Debt Free by 24

VelvetFreak

lucy-lou Yay to breakfast. This would be a change of main job. The one that I applied for is pretty much the exact same thing I am doing now, only full time hours. At the moment I am only working 30hrs per week with no option to go full time in the foreseeable future. (don't ask lol)

angelpye Thanks! Hope you have a great week.


Well, kind of a crappy Monday to be honest. I am getting fed up with work. I'm trying not to get it let me down, but when you have to be there 5 days out of the week, it's hard not to let it get to you. I'm sick of being treated like crap. My boss has never liked me. I used to think it was all in my head, but other people notice it too. I don't like to pull the "someone is picking on me" card, but this has never happened to me before with other bosses or other jobs. I don't think I am the problem in this situation, if you know what I mean.

Also getting annoyed with the colleague that I work closest with. She is going through a lot of personal stuff at the moment. She can be very harsh and snappy at times. I really want to retaliate back but it's just not in my nature. Between her and the other one, it's getting very hard to take.

Anyways, I did my groceries today on my lunch break. Spent $43 so I've got $67 left to last me 9 days. Should be do-able.

VelvetFreak

Sorry to post again, but it's my thread and I'll double post if I want to. My previous post was a bit whine-y, so thought I'd make up for it with a positive one.

Had a frugal dinner consisting of pizza, with home made base defrosted from the freezer. Here's the recipe if anyone wants it. http://www.budgetbytes.com/2015/06/thin-and-crispy-pizza-crust/

I used to pay $7 for a pack of 3 pizza bases. I know, I can't believe it either. Making pizza dough is so easy, it's ridiculous. And not to mention costs next to nothing.

Need to look at my budget as my bills account is building up quite a lot, and I think perhaps I am putting away more than I need to. (A few months ago, I changed plans for internet and car insurance and saved quite a bit but never adjusted for it). Am thinking I might be able to cut $100 per month, which will go straight to debt of course.

I'm too tired tonight, but maybe I will have a look at it in the morning.

Am feeling a bit under the weather. Very tired and have bad hayfever/allergies. Hope I'm not getting sick. Spent $18 or so in the pharmacy on some medicine to stop my nose running. Seems to be helping a little bit. Not fussed on handing over the money as this comes from bills account under 'medication' and that's what the money is there for.

Off to have a shower and crawl into bed. Washing up will have to wait til the morning, I think.:A:A

angelpye

Hi Velvet Freak, sounds tough at work so well down for being proactive and applying for the other job.

Sounding very organised even though you are under the weather, hope you feel better soon. Have you looked at a budgeting tool? There are free ones but I am using YNAB at the moment and really liking it - you can trial for free for a month.

Hope you sleep well

VelvetFreak

Hi angel I did try YNAB years ago but for some reason (that I cannot remember) I did not like it. It's hard because I get paid fortnightly and a lot of my bills are quarterly or half-yearly, so "months" don't really mean anything to me. I think I will do it in an 'envelopes' format, using one bills account, but recording the categories on paper. That way I can see if something is costing more than it should and draining the fund etc.

VelvetFreak

So I was very tired last night, ended up going to bed at 8pm, didn't even have a shower or take my makeup off. :eek::eek::eek:

As a result, I woke up at 4am and could not go back to sleep, so I decided to just get up. I have been quite productive so far. It's almost 7am now and I have made lunches for the week and worked on my budget.

The damn budget has nearly done my head in. It's hard to explain, (can barely make sense of it myself) but the way my mortgage works is you can pay extra onto it and it will sit there as "available" funds, and you are able to withdraw the "available" funds whenever you like (no fee). The available funds offsets the interest you pay. So say for example your loan is $100k, you have $5k extra sitting in available funds, so you are only paying interest on the remaining $95k.

So I store my money for my larger bills in the mortgage and withdraw it when I need to pay them. Makes perfect sense, right? Well apparently not so much. Somewhere along the lines I have managed to screw the maths up. To the tune of about $500. !!!!!!. I know that it hasn't just disappeared into oblivion, so I'll move on with it. Just thought I'd have a rant about that. I thought I had a pretty decent understanding of financial things but this one has got me :wall:

So I'm starting fresh, with $6000 in the acc - $4675 is for Bills and $1325 is allocated as an Emergency Fund.

So to cut a long story short, I have managed to shave $20 per fortnight from my bills. Doesn't sound like much, but according to my calculations (which tbh, don't seem very trustworthy at the moment :rotfl:) this will allow me to pay my debt off in 38 weeks as opposed to 42. That's an entire month earlier than I thought originally. Hope this all goes to plan!

Well I don't start work til 11:30, so now I am off to do some more chores. Make the bed, clean the fish tank, clean the kitchen and finish the washing up, vacuum, take the bin out, etc. etc.

Drawingaline

Hi, sounds like a positive start to your diary.

And I wish I had decided to be debt free by 24!

angelpye

Gosh VF you are organised! Just so you know YNAB changed its format last year so some people have found this version much easier to get on with. I get paid all sorts of different amounts at different times and it really helps me. But obviously its not for everyone.

Its 9.15 pm here and I just love how you are on the other side of the world getting on with morning chores whilst I am sat here with a cuppa trying to chill out before bed. I mean I know its the case but I guess on here its mostly Brits I come across. Sounds silly I know!

VelvetFreak

Hi Drawingaline Thank you and welcome


Haha angel you crack me up :rotfl:. I know what you mean though. I am not always this organised, trust me. I think I am over-compensating, because my life is actually kinda so-so at the moment, but you get that.

I try to make sure I mention what time it is here so that people don't think I'm a complete whacko doing housework and such at bizarre hours.

I wish there was an Aussie version of this forum, (or maybe I don't, because I love you guys ) This is the only place I've found where people do the diary thing (long time lurker). There used to be a US-based Dave Ramsey forum that was similar, but something happened and they shut it down.

I do wish I had the energy/inclination to do youtube videos or even a blog or something, but I'm just not that type of a person, so I do what I can. I love chattering away to myself and it will be great to have the diary to look back on.

lucy-lou

Hi, You are so productive in the mornings - I am not a morning person at all.

I find it weird that you are having your productive morning whilst I sit in bed catching up on today's neighbours episode eating chocolate :rotfl:

Where in Australia are you based, it is my favourite country that I have visited, going to Australia is what caused me to get stuck in debt in the first place!

Good luck and fingers crossed with the job applications x

VelvetFreak

Thanks lucy Am about to write a cover letter for another job app now actually. If you PM me I'll tell you