Debt Free Wannabe Teacher

dfw87

Phew, finally the weekend! I am working incredibly hard at work at the moment - all of my usual work (which is plenty!) as well as doing a complete overhaul of the website and training a student teacher. I'm so tired!

Today will be a day of catching up with work, watching my bf play rugby, catching up with friends and relaxing.

As you can see in my sig, I am edging ever closer to the £2000 in savings mark! I was paid from my bar shift yesterday so popped it straight in.

dfw87

I am being a bit silly with my money at the moment - not with big things but with food etc. Think I ned to get back to tracking my spending.

dfw87

Well... I've had my first matched betting experience... I'm still so confused!

I used the Profit Accumulator free trial and the videos to help me. I watched the videos over and over and followed the instructions. I am waiting for my initial £5 bet to go through (next week!) and my free bet went through tonight - I *think* I have a profit of about £11 - have to say, it just completely confused me though!

I don't think matched betting is for me!

Made £12.19 on eBay tonight.

Also... had to buy a washer dryer split the cost with my OH so that was £145 - we shopped around and this was the best option. We have a washer at the moment but no dryer and it is just to cold and wet to rely on outside now!

dfw87

I received a £20 Amazon voucher today from a survey I did for an educational website that I occasionally work with - woo! Wasn't expecting it!

dfw87

Very quiet here...!

Not much been going on. Done a few surveys, keeping things ticking over.

I've had a bad back so have had to pay for a sports massage and chiropractor. Along with a few Christmas presents and the washer dryer, I won't be saving any more this month. However, with eBay, surveys, and a bit of money that I put away at the beginning of the month, I've already saved about £250 so that's fine!

dfw87

Had a few PA surveys which has been good - all for less than £1 but every little helps. Have also discovered the Shopmium app and got some freebies today!

dfw87

So, I have come to the realisation that I am slowly slipping back into my old habits when it comes to food/convenience store shopping.

Tomorrow is pay day and I am determined to make this a better month!

You may remember that I said I was opting out of my pension for a little while - I know this is something not necessarily recommended but I thought hard about it and made my decision. The changes have only just happened and I have been refunded a few months worth of pension payments so I have about an extra £500 in my pay packet tomorrow. I'll put it straight into my savings so I am now above the £2k mark! Won't add to my sig til I've moved it over.

I've just cashed out of Crowdology, PA and MintVine and am keeping the surveys going!

dfw87

So happy to see my savings well over the £2k mark now - want that to be at least £2500 by the end of this month.

Annoyingly, I've had to buy 2 Kindles for school and it'll take quite a while to get the money back for those... £180 - ridiculous that I am asked to do that!

Keeping the surveys etc going and have found a few app-based ones which are good. I haven't had a bar shift for a while and probably won't until after Christmas now.

Feeling in a much better head space about spending again now... I had become silly with little shop spends.

Most of my Christmas shopping is done so hoping to save a bit this month.

enthusiasticsaver

dfw87 wrote: »

You may remember that I said I was opting out of my pension for a little while - I know this is something not necessarily recommended but I thought hard about it and made my decision.

By opting out of your pension you are not only missing out on employer contributions but also tax relief. It is definitely not recommended. Savings pay pitiful interest rates in comparison with pension savings especially the teachers pension scheme which is one of the best ones out there.

wishingthemortgaheaway

Paying out for kindles for school is ridiculous, they should be purchased through a proper procurement procedure.
It's not fair on you and the auditors wouldn't be very happy with it either.