Back to Wales, Back to Reality

backtowales

Had a letter from my old Council yesterday to say that I have a £144 Council Tax rebate to come. That's the Car tax and 2 new tyres paid for. Yeay!

backtowales

Well I have set myself the challenge of only spening £10 during the week (including evening bus fares) on things that aren't budgeted for. So far so good. I only spent £1.45 yesterday - £1.30 bus fare and 15p on a finger of fugde (cheapest thing in the shop) to get some change, as the buses run on the exact change thingy. I think buying a fudge a day will become a permanent thing as it works out cheaper to do that then overpay on the bus fare some days - which I hate doing.

Bf and I have also decided to have a set amount of cash in hand to pay for groceries for the week so that we can't go over if we were to pay by debit card, we're hoping that this will be a better way to do it.

backtowales

Just done my banking and I had a spare £20 so I've paid that off my credit card.:T

Slowly, but surely this DFW thing seems to be working!

In_Search_Of_Me

How you getting on? PM me if you fancy meeting up for a coffee sometime! Hope you're ok! Did you get the tyres OK?

Lemon_Tree

hi just found your diary. Good luck with making it after the move. Was going to say don't worry about having to tell your manager re the redundancy but you've applied already.
One thing i will say is that if you have holiday pay when you leave and have to sign on then this will be added to your leaving date before you're entitled to any benefits. If that makes sense. And they have to give you time off for interviews etc if you are accepted.

backtowales

Hi, Its been a hectic couple of weeks for me, hence the lack of posts.

Thanks Lemon Tree and In Search of Me for the posts - i was losing motivation fast MSE wise this past week.

Work has been manic and was away for this weekend just gone catching up with Uni friends.

I didn't need new tyres in the end, I went to Kwik fit for a free tyre check and they said that I didn't need new tyres for at least 4000 miles. Which means I won't need them until at least the summer.

Spent a lot this weekend on meals out etc, but will get quite a bit back in expenses for petrol as had a work meeting near where we were staying on Monday.

Haven't had chance to catch up with my banking etc yet this week, but I hope to be able to do a bit of it at lunch time. Going away for the weekend has put me behind on all my chores, but it was worth it to see everyone and watch Wales beat England!! :beer:

I've got some job applications to do this weekend, so I'll be being good (and MSE) by not going to watch the rugby in the pub this weekend - but I've got some Kettle Chips instead. Plenty of housework to be getting on with this weekend too.

Won't hear about the redundancy until at least the end of the month, and i'm not holding my hopes up but it would be nice to know that I was free to find a job in Cardiff without a 3 month notice period hanging over me.

backtowales

Time to start again.
Things have gone awry lately and I haven't had the time or the energy to be completely MSE. I've not been feeling that great and I'm having tests done to see if i'm coeliac or not.


Bf and I had a big chat last night and we figured out how much I’m spending, how much debt I’m in and how much spare money I’ll have once I get the pay increase, when he finishes his MA and gets a job and starts contributing more, and when I get a similar paying job in Cardiff. Let’s just say the future could be quite rosy once I’ve paid off my debts and this has re-motivated me.

I'm going to post my updated SOA and start again. I still haven't found a job in Cardiff and still commuting but our 2007 pay increase is soon to be sorted and it could be up to £128 more a month (fingers crossed)

I have received my deposit back from my old landlord last week and I had £100 from quidco. I also got a substantial rebate from my old council tax which paid for most of my new glasses.

Today I’ve paid £380 off Capital one credit card, using deposit and quidco money, and paid £60 off Halifax. I’ve got £87 to last until Monday (payday) but I do need some new work trousers and a new jacket.

We are going to switch gas and electric suppliers this week, I’ve been putting money aside for these bills, but I’m going to set up DDs when we switch.


Earnings: £1362.51

Outgoings:
Rent £275 (bf pays other half)
Council Tax £74.00 (inc. 25% discount)
Water £25 (estimate)
Electric £22 (on standard tariff, just had a bill and will be switching this week)
Gas £34 (on standard tariff for this too, just had a bill)
TV Licence £11.61
Union £10.05
Contents Insurance £16.94 (renewal due in Summer)
Car Insurance £61.01 (renewal due in Summer)
Virgin Media £20 (Broadband, Phone and TV)
Car loan £167
Mobile £30
Groceries £120
Petrol £30 (estimate as don’t use the car for commute)
Car Tax £10
Commute £200 (train fares)
Bus fares £20
Love Film £5.99 (we don't go to the cinema, and hardly ever go out socially)
Bank Charge £5.00 (Includes Phone Insurance, Breakdown recovery and favourable rate on overdraft)

Total Outgoings: £1137.63
Leaves: £224.88

Debts: Barclays Graduate Overdraft £2600 @ 0% on first £2000, not sure on other rate, but pay £1.20 interest a month.
Alliance and Leicester Overdraft £642.5 @ 0% until September 2008 (I think)

BarclayCard £2000 @ 21.9% Minimum Payment £42 (need to check as don’t have bill with me at the mo)
Alliance and Leicester Card £901.37 @ 15.9% on purchases Min pay £11.09
Capital One Card £855.794 @ 25.9% Min Pay £25.68 (now approx £525 as of today)
Egg Card £432.40@ 19.9% Min Pay £8.65
Halifax Card £2470.65@ 17.9% Min Pay £55.57

Minimum Payment on debts: £142.99
Try to pay at least £50 off Barclaycard, £20 off A&L, £20 off egg, £30 off Capital one and £60 off Halifax = £180 per month.

This leaves £44.88 per month for everything else. Most months I don’t spend £200 on train fares due to working away from the office. At the end of the month anything extra will be paid off credit card.

Anyone any ideas on how to save a bit more money on the outgoings? We try and buy as much stripey/smart price goods as possible, but I’m sure there are more savings to be had.

backtowales

Also, I didn't get made redundant which was very disappointing.

TurnaroundSue

Hi BTW, have just come across your thread today and I must say you are doing brilliantly. :T

A couple of things I thought of when reading your posts.

1) You mention buying a fudge a day to get change for the bus, but I thought it might be better and save you money if you worked out how much you needed for the month and go to the bank and get that amount in change. That way you will have change for the bus and not need to waste money on chocolate (unless you want to of course:D ).

2) Tesco are selling a nice suit at the moment which would be suitable for work for £30 (£10 trousers, £20 jacket) - shame tho, as they just had 20% off all their clothing at the weekend, but still might we worth a look.

Any news on the redundancy front?

I am not brilliant with analysing SOA'S but must say yours looks pretty good - but your car insurance does seem a little high, might be worth seeing if you could reduce it.

Anyway, welcome to Wales (I live in Swansea) and good luck on your quest for becoming debt free.:beer:

backtowales

:oThanks for the advice.

I don't buy a fudge a day anymore. I tend to have the right money now because any 10p and 20p I have I don't spend, and now the weather is (supposed) to be getting better then I won't be getting the bus quite as much. Also I'm getting a bike soon so I won't need to get the bus to and from the station ever again. :T

I have a lot of trouble getting trousers to fit. I'm a big lass and a funny shape to boot. I managed to get a pair in M&S on Monday and I'm going there for another look tonight, but there's also a Tesco there so I'll have a look there too as we'll be popping in for stripey loo roll!

The redundancy isn't happening so i'm going to have to pay off my debt the old fashioned way. I'm still looking for a job in Cardiff but the pay increase should mean that I can wait for something suitable and won't need to apply for everything that pays my current salary.

The Car insurance is due for renewal in 3 months time. It is high but I'm living quite close to the city centre which makes car insurance higher.

My bf is from Swansea so I know the place quite well.:o