Remembering Africa!!

With interest rates tumbing here in the UK - that 14% African rate looks just too good to be true!

Fun, friendship and uniforms? Well two out of three isn't bad - a Ugandan Compassion project.

These guys are really proud of their home made foot ball and asked me to take this picture of it!

When you think you have it hard - take another look at someone else and then count your blessings! (And when you have done that - look at what you can do to help someone else)

A picture is worth a thousand words isn't it! And helping out one child sounds really great when your at home - when I got to Kenya there were just hundreds who really needed help. Have you thought about sponsoring a child? Why don't you stop thinking about it and just do it!

Winter Wonderland

We've been snowed under in the UK - it's the most snow I have ever seen since I arrive in the UK in 1993. It has brought back lots of memories of living in Chicago and my very first white winter. It has put a stop to my walks around Richmond Park - it would take twice the time at the moment and I really don't want to be breaking an arm or a leg at them moment.
On Monday my bank was closed, I guess the staff just couldn't make it in as there were no buses running and very few trains. (So my pay cheque was banked a day late) As the library is closed on Mondays I had nothing else to do but stop in a cafe for a decaf latte - me and every one else it would seem! All the cafes along the road where heaving! I later heard that the pizza shops were also doing a roaring trade on Monday.
I have been keeping to my £5 a day - some days going a little over and some days going under but either way it balances it's self out.
I have taken up an offer from my bank and transferred the balance of one of my cards to my MasterCard with them at 0% interest for nine months.
This weeks pay cheque is going entirely towards my debt which is a great feeling - OK I am paying today for yesterdays spending but I am clearing the debt which is the good thing and I am not adding to it, as I used to.
By the end of the month I should be down to only two credit cards to clear and I should be able to reduce one of them by at lest £1600 in March. Three payments like that and I should be able to clear it. But till then I am looking forward to getting below the £7k mark!

Getting Back To Where I Was

Another wet and wintry day in the UK and yet another visit to the library.... and behold lots of empty computers so I shell be able to get my 120 minute quote in full today. I have even brought a packed lunch to save some money!... well really it's because I totally blew my £5 a day budget on Monday when I had lunch with a friend (and of cause I paid), so now I am left with only two £5 notes and some copper to last me until Saturday.
Something good to note is that I have been able to clear my tax bill and so my next pay cheque and all from now on will be going to reduce my debt. Last year I got it down to under £8K which was great but now I need to get it below £7k before I can start to celebrate again.

January Update

Yep, at the library again and my time is almost up so I will have to be very brief.

Tax Owing £1,828.95 To clear this by end of month

Credit Card 1 £4,155.95 minimum payment only /need to reduce the interest on this

Credit Card 2 £3,278.19 minimum payment only

Credit Card 3 £ 670.77 minimum payment only /plan to clear this in Feb

Flexiloan £1,386.74 minimum payment only /plan to pay half of this off in Feb

I didn't have the time to do an update for December and this one looks bad after last year's success at getting the debt down. Like some others who PF blog I find it hard to cancel my credit once I have cleared the account but really need to do this to get out of debt.

"Great news! As a valued customer of XXXXXXXXX, we are pleased to be able to double your credit limit ...... to help you make the most of your card."

Now I know we are in a credit crisis (aka a credit crunch) and here in the UK we are in recession, the banks aren't lending and so credit is tight etc, so how come little ol' me is still being offered credit? When I checked my online banking for another account, I found that I have a special deal loan offer available. It really is all quite mad. I am one of the lucky ones and not effected by the credit crunch (so far anyway). But there is credit around in small amounts I guess.

2009 Goals

The big goal is to get debt free and this is the year!!
My major for the month of January is to pay off my tax payment by the 31st January, so by avoiding any interest chargers. To do this I will only be able to pay minim payments on all my cards etc, but this will all change in February when I should be able to clear my smallest credit card balance and also clear at least half of my flexiloan account. (Yes I know that I had clear both of these last year - grrrr!).
By March I should be down to only two credit cards and probably wanting a holiday somewhere warm? I know myself so well! My job is currently seven days a week and although I am getting time off most days it is not the same as having weekends off each week. The ideal holiday would be ten days in Turkey, where I could complete my scuba diving course. Of cause I would have to take my godson as he also wants to complete his "open water" dive course also and I would be paying for his trip as well. Gosh it all costs money doesn't it.
I would like to be able to clear my debts by July as I have promised my Mums I would come home for a long visit, which is not going to happen if I am still paying off debt.
Having read a book about a women who lived a year on a pound a day - I have been looking at my own spending which I have decide to reduce to £5 a day. Where I am now living that is going to be interesting, everything is so expensive and lunch at a cafe costs a minim of £5 (unless I have fried chicken everyday at £2.85 - not really the healthy opinion) and it is way to cold to be buying lunch at Waitrose and eating it outside.
Well these are my goals for 2009 - need to flesh them out and all that but so far they are very "do able". Now will have to get on and make it happen.....

January 31st

January is always overshadowed by the last day of the month - January 31st is one of the two dreaded dates for those of us self-employed souls, here in the UK. That big bill, which becomes due for the upcoming tax year is hanging there, waiting to pounce. And I am sure that the good folk at Her Majesty's revenues and customs are practicing their speed dialing techniques in readiness for the February 1st. As I have already had my taxes calculated by the IRD, I have thereby avoided the £100 fine for being late but I have a bill of £108 owing from the previous year and £1,720.95 due for the first half of 2009.
In total that will put my debts up to over £11k again but I plan to have it all cleared by the end of the month. Everything else will have to just have to make do with minimum payments.
I haven't had the time to read many post from all my favourite PF bloggers so I wonder how everyone else is doing.
I had a very cheap Christmas/New Year season and am really feeling the lack of internet, as I can't keep intouch with my friends etc. The library is ok but isn't open everyday and is no comparison to having online access at home.
Hope everyone is doing ok and really to face what ever the coming year has to throw at us all!

Happy News Years Everyone!

I am back from Africa and even before the end of the year I am in a new job and am working in London now. Hooray!!! Just can't go to the sales in Richmond or Putney etc and I will be find. The job is better paid than my last, but with my tax bill due on the 31st of January I will need it for the start of 2009.
My African trip was amazing but I haven't been able to get my pictures online at the moment, as my new job has no Internet connection and I am blogging in the local library. I think I will be visiting the library a lot over the next few weeks and as it is free why not! Once I can work out how to get my pictures online via the library I will be able to really blog about my trip.
My trip and some spending I have done since coming back to the UK (I had an week before I started my new job which is not helpful when you should be saving and not spending). I played fairy godmother to my god kids and took them to the movies and to Pizza Hutt after for a late lunch. The rest was spent on taking some friends out for supper etc. the general catching up I do when I get a few days to myself.
My end of year target to get my debt below £6K is blown away, sadly - I have to phone my credit card companies this afternoon to get my final end of year balances and will try and update all that on Friday.
Have lots of plans and ideas for the New Year but will have to sit down and really budget them and see if they will be worth while. Just finished the book "How I Lived On Just A Pound A Day" by Kath Kelly - she was inspired by am American woman who didn't spend money on anything except necessaries for a year. Am now reading a book called In The Red which is very entertaining.
Well that's all for this year folks - will have a big update for 2008 in January 2009.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

I'm So Excited!

This month has just zipped by and it's already the last day - where did all the time go?

Today is my last day to chill out before things go crazy!

Tomorrow, oh tomorrow I have a million and one things to do - finish my job and clear out my room, bank my last pay check from my second job, say all my goodbyes to the fine folk I have gotten to know in the village of Chiddingfold and get back to London to pack for Africa.

On Thursday I did a little more shopping for Africa, I got a Frisbee for Francis, some more bright coloured bracelet, more stickers, a finger string game, a whole lot of 'happy men' (little yellow stretchy men) and some more pencil!

On Tuesday I plan to get the football gear in the morning and finish packing my bags ready for my flight in early evening. I have to be at the airport about 3 hours before the flight which is always a drag.

Time For A Cool Change

What's been happening? Where do I start? My second job, the one which has been funding my debt clearing, has been on hold for the last three weeks and doesn't looking like restarting any time soon. Which means my Africa trip is going to have to be mostly funded via my tax payment account - something I am not very happy about but as the trip is now less than a fortnight away what else can I do. At least I am not using my credit card, that would mean breaking my number one rule of not increasing my debt.
My luggage problem (yes there was one!) has been solved. I started to get worried about getting charged for excess baggage as some of the gift's I am buying for the charity projects in Kenya and Uganda are a little on the heavy side. And I was told that my flight ticket limited my luggage to only 20 kg's (not nearly enough). However I have since found out that this limit is for the flight between Kenya and Uganda, which means I can take up to 46 kg to Kenya (2 bags at 23 kg each only). As I will be leaving about half the gifts in Kenya I should be able to get the rest to Uganda on the 20 kg limit (well here's hoping anyway).
Because of the problems with my second job I have made the decision to end both my jobs as of the 1st of December and get new work once I am back from Africa. Not great times for looking for new work but I have an agency who does that for me. So I am hopefully that come the middle of December I should have the next twelve weeks of work sorted and from that I can work out a new budget.
As I don't really do Christmas I am hoping to get back on track and really get working on my debt, as I want it all gone by at least July 2009!

Time Is Running Out

Finally I have started getting my shopping list sorted out for my African trip which is getting closer and closer - time is running out to get it all done. The list isn't complete as I keep getting a brain wave and adding a few more items.

I have been amazed by the price differences for products online, I have been looking at prices for a children's world map. The top end price was £18 and my purchase price £4.99. This was for the same map - unbelievable! Maybe I have not been shopping for so long I have forgotten all this sort of price difference.

Some of the items I am going to try and blag to keep costs down, I want some posters, hair clips and other hair accessories, colouring books and crayons, pencil's etc, maybe even some lollipops too.

My budget of £200 for gifts is not going to cover what I have planned to purchase but I have been given an extra £100 through work which will cover the extra needed. My next problem is that of weight, as my limit is 23kg but can go up to 32kg but this will incur a £50 excess baggage charge. I am taking two giant Twister games which weight 4kg each and so I am now having to think about what everything is going to weight.

Another thing which did surprise me was just getting myself to use my designated credit card (i.e. the card I have paid in full) to buy the gifts. Even knowing that I have started to load the card, didn't change my apprehension at using it. Truth be known - it was more than a month ago that I started thinking about what I wanted to buy from the list of gifts the Charity had given me as an example. But I just couldn't bring myself to do any more than that - just think about it. Spending money has become a bit of a trial.

This trip is a real dream come true. Years ago while at intermediate school my class used to sponsor a child in Kenya and I was always involved in the 40 hour famine that was held each year on behalf of Tear Fund. So the idea of finally going to Africa is so awesome! OK, I have been to South Africa before but that just doesn't seem the same thing. I know it is going to be life changing and that is a good thing. I know it is also the first of many visits which for some one who loves to travel is great news. But the whole trip comes down to just two days - the 5th Dec in Kenya and the 10th Dec in Uganda - that's when I get to met my sponsor children. Everything else is fill in.