Queen Bee fighting for her Hive!

Queen_of_the_Hive

Yesterday was the 13th of the month and so the day to reconcile the accounts. I am pleased to report I have now paid off 33.59% of my debt. My stocks and share ISA was in the positive by £168 thus increasing my total annual savings this year to date. No change on employment state though so still on the job hunt but learning lots and updating cv, linked in, networks etc so feeling a bit more upbeat about this too. 

Just for fun, debt reduction chart is below.

Drawingaline

Well done on having a nice holiday. Sometimes it's nice to press the pause button. 

missymoo81

Ooh your holiday sounds amazing. And it sounds like you’ve got a lot on without work! Wow you’ve paid off 1/3rd of your debt! That’s amazing! Well done you. And well done on giving up the junk food, it’s v hard to do but so worth it.

missymoo81

Hey hope you’re ok lovely x

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello Everyone, It is a really miserable wet Monday morning and cabin fever has well and truly hit! After Boris's announcement on Saturday I have eaten my bodyweight in biscuits to the point I was ashamed to confess which ones to my partner. He has been working nights!! So today I am trying to get back into good habits. I have a terrible sweet tooth though and coupled with poop situation we are all living in, it does not help at all. So hoping this rain does one so I can get out of the house and out for a walk to get rid of those biscuits! 

Its been a long time since my last post. I had a big birthday last week which was lovely, my partner surprised me by popping the question! and I was offered a job. So last week was a-maz-ing! The week before though I was really hit with a dark cloud and I think the emotions of the whole year just came out and I couldn't stop crying. And then I had a lovely week last week and this week I'm just in between. The Christmas plans are semi spoiled. My family are spread all over the country so we don't generally meet up over Christmas anyway as it is too difficult. But I was planning to visit my partner's family on Christmas day so that's now all spoiled and it would have been nice to have a cheeky celebratory drink with a friend or two but that's no longer going to happen. 

Money wise I have been on a bit of a splurge but for my mental health I think I can let myself off this time. Christmas is magical time I have just closed my eyes and bought one or two nice decorations and made sure the kids had some nice gifts. I think they will be happy with their lot. I did have some money put aside for Christmas from the saving 1p a day challenge and putting £25 a month into a regular saver so most of this was covered. This is defo my money saving tip for the season. Was the first time in a few years I have done this and I have already renewed the regular saver. The one I am doing this with is the Principality Building Society. The interest is paltry but is more about having a growing pot in December. As I stopped using cash I didn't complete the saving 1p a day challenge. However I had about £150 put aside which is amazing when you think about it. So I am defo doing this challenge in 2021. It was fun to tick off the amounts. I might use Monzo for a virtual pot as I don't use hard cash that much anymore. 

The other major win was being offered a job, this starts mid January. Its part time, working from home initially and is in a role I am familiar with so I am over the moon, this will make a big difference as I last had wages in June! 

This year has been tough as I was living on savings for most of it, my poor partner has really felt the brunt of the financial burden of rent, bills etc and my hopes for next year are to be in a better position to support him so we are both better off. I have managed to pay a good chunk of my debts off, this was using savings because I wanted to end the year in a better position that when I started. So in January I owed £10,569.02 and have now managed to get this down to £6838.35. I have paid off my overdraft and reduced my balance transfer cards down from 3 to 2. In January I will be combining the balance transfers to just one card as the balance is due on one. My plan is to continue to plough savings and salary into debts so that by the time December 2021 comes I will be nearly in the clear. The rest of my debts is two family loans which no one is asking me about so these will be tackled last. By my calculations I should be debt free in 17 months time. After which I hope to be in a position that I can get a mortgage on a small property. 

Lastly, I followed the saved 12k in 2020 challenge and at the start of this year when life was a lot more brighter I was hoping to save £6000 from salary. However it didn't turn out like that so after I lost my job I just started counting the increases in my stocks and shares Isa Like everyone else who had these accounts it nose dived in March but gradually as the year has progressed it had recovered. I am amazed to be able to declare a small but significant savings pot of £2350.47. No where near the £6000 mark but still nice to have something. It was also slightly more than was saved in 2019 by £120.12.

I really wish everyone who takes the time to read my thread a merry Christmas and a happy New Year x 

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello last Wednesday of the year of all years! Wow what a year! 

We had a good Christmas in the hive and I have well and truly eaten my bodyweight in treats. Its the Christmas rules! Worry about the diet in January! 

Since Christmas day I have picked up my walking challenge and got out for daily walks which is really good. Not enjoying the bitterly cold weather though... brrrr! 

Money wise some big stuff has moved forward, paperwork for new job has been completed so waiting to hear starting instructions. Finally got to the point of signing for the investment property, so spent an eye watering £6.70 on first class recorded delivery and bought 2021 diary at the same time. 

MSE wise I have set up next year's save £12k in 2021 saving challenge. Sticking to this years amount of £6000.00 I'd love to smash this but paying off my debt is my priority for 2021. 

Tomorrow I need to clean the house while the kids are with their dad and start 2021 with a clean home. 

I really wish everyone who takes the time to read my thread a merry Christmas and a happy New Year x 

Queen_of_the_Hive

Yay my first post of 2021! Gosh saying twentytwentyone is a bit of a mouthful compared to twentytwenty! Oh well 364 days to get used to it   

Today is my first functioning day of the year, admittedly yesterday was the aftermath of one too many sherbets so the day didn't exist! So today its back to healthy eating to repair the wrongs of December    The scales were ugly this morning to the point of wanting to cower behind the bed sheets with a pack of dark chocolate digestives. But alas no, porridge was soon cooking on the stove with a cuppa in hand. I'm a fan of My fitness pro so used this to log this morning's breakfast and yes let the new year commence. 

One of my last MSE goals of the year was to see if I could get to a significant total with the organisation where I hold my amount  my S&S ISA & LISA and yes! I am pleased to report this line was broken through which was really exciting as this is another step towards achieving a bigger goal of financial independence. I haven't paid much into the LISA but with the new job I hope to be able to do so even if its a few pounds here and there. It helps to build a bit of a retirement pot. 

This weekend is pretty quiet, no real plans esp with lockdown. Tree & decs to take down, need to go out for walks as part of virtual challenge and come up with some plans for home schooling this week. I have taken £10 from the bank to put into my 1p savings challenge so will distribute this to the savings chart I have for this.

Wishing everyone a happy new year.  

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello saturday evening,

Today's been a day of getting small jobs done at home and a lot of TV. It was a relaxing day after week 1 (again!) of home schooling. The kids are at their dads this weekend so the house is quiet and as we are in lockdown nothing much is happening anyway.

Money wise we have lots of food in the freezer so quite a low spend week which is good. I have made what I hope is the last balance transfer for my debts. This was £800 and will cost me £28 in fees. And the other big win this week was exchanging contracts on my investment property! Yay! Completion is on the 15th. This has been quite a journey.

Tomorrow is getting ready for week 2 homeschooling.

Drawingaline

Jealous of you exchanging! We are still hoping for completion on 27th as our mortgage offer expires in 29th and we have removals booked. Buyers solicitors were reviewing searches and our replies to enquiries yesterday so really hoping to be in a position to exchange next week!

Queen_of_the_Hive

Well its seven minutes to 10 at night and this is the third time I have tried to write today's diary entry!! Week 2 of home schooling has been exhausting but it also feels like we have made some progress as well.

Today I had some wonderful news. I bought a house!!