Debt Free Wannabe Teacher

dfw87

louby40 wrote: »

Dfw brilliant on the money in and out! I'm a bit of a fraud as I'm not at work at the moment, I'm off sick after having an operation. I'm going into work for the last 3 days of term, just to spend some time with my new class and get a bit prepped for September.

It's funny as usually I've got that.....nearly finished the year feeling but not this time.

Thanks, really pleased with it - I've never spent so little!

Sorry to hear you are off sick, the last 3 days will be ok though if you know you have another 6 weeks!

dfw87

Monday 10th July

A relatively successful day today. Things I have done to work towards being debt free:

- used some of the pasta leftovers that I was given from the event I was working the bar for on Saturday. They gave me loads so I have split it in to 10 lunches - enough to get me through the last 2 weeks at school!

- got my loan through from my mum! She got confused and added £16k to my account rather than £18k but I've been able to get started with repayments.

- paid off my HSBC overdraft and will call tomorrow to close the account.

- used leftovers to make a lovely salmon & pea pasta for dinner

- sold a dress on ebay for £4.99 and another for £2.99.


I had to go to the shop to get some chocolate for two children who have massively helped me out this week - I did buy the cheaper things than I would usually buy. Annoyingly I bought myself a Diet Coke but I saw it as a treat as I was in work until 8pm tonight. So, £1.65 spent (£1 on the chocolate which was needed and 65p on DC which I didn't need).

louby40

I'm always buying stuff for school. I can easily buy £20 of books that link to a topic we're doing or baking stuff and I rarely ask for the money back.

I've just spent £30 on presents for my class.

But well done on your frugality!

dfw87

Wednesday 12th July

I didn't manage to post yesterday as I was at school until 8 (the same as the night before!) - who says teachers leave at 3:30?!

I had a mad moment and went to the village shop for some snacks yesterday - annoyed with myself as I spent £3.65 and it could have been a NSD otherwise.

Today I bought a Diet Coke for 90p.

Diet Coke is my vice - at one point it was pretty much all I would drink in a day - it was awful! I've massively cut down but today I just really fancied one. Still pleased with the money I am saving compared to usual.

In bigger news... I have used the loan to pay off all 3 credit cards and 2 overdrafts so I am officially at 0!

So, I am now able to just make my monthly repayments to my mum for the loan! Wooooo!

louby40

I've used the bank of mum and dad a lot over the years! They offer a very good service :rotfl:

dfw87

So today, I have spent more money than I wanted to but it was on essentials.

I had to top up my petrol but I've just done about £25 worth. I also had to post two parcels but they were for eBay so I've covered those costs.

Hopefully I'll have NSD tomorrow. I've taken on another shift for some bark work - only 3.5 hours but it'll be roughly an extra £20 off the loan.

I've also applied and been accepted for a new current and saving account with Halifax, taking advantage of their £125 switching offer. I've also checked my HSBC account and my 3 credit cards and they are now all clear. I am just awaiting final bills for any interest and I can pay those off and fully close the accounts.

I'm waiting until payday to switch my account and then my current account can also be closed.

O2 have really messed me around recently so they gave me some extra data which was good.

I also gave BT a call and they've got me a better deal so I've saved another £8.50 a month - we split that payment so that will be £4.25 a month saved for me.

UncannyScot

Good results all round

Savertobe

It sounds like your really getting on top of things - you have to go through everything - the pennies count but getting a better deal on the utilities can really make a big difference. Avoid spending on the class as much as possible but I get that it is nice to make sure they are rewarded and have the resources they need.

I now have virtual pots - each month I add money to the short term savings account and note what each pound is for - if I spend I transfer the money back into the spending account to cover the expense. Avoids having to find money for those extra bits and pieces. Had a few days off have spent loads this week. Attempting to have more NSDs myself as the job is coming to an end.

I admire you taking on a second job - the more frugal you can be the quicker it will all be gone.

Keep up the good work.

dfw87

Savertobe wrote: »

It sounds like your really getting on top of things - you have to go through everything - the pennies count but getting a better deal on the utilities can really make a big difference. Avoid spending on the class as much as possible but I get that it is nice to make sure they are rewarded and have the resources they need.

I now have virtual pots - each month I add money to the short term savings account and note what each pound is for - if I spend I transfer the money back into the spending account to cover the expense. Avoids having to find money for those extra bits and pieces. Had a few days off have spent loads this week. Attempting to have more NSDs myself as the job is coming to an end.

I admire you taking on a second job - the more frugal you can be the quicker it will all be gone.

Keep up the good work.

I'm determine to not spend any money on my class anymore - I spend far too much!

dfw87

I also managed to save £8.50 a month on my pet insurance so that's another little bit of money saved.

My phone contract runs out in September. I currently pay £21 for the bill and £25 for the phone. There was a BT offer that expired on Thursday so I've signed up to that. It's £16 a month for 20GB of data, unlimited texts and calls. I only currently get 3GB data and always run out. Seems silly to sign up for this deal now when I still have a couple of months on my current plan, but I wanted to get this good deal and it was expiring. I also go over my 3GB each month so it seemed to make sense to do this now. Also, I get a £95 Amazon gift card with it!

I also opened a new savings account with Halifax and am very excited to start seeing money going in to there!

I worked a 4h15m shift behind the bar yesterday which was really nice. It's only my local rugby club that I go to all the time anyway so my BF came down with our dog and there were lots of friends there too so I just worked the quiet bar and chatted for a few hours - perfect! I didn't get my bank details in quickly enough so I'll get paid for last weeks' shift and this one next week.

I also applied for another job for over the summer - my Mum works there and they've already said they would be interested in having me for some bank work. A 24 hour shift would get me £180!