taking responsibilty to get me where I want to be

fantasyvsreality

Good news about the car, good that you have something pleasurable. I've had two golfs in my car owning time and they are so reliable. If you keep up with servicing etc. They last well. My last one I traded in at 150k and it was pretty dented up (opps) but still got a decent trade in for it. Enjoy!

efes_shareholder

I am loving the car so far - I don't think I will get a good gauge of the return of the MPG until I stop the driving for pleasure , as with everything you will always get a conflict of opinions but majority of reports I've had are that they are one of the best to buy.

I am so full up of cold and have been since Xmas , its really starting to not be very funny , I had to stop at the supermarket enroute to work as once again I forgot my deodrant this morning so i picked up some cold relief aswell , i have already taken 2 doses

I cannot wait until I get home and can curl up in bed
Last night I ended up running round like a blue bum fly - middle sprog got sent home from work sick so needed collecting , the call to collect came just as I started the weekly shop , If I would have got her after it would have made me late to collect my mum from fat world ( who typically had no phone on her ) so I had to abandon the shop , take middle home and come back completely on myself to pick up my mum.
Then deliver her home and then go on myself again and do the shopping - by the time I got home for the evening it was gone 8pm
Tonight I am going straight home , putting my PJ's on , taking a sleeper and going to bed !!!!!

Sister has to her word returned the loan which is great , I will be using this as my surplus/fuel fund for the month so save swiping the card

After returning the PPI forms and applying to sell the mobiles , I am now contemplating selling a small amount of football memoribilia I have on fleabay , I have a brand new never worn shirt in my cupboard which sell for around £100. I bought it as an investment when I worked at the club as it was a limited edition
Can't decide whether to cash in or hold on to it for a bit longer.

efes_shareholder

So I went to pay down the Credit card and my debit card was declined
This happened on Saturday also but I thought it was because I'd done a big transaction for the car
Spoke to the bank in my lunch and it appears my details have been compromised so I have to wait for a replacement card
I can still use my card at ATM's and pay points but not for any phone/internet transactions

Its a little bit of a nuisance but fortunately there has been no wrong doing on the account and I guess it saves me being able to buy online

efes_shareholder

Good afternoon MSE'ers

Now is the time for this cold to do one , coupled with the first womens visitor since my procedure I am really feeling in the wars
I went to bed at 8pm last night and stayed there until 6 this morning and even then I was in no rush to move

Tonight I need to have my eyes tested , I have felt the detoriation in my sight over the last few months so it is long overdue
I have a form from HR to reclaim the cost
I am fully expecting to need glasses - I just hope they have something at the cheaper end that I like !
After that I am meeting my big sprog and then I am on collection duty for the middle one - this is becoming quite tiresome
she is booking her driving test soon so hopefully no more lifts. As much as I don't mind helping her , it does now feel like it is expected of us and there hasn't been an offer of putting a little something in the tank so its a little taken for granted and easy to tap the parents up.
its a 10 mile round journey and its only because its in an isolated spot and a 10pm finish that her dad and I are doing this
Will have to have a little chat with her about maybe taking on some ubers or asking a work mate if she can contribute to her petrol in return for a lift as it works ok for her dad as he finishes work at 9.30 but for me it delays me getting some much needed rest when I am up before 6 most mornings
When I am feeling rough like I have been I could certainly do without it

Nothing to report on debt paying or money making - It seems such a long time until payday but I am just trying to stay away from temptation
I have one more direct debit to come out and then thats it for the month

Once my trip to the US is done and I am on to Feb wages I intend to really hit the card and get as much gone before the 0% expires at the end of the year

efes_shareholder

Happy Thursday - It feels so much like a Friday except it isn't

The cold has moved to my head and taken up an unwelcome residence - It is really wearing me out and I am considering taking tomorrow off of work as its been a real struggle today despite a regular top up of a cocktail of all sorts of remedies
Its doing the rounds around the office and seems to be taking quite some time for anyone to shift

I just want to get home and get in to bed - I have another mum run tonight , I managed last night after having a sleep for a couple of hours to pick up middle so I will repeat tonight

I had my eyes tested last night and as expected require specs for the VDU , I haven't purchased as yet but my company will contribute up to £50 to the frames so thats a small gain , I will not be paying more then £100 regardless and will take someone with me to buy them so I don't make a massive error of judgement

I shall stop enroute home tonight and pick up some more lemsip and some albus oil and hope that this does the trick - im tempted to pick up some bedding to save me having to hunt my clean stuff out ( you would be surprised where my mum ends up putting it ) and then snuggle up for the evening
A bit lazy maybe but sometimes needs must

fantasyvsreality

Sorry to hear you are still feeling rubbish. Hope you feel better soon. Take that day off, rest is the best medicine.

efes_shareholder

So I made it to monday

I took the day off on Friday and quite literally slept all day , woke up feeling much better on Saturday but in hindsight i may over done it as yesterday I felt worse then ever
I woke up with most congested intense headache I have ever experienced and the day was written off - If I laid my head down it was too painful to sleep and if I took any painkillers they came straight back up again
I braved boots in despair just before it shut and would have quite happily paid 10 times the list price for anything which would ease the pressure

Several doses of Sinutab later and its started to lift but still lingering
I am back at work just because it stops me getting restless and I am feeling better but I just want to feel "normal"

My desk resembles a boots counter

In other news my account is starting to show the benefits of no nicotine purchases , i have quite a big bill left over from xmas which needs to be cleared and I've sent a payment of £65 to my capital one today so teps in the right direction

Also pretty pleased that I haven't had to put any additional fuel in to the car - th e mini would have needed it by now so hopefully I'm going to see some fuel savings

efes_shareholder

So today I am feeling slightly better but still not great

I am desperately trying to improve my wellbeing as I am off on a mystery tour this weekend and I'd like to feel well
I have absolutely no idea where I am going other then its a 2 hour flight and I have absolutely no idea what to pack !!! I am assuming that no where is going to be particularly warm so pack as if I was in the UK.
I don't think I will find out where we are going until we get to the departure gate and as it stands I don't even know where we are flying from. There are four potential departure airports so trying to narrow down the afternoon flights is a bit of a task.

I have received the pre paid envelope for my old phone handsets so I need to get those sent back and bank the £150 return ,then allocate this to a debt repayment.
I've also had another call regarding some potential PPI - nothing has come back as positive yet but if I don't try I will never know so there is nothing to lose except a few moments on the phone. I don't recall ever having PPI on anything

As mentioned I haven't spent on cigs or smoked - looking at my account catching up with itself though , I've spent the equivilant on medication this week - I guess this would have had to come from somewhere so its still a win , I would spend it all again if it would shift this head congestion.

The car is still trundling along on the fuel I put in when I bought it - I think I will need to fill up either today or tomorrow but its looking very likely that once I do that the tank will last until my next pay day which would be fantastic , this is only on work plodding and usual journeys so the first motorway run will prove interesting

Not much else to report , My intention is do a new SOA once my vegas trip is out of the way as then I have a clear playing field and can put some disaplined figures in to my planner
I have to buy my ESTA and we plan to do a few shows and have room tax to cover but other then that its just spending money which will mostly be food and drink as neither of us are big gamblers.
I have my birthday before I go so I am planning on asking the kids for things that I may purchase to go with - some day wear and maybe an odd paperback for the long long flight which I must admit I am not looking forward too

I also have my youngest 21st next month , i intend to utilise a 12 month interest free for the games console he has asked for - this will be paid in installments each month and not left until the last minute

efes_shareholder

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1715
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1715

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 300
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 50
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 180
Road tax................................ 2
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 80
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 10
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 927


Assets
Cash.................................... 1200
House value (Gross)..................... 150000
Shares and bonds........................ 6050
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 163250

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
car loan.......................6000......215.......5.9
barclaycard....................3200......80........0
capital one....................400.......15........30.9
Very...........................500.......10........0
Anglian Water..................80........40........0
Total unsecured debts..........10180.....360.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,715
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 927
Available for debt repayments........... 788
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 360
Amount left after debt repayments....... 428

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 163,250
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -10,180
Net Assets.............................. 153,070

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

So , this is a bit more of an accurate SOA
I'm optomistic that once I am at the end of Feb , I can make more overpayments.
I intend to use to £150 for the mobile phones to reduce the capital one as it is now acquiring interest and then hopefully clear this at the end of feb with available funds.

I don't have pots available for car/holidays and EF , just one pot so I am looking at potentially putting £300 a month in to this to cover Xmas/holidays/car and the like
Basically anything that is left at the end of the month

I've realised that although its technically only me to keep its very difficult to predict expenses - I went to the opticians yesterday to order my glasses and although my work will contribute £50 towards the cost and I only chose £59.00 frames , the bill once the lenses were suitably treated was £119.00 which i hadn't anticipated , more due to inexperience in this field

I've also got an overnight stay next month in Yorkshire to visit my youngest for his birthday , so I have to allow for this
I am shipping some of his friends north for his celebrations also however I have told him that I will be expecting a contribution towards the fuel costs as it would cost them £70 to take the train.

The debt has increased by the car purchase however I have tried to avoid this previously and its worked out to be false economy , other movement has not been as much as I would like however I do feel that I have made good progress since the start of my journey and at least now I don't go outside of my means and no longer operate on a 2k overdraft.
There is however much more that I can do and its my mission to be rid of the anglian debt and the capital one by the start of March
I will then increase the payments to barclaycard and I have already sorted myself a payment list for Very ( I must stop using this but the 0% is so convenient as long as it is managed it isn't a problem)

enthusiasticsaver

That looks a pretty healthy soa. When does the Barclaycard and very 0% deals run out? Good that the Anglian and Capital one will be gone by March. Great that you have stopped smoking too. I bet that has saved a fortune. I would stick that money in your holiday fund as you love your travelling and the debt seems under control. Not a bad rate for the car loan and I agree that as your other debt is under control getting a car loan for a decent car rather than a banger was a good move. I had a little Renault hard top convertible for about 5 years bought on my 50th birthday. Sadly it had to go when the grandkids came along as I need to be able to transport them and a two seater low slung convertible does not really say child friendly.