Go on, do your worst ... I know I deserve it!

Jenna

Hi poorandindenial,

We live in the South although don't want to be too exact as to area if you don't mind! Thanks for the tip I'll keep in mind that all flats aren't built the same. Although I don't know that we could go round and ask the neighbours before moving in if it's noisy lol?!

Thanks for the advice I will try and see my GP ... I saw him in Oct and he recommended a psych who I saw once but wouldn't see again ... a nice enough woman but she was about my Grandma's age (I'm not exaggerating by the way!) - I just couldn't talk to her about things honestly in case I offended her, I didn't feel I could use bad language and I even sat up straight in my chair! lol ... so I need to find a politically correct way of saying all that. And then get up the balls to actually go and see him again ... my friend had to come with me before. Am such a wuss! It's different online but I hate telling people in "real life" that I can't cope with things. I just feel weak and pathetic.

Anyway - thankyou for your supportive reply

neverdespairgirl

Hi Jenna - not all flats are the same in noise terms.

OH and I live in a flat, and we only ever hear our neighbours if they are drilling with DIY or something like that (hardly ever, in effect!) We certainly don't hear them talking or arguing or anything.

When you look at a flat, you can ask about soundproofing. Our block was a purpose-built block in the 1920s, and you can see from looking at it that the walls / floors etc are solid and well insulated.

Jenna

Hello all, sorry I've not been on in a little while, been busy with overtime and viewing places! We are probably moving to a flat again but it has VERY thick walls (it's an older property but been renovated inside really nicely), we've put in a low offer and it's been rejected (as expected), we now need to wait a couple days and put in another - will see where we go.

The rent is a bit higher than at the min but utilities (gas/water/leccy) will be about £20 / month lower. It will still work out somewhat more than we're paying now but I'm taking this as motivation to pay off a lot (and save up the deposit we need) in the next few months before we move.

And even on the new budget will be able to overpay more than £100 / month onto my debt (not including any OT I can get - normally £80+ a month). I also normally allocate £100 / month as "fun money", and if we can stay in lots (and believe me I'll want to in this place!) then anything I save on the £25 / weekend can go straight on debts too.

I'm fairly sure you'll all shout at me about it but there you are. I can't live in a place I don't feel safe and comfortable, and I don't feel either about the flat we're in now. We've been to look at 9 or 10 other places and they are all awful value for money (and more expensive than we're paying now). At least this place is worth the extra.

Will update again in a bit with money stuff - need to go add everything up first!

Jenna

It's been so long since I've done a "daily spends" update on here, I thought I'd just use the "monthly report" function on the spending diary website. What I get is totals as follows:

Fun money: £32.21
"Emergency" buy of toilet rolls: £1.54
"Emergency" buy of milk at work (for tea): £0.35
TOTAL: £34.10

I think there's about £3 that hasn't shown up on my account (and the shop didn't give me a receipt so I can't just add it in as can't remember the exact amount) so will add that on in a couple of days when it shows on my internet banking.

I've also paid off the following amounts:
~ £51 (min. payment) off CC # 1 (leaving £1,666.97)
~ £269.82 of CC # 2 (leaving £212.74) - yey!!! *dances*

I'm also considering using the holiday savings I currently have to pay off more on CC # 2 - what do you guys think? We definitely won't be going away in the next few months due to moving house, and it's costing me lots in interest ... hmm ...

I've also done lots on the OT front, did 6 hours this week ... and I've talked to my immediate boss about pay, as I'm being under paid (by about £4k I think) compared to my colleague doing a v. similar job - and I have more experience than her! He talked to my line manager about it, who is apparently v. interested to see some more info / figures ... my immediate boss has said to get some info together and we'll go through it on Tuesday and make it into a proper report for my line manager. Fingers crossed - you never know!

Hope everyone else is okay xx

CharliesAngel

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Defend away!
make sure you don't aim for a champagne lifestyle on beer incomes.

Nothing wrong with a beer income...

lol

CAx

Jenna

lol CA ...

By the way if anyone wonders where the breakdown of my debts has gone, there's not enough room for it on the new forum sig size rules, so I've changed it and I'm keeping my own totals offline as I do find it motivating.

Ooh and can't remember if I said but I've been saving up the Council Tax each week still, so will pay that onto the CC next week I think (excited - can't wait!!) and also January is a 5 week month - e.g. a week's more pay than usual! Of course that means a few extra things to pay for e.g. food but I don't need to put aside my rent / council tax / phone bill savings etc as I normally would each week!! So that will be a fantastic boost

Now I just need to work out how to get the deposit for the flat saved! We are very likely to get 95%+ of the deposit on this place back, but it will take a week or two (at most I'm told) ... I know we could get a fees free CC with 6 months BT at 0% ... I could transfer it onto my Egg money CC and withdraw it in cash, put it into my account and hey presto ... but would SO much rather not! Hmm ... *goes away to do sums*

Jenna

Hey everyone,

Gosh its been ages since I've updated on here! Not been a happy bunny as my Egg Money card got cancelled - apparently my credit rating is rubbish then! - yes in fact, so rubbish that when I applied for a Virgin CC to replace the Egg one, I got accepted at a £3900 limit (vs. a £500 limit on the Egg). So what I have to say to Egg is hah! See if I care.

The Virgin CC is 0% on BT's for 15 months (with a 2.98% fee) which I can break down as follows:

My overdraft (now at £750) will be split out:
£300 OD to A&L current account (0% for 12 months)
£450 OD to Virgin CC (0% for 15 months)

Loan from family – on 0% anyway

CC # 1 £1,666.97 onto Virgin CC (@ 0% for 15 months)

CC # 2 £203.09 onto Virgin CC (@ 0% for 15 months)

Sofa – on 0% for 24 months anyway

Which means that all my debt will be on 0% for the first time!!!

This leaves a so-called "available balance" on the Virgin CC (aka debt card!!) of £1,579.94. Depending on how our savings go, I MAY transfer £1500 into my current acc to use for a deposit - on the condition that when we get our deposit back from this place (2-4 weeks after we move) it goes STRAIGHT onto the CC and is paid off again. That said, we've already started saving, and we have a move date in mind of the end of April - so we have a chance to make a serious dent in the amount we need to save in any case! I don't want to use it for this but equally, I don't want to be left £200 short or something (having already signed the lease) and needing to raise this fast with no way of doing it! (esp as our landlord have already pretty much confirmed that if we clean, touch up paint etc before we go, they're not going to deduct money from our dep)

The sofa that sparked off this diary has now arrived (yesterday) and is gorgeous. I have already started putting aside money to pay it off (re-payments start next month) and will try to use it as a reminder to SAVE for something first, not just stick it on credit. A fairly long lasting reminder it will be, too, as the sofa people say if we take care of it, it will last us for 7-10 yrs!

I did a new Snowball calc. based on a higher rent, C/Tax etc and it would have pushed my DFD date out by at least a year. But if I keep it all on 0% and pay off what I can afford (plus continue to do 4 hours a week in OT) my new DFD will be August 09 - so another 6 months in the future.

That said - getting a permanent job / raise at my work is in the pipeline (I hope!), I'm still taking packed lunches to work (saving £1000+ a year), and when I have some "spare" money I still intend to do some MB. Ooh and utilities bills look like they could be lower in a house with actual radiators, as opposed to our v. unefficient storage heaters! So there is potential to bring that date forward, I hope.

Oooh and good news on the OH front!!! I got him to Snowball one of his loans, to see the diff that over-paying £30 a month would make - it was 3 years better!!! He then tried it with his other debts and said it made it more realistic and he could see why I found it more motivating than just throwing money at them (for no "real" results)! Yey!

Anyway - gonna go clean the house and some other bits and pieces - just thought I'd post something so you know I haven't forgotten MSE exists! Just busy with OT and things, sorry ppl!

Hows everyone's Saturday going?

SarahNeedle1872

Hi Jenna,

as ur debts are all currently at 0%, why not look into getting ahigh interest savings account, pay the minimum off the debts each month, and put the rest of what u would normally pay into that account...... u will earn interest on whatever u put in and it will give u a few extra quid to pay off at the end.

HTH

Sarah x

Jenna

Hey Sarah,

Yes that's a good idea thanks, I'll look into that! I've received the Virgin CC now and transferred my Egg & Tesco balances onto it - well Egg actually shows as having £3.75 left on it, which I paid today, but it's yet to show on the account. I'll update my sig when it's updated!

So ... what debt should I target next? I now have:

Nationwide OD @ 7.75% - £750
Family @ 0% – was £1,142.53, now £950
Virgin @ 0% til 1st June 2009 – £1,925.78
Egg @ 16.9% - was £499.56, now £3.75 (paid 23.02.08 but not showing on the account yet!)
Sofa @ 0% til 2010 – £1,234; my half is £617

Total was £4,516.09,now £4,246.53 ~ total paid back so far £269.56

Any tips would be gratefully accepted!

Hope everyone is okay xx

jpwhittle

right im going to give you a kick for spending the extra\when with theway youv been working you could have saved looked round and bought it cash outright at the end f the year. something we ave learned but from experiance.
but i think some people havebeen harsh and i can fully understand why you bought your suite from where you have. probably the same reason i did they look good feel comfy have a good reputation and give you interest free. i had a suite wen we first got married that was from argos and i swear iwill never ever buy another suite from there. it was the biggest load of garbage iv ever bought. but i also never knew places like the next clearence wearhouse exhisted.
so in ll im saying ok whats done is done at least its interest free you can put the moneyaway and repay early and just move on. just dont do it again lol