PositiveBalance's Positive Postings on the Path to Paying off Peter & Paul and...

PositiveBalance

Hello everyone,

Well, it has been quite the weekend. I'm still sat in my front room in my onesie having been too lazy to get dressed!

I had an unexpected (but quite cheap) night out last night and have done some Christmas shopping, which I have tried to keep as reasonable as possible. I still have some bits to do, but most of it is covered. (There are a few inconvenient birthdays in there as well, but what can you do?!)

I have lots to do in the house before it is in any way, shape or form ready to host Christmas dinner, including buying the turkey and all the vegetables.

Now I think about it, I have a LOT to do, and now I have realised how much there is to do, it is freaking me out a bit!

I'd better run off and get organising, tidying and wrapping. I've got tradesmen coming during the week and they aren't going to be able to get to where they need to be able to get to in order to do what they need to do!

I have been reading, though. A lot of these FI people are pretty hardcore, but I ultimately agree with them. Quite a while ago I figured that this consumer lifestyle isn't so much for me. I need to figure out how I'm going to use what money I have to do what I need it to do now and how to invest the rest in my future so that I will be financially independent so that I don't need to work until I drop.

I'll be back with that later. I can't do it all at once.

Back to the boxes! :eek:

PositiveBalance

Hello everyone!

Well, the big man is on the way, there are less boxes in my dining room (just don't look upstairs!) and I still have tons to do, so I will wish you all a speedy :xmassign: and see you after the main festivities. :xmassmile

:xmastree: Have a really, really great time with your loved ones. :xmastree:

I'm off to start cooking for tomorrow. xxx

PositiveBalance

Hello everyone!

Well, I have been gone for a while! I'll be back tomorrow properly as it's rather late now.

I've been a bit spendy. I'm having an internal row with myself as to whether buying things you know you will use when they are cheaper constitutes good sense or not while you have ongoing building requirements in your unfinished home.

I'llnfill you in properly. I need to get my budgetr going properly as well. I had it more or less figured out, but then had to move everything and now can't find a thing! :eek:

See you soon.

slowlyfading

Nice to "see" you back

PositiveBalance

Hello everyone.

I never quite made it back, did I?

I haven't been idling - I've been fairly busy and the results have made me a bit :eek:.

I've cleared my Christmas expenses (I need to find some budget for January sales shopping, but I bought stuff that will be used to save me a fortune during the year, so I reckon that's OK) and just paid for my car tax for the year plus MOT and related repairs. Unfortunately, my car needs further repairs, so I'm not sure how much this is going to set me back and it had stopped working for the moment so now I have to use public transport to travel for the moment, which is going to be a PITA as I have an assignment due in next week and getting to the library for books it going to be very difficult and time-consuming as I study very far from home.

To top it all off, I've been trying to do my budget (I got :money: Budget Planner but can't find the link to SOA - is it one and the same thing?) and although I'm sure I've been a bit over-generous in some categories, it looks as though I need to be earning a bit more than I earn WITH OVERTIME to clear my bills. (I'm sure that can't be right - my rent was more than my mortgage this time last year and I was getting through, although, crucially, perhaps not putting as much to one side for annual bills as I should have). This means I have nothing left over to do the house up with or repay my debts.

There are better paid jobs coming up sort of in my sector and much as I need one, I'm a bit scared to go for one due to previous rubbish experiences in the last jobs I had before getting this one.

My ridiculously expensive gas & electricity pre-payment metres were supposed to be getting replaced but the stupid company only booked me in for an appointment for one despite me checking the appointments were both booked in only a few days prior to them coming. :eek: They have to come another day to change the other one. :mad:

I've been looking into matched betting as a way to earn a few extra pennies. I am supposed to be doing it with a friend, but I am really starting to question the other person's commitment.

I didn't mean to post a bit long moan but it all seems a bit at the minute.

I hope you are all doing well.

P.S. I changed my mobile deal from £13pcm to £10pcm. It's a start!

Karmacat

Sounds like you're finding it difficult right now, PB - keep on coming back, though, it really does help, you can keep on track much more easily.

Sounds like getting rid of the pre payment meters is crucial, so whatever it takes - very annoying to have to take 2 days tho. As for the library books, even though they're actual books, can you renew them online? I used to be able to (then I went to ebooks, stopped using actual books altogether!

Take care.

hiddenshadow

Sorry to hear about the money issues, PB! I hope the car/meters get sorted soon.

It was definitely a surprise to us when we analysed a year's worth of bank accounts to figure out our actual spending. I seem to quickly forget the panic about paying X bill that comes up so rarely and then forget to account for it in the small amounts I set aside each month.

I think we're better about it now since most of our things are paid monthly anyway, but I try and overestimate what we'll need for various things, and sometimes trick myself into saving more. We swapped our cats to a different insurance company as it would be about half the cost, but I haven't changed the amount that we're setting aside for pet insurance each month. I know that in a year their premiums will renew (likely more expensive as we got a new customer discount), and I'd rather have most/all of it set aside beforehand than stress about where to find the money when we get the bill. (On the plus side, it's always nice to be able to make an OP, however small, out of the extra that's left when you've paid the annual bill. I got a kick out of having an extra £2.78 in our water bill savings pot after we paid the bill.)

tattycath

Sorry you're having such a hard time at the moment PB I hope you manage to sort your budgeting out so you can still juggle everything and service the debts without struggling too much.
Well done on the £3 a month saving. It's £36 a year! It's a step in the right direction!

PositiveBalance

tattycath wrote: »

Sorry you're having such a hard time at the moment PB I hope you manage to sort your budgeting out so you can still juggle everything and service the debts without struggling too much.
Well done on the £3 a month saving. It's £36 a year! It's a step in the right direction!

I just looked at my Skye bills as well: the robbing barstewards have taken away one of my additional phone packages (that saves me a fortune) and renamed it and are selling it to me at 2.5 times the original price! :eek: :mad:

Pity the poor Skye representative who will deal with my ire tomorrow. I am a person's worst nightmare in those situations. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Karmacat wrote: »

Sounds like you're finding it difficult right now, PB - keep on coming back, though, it really does help, you can keep on track much more easily.

Sounds like getting rid of the pre payment meters is crucial, so whatever it takes - very annoying to have to take 2 days tho. As for the library books, even though they're actual books, can you renew them online? I used to be able to (then I went to ebooks, stopped using actual books altogether!

Take care.

Thanks KC but I need to take them out. Even worse!

Yup, getting rid is a big deal - once they are gone I can change providers and get a *much* more competitive tariff. Also, I'm so angry with them I'm determined that they will pay me for the inconvenience as they have cost me valuable overtime I cannot afford to lose. (See above about Skye person.)

hiddenshadow wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the money issues, PB! I hope the car/meters get sorted soon.

It was definitely a surprise to us when we analysed a year's worth of bank accounts to figure out our actual spending. I seem to quickly forget the panic about paying X bill that comes up so rarely and then forget to account for it in the small amounts I set aside each month.

In some ways, this is what has happened to me: I always had enough in the bank to cover whatever needed covering so I was OK as the deposit for the house was there, but now I'm aware I need to be more careful.

It's a necessary correction. I will be happier for it in the long run once my finances are properly under control, but I've just hit a nasty speed bump, so to speak, and am feeling a bit sorry for myself.

I'll get over myself soon.

PositiveBalance

P.S. Concert tickets sold so my ticket money has been squirreled away somewhere safe.