Getting a grip on my life...

SavingAFuture

Every interview is good practice for the next one!
Well done for going for it x

FaceHeelTurn

SavingAFuture wrote: »

Every interview is good practice for the next one!
Well done for going for it x

Thank you! You're right, at least it's some more interview experience, if nothing else!

FaceHeelTurn

I think I mentioned in my first post, my main aim for the rest of the year, is bumping up my income so I can avoid going into debt as a result of my 2 upcoming holidays and Xmas. So I've been going hell for leather on a number of the survey sites, and since the end of May I've managed to earn over £75 cash, and over £100 in Amazon vouchers. I am over the moon with that amount and hope to keep it up for the rest of the year at least. If I do, I pretty much won't have to spend any of my main income on Christmas presents....which means less credit card spending on holidays...which means avoiding further debt...which means in the new year, I can focus all my attention on paying off the CCs again. Really hoping to be debt free by 2020!

The surveys are deadly boring but I've just been forcing myself to get through them!

Still no word on the job interview...so not hopeful there!

FaceHeelTurn

Also forgot to mention I'm doing my first ever mystery shopping assignment next week too! Actually pretty nervous about that but worth doing once to see how it goes.

FaceHeelTurn

Some good news....I got the promotion/job I interviewed for recently! It won't be an immediate change to my income but as I was at the top end of my previous grade, I'm now the bottom end of my new one so my annual salary will continue to grow over the next few years. Really chuffed and very surprised!!

FaceHeelTurn

Just checking in as I haven't done much in the way of debt busting recently; minimum payments are still being paid off, and I'm still in the midst of sorting out holidays. At this stage, I'm actually hopeful that I'll be able to avoid credit card spending on both holidays (hopefully no disasters will pop up). I also have the bulk of my Christmas shopping done, all thanks to surveys and Amazon vouchers! So while I'm really looking forward to my hols, I also really can't wait for the new year so I can really get my teeth into getting rid of my debts!

FaceHeelTurn

Happy New Year!

My diary was extremely neglected towards the end of last year so now I'm back with good intentions for 2019. Since beginning my diary, my debt has unfortunately crept up by about £400 (replacing a broken phone, and a hidden hotel bill from my NYC holiday were to blame) but I hope to have that £400 paid back within the next 2 months.

I've joined the 1% challenge for this year and I hope that breaking the debt down to small chunks will really make me feel like I'm making progress with it.

Last year, surveys and Amazon vouchers were a life saver around Christmas so I'm back to the grind with those.

My partner is in the middle of buying her first house; if that all goes through we're both using it as a way of changing our habits. We'll spend weekends at her new house; it's more remote so no takeaways nearby, and it has a much bigger kitchen so more incentive to cook. Estate agents are being horribly pushy so it's looking more likely to fall through unfortunately

So I'm very nervous about the house, but feeling positive about a year of debt busting ahead!

FaceHeelTurn

At the end of last week I shifted my CC2 debt to a 2 year, 0% CC, so really pleased with that. I was paying around £30 interest each month so I'll be able to make a much bigger dent in it from now on.

And my partner's new house is looking more positive; still not getting our hopes up until she actually has the keys in her hand though!

I have a few ebay items ending this week and should be able to pay off another 1% of my overall debt.

Debt-wise, a postive start to 2019!

FaceHeelTurn

Some annoying news yesterday...my rent is going up by £25 per month. Not a huge amount but £25 less to throw at the debt. I was pretty disheartened last night but I know if I really knuckle down and start bringing a packed lunch to work EVERY day, that'll be more than enough to cover it, plus more for the CCs.

Ah well...onwards and upwards

FaceHeelTurn

I'm very glad to see the end of January! I had a bit of a difficult month personally, as well as the usual huge gap between my December and January pay, but got paid today at last!

Since my last post, my CC balance transfer has gone through, so I can now start to chip away while the 0% is still in place.

I started using YNAB last week; finding it complicated as most people seem to at the start, but I'm planning on sticking with it for 3 months, then reevaluating.

Today I switched my current account which I haven't done for years; moving to First Direct and if all goes well, will get a nice £125 bonus for doing so! I've always been reticent to move to an online only bank but over the last couple of years, I've used online/app banking about 95% of the time so I don't imagine it'll be much of a change really.

Also blagged a free lunch at work yesterday, and 2 free cinema tickets for complaining about manky toilets, so things are looking up!

In my very first diary post, I mentioned I was selling off quite a lot of my action figures and pop culture memorabilia and I'm still plugging away with that although reaching the end of that process; while I'm glad to have the empty shelves, I'll definitely miss the little bit if extra income it provided.