The Beginning of the End

Cherryfudge

You have come a long way since you started this diary! It's wonderful that your course is going well. That, I think, is an indication that's it's right for you. And the end of house-sharing will come... though maybe there are people you would rather share with? My son didn't get on with his flatmates at Uni very much, my daughter is still in touch with lots of hers after several years. It depends on getting the right mix, and maybe somewhere someone will have dropped out of a house share and be looking for someone like you to fill it? I do bear in mind of course that this isn't going to be straightforward at this point in the academic year.

I'm still in touch with the person I shared with - long enough ago for me to be writing about my daughter leaving Uni! - so sometimes it really does work out.

A shame about the job, which I think was pretty good at first, wasn't it? Nevertheless, it's good to have January free of shifts at work because there always seem to be deadlines for essays and stuff this month, and you're absolutely right about putting your mental health first.

Happy New Year to you as well, and thanks for the update!

River.Bee

Wow, that's amazing that you're still friends with your old uni bunch! I hope I'm the same with some of my friends here. I'm living with my boyfriend and a mutual friend at the moment: I'm happy enough with my boyfriend (although he is a typical male and sometimes I have to nag him to clean up after himself :mad:), but it's the mutual friend that is really getting on my nerves so, so, so much. He never cleans, his room absolutely reeks to the point where it smells out the hallway. My room is opposite his door and I can smell when he's opened his door through my closed bedroom door! :eek:. We have told him to start cleaning but he does it once and that's it. He's also really, really irritating and sometimes patronising towards us, especially when he's drunk. All in all, not a nice person to live with I have to admit though, it's a better environment in this house compared to my last student house last year. But still, I can't wait to finish student life. *sigh*

River.Bee

In other news, it is payday today and I've just cleared my Lloyds credit card!! :j:j:j
Using YNAB has helped me be over £400 better off financially compared to my last payday in September. I'm definitely gonna continue using it after my free student trial expires

My new debt total is:
Tesco Bank: £2205 - 0% (until June 2019)

Since my lightbulb moment, I have reduced my debt by £1257 :T

Although, I think in the summer I may have to use my credit card to get funds for summer accommodation. I've made sure I've got savings towards the cost already, and I'll put some more towards it next payday in April, but I think I might have to borrow a couple hundred or so. It's necessary debt though, not useless debt like I'm paying off now!

Cherryfudge

I've somehow managed to miss your diary recently - so sorry. Especially as you have paid off your Lloyds card! That's brilliant. About a third of your total debt gone. :T:T:T

As to living with someone whose room can be smelled through a closed door urgh! _pale_ Enough said! :rotfl:

River.Bee

I've realised how much I've been slacking on keeping up this diary, but uni has been incredibly busy these past few months - deadlines are approaching! :eek::eek:
I'm proud to say that I have not been slacking on my debt busting though, I'm still slowly chipping away at the debt (I've just raised my payments per month by an extra tenner, and have also set up a savings standing order to start building up my lifetime ISA.), and I haven't bought anything on my credit card since.... I can't even remember! :T
I've been trying to sort out my accommodation for summer and next September on wards. It's not completely set in stone, but my summer accommodation is going to cost me:

£824 for 8 weeks I'm not allowed to stay longer than this in this place so -
Average £350 for a further 3 weeks paid to the uni for early move in to their accommodation
Plus £250 deposit to the uni for accommodation from mid September on wards

whew

From changing my spending habits this past year, I've managed to save up enough so that I shouldn't have to borrow any money to tide me over until the next student finance payment in September after I've paid for my accommodation costs. I won't say that I definitely won't borrow, you never know what situations might pop up that I haven't budgeted for

On a side note, I'm really looking forward to this mini heatwave tomorrow!

River.Bee

June update:
Regarding my previous accommodation plans in my last update, I now have a slightly different plan. I've found somewhere last minute where I can rent a studio room from a place managed by the student union. It is expensive, however. I'm literally going to be on a shoestring budget for the next 12 months, but I am very happy that I won't be having to share a kitchen/bathroom with any more students
I move out in 5 days :j:j
Also, I'd like to congratulate myself on paying off 40% of my debt since my LBM! I'm just £70 away from going under the £2000 left to pay milestone :T

ChasingSunshine

That's great news. You are well on your way to smashing target of 50% paid off by graduation. Good luck with the move. Accommodation choices are so hard but sometimes just have to accept a slower debt repayment in order to be comfortable where you are living. Just have to remember why you made the choice you did when its tempting to blow the budget

River.Bee

Thank you ChasingSunshine! I'm settled in my new studio room now and it is so great not having to share anything, I'm so glad I made this choice.


Update to my debt:
I am currently on £2020 of my original debt since LBM :j
but I had to order a new laptop last month as my pc broke on me :mad:
I had to buy it on credit, but I did a money transfer offer for 0% interest until January 2020 so I'm hoping to have it paid off by then (I've already got £260 saved up towards repaying it). The laptop cost me £600 :eek: and the transfer fee cost me £11.40 - not too bad I think.

So my new total is £2631.40 right now. I was so close to being totally under the £2000 mark!
For mental sanity though, and as the debt is on another credit card, I'm not counting it in my total. It's new, necessary debt that doesn't feel the same as my old, unnecessary debt does for some reason. I think breaking my debt down into chunks helps me so I'm gonna 'ignore' it at the moment. I'll keep paying just the minimum for now until I've got a big chunk to pay it off which is currently in progress.

Cherryfudge

Lovely to hear you are happier with your new accommodation! Is this your final year just coming up?

Financially, you're still making progress, and I don't know how a student would cope without a laptop so perhaps you should count it as an investment in your future.

Just a suggestion - perhaps once it's paid off, some of the money that would have been allocated to laptop repayments could go to an emergency fund?

River.Bee

Yes it's my final year coming up now, CherryFudge! I'm quite excited but very nervous that I'll soon be kicked out into the proper working world. After a lot of years searching, I believe I have finally found a career that I want to work towards and that is becoming a commissioning editor in a book publishing house.
To be honest, I really can't wait to get earning a proper wage in any job when uni is over, I'm still itching to buy my own house!

CherryFudge I love your idea that the laptop is an investment in my future, that has made me feel a bit less guilty over purchasing it :beer:

I've been back at mum's on and off for about a month now as my second nephew is due to be born any day now. :j This also means that I have saved on food and laundry costs which is very helpful. The first student loan installment of this academic year is due on the 17th this month so I'm yearning for that. Although, like I said, my accomodation costs are sky high this year, so I will be a very poor pauper
My accomodation this summer has been a bit confusing, and I've moved twice due to residency being restricted to 12 months in one building, where as I needed 13. So, I lived in one building for July, and moved into my studio room at the beginning of August, and both places are managed by the same student union-led lettings agency. Annoyingly, I'm having a lot of trouble getting my deposit back (£250) for the first place I stayed in for a month in July. They want to deduct over £55 for cleaning and redecoration, which excuse my language is a total !!!!take, as I was only in that room for 2 weeks as I went on a 2 week holiday with my boyfriend's family, I unpacked very minimally so nothing got hung on walls and, as it was a shared kitchen flat, the place was disgusting when I moved in there as the other students still hadn't officially moved out as their contracts hadn't finished. I took inventory photos of course, and I'm using them to challenge the lettings agency. But, it's been 11 days since they sent me an email stating they were deducting my deposit, and have yet to reply to my multiple requests of an itemised bill so I can query the deductions. :mad:
I will gladly pay for the cleaning that needed doing in my room, as I know I didn't do a very deep clean, which is fair enough, but I am not paying what they want me to pay to clean the kitchen and to redecorate my room, no way in hell. I'm getting anxious as their initial email said I had 14 days from that date to either accept or reject the deductions via a third party site that's holding my deposit, and it's nearing the 14 day mark. I really don't want the stress of going through an official dispute but I will if I have to as I really need that deposit money back: it's a whole semester's worth of groceries. It makes me mad that they're not responding to my emails, messages or actually picking up their office phone :mad:

That was a bit of an essay, but it has been a while since I've posted on here :rotfl:
I'll try and post more often I think, to keep myself motivated for reducing this debt hanging around my neck (which has reached under the £2000 mark, minus the laptop, now standing at £1990 )

Has anyone dealt with a deposit dispute before, especially from the Deposit Protection Service? How stressful/ easy is it? Or any tips in general would be great!