The Four D's

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Energy companies can be a pain in the arris, our first meter read when we had lived in our current house put us several hundred pounds in credit, but they won't reduce our DD even though our usage against how much they want from us will keep building up that credit. I'd understand in summer as they like you to build up a buffer, but this is winter and it'll only get bigger in the summer (the credit) :rotfl: they really make no sense sometimes.......... definitely shop around and see if eon are telling porkies about whether it'll be good for you to switch

Sounds like little one had an awesome birthday

FootyFanDan

SSDD23 wrote: »

Energy companies can be a pain in the arris, our first meter read when we had lived in our current house put us several hundred pounds in credit, but they won't reduce our DD even though our usage against how much they want from us will keep building up that credit. I'd understand in summer as they like you to build up a buffer, but this is winter and it'll only get bigger in the summer (the credit) :rotfl: they really make no sense sometimes.......... definitely shop around and see if eon are telling porkies about whether it'll be good for you to switch

Sounds like little one had an awesome birthday

She got spoilt...and got £60 cash from friends and family, which she declared by jumping around the house shouting that she was rich:rotfl::rotfl: wow if only kid!! haha

The energy thing really irritated me as i wen through all the payments, i did a tarriff swap and paid exactly what they told me to. However after paying this for a few months they told me it was wrong and that the bill was way behind so spent most of time playing catch up. The annoying thing is i can go online through EON and do a tarriff swap which reduces my direct debit and takes into account the current balance yet they will not budge. The price comparisons seem to suggest there is way cheaper out there based on my usage, how accurate that is i do not know so i will deffo do some investigation

TravelGirl84

Hi Dan!

Urgh, energy suppliers are a nightmare. I've been having trouble with my neighbours bill (yes my neighbours!) after they moved and their central system is saying their meter is mine. They keep sending me letters so I sent them some strong words. One more letter and I'm going to Ofgem! I'm assuming you have tried their complaints dept?

Glad the little one had a great birthday! Re Xmas, it is really hard. At the end of the day you can afford what you can afford and no one needs to know the reasons why. It's the thought that counts.

FootyFanDan

TravelGirl84 wrote: »

Hi Dan!

Urgh, energy suppliers are a nightmare. I've been having trouble with my neighbours bill (yes my neighbours!) after they moved and their central system is saying their meter is mine. They keep sending me letters so I sent them some strong words. One more letter and I'm going to Ofgem! I'm assuming you have tried their complaints dept?

Glad the little one had a great birthday! Re Xmas, it is really hard. At the end of the day you can afford what you can afford and no one needs to know the reasons why. It's the thought that counts.

Hey Travel

I am just so frustrated with them right now, but as it stands I am kinda stuck with them at the moment so i will see where it is at when the balance (or fake balance as the claim:rotfl:) at end of January when i will be in credit. Wow it sounds like your experience is as poor as mine, hope you get sorted. I wouldn't mind it is partly their fault the debt exsists

Xmas is really hard, i have never really been a buy for the sake of buying for people but i tend to worry about what close family think if we don't get them enough,,,which admittedly is probably in my head as my bro and his gf are the nicest people ever so i always wanna spoil them,,ah well maybe next year :j

FootyFanDan

Morning MSE,

Well finally Friday, my last full day off from work...where on earth did those 10 days go :eek: Today is kinda mission tidy up as we have family visiting us over the weekend and we also have British Gas coming out Saturday morning to fix the boiler, we have heating but no hot water so msg to landlord yesterday at 8pm and he sorted pretty quick. Glad we do have a good landlord now after suffering previously.

Did not sleep at all last night so been up all night, so school run to be done then project clean up starts. We have all food in for the weekend so only spends should be petrol to work and the football. I am finally going to decide on everyones xmas gifts and if they are unhappy about there gifts then tough! I have worked so hard to get this far, i am not prepared to ruin six months work and blow budget to indulge ungrateful (not all) family members

Will probably pop back in at a sensible hour later today

Have a good Friday

FootyFanDan

Well I here we are the day before payday (albeit a much earlier one) I have managed to get there with money spare, I am yet to decide what is going to be done with these funds. I think it will go towards one of the Lowell debts. I could really use it for xmas gifts, however I am feeling a bit crappy this last few weeks as I have not yet made much of a dent this month with overpayments but Nov/December is always tough month, I do have some overtime as well to come but unsure of exact amount my wage will be up (Grrrrr taxman!)

Hope anyone reading is doing well and looking forward to xmas, although I know this is a happy time for many, I am also aware many people struggle with this time of the year for various reasons just be kind to yourselves and enjoy the family time it brings

Moving forward I am looking to maybe do a month review thing to see what good things have come and also the bad. So will maybe try this for a while and see if it can spur me on. I think sometimes its not always easy to see the positives as they get lost a bit so will aim to try keep finding small wins.

TravelGirl84

Hi Dan!
Sorry to hear you are feeling a bit crappy
Re the spare money, is it enough to split maybe in to a debt payment and some Christmas bits? Like you say, Nov/Dec are tough months, but no point beating yourself up about it. There will be months where it's not as easy to pay down debts and that's fine. Just remember how well you have done since the start of your journey and maybe celebrate that a little before the new year.
I think the monthly review is a great idea! Positives are always harder to find, so getting them written down might bring them to light a bit more!

FootyFanDan

TravelGirl84 wrote: »

Hi Dan!
Sorry to hear you are feeling a bit crappy
Re the spare money, is it enough to split maybe in to a debt payment and some Christmas bits? Like you say, Nov/Dec are tough months, but no point beating yourself up about it. There will be months where it's not as easy to pay down debts and that's fine. Just remember how well you have done since the start of your journey and maybe celebrate that a little before the new year.
I think the monthly review is a great idea! Positives are always harder to find, so getting them written down might bring them to light a bit more!

Hi Travel

Yeah its complicated, maybe more than i need to make it i guess. I just think theres a few things in general that contribute to making me feel crap. Some i can control and some i can't. I would not wanna bore MSE with the all boring details but safe to i need to reassess where i am at with a few things. As crazy as it sounds the finances are the most in control thing i have going for me at the minute :rotfl::rotfl: Work things are just boiling up and are getting worse, my knee is hurting more and more the fix i can't really afford but the alternative is probably going to create tension with GF which at present are already...erm a bit like the weather...frosty!! I shouldn't joke really tbh i know as one of my friends said 'you can't clap with one hand' which i am assuming is her smart way of saying it takes work on both sides so we shall see.

In terms of the extra pay i have decided that i am going to put this aside and pay off some debt with it. I had factored my budget without this in it so therefore it is not needed so overpayment is a good option. There is a valid reason the debt overpayment was pathetic this month was due to car MOT repairs so it was needed but just annoying

Monthly updates / possibly a journal of how i am feeling and my plans and goals as well as my positives could be a good things

OMG this was a way too long reply..sorry for the TMI :rotfl: this diary is becoming a bit more of a tool to let loose as in normal life i just bobble along.

Good to see you progress is going well too x

FootyFanDan

Well here goes nothing! haha. Eventually i want to ensure this is something i do end of every pay cycle to give myself some idea of what i have done well and what has not gone so well. I find it so nice to just be able to write down with no judgement (well not open judgement haha) and even if its just to a PC screen with no one reading its now out there. I think its easy to bottle up loads and get overwhelmed so hopefully i am going to use this as a way to track how i am doing finance wise positive and negative / work wise / and personal wise. I want to try use this update as a way to show the changes i am slowly making are having a positive impact so that the little bumps can have minimal negative impact.

Debt: This has not gone down as much as it should have, however i kned this would be the case due to other financial commitments. I plan to make a payment to lowell account to bring this total down to £100. In the new year i need to think of best way to do this. Does any one have specific benefits to paying a min amount to each debt bringing them all down slowly or the other way of saying i have a set amount i can pay and just pay off the cheapest first. I should mention that my credit report is wrecked and all but two are defaulted already and no interest been added. One is for a payday loan taken out stupidly but default back on Dec 4th 2013 so that should come off report soon right?

Finance: I have been quite money aware the last few months and this paid off with the MOT this month and while this was the reason debt payment wasn't over paid it felt so good to be able to pay for nearly £400 worth of work without needing to rob another pot or take from a priority debt. This made me really know that the method of annual cost been divided through the year and over the next few years i want to setup a secure financial future. My tenancy is quite secure the landlord is happy for us to stay as long as we would like so that is one less worry.

Career: Well, where to start..do all offices have the jerry springer style drama about them? hehe. In alll seriousness i really do need to assess this in the new year, overall the job is easy and money is okay for the job but the atmosphere is very negetive and that is affecting how i feel anout being there during a day shift. It kinda feels like the management do not respect the staff enough, but it is not normally something i have experienced. I have started looking at courses that interest me for career change and i am still young ish...til Saturday when i turn 34 :eek: I plan to resit GCSE maths. My main aim would be sport related however my body is broken right now so that is out of the question so accounting/web design/ computers interest me..tbf if i could have a job doing spreadsheets i would be happy as a pig in ...well ya know!:rotfl:

Personal: This platform whilst its been key for changing my money ways, i have spent alot of nights reading diaries and seeing different people in a variety of different situations and it has made me realise that life is a scary tough ride but you gotta try kick its !!!. I have a lot of negetive energy in my every day work place and my release from this was to run/swim/boxercse stuff and due to my stupid body i can't do this and i get frustrated, is that something that makes sense?? I feel like my one get out to release stress is gone and due to various reasons i can't get anyone to fix this. Docs are adament there is no issues but i simple have days where i have agony in my knee, locking up, a tearing pain. In more positive news the meal planning is kinda taking shape now so food spends are down, costa spends are down, however i seem to be taking a liking to chicken mayo burger n fries lately so gotta stop that.:rotfl:

I am going to stop now haha, thanks if you made it this far in my ramble. I think once i can get into the fixing certain things i can move forward happy. Sorry for the moany post but thank you to anyone that reads and provides support it really does help..i promise to be less moany in future updates

bd80s

hey


sometimes all you need to do is write your feelings down to help you process how you really feel. i think your summary is full of positives for you.
Debt - not down as much as you would have liked but it is down
Finance - you are understanding your money and planning ahead, the mindset is shifting and you are taking more control
Career - everyone has the rubbish days at the office, sometimes a bit of job adverts browsing does wonders! but you are focusing your mind into what you may actually want to do to earn a living, its not a decision that needs to be made overnight, allow yourself time to explore and investigate options
Personal - you know how you destress which is a good thing and you are aware when you get frustrated, whilst you cant do the high impact stuff at the moment maybe just chucking on some headphones and going for a walk, start small and the rest will come?


its hard when you start focusing on one aspect of your life because everything else suddenly comes into focus but as you say "life is a scary tough ride but you gotta try kick its !!!. "


i would say just keep doing what your are doing, everything will suddenely appear better when you least expect it!