like it will happen, I think the first thing you may be saving for is a car .

Enjoy the Easter Break.

glass_half_full

Good morning diary and all,
Need to take stock of where I am this morning. We have had quite a busy Easter as this week we have had DS and his GF staying with us. Then my brother and his family visited us for a couple of days from abroad. They stayed in a nearby b&b since they have 3 children so we can’t accommodate them all. It was really nice to see them since DS and GF spent time with them last summer. They have now returned home, DS is now staying with his GF and so the house is very quiet again!
We have spent some money this week although I had budgeted for it so it was ok. There have been a few unplanned expenses, the cat got sick and needed some injections at the vet so that cost £65. So far this year I have only made the loan repayment of £415 in January, February and March despite plans for overpayment. So now focused on paying off the remaining £2,120 hopefully in three remaining monthly repayments.

glass_half_full

Good morning diary and all,
its actually stopped raining and I can see the sun shining! Taking stock a bit this morning. The car cost £100 instead of £260 as estimated because the problem was simpler than they thought it would be to fix, nice for it to go in the right direction for once! I can feel that we have relaxed the purse strings recently as the debt free date approaches. Need to stay focused. Once debt free we should be able to save each month, need to make sure that we dont end up spending that money instead. I think the way to do that will be to budget that money and treat it as spent.
Going for a run later this morning, the 10K is only 3 weeks away.
Have a great day all!

System

Good news on the car front. I think it would be easy to start spending your money that you have used for debt repayment once you are debt free.

However you did have some plans for the money I seem to remember so some spending may be inevitable.

Hope the training is going well .

glass_half_full

Good morning diary and all,
Finally made it to pay day! Making a payment of £673 so reduces debt to £1445. Should be just two more payments to go so finishing in two months time.
Looks like a lovely sunny day today!