Young And Dumb

Mx_Emmin

Oh! I also found some information on this wikipedia page that I am Very Upset about.

There are three quotes and I think they pretty much speak for themselves.

Since the Gender Recognition Act 2004, transgender people who are married have been required to divorce or annul their marriage in order for them to be issued with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). The government chose to retain this requirement in the Act as, effectively, it would have legalised a small category of same-sex marriages.The Civil Partnership Act 2004 allowed the creation of civil partnerships between same-sex couples, but a married couple that includes a transgender partner cannot simply re-register their new status. They must first have their marriage dissolved, gain legal recognition of the new gender and then register for a civil partnership. This is like any divorce with the associated paperwork and costs.

If the spouse does not consent, the marriage must be terminated before a GRC may be issued.

This next quote seems to contradict those two quotes a little but its unclear, and it's from a paragraph in between those quotes

With the legalisation of same-sex marriage in England and Wales, existing marriages will continue where one or both parties change their legal gender and both parties wish to remain married. However, civil partnerships continue where only both parties change their gender simultaneously and wish to remain in their civil partnership. This restriction remains as, effectively, it would legalise a small category of opposite-sex civil partnerships.

And then it goes on to say

The legislation also does not restore any of the marriages of transgender people that were forcibly annulled as a precondition for them securing a GRC; a GRC will not be issued unless the spouse of the transgender person has consented.

Like... What. The. Eff. What does he get a say in any of this?

I am mad.

Mx_Emmin

Not much to update here

I paid £100 off my credit card this month, and I plan to pay off £100 every month until I pay it off - apart from when I get my Nan's money, which I still haven't recieved, but I get the impression that probate can take a while

I helped my friend get set up with YNAB. I reccommended the app to them, completly forgetting that when you do that people tend to ask you to help them set it up :P it was a bit nervewracking for me, they're in a similar posistion to how I was a year ago and seeing those kinds of numbers on the screen was a bit of an unwelcoming flashback... but it's worth it if it can help them get set up and if this helps them.

I went to meet my friend in Manchester which was good, except the whole day was overwhelming on a sensory perspective. It was 2 1/2 hours each way by train, and I do NOT travel well. And it was Manchester city centre. But it was a good day.

It did eat up more of my social budget than I'd hoped, even despite putting a bit extra in there this month (I anticipated this) but thems the breaks.

Mx_Emmin

Ooooh I haven't updated here in a while... ok so as always there is too much month left at the end of my money, but I'm ok, I'm getting by. One day there will be a time where that's less of an issue. This Saturday I have a meet with a cute non-binary and I don't know if it's a date or not. Fingers crossed. I've been helping my friend getting to grips with YNAB so hopefully that will help them. 
I also had the first meeting of my non-binary group that I started on Facebook. There are trans groups in the area but they tend to get dominated by binary trans people, so I started a specifically non-binary group. 30 people joined within two weeks, which was super startling, but great! We accidentally hit the perfect venue for the meet up - I had to last minute change it because I didnt think about wheelchairs accessibility, but we ended up in an accessible coffee shop with gender neutral loos, right near centre, with strong bus, tram and train links. It was a little noisy and if all 30 of the group turn up it'll be cramped but its basically the ideal location, it's as good as it gets. In the end 10 people turned up which is amazing for a first meet up. 

Mx_Emmin

Things are very tight - I've not had a good month spending wise. I've ending up dipping into my Divorce fund to cover expenses. Some lessons to be learned. Still, going to get paid in the next few days! 

Mx_Emmin

I know I'm updating less often on here but everything is settling in routine now.
 
I created a new category this month - £20 per month for RPG nights, which happen twice a month every month. I took the money from my general social category to distinguish between committed/repeating socials and one-off socials
This is another tight month, between a hen party and a night out with work I just don't have any money. I'm hoping that clears up soon. My dog might have to skip the monthly bath & brush at the groomers. 
 
I'm still waiting on the money from my Nan's will, I don't know if I'll get it in time to do the canal boat thing on my birthday. Obviously some of that money was also to pay off a chunk of credit card debt, I'm chipping away at the card, £100 per month. When this month's payment processes I'll be down to £684.56. 

I'm about a week behind on my temperature blanket so frantically trying to catch up on that. 

Work is... bad... right now. Everyone is super stressed. It's affecting the managers, whichiss affecting the staff. I'd leave, but a) I'm getting free study materials from a colleague which is literally saving me £100's and b) I haven't been in my current role long so I think it would hard to job search for the same role and c) we're about middle of the market for salary, and it's not a wide range, so it wouldn't improve my situation much and d) I literally just finished coming out at trans here, I don't want to do it again

Mx_Emmin

Ok, so as much as I was stressed in my last post, as least it wasn't the apocalypse
Sigh

I've been self-isolating due to a mild cough and going a tiny bit insane as a result. I'll back in work next Tuesday - maybe. Work wants me to stay home (with full pay) because I count as vulnerable for medical reasons. Now, obviously that is very good of them and I recognise this is a very priviliged posisition to be in - but I can't willing submit to self isolation for what is potentially months. I just can't. Right now (18th March) the government advice is for me to

• Avoid contact with someone who is displaying symptoms of COVID-19. (Well, duh)
• Avoid non-essential use of public transport, varying your travel times to avoid rush hour, when possible
• Work from home, where possible. (It's not, for me)
• Avoid large gatherings (if any are still running), and gatherings in smaller public spaces such as pubs, cinemas, restaurants, theatres, bars, clubs (if any are still open).
• Avoid gatherings with friends and family. Keep in touch using remote technology such as phone, internet, and social media. (My communities are starting to get these set up, video meetings instead of real meetings, but most aren't set up fully yet)

Basically I can go to work or I can walk the dog or I can go grocery shopping. This could potentially be in place for months. And now work is asking me not to come into work. That's really hard to voluntarily sign up for. I'm hoping to talk them into letting me work part time - if I only worked 2 days a week, my exposure would be reduced whilst keeping me sane.
 
So that's my dilemna right now and thats enough about C-19 for now.
 
March Money
March is bonus month so I got extra money from work. I also got a letter from them saying I had been previous underpaid and they were giving me some more money to make up for that. So plenty extra to divvy up this month. A few of my savings categories I've put some extra money into to buff up for future months. The majority of the extra money I've poured into my Emergency Savings.
Credit Card - £687.56 remaining, the March payment hasn't processed yet. I've set aside an extra £100 but I'm going to wait until the day of the direct debit so it doesn't interefere with that
Emergency Savings - £1675.38 saved, for contrast, last month was £1113.61
H2B ISA - £584.20 saved, I didn't put any extra into here because it's harder to access if I need it. Once my Emergency Savings is full I'll put more into here
Christmas Gifts Family - £40
Christmas Gifts Friends - £20
Christmas Misc - £20
Divorce - £300, this is one of the categories I put extra money into. Among other things I made it a nice round number. I don't know if this completly replaces the money I took from it in previous months but it's a start
YNAB - £30, this is one of the categories I put extra money into
Dad Holiday - £175
Pride Savings - £80
New Laptop - £30, this is a new category I want to start contributing to monthly for future laptop, as and when it happens
Subscription - £15
FA Diploma - £100
Debt Free Whiskey - £30
Some other categories I buffed up this month are:
Takeout - £50, I don't think that'll all be used but I'm going to be at home more and I might treat myself to stay sane
Online Shopping - £50, I might finally buy that bag this month!
Birthday Of The Month - £75, I'm going to a wedding in April and need to buy them a gift
Holding Category - £100, I offered to help someone buy YNAB but they couldn't decide if they wanted it, I also had another reason for setting some money aside but I can't remember it so I'm just leaving it there for now
 
Some of these categories are deliberatly overfull. I don't intend to spend £75 on a wedding gift - and I don't think they expect me to - but there was a works night out planned and I might need money for that. If it's still going ahead. It probably isn't. Worse case scenario I move the money into my Emergency Savings at the end of the month. 

Mx_Emmin

So... yeah. I'm at home for the forseeable. 
If work is asking vulnerable colleagues to stay home then its reasonable to assume they might follow the 12 week guidelines.
The 12 week mark for Corona isolation is 15th June.

June.

**June**

Mx_Emmin

I'm going to repurpose so of my bus fare money into paying for an extended subscription to Zoom so I can hold longer online meetings with my friends. I won't be travelling much. No one will. 

jusferbrowsing

We're going to be trying out Zoom in our household too. Should help curb any cabin fever.

Mx_Emmin

I paid £100 onto my credit card both in January and February. For March I was able to pay £200 as it was bonus month at work (I think the bonus amounts got decided before the world went... like this). I was tempted to pay more off but it's a balance between paying off debt and building an Emergency Fund. It was exciting to see my current account briefly go above 2K this month immediatly after payday - very briefly, it's back down now.  Late last year I was promised some money from my Nan's will but there were delays even before everything shut down, so who knows when I'll get the money now. Although I pay off £100 per month, I also get charged £3 a month as an account fee. I still hope to pay it off in August. I have £487.56 debt remaining and I intend to keep paying off £100 a month unless something happens with work. 
~
According to the debt thermometer started on 12th August last year I am 70% to the way of being debt free, and according to my savings thermometer I am 55% of the way to my inital Emergency Fund goal (£3K)