Ding- there goes the bulb!!

helnag

Hi,

Just to say I've read your whole thread today (when I should have been attacking my own to do list), anyway, you seem to be doing so well, try not to be too hard on yourself, you've achieved so much already.

I wish i had all your energy!!!

Helen xx

Claw_back_money

MissShoes wrote: »

Hope you're all having fun xx

Hi MissShoes
Sounds like you've got a second wind on the DFW journey. Hope you manage to do the things you want/need to.
Not exactly fun here! I got in the car to go out this morning and it went bang... no idea what happened but then there was a rattle from the back and its gone to the garage. Followed a few minutes later by the fridge conking out. It was not exactly cheap, bought in the heyday of 'buy nice things as we need them and we're worth it' late 2001. No power getting through, fuse and socket checked and fine. :mad: I'm waiting for a man to phone me back - two messages left. I'm not sure how we would manage long term without a fridge - part of the great 'look how we can do without' journey I suppose.
I'm starting that other job on Friday, so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully it will just be until the end of July.
I've also got a day's work as part of the election - which pays pretty well. It might be worth contacting your local council and see if they need staff. I'm a Clerk on the day, but they also have counting people, validation people etc.

Glad to hear all is good with the lovely bf.

Cheers
Cbm

beanielou

Yeah, work at the election is well worth it.
Long day but great money.

beanielou

MissShoes wrote: »

How you doing beanielou? Love it when you pop in

Awww thats nice:)
Never feel I have much to contribute.

Smamfer

I found youuuuuuuuuuuuu

Sounds like your pretty much on the roller coaster with me but keep going lass ill be popping back regularly to tan your !!!! into shape lol

Claw_back_money

MissShoes wrote: »

Oh CBM that is carp about the car and fridge- I have been there- what's the latest??

Good idea about the election stuff- wonder if it's only during the daytime ie when I'll be at work??

Ahthe bf is lovely...he's doing his workout in front of me as I type...mmmmmm lush!!

Car - suspension - £120
Fridge - bulb blew, taking out computery thing at top, thermostat thingy at the bottom, and bulb holder - £80
Shower - £40+ of sealant and 'stuff' - STILL LEAKING :wall:

How is your building work coming on?

Its going to be a tight month - I had reduced overdraft #2 by £500 at the beginning of the month (only way I can stop spending the 'slack' :rolleyes:) and the big kids were home from uni and seemed to expect food and stuff:rotfl:and they can really eat!

Re the election, it probably will be while you're at work. Are you a teacher... if so might your school be closed? They might do counting type things through the night in your area (they're not in mine).

Not sure its fair if you get hunky bf doing work-outs and the rest of us can only make do with imagination

Cheers
Cbm

Debtoxing

Hello Miss. Shoes - would you mind terribly if I barged into your diary and gave you an almight cyber-hug?! ((((((((((:kisses:))))))))))

I've read your diary all the way through from the beginning and I think you must be my MSE soulmate. At last, someone else who makes endless lists and plans of things to do and then turns round and finds that nothing seems to have happened! Except that you have actually made incredible efforts and incredible progress - I am humbled and stunned by your ability to get things done when you really want to. You just took that lodger idea and ran with it. A one-bedroomed rented flat turned into a potentially profitable venture in a couple of months - that's real commitment. And all those extra jobs - and you're only 24! You're the savviest 24 year old I've come across in a long while!

You really could do this if you took it seriously. I get the feeling that your brain works a bit like mine, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Do you tend to get madly carried away with an idea and follow it through without necessarily worrying about the grim financial details until it's too late? Like blowing £90 you can't afford on energy-saving lightbulbs and then finding out it'll take 60 years to recoup your investment?! :mad:

I say this because I'm worried for you that you've spent a lot of money you don't have, investing in a property that you don't own, and I don't know whether you've taken all the costs into account when calculating the potential profits from doing this. The more money you throw at your new room, the longer it will take you to recoup your investment and start paying off your original debts with the rent money. Don't buy new furniture from IKEA - get some second-hand stuff as cheap as possible!

I think that you have concentrated too much on trying to make more money. You need to realise that you have a GREAT income for someone your age, and all you need to do is spend the money you do have more carefully. If you spent a couple of months being seriously stingy (challenge yourself to spend only £100 a month besides bills, for example) you could get some of the nastiest debts out of the way, freeing up more money to pay off the others more quickly. Don't spend money on nights out with friends - there are masses of things you can do in London for free, and true friendship is free, so why pay for a social life?! Tell yourself you can gad about expensively again when your debts are paid and not before - it can be your reward!

Sorry if I'm sounding Mumsy, but I can't help it - I think I want to adopt you! You're amazing, and I wish I had half your determination and sparkle. I really want you to win through - you truly deserve to.

L.
xxx

P.S. Hope LL is still behaving himself!!!

Claw_back_money

MissShoes wrote: »

I know I've just posted posted posted on my own diary- but hey it's my diary!!! I really CAN NOT sleep! Waiting for LL to come home. Noisy neighbours are now quiet but can hear banging and whimpering and scuffles/whining or something?? No idea what it is but don't want to knock and see if everything's alright as it's too late. Instead I shall sit and post post post. Hopefully by tonight's excessive posting I will drill it into my head that I can post everyday lol

Sounds like you had a horrible night there - I guess the problem with flats is that you can't control who lives next door to you. Are you sure you will want to buy it...?
Hope LL didn't come in just as you'd got to sleep. Incidentally, good luck to LL with the job.
Do you teach in a PRU?
Cheers
Cbm

beanielou

Sounds pretty yuk.
Hope tonights better.

Debtoxing

Hello – it’s me again. I took note of what you said about not blowing any money on going out or on yourself or on things you don’t need. Obviously I can only go by what you’ve written in your diary, so I went back through it and made a note of some of the things that suggested to me that you’re maybe not being quite as hard on yourself as you could be. I’ve included the dates of the posts so you can see where I got my information from.

06/12/08 £30.00 Highlights
07/12/08 £27.57 ‘Spent on me’ – chocolate, cheese and ???!!!
21/11/08 £8.20 Drinks with friends
21/11/08 £21.25 Dinner with friends
01/12/08 £8.92 Decorations for classroom
02/11/08 £29.50 Takeaway pizza
02/11/08 £24.00 Dry cleaning
02/11/08 £334.65 Holiday in Paris
08/11/08 £30.00 Highlights
01/11/08 £300.00 Car towed away
16/08/08 £495 Gym membership August 2008 – April 2009

All this makes a grand total of £1309 – just about enough to pay off your BC and Vanquis cards (as things stood on 03/02/09). And that’s only the things that you posted on your diary – I’m sure there have been other naughty stuff that you haven’t put online. These things add up so fast.

Here are some suggestions on how you might have cut the costs…
1. Forget the hairdresser. If you must dye your hair, do it at home yourself!
2. Organise a dinner party rota with your friends so you don’t have to keep forking out £30 at restaurants. Then feed them on the cheap when it’s your turn!
3. Get your students to make or donate their own decorations if they want them.
4. Buy cheap pizzas from a supermarket and keep them in the freezer.
5. Someone else already suggested how to get cheap dry-cleaning with Tesco Clubcard. Alternatively, don’t wear clothes that need dry-cleaning!!!
6. Skip the holidays until you can afford them. Elsewhere you said that your trip to New York was your first holiday for four years, so you should be quite capable of going without travelling until you’re 26!
7. Be much more careful and organised about parking the car and speeding etc. It’s infuriating when you get caught, but if you become a stickler for the rules then it just won’t happen – full stop.
8. Gym membership – cancel it now if you haven’t already. It’s a luxury you can’t afford!!! For one month’s gym membership you could get a second-hand bike – that way you get exercise, plus you save money on petrol and parking charges, plus you have a backup transport plan if the car blows up again!

I think a proper, paper spending diary is your best bet for sorting yourself out. I’ve been doing one since February and it’s weirdly addictive writing out every last penny I spend. It’s also horrifying to see where all that money disappears to – it really makes me stop and think whether I can justify spending money on something. And of course, it makes it much easier to ensure I’m sticking to my budget!

Sorry if you think I am a meddling, interfering, bossy old biddy – feel free to tell me where to stick my advice if you don’t want it. My current debts are only a few hundred pounds less than yours, so I'm in no position to start lecturing – I’d just like to try and help.

L.
xxx