Debt Free Wannabe Teacher

Honeysucklelou2

Re the shoes, I find much of my time in the classroom is spent on my feet so money spent on a comfortable long lasting pair of shoes is a wise spend.

dfw87

Narola1976 wrote: »

Gosh no, coins would drive me around the bend. Besides I usually have very little cash on hand. I do it online. I also do not have the time to do it daily so what I do is I work out on the list where the last day of each month falls and then at the beginning of the month I transfer the whole monthly amount what ever it is to the account instead of doing it day by day. So for this month by the end of August the balance should be £296. So I just subtract last month's balance from what the balance of August should be which tells me how much I need to move over to bring the balance in line with the end of August amount. Now next week I will do the same. I will work out where 30 September falls and add the difference to the £296 to bring the balance in line with 30 September amount. Hope that makes sense!! I just find it easier and less hassle

Yep makes sense! A good way of saving!

dfw87

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

Re the shoes, I find much of my time in the classroom is spent on my feet so money spent on a comfortable long lasting pair of shoes is a wise spend.

I went for a lovely pair of Clarks shoes - they are smart and sensible but I got them in a copper colour so they're a bit fun too!

dfw87

Yesterday...

I got paid yesterday from both my bar job and my teaching job. I transferred the bar wage straight to my savings and also transferred what I had left in my bank and wallet before being paid into my savings. Now I have just my teaching salary in my current account to use this month, with whatever is left next payday going into my savings again.

Today...

I should hopefully have no spends today. Also got a teacher tax rebate through the post for £47.99 which went into my savings.

I've got almost the £1,200 I needed to open a HTB ISA so I think I am going to top my savings up to £1,200 and open one up!

DancingUnicorn

A teacher tax rebate? I've never heard of this. Sounds like your savings are really on the up! I think a HTB is definitely the way to go and once I've got my training year out of the way (and £1200 saved) it's going to be the first things I do.

fruitloop04

Hi dfw87, sorry to hear about your grandad, hope you are taking care of yourself and being kind to yourself.
You are doing so well! I am pretty new on this forum and my debt is from overspending too - this has happened in the last 12 months so managed to have my 'lightbulb moment' before it has gotten too out of hand.
Just wanted to 'pop in' and say thanks for your posts, lets me know it is achievable!

dfw87

DancingUnicorn wrote: »

A teacher tax rebate? I've never heard of this. Sounds like your savings are really on the up! I think a HTB is definitely the way to go and once I've got my training year out of the way (and £1200 saved) it's going to be the first things I do.

Yep - you can do it yourself but I went via a company - should probably have done it myself but I was getting confused and kept putting it off so figured I was better doing it with a company than not at all. I claimed for tax relief of having to wash PE kit and on my union subscriptions. It's not a huge amount of money but it will also change the amount of tax I pay in the future - minimally I am sure but every little helps!

I've opened my HTB but it is currently transferring over from my current ISA. I don't really need to make a decision but I don't know whether I should just aim to pay the loan off early and know that any money I have is my own, and be able to save more each month, or I could use it as a HTB and buy somewhere. At least by having it in a HTB ISA I have the option in the future.

dfw87

fruitloop04 wrote: »

Hi dfw87, sorry to hear about your grandad, hope you are taking care of yourself and being kind to yourself.
You are doing so well! I am pretty new on this forum and my debt is from overspending too - this has happened in the last 12 months so managed to have my 'lightbulb moment' before it has gotten too out of hand.
Just wanted to 'pop in' and say thanks for your posts, lets me know it is achievable!

Thank you fruit loop.

Well done for your achievements so far - you're doing great! x

Honeysucklelou2

Wow, never heard of a teacher tax rebate. Will have to enquire...

enthusiasticsaver

dfw87 wrote: »

I've opened my HTB but it is currently transferring over from my current ISA. I don't really need to make a decision but I don't know whether I should just aim to pay the loan off early and know that any money I have is my own, and be able to save more each month, or I could use it as a HTB and buy somewhere. At least by having it in a HTB ISA I have the option in the future.

Opening a HTB ISA makes senses if you know you will be wanting to buy a property at some point in the next few years. However I am sure the interest rate on the loan is higher than you are earning and £20k is a substantial loan. You seem to have changed your spending habits so hopefully you won't revert to unbudgeted spending in the future but making overpayments on the loan regularly is probably the best way to go if there are no penalties. That way you are not tempted to splurge on holidays or whatever until it is gone. It is not wise to go into buying a property with that sort of debt still hanging round your neck.

Have you stopped using the credit cards/overdrafts as with debt consolidation many people then start to build it up again if they are still using the card.