From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

During the day I did contact the electricity company to ask if some of the £1,100 I have in credit with them could be refunded. They asked me for an up to date meter reading, which I did with DD3’s help in wrestling open the meter box door. The up to date reading meant that the credit amount went up to £1,500! They have processed the maximum refund I could have in 1 day, which I was told was £599. If I want anymore back I have to ring back on Monday. It’ll take up to 10 working days to refund but at least some of the money is in its way back to me.

DD3 and I have been brain storming ideas for Christmas gifts. I’m going to have to just set an amount and do what I can…

MeandO

Wow, that’s a huge amount of money in credit! Glad some of it is on the way back to you. 

Hope you feel better soon, my sister had COVID last month and she felt much worse with strain than the last time she had it, it wiped her out for a couple of weeks, so rest up! X

Cherryfudge

Seconding what @MeandO says about rest - even if it goes against the grain!

I'm delighted you got all that money back .

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you MeandO and Cherryfudge. You are right, it does go against the grain but every time I jump up and think I’ll just do a quick task, I feel exhausted again so am really trying hard to be good and rest!

This period of quietness has given me space to think and to action. I hadn’t got round to telling HMRC that DD4 was in further education so the CB has been reduced since September. I mislaid the form that they send in May…I never fill it in them because you never know quite what is going to happen in the September because so much depends on their results! Anyway, I found a form online via the Government Gateway that has enabled to update HMRC’s records so hopefully it will make the transport costs easier to find. 

While I was on the government site I looked at my National Insurance record. Interestingly I have a 4 year gap which is basically when I was at uni. I did have holiday jobs in the summer so some NI has been paid but not enough for the year to count. It seems I have until April 2025 to make voluntary payments. A couple of the years are showing about £400 is needed to make the year but one year is about £900. Not sure about what to do about that at the moment.

I also set up a new savings account that, provided I don’t make more than 2 withdrawals in a 12 month time frame, will pay a better rate of interest. It’s connected to the current account I to which my Job 2 wages are paid so am thinking that if I put in £20 a week, it will help me to get back on track with saving.

Honeysucklelou2

I got up today and tried to get some work done for Job 1 but by 2, I was so exhausted, I was back in bed again. I have been testing daily and am now testing negative as of this evening, which is a relief as a couple of my colleagues are vulnerable and I didn’t want to go back before I was negative. The exhaustion doesn’t seem to be lifting …. can’t decide if it’s just part of Covid, or whether I pushed myself too hard doing those 4 shift weeks and therefore my energy levels were depleted before Covid.

Spending today was a gift for my godson’s 18th birthday and some bulbs ( responded to an offer via email from T and M, which was a very good deal.)

Cherryfudge

I found Covid made me tired: it felt as if it was still lurking and hiding around my body. I've no idea what the science of it is but I would say rest more than you feel you need to, which is boring but will give your body chance to fight back. I hope you have your energy back soon.

Would your employer consider letting you do half days for a while?

themadvix

I had about three weeks of horrendous fatigue after Covid- it was literally a case of being able to do one thing per day and by thing I mean I could have a shower and wash my hair or cook a meal. It was a real taste of what people with long Covid/ME must feel like. Please, please don’t overdo things - I was terrified I was going to end up with long Covid but it did fade gradually and by 6 weeks I was pretty much back to normal. But listening to my body was key.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Cherryfudge and themadvix. It’s kind of reassuring to read of other people’s experiences with Covid. I’m off work in both jobs today. I think yesterday scared me a bit…being so tired to need a nap, after doing so little for days, was shocking!  I have opportunity to work at home on Thursday afternoons so will be able to pace myself for the rest of this week.

While resting today, I have made myself go through all accounts, current and savings, to get a better idea of where I am and to make sure that each savings account has a specific purpose. It’s one of those jobs that I needed to be on my own for so that I could concentrate. I’m very rarely alone, so had chance to think and write it all down today. That has helped to compile a list of priorities and have a better idea of where my wages are going. Needless to say the first priority is clearing the last bit of debt. I have reprinted  some 100 square sheets so that I can visually see debt going down and was thinking that maybe it would be good to start a couple for specific savings projects. Eg In time, I would like to get a borehole sorted out at the allotment so that I’m not lugging bottles of water there to water greenhouse plants. We are too far off mains, at the allotment, to make that a viable alternative!

lucielle

All sounding good on the financial front and lots of focus. I seem to have lost mine. 

L

savingholmes

Hi HSL - Hope you feel better soon. Definitely listen to your body. You have been pushing yourself hard for a very long time. Great news on the refund - frustrating that they let the credit get so high in the first place. Could you put that in your emergency fund? Does job 2 pay you for sickness? If not can you use any holidays?