LonelyRat's (not so lonely) Road to Riches

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  • lonelyrat
    lonelyrat Posts: 567
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    Today
    [STRIKE]1. Insurance
    [/STRIKE][STRIKE]- Print claim form
    [/STRIKE][STRIKE]- Contact Easyjet for confirmation no other flight was available [/STRIKE]
    Spoke to someone on their online chat who advised me to fill out a contact us form. So have done that... Can take 21 days to get a response :o

    [STRIKE]- Query excess [/STRIKE]
    Have emailed back and also mentioned I am waiting to hear back from Easyjet.
    [STRIKE]2. Message friend from University to meet up
    [/STRIKE][STRIKE]3. Add upcoming shifts to calendar [/STRIKE]
    4. Re-organise wardrobe/ chest of drawers as is (once again) a mess
    5. Hoover
    6. Shower (+ dry and straighten hair)
    7. Call resourcing (missed a call from them earlier today and am now scared to call back).

    Also messaged an old work colleague on FB - she moved to corporate a few months ago so have asked her how she's finding it.
    Total Debt : ?? / ??
  • redofromstart
    redofromstart Posts: 4,062
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    ooh nice bonus, and make that phone call back to resourcing.
  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 15,446
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    95 days until you are debt free is wonderful. That means hopefully you can enjoy a guilt free holiday in Copenhagen with no snow. Sorry about your lady rats :(. Are they like hamsters and only live for a few years?
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • lonelyrat
    lonelyrat Posts: 567
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    edited 14 March 2018 at 3:39PM
    Hello redofromstart! You'll be happy to know I did call resourcing back :o Not until today as I was far too nervous yesterday, but I did do it! Had a chat with a lovely lady about the role and have a telephone interview scheduled for tomorrow. It will be with the lady I spoke to today so I feel quite comfortable about it. Just need to try and think what sort of competency questions I'll be asked and try and draft some answers and prep tomorrow.

    Last telephone interview I had there hadn't been any conversation prior to it (just an email exchange) and I feel like having that introduction conversation today has made me feel more relaxed. I can get in my own head a lot and often worry about things unnecessarily. Hopefully I can continue to feel calm about it and fake some confidence tomorrow :o

    Enthusiasticsaver - I know! I feel like it's getting very, very close... Am very excited to be getting there. It's been ups and downs and I have felt like it's a never ending worry sometimes but soon all my balances will be zero and i'm sure it will feel fantastic. Then the next goal will be to start saving (enthusiastically :cool:) for a deposit.

    With regards to holiday it's all up in the air with insurance but hopefully it should get sorted soon enough. I think the plan will be to go away for a long weekend in August. Both OH and I will be debt free, but only newly so. So we will still need to watch spends etc. but will be very nice to go away and not have the guilt of everything clouding the experience.

    My poor ladyrats! I miss them terribly. It's so hard when pets die... They bring such joy when they're around and such sadness when they pass. Rats do live a really short time, on average about 2 - 3 years so the ladies did do well. It was so hard making the decision to have them PTS, even though I do know it was the kindest thing it still feels crummy. They were little fluffy family members.

    We just have two boys left. One of them is almost three and the other is 2 and a quarter. I've recently 'downsized' their cage so now they live in a bungalow (as they're both starting to struggle climbing). Neither of them are very impressed with me though :rotfl:

    94 days
    Total Debt : ?? / ??
  • dustydigger
    dustydigger Posts: 1,507
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    Woo-hoo,94 days. You're getting there.:j Good to hear about the bonus,it'll be so useful:beer:
  • lonelyrat
    lonelyrat Posts: 567
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    I know Dusty! Very excited... I do like having a job where I get a bonus, even if its just a small one compared to other peoples. Will be going mostly to the Santander card. Very much looking forward to that balance being under £1000. Seems far more manageable if it's a 3 figure number rather than a 4 figure!

    Was supposed to be prepping for the interview but instead I had a nap... So that's a great start! Have now done some digging online and found questions that are likely to be asked (motivational and competency based). Plan for the evening now is to put a film on and try and brainstorm some answers. I want to feel 100% prepared for tomorrow. No excuses! :cool:
    Total Debt : ?? / ??
  • lonelyrat
    lonelyrat Posts: 567
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    edited 17 March 2018 at 7:34PM
    It's been a mixed bag the last two days.

    Positives
    - Payday - £1173.77
    - Received cashback and interest to the tune of £3.02
    - Overtime offered at work so have applied for 15 hours next week. I also have a bank holiday shift of 7 hours on April the 2nd so should have a decent April wage to look forward to.
    - Made payments to the Santander card and to Very. Have transferred my FINAL loan instalment to RBS ready for the dd. Have left the other dd money sitting in the 123 account ready to go.
    - Had my interview today and it went well. She was very lovely and friendly and said she was "more than happy" to progress me to the assessment centre. So that will be at some point during the week of the 26th. It will involve (more) competency based questions, a maths assessment and another test to see if you can spell/ use correct grammar.

    Feeling proud of myself for getting the gumption together to go for it. It is the same pay as what I'm on now but I would be full time again. So probably about £1200 a month which would be a very welcome change. Hours are far, far better than my current role (at full time). Would never be working past 5.30 which would be great. Still don't want to get ahead of myself but feeling quietly positive about it. Was a complete bundle of nerves beforehand. I really am my own worst enemy :o

    Negatives
    - Tomorrow would be my parents 38th wedding anniversary if my mum was still alive. Feeling emotional for my dad (and selfishly for myself too). I know he is going to be finding the next few days tough and I wish I could be there for him more than I am.
    - Yesterday I woke up with loud shuffling nosies coming from the boys cage. I went to investigate and my poor baby Samwise was struggling to breathe and looked like he was having a fit. We immediately called the vet and took him in and they said his back leg paralysis (something that's come on in the last few weeks) was spreading up to his diaphragm and he was struggling to breath and in distress. He took one look at him and said he needed to be put to sleep. It was the worst shock. With the ladies I had been prepared... Things did come on fast but we had a few months to get our head round what was happening and knew the time was coming. With this it was just completely out of the blue. I completely broke down in the vet. I was hyperventilating and couldn't stop crying and was just generally a mess. It was awful saying goodbye to him. I knew it had to happen but I think I was just in shock and didn't understand what was happening.

    After he was put to sleep we took him home and took him into the fields/ woods near where we live. There's a tree on it's own in a field where we've buried all the other rats so he got to join them and we planted some daffodils with him.

    Sam was our first rat and I had a special bond with him. We used to nap together when he was a baby and he would sit in my lap every night in bed. It hurts my heart that he's gone.

    Now we're just down to one rat and I feel very guilty. They shouldn't live on their own as they're very social creatures and can get depressed but I genuinely can't take any more deaths. It's just too much. I actually feel like at the moment I can't catch a break a bit. The plan is to shower him with as much love as possible and hope he doesn't get too sad. Unsure if we should move him back into his double story cage as the only reason they had downsized was due to Sams back legs going funny. Will need to have a think.

    Trying not to feel too guilty/sad this evening. I am off work tomorrow and have celebrated payday finally arriving with a bottle of cheap Cava from Tesco and some crackers and cheese. Am going to have a chilled evening watching a film with my bottle and snacks while OH works on a presentation for Uni. No plans for tomorrow. Might do some laundry but that's about it.

    Santander CC £1100 / £2770.90
    Virgin CC £725 / £700
    RBS Loan £0 / £770 !!!!
    Very BNPL £50 / £288.98

    Total Debt £1875 / 7203.13

    Now my RBS loan is almost paid I keep getting messages popping up on the app with "offers" to try and entice me into taking another one out or up my overdraft by £450. No chance :rotfl:

    I had wanted to pay off more of the Santander card and get it down to £1000 or under but I don't want to overcommit myself. I've spent £100 on flights to see my dad for his birthday in April which I actually hadn't budgeted for :o It will be money well spent though as I haven't seen him since Christmas and am missing him. We shall see where I stand with money this month. If I can afford to make extra payments to the card then I will do.

    92 days
    Total Debt : ?? / ??
  • lonelyrat
    lonelyrat Posts: 567
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    edited 19 March 2018 at 6:27PM
    Feeling a bit bleugh today. Think it may be some kind of post pay day slump. The excitement of making payments has worn off and I'm faced with the stark realisation that I once again have no money. I think I say it every month BUT it's going to be a tight month :o I think I'm a bit disappointed I didn't get the Santander card down to £1000. I just don't think I can find another £100 without stretching myself too thin.

    Day off on Tuesday so I may see if I can find anything to sell to make some cash. I think I got rid of everything when I first started trying to sort the debt.... Will still have a nosey in the shed and see if anything crops up.

    So much overtime this week. Feeling good about it money-wise but can already feel the tiredness and grumpiness. Just praying for some nice, happy customers. I did not have nice, happy customers today. That may also have an impact on why I feel like such a negative Nancy now I think about it.

    90 days
    Total Debt : ?? / ??
  • Rachel24
    Rachel24 Posts: 214
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    Lonely rat I don't know what job you're in but I can definitely sympathise. I'm on the phones tomorrow and I'm already dreading the horrible customers. Chin up and just think 90 days you will be debt free and the overtime will have been worth it! Xx
  • lonelyrat
    lonelyrat Posts: 567
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    edited 19 March 2018 at 8:14PM
    Rachel24 I work in a call centre for a bank... Sometimes the customers are really lovely but there's just quite a lot of getting shouted at for other people's mistakes. Got called "useless" then hung up on today... Suppose it's better than last week where I was called "f***ing useless" :rotfl: Hope your day wasn't too bad!!

    Made a little payment to the credit card today £3.30. I bought some french toast at work for breakfast (decided to treat myself as I had a long day with the overtime - £1.70) so just rounded the purchase down. May not get the card to £1000 but I will do my best. Although now I've written it down I feel a bit guilty about it... I'm too poor for french toast!

    Anyway cc now sitting at £1096.70 so onwards and downwards.

    Off work tomorrow so planning to do some laundry and then go hunting in the shed for things to sell. Am imagining I will find loads of great stuff and make loads of cash but I know this is not likely to be the case.

    I know I have a Tassimo coffee thing but I had wanted to keep that for when OH and I move into our own place. Thinking about it though it isn't really necessary. It's been sitting in the shed since we moved in with his parents and I haven't missed it so maybe it should just go. Also how likely is it we'll get our own place in the near future? Not very :o

    I've also got a polaroid camera and an old analogue one so I'll check prices on them and maybe try and sell them.

    89 days
    Total Debt : ?? / ??
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