It's about time really....!

marksandsparksgal

I've just realised I've been pretty rude since I joined MSE...I've been posting left right and centre and I've never actually said hello. Wow, my own post in DFW teehee!

I'm technically not that much of a DFW, but I hope you'll let me stay (the other forums can be a scary place!)

I'm 23, and in the 3rd year of a degree in Education Studies and German, which is why I'm on a year out in Berlin this year, eep. I'm lucky as so far I've been living at home, paying minimal rent and had a job working at Sparkies since I was 16, earning between 600 and 1000 a month, depending on overtime availability.

I'm not too bad with my money, previous to my current degree I did a year at Queen Mary in London, where I had a student loan of 4.5k and went a bit mad and had a bit of a mini breakdown and had to give up, though in my defence I came home on Friday and Sunday increased my hours at M&S to full time (think the breakdown had something to do with full time degree with crap modules that I should not have been allowed to pick, and commuting home to work at M&S every weekend!)

Since then I used to pay £50 off the student loan every month and also save into an ISA, but when I decided to leave for Berlin I stopped, and I got another loan. I had saved for here, probably not as much as I should have though! (It makes me feel a bit sick to think of the overspending I used to do, from eating out, well Dominos or chinese), to buying too much crap in M&S...(it's amazing what a 20% staff discount makes you buy).

Anyway, I actually am lucky enough to have nearly 25k in the bank from an inheritance, but have decided to leave it there for a house deposit one day, and stuck with the student loan of 4.2k this year, since the interest on it is so tiny.

I also have £800 owing to Barclays, but that's a 0% student overdraft, repayable in Summer '09, which I have got down from 1k by using 'free money', i.e. ebay, quidco, bingo. I'm planning to leave that and keep paying it off with the 'free money' as long as I can!

The cost of living is actually really cheap over here, my rent is £120 a month al inclusive, and I can eat like a queen for about £8 a week. A night out can be £15 with club and booze all night, though I am staying off those for a while, a:to save some cash and b: I've gotten a bit podgy since moving here, too much cheap beer!

The boyfriend is back in England and earns 25k but has managed to land himself in debt, including 4k to me. In his defence I offered him the money to pay his credit card off (I'm charging him 0%, HSBC were 19%) and to stop him being taken to county court (his dd for council tax didn't come out and he didn't notice, prat!) , and he is slowly getting himself in order, thanks to me constantly quoting stuff off this site.

Anyway, now the introductions have been made, I would just like to thank everyone. Although I think I've not been bad with money (always worked, have 4 credit cards but never paid interest, have them purely for points / cashback), I have remained until this summer unaware of Quidco, and also my main problem of buying crap. Therefore when I go home there will be massive ebaying going on, (amazing how living out of a suitcase makes you realise you have too much crap!)

But yes, for the 6 months or so I've been on MSE and in particular DFW, it has meant that I am now obsessive about my money (to the point of buying milk in one supermarket rather than another to save the equivalent of 3p lol!) and I am now passing all this wisdom onto the BF, so in a way, it should be a thank you from both of us.

Hope to chat with you all soon XxX

Penny2myName

A belated welcome is offered to you then. Nice meeting you and I am sure everyone will be happy to keep you within this little community of tightwads, sorry cash concious folks.:rotfl:

Gemmzie

Nice to meet you properly Sparks

IWantToBeFree_2

Oops thought I had clicked on create new thread! Sorry! Lx

meyore

Hi nice to meet you (properly!)

skint_spice

ahhh, the penny drops - I wondered if you were working in M&S in Berlin. Sounds like a great opportunity, hope you are enjoying it. you have made me want a Dominos pizza now though...

MissEyre

Welcome! Nice to meet you x

marksandsparksgal

Haha spice, I bloody wish, could have kept my perks and everything, would have been rather handy! I will have a job to go back to in the summer though I'd prefer to have a temping 9-5 to be honest, as M&S involves weekends, working until 10.15pm then 8am the next morning etc...but hey it paid the bills.

They really peed me off when I left, they do a career break scheme where you have upto 9 months off unpaid then a job when you go back, thus preserving double pay on a Sunday (something they don't offer to newbies) and other stuff, but I was over by about a month, I offered to make it up at Xmas and Easter but they weren't interested, hence why I don't want to go back! Bu hey, I liked the username teehee.

And Dominos...mmm when I was at home for Xmas, I demanded that the bf got some in, just for a treat...sadly he went mad and bought BOGOF with all sides, £20 later...

skint_spice

marksandsparksgal wrote: »

They really peed me off when I left, they do a career break scheme where you have upto 9 months off unpaid then a job when you go back, thus preserving double pay on a Sunday (something they don't offer to newbies) and other stuff, but I was over by about a month, I offered to make it up at Xmas and Easter but they weren't interested, hence why I don't want to go back! Bu hey, I liked the username teehee.

RULES IS RULES!!!! sadly some places just won't bend them.

marksandsparksgal

They did for a couple of other people...which is what peed me off! But hey ho, I'm quite enjoying not working, have worked every weekend bar paid hols since I was 14...no gaps between jobs or anything. Hopefully my grades this year will reflect this!