Let's get this sorted then!

FootyFanDan

Having 25% paid off your debt is an amazing achievement, well done

stymied

Extra pension contributions are handy for keeping out of higher rate tax if you’re close to it and can afford not to have the money now. It’s a bit of a balancing act 🤷‍♀️

Rhyddid2026

I went back to yoga last night, first time in months. Hopefully I can get back into doing that regularly.

I've arranged a dog walker for the younger dog today. The older one is limping so we've only had short walks since Saturday, the younger dog needs a decent walk so that's coming out of my daily spends pot

I went to the lovely butcher on Tuesday on my way back from work. They didn't have the chicken thighs I wanted, I treated myself to lamb chops and belly pork instead. One of those will be my treat meal this weekend instead of a takeaway or fakeaway. I roasted a whole chicken last night so that will feed me for a few days. I've also bought some venison mince, which I have to collect from the farm on Saturday morning. So I'm well stocked up on meat for a while!

My nw2 credit card balance now starts with a 4!! I'm very pleased with that.

Last lecture tomorrow afternoon. I'm still not sure how much I'll be paid, it won't be much after tax but every little helps. I'll be pleased to have one less thing to think about.

Someone on vntd has made me a low offer on a pair of shoes. I was going to take them to the charity shop soon so I might as well accept it.

Rhyddid2026

Dog walker didn't turn up (running too late) so now I have to figure out how to tire one dog while limiting the running of the other dog tomorrow.

Slides written. Last lecture tomorrow, then I'll have one less thing to think about so I can go back to thinking about the others things I should be thinking about 😜

I've accepted the offer on the vntd shoes and located them. Will probably post them Saturday.

I have hair dye as a little weekend treat too. It's a different colour so I might be cautious and just leave it on a short while then build it up if I like it.

Nothing else to report, been too busy working. I should really plan something exciting for myself soon.

FootyFanDan

Good luck with the lecture 😊

Rhyddid2026

A family emergency last night meant me driving 40miles at midnight, and another 40 back this morning. I got back home just after 7am, slept til 10:30 and then had to get up to do half hour work, take the dogs for some exercise and get ready for my lecture. I was not on my best form but it went ok-ish. A few students stayed back to chat to me at the end. I'm pleased I did it, it's good to keep pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. I really dislike public speaking or speaking to large groups, but I'll do it if it's on something I know well and am comfortable with.

I've been good for nothing all day, but still managed to eat well and drink a lot of water at least.

Just did my weekly finances and it was lovely to see my credit card totals start with a 15. My credit score has gone up another couple of points so all on track to be able to get a balance transfer by July.

We plod on.

Baileys_Babe

I hope you manage to get a good night's sleep.

Dakota_Rose

Tracking back to your pensions talk, I actually had a productive ‘chat’ with ChatG*T yesterday around the same thing. I’ve heard AVCs are the right thing to do, but I wasn’t sure if they were right for my situation or not. It was really insightful and you can ask as many questions as you like without annoying the other person 😂

Turns out, with the decent pension I already have, if I’d like to retire early, a SIPP or ISA would be better options for me. It’s all good having a brilliant pension, but not if you’re penalised for withdrawing from it when you actually want to retire. When I can afford it, I’ll probably go for the ISA and use this as a bridging fund until I can take my main pension. I had never heard of a bridging fund until my chat with AI 🙈

PennysIntoPounds

Sorry to hear about the family emergency, well done on getting the essentials done after that

Rhyddid2026

Thanks everyone, and Pip - it wasn't as bad as it usually is, just needed my presence as a precaution.

Venison collected, acupuncture had, tax talk also had. Not much else done because I'm still trying to catch up on rest and had quite a busy day out of the house.

I have almost no pension saved, as I've worked basic jobs and when money was tight I had to opt out of pensions. I'm going to increase my contributions to my work pension for now, even though my employer won't match it, mostly because I won't miss money I didn't get used to having. I need to have a proper look into pensions at some point, but probably not in the next couple of months as my brain is too full with other things and paying off the debt has to be the priority. The work pension is not the best but it's easy so it will do for now.

3rd job is now all done, just the two (in one) that I need to focus on now, but hopefully I will get someone to replace me in my old job in 2 or 3 months.

I filled up on petrol today, I'm usually looking at the petrol light on payday. I actually made it to 7th before I needed to fill up!! Who even am I??

I have a lot of chores to do tomorrow as I've done nothing around the house for the last few days. I do also plan to sit and go through my seed box tomorrow! Exciting!! I usually start sowing seeds after valentines day. Hopefully I'll get a dry day before then to spread some compost, do some weeding, and tidy the garden up a bit.