I've had a weird time so far this year. With a new year always comes a sense of renewal, like NOW is the time to sort your life out, and of course that is exactly what I've been trying to do. Over the Christmas break I made a massive list of things that needed to get done, which ranged from some fun, creative things like 'design and publish website' to pretty hard things like 'sort finances' and 'plan for move in the summer'.
This week it's been the finances. Having had no income for the past 15 months, it's fair to say that my finances are in a bit of a mess. The ISA I set up when we got married has been sitting earning very little interest as I haven't had the mental space to sort it, and the interest-free credit card I took out to pay for a few large purchases and a whole lot of commuting to my university, was coming to the end of its interest-free period.
So on Tuesday I hoicked a bunch of money out of savings and paid off the credit card and my overdraft, leaving me with handsome balances of £0.00 in each. Tomorrow I head to the job centre, as my post-PhD holiday is over - I need to earn some money!
It made me realise that despite my 'frugal' approach to life, it is so hard to manage when you actually don't have any cash flow. I'm not sure if I'll ever get a credit card again - they put you in denial about spending money, as it isn't real money you're spending. Future me can deal with this! Consequently buying a couple of bits and pieces in town here and there didn't feel like spending any money. But of course I was. Tricksy credit cards helping me buy things I didn't need to make me feel better!
I've also been doing some research into ISAs, as I'm pretty sure mine is currently earning below the rate of inflation... more about that later.
But happy new year, one and all! Here's to prosperity and happiness :)
Bee x
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