Flush by 30?

Sun_Addict

That's a wonderful thing you're doing with the lodgers, there aren't many people who would be prepared to take them on.

Bobarella

Hi JW

I'm so sorry about your Mum's job. How rubbish! How have the three interviews gone?

Bob

JWPopps

How is it July already?!

So, last month I said that I wanted these things done by the end of June... let's see how I did, shall we?!

Reduce credit card debt to £680 - this is a big no from me. I'll go into 'why' below.
Reduce loan to £6,820 - Um, also no. Sitting at £6926.67.
Begin a (modest) savings pot with £30 - Done!
Paint my bedroom (already got the paint) - Er, no.
Paint skirting boards (already got the paint) - Lol, no.
Get the last of Mum's stuff moved - Yay! Done!
Get new lodger settled in - Erm, so yes this did happen, but also... not.

Ok, so - confession time. I overspent massively this month. I bought a shed, for £170. I bought a new fridge, for £160. I bought a guest bed for the other spare room, which was £127. Nearly £460!!!!!!!! :eek:

Now, I have my reasons for all of them. The rabbit hutch finally gave up after our last downpour of rain, and I've wanted to buy a wooden shed to make into a MegaHutch (Rabbitopia, if you will) for about a year, so it just seemed like a good time to get round to it. The fridge i had originally has been broken since I've owned it (3rd hand from a kindly auntie who used to use it as a beer fridge for family parties; it was already knackered then, mind) - and with lodgers moving in I really needed a new one so they can put their food on a nice clean, fully-functional shelf. And the bed? Well, let me tell you a little story...

...my lodger (let's call her A), is pregnant. She is a genuinely lovely girl, a total sweetheart and obviously by virtue of the fact she needs to live with me, we know she's going through a rough time. Well, she is also 16 and I think we all know how tough being 16 is. She clearly didn't actually want to live at my house, but she was scared to upset the charity or me by saying so, so instead she said that she was struggling to get up the stairs to the top bedroom. So I went out and bought a proper bed for the other spare room so she could move into there.... and 2 days later she decided she was going to move in with her boyfriend.

She was so worried I'd be angry, which I'm not, bless her. She has to do what feels right for her, and I just really hope she's made the right decision. And all of this really means I'm all set up for my next placement so in the end it will all have been a good investment.

It just means that this month all the money I earned from having her there was swallowed up and I haven't been able to pay off debts as I'd have liked. Also, because the charity moved her in so quickly I wasn't able to get round to doing my painting, and I won't have time to do it for a while now either so I'm putting those projects on hold. But oh well, onwards!

JWPopps

These were my original July goals:
Reduce credit card debt to £360 - seems unlikely.
Reduce loan to £6,500 - seems unlikely.
Increase savings pot to £80 - Done early!
Buy a single bed for the box room - Done early!
Buy a new television to replace the one Mum is taking - on hold!

In light of my lodger moving out so suddenly, I'm currently between placements. My ordinary salary is enough to allow me to make normal payments on my loan and small overpayments on my credit card, but it's really the money I earn from the charity that would enable me to make big overpayments on either. Without being able to make a big overpayment in June, and in the likelihood I won't be able to do this in July either, I am re-estimating my reduction goals as follows:

- Get credit card down to: £950
- Get loan down to: £6,700

If I get a new placement in the next week or so, I should be able to up these payments somewhat, so I might be able to get a little bit closer to my original goals, but I will still be playing catch-up.

However, I am refusing to be upset about this. As I detailed before, my major purchases from June were all necessary, so this is a minor setback and I'm not missing and debt payments or anything, it's just that it will take me a month or so longer to be debt-free. And that's ok, this whole thing for me is more about learning how to be better with money in the long-term, so I think a big part of that is accepting that my plans will sometimes fall through. And I have started a savings account, and I have bought the bed I wanted to. So there's that

p.s. no joy yet on the 'job for JW's Mum' front, but she has more interviews in the offing.

JWPopps

I'm feeling a bit more positive about life in general today.

I went to a gig last night with my oldest friend, and we briefly caught up with another friend as well and I've promised to go to her birthday celebrations in a couple of weeks. I don't really like going out as she's suggesting, I'll have to stay over at her house because the last train back to mine is super early, I am self-conscious in social situations because of my weight and I have to arrange for my mother to feed the critters AND of course going out drinking is not a cheap plan, but I also feel like I will eventually lose touch with all my friends if I just keep making excuses not to go and see them.

I hope in a couple of years my friends are all married and I get invited round to cosy dinner parties instead!!

Downside of the really great gig I saw last night: I now ache, bodily.

lotti379

I've been reading your diary over the last couple of days and I am so impressed and inspired!

You are doing so brilliantly :T

I'm not much older than you (and in more debt) but yes, people definitely get more keen on cosy dinners and barbecues at home (or maybe that's just us being prematurely old and boring!).

Sun_Addict

Take it from me, it's good to stay in touch with friends even if it means sometimes going out for nights you're not keen on. One day you might need their company and they've moved on due to lack of interest on your part. I do agree though that most people start growing out of wild nights about the mid-twenties age.

Glad you had a good time at the concert

JWPopps

Hi Lotti - thank you! I'm glad it's not the diary of the world's most boring woman haha! Some days I feel like I'm doing ok and others I feel like I'm slipping backwards. I think because my mum is on a DMP I've been very aware of how damaging debt is for a very long time, but I'm sure we'll all get there

SA I know, you're absolutely right - and especially when things are currently a bit rocky in my relationship it's exactly the wrong time to start alienating people!!!

JWPopps

Hello all!

My mum has 2 job interviews this week! Hurray!

My OH just asked if he can spend Christmas with me this year (first one together)! Hurray!

I have £30 left in my current account to last me until 21st July! Boooooo!

lotti379

How are you getting on with your £30?