Drifting in a Sea of Debt

BettyBones

Received £130 in mileage expenses and dumped it in my shiny new motoring account. Have decided to just go ahead and book the service and worry about finding the money for the insurance after. I have until 05th May to renew so, if the weather improves, I can do some car boot sales over the next few weeks and I'm sure I can put my hand up for a few more work trips between now and the end of April to swell the coffers too.

I was going to skip the service and get it done when I get back from my holiday but no, I want everything ship shape and bristol fashion before I set sail. I am not departing these shores unless and until all debt is gone and all outstanding matters have been dealt with. Geez I hope the MOT doesn't throw up anything that needs fixing or that'll throw a spanner in the works! :eek:

BettyBones

The fuse blew in some fairy lights in my kitchen so I bought a new one to replace it today. After feeling triumphant that I managed to find a screwdriver, open the plug, remove the fuse, locate a hardware shop and actually buy a 3 amp fuse without asking a man to help me for a change, it turns out it wasn't the fuse after all. It was one of the bulbs had gone. So annoying! Just wasted 25p :rotfl:

Orange_Ena

BettyBones wrote: »

'Netflix and chill' hahaha... I'm not saying that anymore. Can't believe I used to say it to my boss! :eek: 'What are you getting up to this weekend Betty' says my boss. 'Oh.. probably just gonna netflix and chill' says I :eek: I'm so ashamed...

Make a cake?! Moi?! That did make me laugh. Sadly my culinary skills are not just lacking, they're totally non-existent. I own a wooden spoon and a whisk but sadly neither of them has ever seen any baking action. I know where the wooden spoon is but I don't think I could tell you where the whisk is. Actually, I think I'm lying. I just had a look in the cupboards and drawers and I can't see the whisk so maybe I don't own one after all :rotfl:

Oh gawd, I'm cringing on your behalf now :rotfl::D I suppose there's a chance they didn't know what Netflix and chill meant either ;):p

Honestly, a mug cake is so easy. And perfect for one person.

3tbsp self-raising flour
1tbsp caster sugar
1 medium egg yolk
2tbsp full fat milk
1tbsp vegetable oil
1tbsp golden syrup

Pour the flour, sugar, egg, milk and oil into a large, deep mug. Beat the mixture with a fork until smooth. Spoon or squeeze a generous dollop of golden syrup on to the centre of the batter and put the mug in the microwave. Cook in 15 second blasts until the cake is firm to the touch. Allow to stand for one minute then go!

You don't need a whisk :rotfl:

BettyBones

Awww... thanks Orange Ena. So nice that you went to the trouble of explaining how I could make a mug cake for me. It sounds scrumptious but sadly, I don't own a microwave either :eek: :rotfl: Can you bake it in the oven? I do have an oven

BettyBones

Had the service done on my car today and the mechanic pointed out that I will need new brake discs in the not too distant future. That's not good news :eek: I'm going to wait and see if they fail at the MOT tomorrow but in any event I'll probably have to get them done sooner rather than later so more motoring money required Once I've paid for the MOT tomorrow I'll have nothing left in the motoring fund as I had to get a new wiper blade and brake light bulb on top of the cost of the service so I'm definitely going to have to do some car boot sales and stick my hand up for a few more work trips if I'm to get the brake discs done and pay the insurance in May. I think I have about £30 in mileage owing to me at the moment which I'll get on Friday but that's not going to get me very far

Some better news though is that I recently wrote off to some of my old employers to see if I had inadvertently joined their pension schemes as I've been told I was contracted out of SERPS at some point. I don't recall ever having joined a workplace pension scheme or set up a private pension so I wrote to my previous employers and one of them wrote back to me to say that I'm not in the scheme but I am due a refund of contributions. Weird! I'm assuming that I was automatically enrolled but then opted out within the required time frame so was due a refund but never received it. I have no idea how much this refund will be but they said they will write to me again once they have done the calculations. So that's good news (I think) because whatever I get back can go straight in the motoring fund

I now have less than 10 weeks to go until I'm debt free (hopefully!) and i will not let pesky car costs get in my way... the countdown has begun! :j

BettyBones

Time for another month end summary. I got paid yesterday but I haven't managed to pay as much as I would have liked to off the Tesc0 CC this month due to annoying car repair costs. The car failed it's MOT and the repair bill came to £160. Grrrr! I only had £45 left in my motoring fund so I've had to make a lower payment to the Tesc0 CC this month and I'll try to find the extra £115 over the next 4-6 weeks. So:

Debt totals last month:
Tax Credits: £0.00
Capital One CC: £0.00
Santander CC: £0.00
Halifax CC1: £0.00
Halifax CC2: £1,545.00
Tesco CC: £395.00
Total Debt: £1,940.00

Debt totals this month:
Tax Credits: £0.00
Capital One CC: £0.00
Santander CC: £0.00
Halifax CC1: £0.00
Halifax CC2: £1,030.00
Tesco CC: £340.00
Total Debt: £1,370.00

2 more paydays and I should be debt free. Although I still have to find the money for the pesky car insurance renewal before then ...

Orange_Ena

Sorry to read about your car but absolutely fantastic to read that you are so close to debt free! That is amazing. Totally earned that cruise

Maybe when you're debt free you could treat yourself to a microwave :rotfl::rotfl: Cake in the oven? Gawd knows. That sounds awfully like proper baking to me

Disco_Dolly

Sorry to hear about your car Betty, but you are doing awesomely, you are so close :j

BettyBones

Thank you ladies

Ena... I don't think I'll ever buy a microwave....apart from making a cake in a mug I wouldn't know what to do with it hahaha :rotfl:

Got a £56.36 pension contributions refund and received £35.53 in expenses so that's gone straight to the Tesc0 CC. I just need to find another £23.11 from somewhere and I'm back on track :j

Orange_Ena

Check down the back of the sofa :rotfl: