Lifestarts has a 5 Year Plan!

Lifestartsat40

Got the Training course out of the way - day off today and its been a productive one - put a Christmas tree up in my DD's room, walked the dog, managed to get a couple more bits on Ebay and did our weekly shop managing to completely avoid walking down the middle aisle!! Came in well under budget at £34 - which is good because Im tightening our belts until the New Year to make sure we don't overspend in the run up to Christmas
Have a good day everyone 

savingholmes

Sounds like you are super organised. I'm debating putting my xmas decs up too...

Lifestartsat40

Afternoon all! So pleased those last few days are out of the way, now I have a few days at home before overtime again on Sunday. Got in from work at about 5.45am but had to stay up to do school run - then take dog for a walk so by the time I got to bed I'd been awake for 28 hours! Managed 3 good hours sleep before dog started barking for his lunch. 
Sold loads of stuff on Eb*y over the weekend so thats all packaged up and arranged for post office to collect tomorrow. Never realised its actually cheaper to print the labels at home too (£3 for second class as opposed to £3.20 in the PO and collection is free) 
Also sold the coat I listed on Vinted - so thats another £18 in the pot as well. 
Been sweeping all the money into a savings account and have just over £700 in there now which is great but not going to be hasty - need to make sure all christmas gifts are bought and maybe top up savings pots a little before throwing some at debts.
Also received statement regarding boat loan - 2 months knocked off the term so far and almost £700 in interest saved

Lifestartsat40

couple of more sales on E*ay and made a £150 overpayment to one of the credit cards - its at 0% so I was reluctant and would have preferred to pay it off the loan, but it is only 0% until the Summer so I need to reduce it a little incase the Balance transfer offers aren't there when I need them. 
Also put a little more into a couple of our savings pots and got a couple more Christmas presents. 
I have been steadily wrapping as I go and feel very organised. 
Also picked up a 1 L bottle of baileys in Sainsbobs today - not very MSE but on offer so not too bad

Lifestartsat40

Just updated my signature and realised I am just pennies off having paid off £2k in just under 6 weeks - need to rectify that

savingholmes

Tilly Tidy the pennies. £2K in 6 months is amazing - and to have saved so much interest on your boat loan.

shell16

Lifestartsat40 said:

Just updated my signature and realised I am just pennies off having paid off £2k in just under 6 weeks - need to rectify that

Fabulous work!!  

Lifestartsat40

Still Here! - Not much been happening on the Debt busting front other than the regular payments but all Christmas shopping is done and the savings pots are still nice and full and got through (largely) without adding to the debt - I say largely as I bought 2 x tickets to see a comedian for DH for Christmas and put them on a CC for the cover - also took out covid cancellation cover - but I will pay this off in January. 

In other news, I have also got a new job starting 24th January - Its been a huge decision and Im still not 100% sure I'm doing the right thing, but my job in the emergency services (which I love) is having too much of an impact on my work life balance. Too many of my shifts are getting changed without consultation and staff morale is so low. 
The new job is slightly more pay (but not really as its more hours) but it is 100% working from home so there will also be the added bonus of no fuel to travel to work and since its a 50 mile round trip that's significant. 

It will however mean that January I will have to wait 6 weeks for a payday (as new job is paid at month end instead of the middle of the month) - Could that happen at a worse time! I fear I will also owe them some holiday back too as my leave entitlement which runs till April has been depleted (mainly due to me taking hours off to cover times when my shifts have been changed to long 12 hr shifts finishing at 7am) 

So January is going to be a struggle but hopefully once we are into February and in the new routine it will rectify itself

savingholmes

Sounds an exciting new chapter for you. Less commuting makes a huge difference

Lifestartsat40

Happy New Year All - Not updated since before Christmas but all is ok and I have just been keeping my head down and getting on with things. 
Its been a really positive start to the year in terms of doing well with goals I have set myself - namely to reduce my spending and to reduce my belongings around me by using up things lying around and selling things no longer wanted. 
I last went to the supermarket on Tuesday 4th and made a really good shopping list. I will shop again on Sunday 16th - the fridge is really bare, but in a good way - waste has been reduced and apart from a small £4 shop yesterday for milk and a couple of bits we have stayed mainly on plan. 
Looking at my plans going forward it is going to be tight-ish until the summer when my husband is getting a pay rise but between now and then, I still hope to be able to reduce our debts by approx £1k per month as well as saving into the regular pots for planned spends.
Since I started this diary in October, we are just a couple of pounds short of having repaid £3k which I think is pretty good going.