A new chapter, An empty nest, Drama school & Last year of Uni

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  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,111
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    I've been having a de-clutter. Still got some way to go. I joined a SM group that has helped. Anyway I picked up a coin purse to tidy away and found £10 in it - I love it when that happens!  That means I have replaced £10 of the £40 I spent on DH's bag. That arrived this week and it's really nice. I'm pleased I got it as a future birthday/christmas gift for him.

    I've been sorting DD's room our too so it's easier for her to manage - she has far too many clothes - despite 3 car-boots last year to reduce them down (that netted £200 for a charity connected to the pageant she was in). I've suggested we do some more when she's back. She also has too much stationery but so many notebooks have info about auditions and drama schools it's something only she can decide if still needed. I've still got some of her room to do along with my room today. Hoping for it finished today. So far I've only needed to spend £5  total on things to straighten the bedrooms up, everything else I have been able to re-purpose. DD hasn't been having a good time at her drama school recently and I'm worried because some of it echoes the hard time she had at school for her final couple of years. I'm hoping being back for Easter in a comfortable and organised space helps with her well-being.

    Tomorrow DH picks DD up and fetches her back for the Easter hols, so today my day off I need to ensure that water/drinks/food/snacks are bought for the trip to avoid the costly meal that F& B was at the beginning of the month!

    DH still hasn't sorted out the car park fine. He's back at the same hotel next week so will talk to them about it. 
  • ayupmeduck
    ayupmeduck Posts: 187
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    Spendless said:
    How long until the wedding? I can’t believe how fast time is going. It’s just 2 and a half months until my DD1’s!
    Just under 5 months.

    @ayupmeduck - Unsure if it's open Saturdays and her course is 9-6 Mon-Fri with rehearsals, auditions, and coursework on top. .  As to why DD doesn't do anything straight away - I'm still trying to work that one out myself almost 20 years on (it is possible she has undiagnosed ADHD and I believe disorganisation can be an indicator - she is her own worse enemy with that one though, if she put coping strategies in place then she wouldn't lose as much stuff!) 

    Tell her to get banking on her phone then card can be cancelled and reordered anytime.
    Debt £7976 | Savings £350Aims: Buy first home 2026-8. £20k deposit
  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,111
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    Spendless said:
    How long until the wedding? I can’t believe how fast time is going. It’s just 2 and a half months until my DD1’s!
    Just under 5 months.

    @ayupmeduck - Unsure if it's open Saturdays and her course is 9-6 Mon-Fri with rehearsals, auditions, and coursework on top. .  As to why DD doesn't do anything straight away - I'm still trying to work that one out myself almost 20 years on (it is possible she has undiagnosed ADHD and I believe disorganisation can be an indicator - she is her own worse enemy with that one though, if she put coping strategies in place then she wouldn't lose as much stuff!) 

    Tell her to get banking on her phone then card can be cancelled and reordered anytime.
    I'm not sure she didn't have it. She took something off her phone to help with her spending habits -  instead it caused more issues!

    Her room  is now done. Came at the expense of fully doing mine as wasn't able to fit both in. But that's ok, I can do mine over the next few days. Now DD has a clean base to work out what she does and doesn't want to keep.I've now not used the £5 container spend - as I found something else we had more suitable - which is annoying but am sure will be used elsewhere in the house. I did buy a new double duvet cover in poundstretcher yesterday reduced to £6. I considered that a bargain and it looks nice on the bed. I may get some others marked down to that price, to use for student digs or when our current lot are up for replacing.

    My wages have gone in and I now have £879 towards DD's final accommodation bill. I need £2442 by the end of April. I'm not going to do it, so I will have to borrow the surplus from savings and pay back - however I have been told that my job will be extended via the agency for a further 2 months, which means I'll definitely be able to earn enough for the digs and during this extension period the job will be advertised as a permanent role to start beg of summer. . I will have to apply, so am not guaranteed to get it, but at least it's a step further forward.  
  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,111
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    DD came home on Friday. She'd not had a great week the last week or two before breaking up for Easter which had me concerned. Glad I sorted her bedroom out that at least gave her some calm. 

    We went out on Saturday. She requested we had lunch out and mentioned her fav tapas place. I agreed. However not only had their prices risen since last summer (understandable) I hadn't realised they charged more all day Saturday ' £25 per head! 2 Cokes were also £4 each (ok they were pints which I hadn't realised when I ordered)  Previously we'd only eaten mid-week lunch time which is cheaper.  Too late though we'd sat down, walked from the car park and were too hungry to return and search for elsewhere, but we both said if we'd realised we would have waited till in the week.

    I'd also said I'd treat her to some trousers/jeans as she is struggling for bottoms. The shop we went in had a 20% student discount but said they didn't accept any ID on someone's phone only things like a lanyard. DD studies nearly £200 miles away and didn't fetch any physical ID back with her. Again too late, so that cost £10 more than it needed to. We then popped in a CS on the way home and there was a prom type dress for £15 perfect for the pageants she enters, so bought that. We also added 2 dresses, 1 for summer, 1 black but will do for any occasion dressed up or down they were both £7-£8 and on the way out saw a black jacket again for £8, she offered to put back one of the dresses, but I said I'd let her have both still.  Back home though frustrated by the cost of our meal and missing out on the student discount, I told DH I didn't want to put these expenses onto our current account, as we'd worked so hard this month to be careful. Normally  these type of expenses comes from my wages but at the minute I'm saving every penny for DD's next rent due in April, so I have moved the money from savings. Towards the end of the week, if there's enough left in the joint account as DH's wages go in I'll move it back, if not it'll be paid back from my wages once the student digs is saved for. Now we're straight with money I realise that I've been making a mistake in not thinking of DD's rent costs until too near the time, really I should put from my wages what is needed all year round and the rest is available. That's something I'll take on board as and when she gets on a degree. 

    DD is auditioning all this week all over the country. That started yesterday when there was a local audition for some drama schools. She thought herself the best in the admittedly small group in the workshop but didn't think she did the best she could at audition, but I said that was the whole point - make the mistakes with some 'throw-away' auditions first that she's not overly interested in, one of them is out of the question in terms of financing anyway, something she's aware of. 

     DH has taken time off work to take her to auditions It's going to cost us in expenses, but we have been able to minimise  some of that by DH booking into hotels using his loyalty points, some of the places do include a free breakfast - though DD isn't a big eater when she first gets up, something that causes her issues with food and money because she's then hungry later, add in she isn't organised and she then  easily gets into a muddle. DH took a heap of picnic cutlery and paper plates with him and has said evening meals will be along the lines of a take-away pizza to the room.  

    Today I have both the dentist and am meeting up  for lunch with someone whose daughter sounds like she's in the same sort of toxic relationship DD was in with her ex and she wishes her daughter would realise, so it's not going to be a NSD. However I will aim for that tomorrow.  



  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,111
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    Last evening in the same messy corner as before I came across a 2nd coin purse. In change that had £5.68  in it. I've added another 32p from my own purse and this gives me £16 to replace what I spend on the bag for DH. Another £24 to find - wonder if that corner will yield more - lol.

    Yesterday at work my manager asked me to ring my agency to let them know my job had been extended for another 2 months, whilst speaking to them my agency contact said about how the NMW is going up and my pay will need to increase. I spoke to my manager  re this and when he looked at it, he noticed that though I had been set on last summer at the same rate as if I'd been directly employed by them, their workforce had had a pay increase late last year and it hadn't been applied to me. He is of the belief that it should have been and has taken the situation to HR. This is something I was completely unaware of which is why I hadn't flagged it. Not getting too excited but will be nice if my boss is correct and I get a back-payment

     
  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 21,205
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    Fingers crossed for boss being right then - that would be excellent news! 
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  • Well done on your finds @Spendless and fingers cross for a pay rise 🤞

    Fortune x

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  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,111
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    edited 31 March 2023 at 6:35AM
    Thank you. I'm working today so will maybe find out more. My wages have gone in, I now have over £1K towards DD's accommodation, next week I will be at the half way point.

    DH's wages have also gone in. We ended the month in credit and I moved over the balance to savings late last night. No mortgage and one of the CC payments not starting yet definitely helped. I don't think we did too bad though considering we had son's birthday this month and have already done a couple of shopping trips to help DD out as she's struggling with clothes. No more though, today is her 20th birthday, and she's getting some money for that from us and relatives. She's away with DH at the minute as she's at another audition. She's been auditioning all week. It's been a mixed bag and the places where she was/is a student have seemed to be the worst experiences unfortunately, but she still has more to go before we get to a conclusion for this year. 


    Forgot to say - Parking charge has been cancelled. DH spoke to the hotel about it when he returned this week and he has written confirmation that it's been withdrawn 
  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,111
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    Phone call from my boss not long before I finished work today (I've swapped my days around for the next 2 weeks) and HR had contacted him and told him he is correct, the pay increase should have also been applied to me since November. I am owed backpay of an additional £1 an hour, not a clue what it's going to work out at.

    Meanwhile DD has been offered foundation at one leading drama school (it's a No, she's already done 2!) and is on the reserve list at another. Still a long way to go with absolutely no guarantees but at least it's not all complete rejections. 
  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 21,205
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    Great news on all counts then! 
    🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
    Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00
    Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
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