18 month update - yes, its really been that long!

ms_london

Hello hello.

Happy New Year to you all! Wanted to pop in and say howdy and give you an update. Cant believe I've been away for 18months now......

I am still in Auckland (New Zealand for you SS, who didnt seem to know where that is! :rolleyes: ) - still working, and enjoying NZ - managed to do a trip of the South Island over Christmas which was amazing! Now trying to plan on where I'll be next.

Been on the look out for jobs in London (as you do!) and could land myself a job with a payrise of 7K from what I was earning when I left. Yaaaay! My plan for when I get home is to save for my own house, and hopefully have bought something by my 30th. No rest for the wicked hey? :wall: (yes, I drive myself nuts!)

My visa runs out in October and at the moment I have booked a flight to Hawaii, LA, Vegas, New York & then home. (well, havent actually booked the JFK-LHR part, cant bring myself to do it!) - so really looking forward to hitting the states, will be so much fun!

Means I have a lot of saving to do as I have ZERO savings at the moment, which is great, so long as I have no emergencies and can keep my job. Just minor details really :eek: :eek: !

The best part of it all, is that my plan is to come home with at least a 1K. Oh why oh why do I do this to myself, haha!

Hope your year is a good one so far!

Take care guys xxxx

tesuhoha

Hi Ms London, You probably dont remember me but I remember you. Welcome back. Good luck with the job hunting. Its a very good time to buy a house here I think. Your trip sounds amazing. What time is it there now?

ms_london

Hey.

Yeah of course I remember you - how are you getting on?

Its 2:40 Sat afternoon here, bought a laptop the other day so can now visit this site as much as I like, whoo.:D

xx

tesuhoha

Its 2.06am on a cold winter night here.

How am I getting on - you might regret asking that - long story. Basically we bought an old house 18 months ago when we were £17,000 in debt. So far we havent been able to do any work on it at all although the entire house needs extending and improving. Up to Christmas this year we had managed to get the debt down to £5800. However, the prospect of a large £6,000 tax bill plus my daughter coming home (talk about that in a moment) caused us to overspend at Christmas because we kind of thought who cares, we're going to be in debt again anyway. We thought that because my daughter doesnt have a decent sized bedroom and we were going to do a loft extension by June so that she could have one. However, with the tax bill, our overspend at Christmas and £10,000 borrowed for the loft extension the debts would have gone up to £25,000. I came on here and a lot of people advised me not to do it. My OH and I had a long chat and we are going to go all out to pay the debts off this year. They now amount to around £14,500 but we are feeling quite positive and focussed now although its a bit depressing after getting them down so much. So thats it basically.

taxi73

Good Morning MS London...how lovely to hear from you and what a fantastic time you seem to be having....will be nice to have you back again ....so enjoy yourself while you can over there..your not missing much here it's been freezing and most of the country is meant to get snow over the weekend...take care, be safe and have fun xx

DeniseNZ

Glad you're enjoying New Zealand, and especially the South Island (or the Mainland as we South Island kiwis call it). Hope you've also been enjoying our summer and beaches

You've done so well, I'm sure you'll have your house deposit saved in no time at all!

Good luck!

Sea78

OH wow - Sounds like you are having a wonderful time! And the possible job back here also sounds brilliant too

Sea xx

System

Hi Ms L, good to here your life is still going in the right direction. Well done and will be good to have you round here more often. Lenny

Gemmzie

I'm still really jealous that you've done so much! Enjoy the USA

Burlesque_Babe

is it really 18 months??? Amazing........I remember the day you left your job to set off, time has really flown.

Enjoy yourself, it sounds like everything is going to fall into place for you when you get back.

ms_london

Hello!! Thanks for all of your comments!

tesuhoha - I guess the new found debt had to be done - you had to pay the tax bill, and you wanted the extension - it was a priority for you - dont be too hard on yourself, you said you were determined to pay the debt off this year, so just keep up that spirit and youll be fine!! xx

Cant believe it has been 18 months either, totally crazy - and I still have 9/10 months left, or I may never get back, who knows! I still want to recommend it to anyone - having the best time ever, just really enjoying living in another country rather than just a fleeting visit - got a list of things I want to do when I get home, and places I would like to live/visit. Sounds like I'll be busy and broke !!

I have a neice I havent met yet, who is about 16 months old - so cant wait to see her when I get back, am a bit worried about fitting in again I do have to admit! Oh well, cross that bridge when I come to it! Will try and bring some of the lovely weather back with me too.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekends xxx