YNAB...ing my way to freedom!

SuperFrank88

Morning all,

So it was the first week back to work for me this week. It went well. Nice to get back into some sort of routine whilst easing back into our new normal. Before lockdown we had been so busy for the last 12 months. Too busy if anything! It had taken it’s toll on all of us as we were shattered. Boss has had a real change of heart since lockdown where his attitude has completely changed for the better. He was already looking to retire in about 5 years time but now he’s had a taste of it due to lockdown I think he would like that date to be brought forward. He told me yesterday that he wanted us to start being more flexible with our working pattern. He wants to drop a Friday so we have a proper weekend to relax. Friday is Uni day for me so I normally work in the morning then straight to uni in the afternoon, so it will be nice to dedicate the full day to uni. He said as long as we did our hours then he didn’t mind when. So we could potentially do 3 x 12hr days and have 4 days off. I’m excited! I’ve really changed my mindset recently regarding work. Don’t get me wrong I still love my job and always work hard, but there really is more to life than being caught up in the rat race just because it is the ‘thing to do’. We’re all expected to work a 5 day week because it’s the norm. Well now is the time to make the change ready for the new norm 😊 feeling very positive about it all.

Had an exam yesterday. It went ok but I did run out of time. The 2 hours wasn’t enough! We had to hand write out answers then take a photo and upload a PDF to a special link. One of the questions was maths based comparing 3 different projects. It took sooooo long to have to hand write the calculations out 3 times for each project that it really did eat up into my time to answer the other questions. Hey ho I tried my best so will wait and see.

Money wise and it is same old, getting the same old ‘we’re about to default you’ letter that never actually materialise into anything. So just digging my heels in.

House - OH and I have been talking about having a concrete shed/storage built out on part of our front garden because it is wasted space at the moment that we don’t use. Had a builder quote just shy of £3k for the complete job. Got another builder coming today and another next week so I can compare the 3 jobs and make a decisions. I was hoping it would be around £2k but in all honestly I didn’t have a clue how much it would cost. We have no plans to move anytime soon as where we live is perfect for us. 10 mins outside city centre, 5 mins from motorway for commute to work, 5 mins from hospital where OH works. So I think it would be a good investment to make the improvements.

So plan for today is to go down and see DD for a few hours. My OH is shielding so it’s difficult for me because I can’t go into DD house because I don’t want to bring anything home with me to pass onto OH. So I will take DD out on her scooter. Then it’s home to crack on with a 2500 word essay 🙄 the joys!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Frank

Drawingaline

Fab news about your bosses attitude! I think a lot of people will be feeling the same.

SuperFrank88

Hi All,

Haven't posted in a couple of week so here's an update

Work - Boss has agreed to us changing our work pattern, so from Monday coming it will change. Basically one week we will do 3 x 12hr shifts 6am-6pm Tues-Thurs so we have Monday & Friday off that week then the following week we will work 8-2:30pm on Monday and 6-6 Tues-Thurs. The reason for the alternative weeks is so that our hours average out the same. So happy with this. Longer days but more time off which is where I am at with my mindset. Time is a priceless commodity

Uni- Last assignment was submitted last night. It has been a crazy few weeks having an exam, a 3500 word report and a 2500 work essay to do. But it is done an dusted now. I have started my new modules but there will be no exams/assignments until the Autumn so I can now enjoy my summer instead of slogging in front of the keyboard.

Finances - Going along quite nicely. Saving well, still no sign of  default so I will carry on building up my pots.

In other news, at the start of lockdown  I signed up to GoMystery shopper or something like that, never thought anything would come from it and thought that I would just end up with hundreds of spam emails! Well today I opened my emails to find that I had been selected to review for Decathlon. The have sent me a £100 E-gift voucher to spend on what ever I want. I couldn't believe it when I opened it.

So I will be scouring the website tonight to fill my basket.

Anyway, this heat is absolutely killing me in work! Wearing all black, Thick polo shirt and work trousers and a pair of steel toe capped boots. It is going to cool down on the weekend thankfully so now that uni work is out of the way I can finally get out on the golf course, plus maybe have a post round beer I can see me spending a lot more time on the course now I will be doing shorter week.

I hope you are all well.

Frank

Poppy1984

Hi Frank
Just catching myself up on your diary you sound like you're doing really great! You've kept up that momentum for sure well done!! Great news about work, it makes all the difference to morale. 

The mystery shopper sounds promising, is there a referral link? I'd be very interested in signing up for something like that if you'd be willing to share the details? I know what you mean I seem to end up getting 100s of spams when I sign up to these things so would be good to sign up to something legit. 

Poppy 

joedenise

Set up a separate gmail account for things like that then any spam will go straight into it and not fill up your "normal" inbox!

SuperFrank88

Poppy1984 said:

Hi Frank
Just catching myself up on your diary you sound like you're doing really great! You've kept up that momentum for sure well done!! Great news about work, it makes all the difference to morale. 

The mystery shopper sounds promising, is there a referral link? I'd be very interested in signing up for something like that if you'd be willing to share the details? I know what you mean I seem to end up getting 100s of spams when I sign up to these things so would be good to sign up to something legit. 

Poppy 

Hi Poppy,
Thank you, you are smashing it too so well done. Keep going 
I used the site GoMystery shopping. There is no referral link but thank you for asking. 

Poppy1984

Thank you! I will check that out. It Would be fab to get a voucher to spend. 

Poppy

SuperFrank88

FINALLY!!
I got home last night to a letter saying one of my accounts had defaulted on the 27/06 pretty much 6 months it's taken, so hopefully now more will follow because I have had lot of 'default notices'. I can now get the ball rolling with the first creditor to set up a payment plan...ON MY TERMS!! I have already had the offer generated by the CAB self manage tool, so just need to send the letter now. Super chuffed I am entering the next stage.

Sarahwithlove

That's great news for you. Let's hope you get more notices so you can get it all finalised and know where you stand with it all. 

SuperFrank88

Good Morning All,
So this week is my 'long' week in work. My turn to do the 8-2:30pm Monday shift and now I have got 3 12hr days on the bounce. Roll on Friday! Nice 4 day weekend. It is my OH' mums 50th this weekend and we are having a surprise party in their garden with the family. We were booked to rent out 3 static caravans but with the whole situation it got cancelled. So the next best thing is a bbq and camping in the garden I built a makeshift bar out of pallets on the weekend which turned out really good.

Yesterday I sent my offer letter off to Cap One along with a copy of my I&E. I am highly expecting them to refuse my offer as it is so much lower than what my minimum monthly payment was before, but that is the offer that the CAB generated based on my I&E so that is all they are getting Just glad that I have sent it off now and feel as though a tiny bit of my conscience is cleared. I had always planned to pay my debts once they had defaulted and it did feel strange not paying anything for 6 months. I am so glad that I stuck to it though because I have got a nice little pot behind me now. 
I was only thinking the other day, last August my OH & I were in Majorca for our holidays and I remember being quite stingy with buying things while we were there purely because I knew I did not have the money and it was just going on credit cards. 
Amazing how much has changed in only 11 months! 

I have also added a little bit to my EF so I am at 59% of my goal. Hoping to get to 100% by the end of 2020.