Drawing a line under the debt. Take two.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Hope the uni drop off goes well and she ends up with lovely housemates

Drawingaline

So the girl has gone. The house feels strange without her here. For someone who stayed in her room as much as she did its odd that it should affect the house as much as it is!

The drop off was awful. Couldn't get anywhere near the halls. We ended up dragging half her stuff from. Where we had parked 5mins away. I managed to get the car pulled into a slight dip on the main A road just at the back of the halls and hubby and daughter emptied the boot in about 30 secs flat! I parked up again then we ferried it all up to her 10th floor room. 😱 then we did a supermarket trip and helped her sort some stuff out in her room. The girl in the room next door is doing the same course so she had connected with her beforehand which was nice. Few tears from her when we left, but I was simply too stressed and annoyed to feel much. 

I spent the next day clearing out her room. It needs a coat of paint (luckily we have some already) and the boy will be moving g down at the end of September as long as she stays at uni! So far we have had positive messages, I including one at 8am saying she was on the tube home after clubbing all night, thank she is settling in and embracing the student lifestyle! 🤣 says all her flatmates are lovely too. Planning on calling her later this week.

Financially we are not looking great. I have spent the summer eating my feelings which hasn't helped. I have a cc debt, but it's 0% and dd set up to clear it within 12 months. Annoyed at myself though. Also looking forward we will have a £400 deficit in Dec and again in Jan, before things ease in Feb. I am trying to squeeze anything I can out of the budget to clear our tax bills before Dec as this will help massively. 

Had a client cancel as they can't justify keeping me on, have a feeling a few may do this. Hoping my boss has some other jobs lined up from Oct. Otherwise the deficit will get bigger. We will utilise some savings and more of hubby's wages, but it isn't ideal in the longer term.

lucielle

Hi DAL it does get easier when they've gone to uni.  I wandered round looking a bit lost at home but we sorted out a new normal and routine.  Hope you don't lose too many clients but it is a difficult time for many people.
L

Drawingaline

lucielle said:

Hi DAL it does get easier when they've gone to uni.  I wandered round looking a bit lost at home but we sorted out a new normal and routine.  Hope you don't lose too many clients but it is a difficult time for many people.
L

I know, I think we will see a few more cancellations. This client is prioritising something else over having me come every week, which is fine. 

I have been thinking of looking for a second part time job, but it would have to be evenings and weekends and I feel I have done my time with those kinds of jobs. Will see how big the gap is for the girl next yesr, between accommodation and loan amount.

savingholmes

Good luck on the income gap / job hunt. It's a difficult time as you say for many - but there are loads of jobs out there. Where I work we have 15 vacancies we are struggling to fill... Not anywhere near you though sadly.

Drawingaline

The girl seems to be settling in OK. Spoke to her last week and she was very upbeat. Then had a text asking for me to call yesterday eve as she was having a bit of a wobble. She says everyone is nice, but they all seem to be making lots of friends and she feels a little on the outside. Then a text this morning to say she met someone last night who was coming to her flat for coffee and she really liked them and they got her sense of humour. So fingers crossed she is settling again. It's a weird time though, freshers only starts properly tomorrow so she is a bit bored I think. She is really looking forward to her course starting for some structure. 

I worked today. Downside of self employment. I only did one job though as my other client has covid. Was nice though, client was in so I caught a bit of the funeral. Glad it's done now, much as it's sad I do feel that we need to move forward. 

savingholmes

Glad your DD is settling down. I remember the first three weeks of uni as a whirl of activity and then I kind of crashed with exhaustion and realised I'd signed up for far too many things and needed to scale back!

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Glad your DD is settling in ok, she'll probably make loads of friends on her course once it starts.
Sorry to hear the finances aren't great, it's such a tricky time and must be worse when self employed.  Hopefully work picks up soon... working evenings/weekends serves a purpose, but can be soul destroying.  I did random jobs/hours to fit around kids for years and now I have a more normal work structure, I would find it very hard going back to it.
Are there any PAYE roles around that appeal to you locally, even in a different sector?

Drawingaline

The girl is having ups and downs, but has been set her first project and excited to be back being creative. 

Last night was a down, today seems to be an up, she is just having a wave of proper homesickness right now I think.

Drawingaline

I have managed to scrape together the funds to pay off my tax bill which will ease the gap we have in December's budget. Also I have picked up a couple of jobs for next month which will help. 

I have booked a holiday for next August and we are planning a few days away next May. Perhaps not the best time to be planning it, but the total for accommodation for the both combined is pretty low, amazing how being a family of 4 reduces prices rather than a family of 6! The boy will stay home with the cats.