taking responsibilty to get me where I want to be

efes_shareholder

Surgery all complete , fortunately I've not suffered any pain or bleeding - Just very tired from the sedation.

Back in to work today full of cold , it would have been easy to have called in sick but it feels like I need to return to normality , I was starting to go stir crazy resting at home

the shopping is complete , the cupboards and fridge are full and the house is as ready as it will ever be for xmas providing the mother sits on her hands !!

Payday today , a whole week early so will not be touching it until the 31st

I'm hoping I will be out of here by lunch time today and then no work until a couple of hours skeleton shift on the 31st Dec.

Happy Xmas everyone

efes_shareholder

Good morning people

I hope everyone had a lovely xmas.

Finally I've made a car choice , I am just waiting on the car to be inspected by my garage. I have paid a holding deposit refundable should there be any problems which I hope there isn't

I have embraced my midlife crisis and thought F**k it , you are only on this planet once and I am going to have what I want
I took the car for a test drive and instantly I had a smile on my face ,it gave me the same warm feeling I get when I drive the mini
So all being well I will soon be driving a VW golf soft top !!
Its more expensive on my insurance but its much cheaper on the tax so this balances it self out
The dealer has also agreed to take the mini and offered a pretty good trade in , I've done the deal with 1k to spare from the loan I took

I have to put some thought in to this , I can either use it to get rid of the smaller debts , use it to create a motoring emergancy fund for future MOT's , services , etc or pay it back against the loan
At the moment I am thinking a combination of number 1 and 2

I'm recovering ok from my procedure although there are lots of things I can't do for a month - Swim , excercise , take a bath etc
On the occassion I have taken a long walk , stood for a long period or like saturday night danced , its triggered a reaction which I think is my bodies way of telling me to slow down as its only a week or so ago it was carried out

efes_shareholder

Good morning

Back to work today , and back on to the spreadsheets and online banking
Confession time I have used the credit card the last month or so - I need to stop doing this. I have cleared the balance with some money which I had set aside for Xmas and will be able to clear the next but I wish I had just used the current account and not got in to swiping again.
From using it for when the additional protection is handy , my use has grown legs so I have to stop this now and not let it start sprinting

I don't like seeing some of the months budget disapearing on what was already bought so once next months balance is clear I will not be using the card again

I am waiting for my garage to get back to me regarding the inspection on the gold but I am hoping to have this wrapped up soon.
In an ideal world I wouldn't have needed a loan but as its a set payment this is something that doesn't concern me - It can also only go down and I have no facility to increase it
With the obligation to make this payment , its even more critical that the C/card use is nipped in the bud now so that I don't start the month with barely anything
I know they are more then manageable but sticking to budgets is proving to be quite challenging so I need to be stricter on myself.
I guess after having no idea of what was going out and what was coming in for years and years , it was never going to be easy and I am changing learnt behaviour and carelessness so shouldn't be too hard on myself regarding the baby steps progress. Any progress is a positive as is reducing the debt
Lately I feel like I have just been shifting it around a bit and buying time - I need to unlearn this trend

I've started a brand new spreadsheet and popped some figures in to it , Brand new year and fresh outlook and also fresh enthuasim , I'm decided I am just going to let the car tick away as that isn't a historic debt and I am going to try and snowball the others
My defaulted account with anglian water has 2 more payments and then its clear , I will then use this money for the 0% barclaycard and so on.
I can make great strides this year if I keep myself on track.

efes_shareholder

So the car has been checked and no major problems however there is a slight leak to a fuel pump which he has said he will get fixed

My garage is great and he really does look after me , he hasn't charged me to look at the car however he has made strong recommendation that although according to the handbook its not due yet I change the cambelt more so for peace of mind then anything else. He says if you are buying a 2nd car of which you don't know the history then it should be done
He also said that he is scepitcal that the last service around 2k miles ago is authentic and although its main dealer its likely they just changed the oil and hit the reset button and then sent the car off to auction to be picked up by current dealer
Now the really cynical part of me thinks he is harbouring after some extra cash however the other side of me thinks he is looking out for me as he looks after my cars and has never given me dud advice etc and to be honest I think the latter is quite probably good advice

I've considered asking the dealer to knock the price down a bit based on the above but I can't really - the cambelt would be done for my preference rather then it being due and the service book is stamped so again there isnt anything other then a hunch to base this on

I have a 1k left over from the car budget so I think I'll just suck it up - in my head though I had started allocating that to other places

efes_shareholder

Gosh its hard work getting back in to things at work
by 3.00 I am ready for a nap

I had a webchat with VW this morning and they verified that the cambelt has been done 18 months ago and the last service was in September so i think my mechanics advise may be slightly over cautious - I can't see a main dealer misrecording or not carrying out the work it claims it has so I will give this some thought but I am leaning towards I may aswell throw the money out the window if I re do whats already been done but shall talk to my guy.

I've just been put in a situation I don't like being in by my sister , she is a single parent and does struggle with her bills etc as she gets no assistance at all from the father who has managed to get away with paying just £5 a week in child support !
She changed job shortly before Xmas which in hindsight wasnt the wisest move as she just missed payroll . To cut a long story short , the change has also messed up all of her tax credits etc and until it all adjusts she has very little coming through.
Its my neices 18th Birthday on Saturday and due to all the changes along with the household bills and fuel there is no money to cover anything
she would usually go to my mum and to be honest I think thats where she went first but as we know my mum is hardly in a position to cover it so I've just had a call asking if I can help her out until next week when things start ticking over again

What can you do ? I don't usually get involved with helping her out and I don't want to start the cycle when I am still trying to get my budget right but its an 18 birthday and they should be special , my neice doesn't ask for much at all and is such a hard little worker , she knows my sisters predicament and has been working in a local resturant in the evenings and putting the money away for when she goes to uni
So I've agreed to lend her some money until next week , I can cover it for longer but I don't want her to think that its ok to come to me and take her time paying me back so I've told her it must be then
I don't like doing it but then on this occassion it isn't down to her own mismanagement , its just a series of unfortunate events and I want my lovely niece to be able to smile on her day

efes_shareholder

Well we made it to the end of the week

I am completely full up of cold and feeling sorry for myself and glad to see the weekend
I had hoped to be getting the car this weekend however it needs a couple of little bits ( cracked wingmirror) so I would rather wait and realistically it will be next weekend as I want to collect it in daylight so I can give it a walk around and check it I am happy with it
Needs to be soon though as the first loan payment went out today !!

I've bagged a couple of free panto tickets via my mate who works at the theatre for the closing show this weekend so that is the only plans for this weekend and I'l take the cubs - They may be young adults but we all like a little bit of " hes behind you!"
Other then that I think I will just declutter my bedroom , I've had things in drawers since I went home 2 years ago that have stayed there ever since so I intend to have them out and see whats in there
Who knows I may even do some ebay selling although I don't think there is anything in there of any value

My friend also messaged me and said her daughter is getting rid of a lot of clothes in my size and would I like to take a look , I don't think they will be free but since I have my vegas trip coming up it may well be worth taking a look to see if there is anything along the lines that I will needs and general work wear etc.

Oh and in surprise news , I have a friend who has organised a surprise weekend for me , well them aswell in a couple of weeks
I have absolutely no idea where I am going except it involves a 2 hour flight so its exciting , It's a combined Xmas and birthday present and I have to admit I am a tiny bit excited but also apprehensive but fortunes favours the brave and it is a lovely thing for someone to do on your behalf and there is lots of effort gone in - I get slightly embarrassed by gestures such as this
I have to learn to just embrace it

fantasyvsreality

Hello efes, just to say I really enjoy reading your diary. You have a great sense of humour!

efes_shareholder

fantasyvsreality wrote: »

Hello efes, just to say I really enjoy reading your diary. You have a great sense of humour!

Aww thanks FVR , its lovely to know that and that I'm raising the odd smile

Have a great weekend

efes_shareholder

Good morning and Happy Monday

Well I've had a very spendy weekend - New car was collected on Saturday and bank account emptied of the loan used to fund it
£109 difference for the insurance until my renewal in June and also a years tax purchased at £30.
My mini was £20 a month in road tax so technically what I have saved on the tax covers the extra insurance.
The extra insurance is to be expected as the car has a bigger engine ( although its diesel so should return better economy on fuel) and is also considerably newer
I am a bit of a worry wart about these things so I popped in to my garage before I collected and told the guys about the VW history - they confirmed that the service and belt change if it was done at a main dealer wouldn't need to be repeated
I then also spent £50 on diesel - the tank holds more then this , I am not sure how much but this should see me right hopefully for quite some time
In short I love the car ! Its sexy and stylish and it puts a smile on my face - although absolutely aware that I have to pay for it , it should last me the test of time
Due to my worry wart nature I also bought the years warranty on the car which covers absolutely everything and gives me peace of mind for the £200 cost
Interested to see what the running costs in MPG turn out to be but I have been getting 60mpg on the short motorway trips over the weekend and 49.5 on the journey in to work - at risk of being a car bore , this is already much better then the 36mpg average the mini was giving me
I've purchased a boot tidy at £8.00 to stop my de icer and bits and bobs rattling around the boot and I need a fresh set of mats but other then that I am hopefully set for many many years of happy motoring

January always seems like a very expensive month , I've already got quite a bit which I will need to clear on the next months wage and then things should settle down - I am however very aware that I am off to the states next month so I am bearing that in mind with everything I do.
It's also my youngest cubs 21st birthday
I am hoping not to dip in to savings for either of these however it is possible that this may be needed
As mentioned before the card spends have raised their head following Xmas so I need to stop this - From now on it is stopped !
I have an EF so there is no need to entertain cards even if it gives me 6 weeks to pay - I can't trust myself so this will be cleared with Januarys money and then left well alone

I am currently after a slight blip on attempt number 28749754957349 to banish the weed , my mum had a blip over Xmas ( which she tried to have secretly and failed ) but is back on board and I need to do the same
The nicotine more then covers the car loan so my motivation other then obvious health issues is that not setting light to £10 a day will enable me to have many more choices in life.
My food spends are up as much to my annoyance my mum seems to have demolished any money she had coming in so we have been eating out of the cupboards meaning I have been purchasing my lunch.
How I used to do this every day I really have no idea , it soon adds up - Today however is pension day so we can go shopping!
It is really quite annoying that she doesn't consider that although she may be happy to drink green tea as the coffee has been obliberated and eat crackers for breakfast as there is nothing else in , I may not be but have to just put up with it
There seems to be a frequent display of lack of consideration for anyones needs other then her own , in fact until I moved home I used to consider her to be a self sacrificing person - I love her dearly but I could not be further from the truth !!!

efes_shareholder

Forgot to add in light of the above , I have bought my PPI claim return forms in to sign and have also requested pre paid envelopes to sell the two old mobiles in my room gathering dust - the two old samsungs i have should return £150.00 which willl come in very handy