Monday, 30 January 2012

Be gone credit card and good riddance!

Yesterday myself and the BF spent the day in London celebrating Chinese New Year with my Mum and Dad. We headed past Trafalgar Square up to China Town in pursuit of dragons, drums and decorations. Things were pretty crowded and quiet in comparison to other years so feeling the cold we went to Carnaby Street for a bite to eat.



Conversation turned to our current living arrangements and how I am increasingly getting fed up with living with other people who bring drunk 18 year olds home who puke in our loo and who don't seem to know how to pick up a hoover. Anyways, after discussing finances and savings etc the conversation turned to my BF's credit card and the extortionate amount of interest he is paying, and what a rip off it is. My mum, (who used to be a personal banker) strongly advised that I pay off the balance of £900 using my savings, and my BF pay me back instead. A monthly repayment of £75 should clear it within the space of a year. So that's what we plan to do, I have just made the transfer and it should hopefully be paid off and sorted out by tomorrow.

They then said that if we (I?) continue to save how we/I am then they may be able to help us with some of the deposit on a flat in around a years time. I almost cried with relief that I won't have to put up with this situation for too much longer and we may even have our own, settled home. It almost seems to good to be true and so far away, but will feel so worth it if it does happen. Though it is a little disheartening transferring almost £1,000 out to pay of the credit card certainly makes financial sense in the long run. If things go to plan I should have around £10,000 by the end of July (if we stay living in the same place we are now- fingers crossed, even though the people aren't great its affordable, is a fairly nice, newly refurbished flat and is also great location wise).

So come July time that leaves ten months to save £500 per month, maybe more if I get a decent pay rise in October and the BF starts saving too. That's at least a total of £15,000 so would probably need to borrow £10,000 off my parents for a deposit. Their mortgage is going down shortly and they have my sister and her BF living at home paying a couple of hundred pounds rent between them so all being well they can help us towards our future. Eep!

Day to day saving seems so hard, but I just keep thinking every thing I buy means our own home is just a bit further out of reach. I've resisted the daily diet coke, and have a weeks worth of meals planned so won't need to do a shop until the weekend when I plan on going home as my BF is working nearly the whole weekend and I want a couple of uninterpreted good nights sleep (as well as some free food as well of course hehe!).

I'll keep my little turtle tracker at the same amount as I will be recouping the money over the next year and want to know where I am in relation to my overall goals.

Does anyone have any inspirational quotes to keep me focused? and does anyone else struggle with just keeping going? Please feel free to share your tips.

Hope you've all had a Happy Monday and may the frugal feeling stay with you.



Thursday, 26 January 2012

Fulfilling my resolutions

Tropicana brightening up Trafalger Square

Today myself and the BF had the day off to spend together which we (I?) decided would be best spent taking in what our capital city has to offer.

 It was one of my new years resolutions to make more of London, and I believe I am starting to fulfill it. Earlier on in the week I made sure to check out Tropicana's art installation in Trafalgar Square; a bright artificial sun which is meant to be visible from space. 

Somerset House: Forgotton Spaces exhibition
Today we went to Borough Market, a food market close to London Bridge. I always mentioned going whenever we passed by on the train, yet had never got round to it. We tasted some foods that were on offer, lots of cheese and bread etc and tucked into German Bratwurst sausages in buns, followed by slabs of fresh cheesecake and coffee for dessert. 

Lovely wood grain
We then went over to Somerset House to see an exhibition which was recomended to me by a friend. '20 years of dazed and confused' which was on fashion photography. Then next door we noticed there was a journalism expo;  http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/front-line-a-year-of-journalism-and-conflict. This documented how the development of technology had changed the shape of journalism. The section on the 2011 riots was particularly interesting- the journos had to go undercover by dressing as yobs to capture the sheer carnage. The Gadaffi coverage was also interesting and covered the debate on whether the public should have been able to see the graphic images of his death which were plastered everywhere.  

We had a couple of drinks in a few pubs to round the day off which came to a total cost of; 

Travel: free for me (season ticket), discounted travel card for BF £5.40

Drinks: £8.40 first round, £6.40 second round (joint account) 

Food: £8.00 hotdogs 
£5.00 x2 huge slabs of cheesecake (should have shared)
£5.00 x2 coffees 

View overlooking the Thames
Entertainment: free 

Total: 38.20 - under £20 each which I'm fairly happy with as it doesn't happen too often. 

On Sunday we also plan to go uptown to celebrate Chinese new year in Soho to welcome the year of the dragon. 

Future trips I want us to do in the next few months include; going to see the 'Woman in black' film starring Daniel Radcliffe- perhaps for Valentines Day as it's released around then. Also to visit Boxhill in Surrey when the weather is a little warmer, and finally to go to Dagenham market to check out the fake designer goods my sister raves about.