Nearly there!

January20 · 25 April 2012 at 9:18PM

Hi GreenSaints,
No, I've not gone awol. I'm biding my time, trying to keep my impatience at bay, until I can hatch a plan for the future. And that means, I need to wait until one of the places where I work tell me what they want me to do next academic year! Then I can have a 12 months plan

(hopefully)

I've also had very little to say lol! I've been working hard and been too tired. It's just like I didn't have a Easter holiday!

How are you? You haven't been posting on your diary either, have you? (been checking up on you girl

)

GreenSaints · 27 April 2012 at 8:59AM

When do you find out about your work?

Ah, touche! I haven't been posting, because I'm so miserable

Also, like you, I don't have a huge debt to chase now (ignoring my student loan and BOM loan)

I did however have to take my savings (£114) and put it in my current account

Thanks to the tax man taking an extra £100 a month from me

But I'm forcing myself to keep up the higher payments on my overdraft (will be clear in July) so I'll have an extra £220.75 every month

So, I'm depressed and skint. It's like a year has gone by and nothing has changed

January20 · 27 April 2012 at 5:24PM

I don't know when I will find out about work, but I know it should be before the end of July.

Have you got tax arrears too? I have and the taxman is supposed to take about £50-60 a month extra from me. Why can't they get it right in the first place? They have all the info they need about my work!

It will be brilliant when you have cleared your overdraft! Not long to go!

There is a certain down feeling after paying off one's debt isn't there? I'd focussed on that for nearly 6 years. I was a bit lost at first. Thankfully, I'm so busy at work at the moment, I don't have time to think! (I make up for it with weird dreams at night lol!)

GreenSaints · 2 May 2012 at 1:38PM

Hey,

Sorry for my delayed response.

Yep tax arrears of £1000! I don't even know how this happened and neither do they (they don't give me a straight answer)

The next thing I am currently excited about is my house renovations. My share save comes to an end in a months time which will totally cover plastering my whole house, new doors, skirting and architrave!

So I'm focussed on that. I was going to 'give' that money to my mum, but if I do, I'd only need it back to pay for the work! :P

How about you? Have you managed for your DD, her BF and cat out yet? :P

January20 · 5 May 2012 at 6:56PM

My turn to apologise for the delay in replying!

There has been a step forward regarding my work, but it could only be to have proven to my boss that I can do the job well. It's not bringing me forward to getting a better position yet. Still I had a challenge, I had to prove myself and I did, so I am happy with that for the moment.

My DD, The Boyfriend and The Cat are still living with me. I love the company but I dislike the disruption in my life. I like to live in a clean and tidy environment and they don't! My dd has always been messy! Even The Cat is at it now! lol! Anyway, they won't be able to move out until The Boyfriend (who happens to be a very nice guy) gets a job, and in this recession it's not going to be quick is it?

So all my plans of decoration the flat again, of getting a new sofa (with a cat?!!) have to be on hold. I have to learn patience. And save up some money. Everything is SO expensive though!

My tax arrears are about £650. They are going to take the money from me throughout this tax year. Just as well. In the past, they would have demanded the money there and then, and charged interest for late payments, even though it was their mistake! In my case, it's because I have 2 jobs, and they take tax on my main salary and not the other. And of course my main salary is never the same, because I never do the same hours 2 months in a row, so it must be too complicated for the computer to work out!

GreenSaints · 15 May 2012 at 2:23AM

Hey,

I can't sleep, so I thought I'd check in

January20 · 16 May 2012 at 4:46PM

Oh, I nearly didn't see your post! Nothing to report really... not yet... things look like they are moving forward at work but I won't say anything to anyone (apart from dd) until I have signed my contract.

I'm just exhausted today. Woke up tired because I had a late tea as I went to the pub (non alcoholic drinks only

) with a friend. I should know better ie have tea first and then a couple of alcoholic drinks

January20 · 4 June 2012 at 9:44AM

And before you know it, it is June already! This year is going at such a pace!

There has been some progress. I have finally been given written confirmation of my hours for September, and have been able to hand my notice in at my other job. It is very weird to have 1 job only! The last time was probably in the early 90s. It feels like I'm putting all my eggs in the same basket, but most people are in this situation aren't they? And I had to make a choice, a decision as to what was best for my future.

I'm still not sure what my salary will be, but I have a fairly good idea, and I have made a couple of financial decisions:

I have my car tax and mot as well as my car insurance to renew before the end of this week. I have the money for the all of this, (provided there are no repairs running into thousands after the MOT), but it's in my current account, which I don't like very much. So, I have opened an online savings account linked to my current account and have decided to save separately in there every month to cover all those yearly bills that keep creepy up so regularly

If I save £135 a month, that will cover my tv licence, car tax, mot and car insurance.

My second savings account will become a holiday/personal allowance account. At the end of each month, if there is anything left in my current account, it will be transferred in there on payday. I don't spend much on holidays. I usually visit my family or I spend money on day trips and this can be controlled very easily with packed lunches, picnics etc. In September, any "round" hundreds will be transferred from my second savings account into my long term savings account. I've decided to try and build a substantial saving pot - just in case.

It looks like my dd, boyfriend and cat will be with me for the foreseeable future, so I will delay my house redecoration and purchase of a new sofa. In any case, my oven has packed up as well, and I'd always said that I would look at having a new kitchen fitted when that happened as mine is very, very old. Need to save up for that though. In the meantime, I will buy a mini-oven, and use the old oven as (much needed) storage. Knowing me, if the mini-oven works out as well as I expect, it may be a (long) while before I do anything about the kitchen lol! I'm heavily influenced by Frugal Queen and her blog where she often mentions her mini-oven (and even takes it on holiday abroad it seems

)

January20 · 7 June 2012 at 6:13PM

It's very unusual for me but I have spent a lot of money this week. I'm on holidays and this has coincided with my dd having a couple of days off. This is also very rare so we spent some time shopping. I took her out for lunch twice, bought some stuff to make some home-made wine (my new hobby) bought some clothes (3 tops, 1 pair of jeans and a much needed handbag) and paid for my MOT and car repairs (£61 so not too bad). Very nice couple of days.

I still have to renew my car insurance and my breakdown cover :-(
(will do that tonight).

GreenSaints · 3 July 2012 at 10:33AM

Hey,

Sorry for not checking in sooner. I'll have to set up notifications so I don't miss out on your posts.

Welcome to the world of one job!

Can't believe you've had two jobs since the 90s. I can barely get motivated for one!

Sorry to hear about the oven. Our oven has packed up twice since we bought (strangely each time was after I did a through clean. Not going to bother now!) and it was just the element which was £20 off eBay. A few screws and an hour it was fixed. Maybe it's that? I do like the sound of this mini oven though. I will check out this blog

Glad you had some quality time with your daughter. We all need some retail therapy from time to time

Nearly there!

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