The Mental Debt Struggle...

Keedie

Oh @~FlowerPot~, I really did need that belly laugh so thank you! 😂😂😂

Thank you for your kind words @Humdinger1, they really mean a lot to me. Things are slowly starting to fall into place.

My Chase cashback came through so I've paid £3.35 into the Debt Buster and I had some coins so paid £4 into the £2 challenge, £1.50 into the 50p challenge and £2.18 into the penny challenge. They're all slowly adding up. Like I've got 16 more 50ps and I'll have saved £25 and I can bank it.

Humdinger1

Yes, you can never go wrong with pants...especially if lace-trimmed.  Love Humdinger xx 

Cherryfudge

Humdinger1 said:

Yes, you can never go wrong with pants...especially if lace-trimmed.  Love Humdinger xx 

Oh, that reminds me of the stripy socks lady! Is she still around? I liked her diary.

She reckoned stripy socks were a psychological secret weapon. Now I can add lace trimmed underwear to my arsenal of power dressing.  

Keedie

I think we could all do with some superpowers and secret weapins, and we'd have a lot of fun and adventures discovering what they are.... 😂.

Cherryfudge

Keedie said:

I think we could all do with some superpowers and secret weapins, and we'd have a lot of fun and adventures discovering what they are.... 😂.

I think there's the basis for a children's book in there  

Keedie

I think you're right @Cherryfudge 😂, it'd be a great adventure!

I'm going to the library with my sister today. She's working on her online boutique and tidying up the website and product descriptors and I'll be working on the mental health life planner that I brought but have yet to set up. I'm trying to work out a target date for getting back to work and what I need to put in place before I get to that stage, so that I can continue to make progress. I also need to work out what is going to happen to my annual leave that has all been built up whilst I've been off sick. As I can use some of that to phase back into work.

I had a look at the budget based on my half sick pay and it's tight, but I'll be able to make some big savings in how I deal with my groceries and frivoulous spending in that department, so that should help. I banked my coins yesterday and had £27.17 so that will go towards Christmas. We're not doing adults this year aside from my mum and eldest sister who is autistic and wouldn't understand why she is not getting presents. So that will make things a bit cheaper. I've got some of the kids presents already, so that helps. 

I'm also no longer annoyed with TfL, as although my son's zip oyster card is showing as inactive on the online account and I can't top it up, they have been true to their word and it does work on the tube and buses as normal. So we'll have to pop to the tube station or a corner shop and top it up some more today so that it's ready for him to commute to college this week. As his timetable is a bit scarce and only 3 days this week as the GCSEs have not been added to the timetable as yet, we both worked out that pay as you go will be cheaper for September. Especially as he can keep using the 11-15 oyster card until it expires on 30 September 2023 and we'll get the cheaper rates. So an expensive travelcard won't be needed until October, and that will be dependent on his final timetable. It works out at £7 a day pay as you go, so if he's in 4 days a week it'll be £28 a week and the travelcard is £37.20 a week. He is out and about on the weekends, but tends to do a lot of that by bus to meet his friends and the bus is free. 

So I might still budget as if I am paying the £143 a month for the travelcard, but keep to pay as you go, so that I can accumulate some money in that pot. I top up the oyster card online as I've learnt my lesson in giving the money to him as he tends to spend it and 'forget' that it was for something specific 😏.

Cherryfudge

That's good news on the zip Oyster card. It's probably worth looking at how many days he'll need it over College holidays, too - pay as you go might be useful then as well.

beanielou

Good news on the travel.

LittleMissDetermined

That's a bonus with the travel, sounds like pay as you go will work given he uses buses at the weekends. Still budgeting the higher amount though will allow you to build a buffer maybe for the 5 week months?

Enjoy the library. I keep meaning to join ours which has recently moved to a more central location but I never seem to get around to it.
LMD x

Keedie

I'm very happy with the travel situation as it'll save me money and he's happy to continue on pay as you go. I should hopefully accrue a surplus this month and for the money I've set aside for his lunches. I'll definitely continue to budget as if it is the full travelcard and as if he is in college 5 days a week for food, so that I have something to fall back on if needed.

Once they've added the GCSEs to his timetable, if it ends up being 5 days a week, then I'll just do the travelcard as it'll work out cheaper overall. Yesterday he took the train to visit his dad, which isn't normal, but he may take the tube or train on the odd occasion on the weekend and I don't want to restrict him, so I'll see how long the pay as you go credit all lasts and take it from there. But for this month it'll be under budget and I'll always roll it over so it'll help with October, but with there being a half term, it shouldn't be bad although it's a 5 week month.

I've budgeted £5 a day for food and I sent him £15 this morning as his current timetable is 3 days this week and he went to Tesco near the college to get their meal deal. I told him that he can keep whatever change there is each week and if he wants to go somewhere more expensive to eat he can, but he just has to be mindful that he'll have less money on other days. I think this will hopefully help him to budget better as he tends to squander his allowance when he receives it and then slyly ask for little bits here and there. I've put a complete stop to that and he's not very happy, but I told him that's the reality of life and next month he'll pace himself better as he shouldn't have run out of money in the first week of the month. Harsh as it sounds, he needs to learn and if I'm always bailing him out, it's too much pressure for me and he learns nothing.

Social services did a care package review today and the lady that came was very nice. She said that she will refer me to Occupational Health so that they can do a home assessment to see what I need help with and if there are any further adaptations that I need. She also told me not to concern myself with work and to just concentrate on getting better and when I am feeling well enough to return to work, not to rule out finding another job altogether and told me that the ambulance service have call handlers that work from home and she did that job before going into social work. I've lost a lot of my confidence in my ability to work, so I'm trying to get that back, then I can go from there.

But I am somewhat apprehensively looking forward to my pain management clinic which starts on Monday 18 September. I'll be arriving on Sunday to settle in. I don't want to battle on the bus in rush hour with a suitcase and then start the programme that same day. I'll be too tired and in pain before the programme even starts and I know it'll be intense. I've not done the whole flatshare thing since uni so I'm a bit anxious about living with a bunch of strangers a few nights a week for 3 weeks in a row. I'm very ready to get some help though, so I'll have to set my anxieties aside so that I can make the most out of everything. I'm very fortunate to have this opportunity so I am looking forward to getting some advice and support with practical tips on how to have a better life balance. I'm fed up with being disabled and having limitations. It's not a wonder cure, but a better understanding of what I can do and what can help, will open a whole new world for me.

My Debt Buster pot is coming along and now has £24.68 in there, so just shy of 10% of my £250 target, and I can then make a debt overpayment to my mum. I'm aiming to end 2024 with just the Barclaycard left as the only creditor.