Being a mature student, a very skint one..

JLS1901

I'm still here plodding along.. I must admit I'm so much more chilled out now I'm just on the bank at work.. I must admit the uni work is so much more so I'm glad I have the time to concentrate on it properly.
I've almost hit £1k with MB, just need to get to £4k then I can pay off my car finance.. I'm hoping to do this by the beginning of September. 

Should be doing uni work but I'm procrastinating looking at rightmove, I love looking at houses.. best get on and do something. 

Have a good day 

Welly x

JLS1901

What a strange going on this virus is.. Uni is closed and we are awaiting to hear what will be needed for our last 2 assessments of the year.

Noticed last night my work are hiring bank domestics etc.. I've not been called. I was a bit cross at first but actually whilst we are here lambing away on the farm out the way of everyone else it's probably for the best. 

Have hit 1K profit with MB just plodding along doing what I can each day. 

I'm just about to go through the finances and have a rejig, storm mode.. I also need to get my OH to give me his tax return so I can fill out his bit for student finance for next year.

Managed to get some bread from the shop this morning.. still no loo roll or potatoes. 

Welly x

JLS1901

Still can't get any potatoes.
When did the world become so selfish? We live 40 mins away from the big towns so rely on the smaller shops for essentials. Yesterday the local village and town were packed with visitors, yes the weather was reasonable but I still can't get the things I need because people are coming and clearing out the shops. Plus people just seem to be ignoring the essential travel message. 

We are here fighting on to lamb sheep, make sure the cows are milked and everything is fed and happy. We can't afford to be ill, we are producing food for the table yet I can't even buy potatoes and veg to keep us going. 

One tired and grumpy shepherd.  

Welly x

JLS1901

I haven't posted in a while... I did however eventually get a 25kg sack of potatoes delivered for £12 which I was very happy about!
I haven't felt it right to post really, I'm just plodding along whilst others are going through some really rough times. 
Have been given the option to go an have a paid role in the NHS which would count towards my placement hours next year but I have decided to opt out for the moment. I can't risk my OH or his parents getting ill as there would be serious implications and we are quite isolated away from people on both farms. 

I've just been lambing sheep, doing uni work and casino offers really, hit a down turn on the casino offers today and I'm down £60. I know it happens and it's just variance and I have been doing really well but mentally it's hard to take. 

I've also realised how much I enjoy cooking, I've always cooked from scratch every night but this extra time has given me chance to do a few more things from the norm and I've really enjoyed it. 

I also think I've fallen in love with my OH a bit more (which is absolutely vomit inducing) but I've never felt as appreciated and respected by a man like I do him, not in a weird way.. he respects my shepherding decisions, he tells me I'm beautiful every day and that he loves me even tho I look like a potato most of the time.. he'd respect my decision to work on the front line if I do decide to, we laugh every day.. I dunno maybe this whole thing is just making me reevaluate and appreciate things more? Money and otherwise.. 
I also obviously haven't been going to the co op every day so I've actually got a really healthy looking bank balance at the moment.. I get my student loan on the 27th.
Current debt looks like this:

Car	£3,771.69
Tesco	£2,850.00
Loan	£4,427.64
Total	£11,049.33

I'm making minimum payments this month, will reevaluate at the end of the month.
I currently have £1350 in my other bank from casino offers, I'm just using this as bankroll until I can get (hopefully) enough to pay off my car finance in one go. 
Got £500 in the EF, paused sinking funds this month.

Just got to keep plodding on.

Welly x

JLS1901

Trying to set up a credit union account online with the local union. The website form is absolutely rubbish, it will auto enter my address via postcode lookup but not a street name (there isn't one) and because I can't edit the address at all it won't let me carry on with the application because there isn't a street name.

I've send a message on FB and they are just trying to make out I'm not technical enough and I'm doing something wrong.

Absolutely infuriating!!!

Welly x

JLS1901

Didn't get my credit union account in the end as I didn't meet the criteria, the joy of living in one county but having a post code for the next county along..

A nice big casino win at the weekend now means I have £2100 in the bank to use to go towards paying off the car. I'm really hoping I'll have enough to pay it off by June. 

Almost through lambing now 20 more left, 10 inside 10 outside, the last few have been an absolute pain not wanting lambs etc it's been bloody hard going. OH is knackered, I do worry about him he never gets a full day off, never gets a lie in. I appreciate that's what farming is but I guess it's hard when you are being bossed by someone else.

Uni presentation is due Friday, I'll be so glad when that's done.. then one more assignment and second year will be over, it's actually scary!! I honestly cannot wait to graduate and have a full time job again!

Hope your all well and keeping safe..

Welly x

JLS1901

Not posted for a few weeks but not much happening to be honest! I'm still slowly getting through the casino offers although the profits seem to have dropped off a bit and I seem to be loosing a bit of motivation. I'm on 2.5k profit so a bit more and I'll be good to get the car paid off.. 

I've been watching what I eat and having virtual PT sessions and I've lost 3.5lbs in a week so am happy with that.

Really longing to graduate and be working full time again, I know it will here before I know it but I'm missing the routine of a full time job and not having the same pressure you have at uni. 

Lots have opted in to do these paid placements in the NHS which will count as their next placement next year.. OH doesn't want me to risk it and to be honest I feel like I need the break to get myself ready for next year coz it's gonna be tough. 

Nothing much to report debt wise just plodding along.

Welly x

JLS1901

I think I need to make a plan! Still ploughing on through the casino offers, hoping to do some more MB now sports are back on but I feel rusty! I'm treating it as a full time job now I'm not at uni and hopefully it will give me a decent return! 

So debt is as follows:
Car finance (7.9% £140.41pm/22 months to go) £3651.66
Tesco (0% June 2021) £2793.62
FD loan (4.9%) £4216.80
Total: £10,662.08
I currently have £500 in my EF and £2350 that I'm using as a bankroll for MB, I'm hoping to soon have to enough to pay the car off in one go, then I'll work on the credit card then the loan last. 
I've got my student loan set aside to pay my DDs until September, I topped up my SF when I got my student loan.

I feel like I'm being impatient I want rid of it all now!! but there isn't much else I can do than plod along doing what I'm doing.

Ideally I'd like to have it all paid off by this time next year when I graduate but I think that might be optimistic as that would be £888.50 a month, but then maybe I need to challenge myself to pay it off as hard and fast as I can.. 

We shall see how things go, off to make sausage pasta bake for tea. 

Welly x

JLS1901

Just been reading through my old diary on here, I started it in December 2016. I'd just moved into my wonderful little flat after having a really tough time.

I remember thinking how chuffed I was with myself, I'd gone from being dumped whilst working 8 hours away from home and I literally had nothing to getting a full time job in the NHS and being able to afford my own place. Of course who knew that since then I'd have given both those up and gone back to uni and moved in with the farmer.

I'm very good at just seeing the negatives at times, I forget the battles I've fought already. My mum left when I was 14, my dad who was my world died suddenly a month after we were 18. I have no doubt these things affected me mentally but they also affected my relationship with money, being thrust into running a house and paying bills whilst arranging your Dad's funeral at 18 is no mean feat. I think I felt I'd missed out on the normal teenage years so I spent to make up for it. I just wanted to be normal.

I guess what I'm trying to say is it's quite easy more so in this current situation to sit and sweat over the small stuff, yes I have debt but I'm working hard to pay it. I still want to enjoy things in my life and not let it consume me (I'm all or nothing) but I really want to get myself into a position where I'm not constantly worrying about money.

I'm off to work out how to do YNAB (again think this is the 3rd time I've tried to get to grips with it) wish me luck!!

Welly x

 

JLS1901

Set up my YNAB budget yesterday, I'm loving it already and I got a year free for being a student.. I've binged on youtube vids and I'm listening to the audio book. 

I've had a quiet few days, I've got an infection and had an allergic reaction and I've felt utterly crap. I hate being ill I keep telling the farmer how lazy I feel and he keeps scoffing at me and tells me I'm far from lazy. 

I'm going to have a sort of of my wardrobe again in a few days and sell what I can, if I sell my clothes that are too big I wont be able to put the weight back on that I've lost!

I need to do some CPD for uni when I get chance and do some reading. 

Hope everyone is staying safe.

Welly x