Preparing for adult life ..

bma14

Thanks kirstypoos I have an interview on Tuesday so fingers very crossed x

coastalchick

hi there

have just subscribed to your thread. I'm a lawyer too (ex partner now in prof support as decided to take a different route in life!) You're doing really well. I was much more in debt than you at your age and had no clue about money. Will follow with interest! x

bma14

Thanks coastalchick Yeah I think when my student OD hit the 2k mark I thought it was time to nip it in the bud and make sure I taught myself to be responsible with money. If I get the job the trainee to NQ salary jump will be the biggest one I've ever had so want to make sure I am being responsible with it Not to say I won't have to splurge on a bottle of champers if the good news comes in of course!

I had my interview today so it's just fingers crossed now until I hear anything back. I think it went ok though I was really nervous. Waiting game!

bma14

So it's payday on Friday (cannot come QUICK ENOUGH ) and I'm now able to do my May summary.

I made quite a chunk of extra money this month from selling stuff etc, but all it has done is pretty much covered the overspend this month from the hen/our joint budget. We have both been trying to eat healthier this month to support our active lifestyles (so much exercising and no abs?!?! - not worth it ) which had brought with it a much more expensive shopping budget!

I think I'll have it sorted for next month - I've tried that LiveLean place and totally love it; means I can hopefully get the meat much cheaper by buying in bulk. Just need to sort out how to remind myself to leave the meat out to defrost every morning! (bad habit!!). Also need to make sure I am planning meals more consistently but I'm sure I will get into the swing of it eventually!

My OD will be sitting at £769.73, which, to be fair, is still less than it should be so that is good. I'll then get paid and the £255 i normally pay from leftover wages will go into it, making the grand total for the end of May £514.73 I'm quite happy with that and I am sure I will be able to make an extra £15 during the month to bring it down to under £500! I'll then have my June, July and August pay packets to use to pay of that last chunk to meet my goal of paying it off before I qualify which I'm quite happy with

No news as of yet from my interview but I will be first here once it does :j

Happy Hump Day MSE'ers :money:

coastalchick

A bottle of champers would be well deserved but very restrained!

Hope you get the news you're hoping for!

I remember the big jump from trainee to NQ, my jump (back in the day) was by 18k - felt very rich indeed! Think after tax etc it was about another 1k a month.

God, that was almost 14 years ago - now I feel old!! x

bma14

Well it was good news for me this morning - excellent news as I got offered the position :j:beer:

I am honestly beyond happy as I love the firm I work in and the area of law I do - not to mention my team mates. The sun is shining for once in Scotland and my lovely workies have put a bottle of prosecco in the fridge already!

Last but not least it means that I will get that well needed pay bump and can breathe a sigh of relief at not being unemployed come September!. I haven't had my official contract yet (should have it in the next few days) but my friend who has also been offered a job and had her interview a few weeks ago says hers is £30k and so I'm expecting it will be the same. Up from £21k so I'm happy with that

Assuming that I manage to clear the overdraft before I qualify I should be set up in a good position financially. I will have to add some more expenditure to my budget in September (my mum and dad have been covering my phone and car contracts while I have been training and so I will take those on (around £300) but even after doing that and moving all my money around (including my own 'spending' account) I will end up with around £400 to spare each month so I will need to decide what to do with it! I'm thinking firstly a £1000 emergency fund and then saving up for a new bathroom and getting rid of the disgusting green tiles which have plagued my dreams for the last year!!!

First - a celebration

Thanks for all sticking about through my worrying since January. Today is a good day!!

coastalchick

well done!! amazing news!!!! Must be a huge relief. Get that prosecco down you lovely! x

kirtsypoos

Huge congratulations! A chilled glass of prosecco sounds like just the thing tonight!

bma14

Thank you both

As expected this weekend was a spendy one with lots of celebrations with different people. I don't regret it this time - I think after 9 years of work it was well deserved!!

Anyway - I'm now back on the bandwaggon and going to make sure that my spending and earning is as good as it can be this month. I'm on a mission to make sure that this overdraft is well and truly GONE before I start my qualified position My overdraft ended up around £540 at the end of last month (I didn't realise my gym was going to come out before payday) and so I'm hoping I can make an extra £50 or so to bring the total due under £500 before I get paid again at the end of the month.

It is also coming up for the 1 year renewal of most of my utilities etc so I am going to have a bit of a money makeover and see if I can get lower rates for my insurances etc.

Lets do it!

bma14

So I was assessing the finances today at the end of another of our 'money weeks' and had noticed my Credit Card is higher than I would like.

I normally only use the credit card for work expenses that I know I will get or on big-er purchases that I will pay off with my own personal 'spending pot' over 2 pay days (so eg if I get my hair done and it costs £120 I put it on the credit card, pay off £60 from my personal spending pot then £60 from it on payday) but I had a bit too much on it from a few different purchases that I did in that frame of mind. It is sitting at around £108. Not huge, but not great either and I would like it cleared so that it does now build up much further.

I have decided to use the OD to pay it off so that all of the debt is amalgamated in one place. It doesn't change my predicted DFD of 26 August, just means I will have £100 less in cash in the account on that day. I think it's worth it though to know that everything is cleared at that point and not to worry about it. I will instead use the leftovers of my personal spending pot to put towards the overall OD if I can. Also means I won't be celebrating my DFD whilst also having debt on the credit card - makes sense I guess

Just powering on just now, trying to get to that debt free date so I can start my new life.

Have a great day MSEers x