Blogroll

Hello again everyone! I have added my blog roll lists up again to the side. I changed it up and did some editing. Most of these blogs I recalled from memory and from my 'came from' link list for my visitor tracking. However, if you link to me or would like me to link to you, please send me an e-mail or comment and I will do just that!

As a side note, I think I'd like to start trying to do daily updates. I just need to get back into the habit. So here goes!

I worked again today. Work is starting to get better - I feel like I know more and I got to mix it up and do some cash register and some floor walking. I went home feeling accomplished and satisfied. I helped my saffa roommate fix up his resume and sat here watching Family Guy until just now. However, I was too tempted when my roommates said they were ordering pizza (I actually felt kind of bad since they waited for me to get home before they ordered), so I got a medium pizza from Domino's at the cost of £13.99. I only had £9.34 left in my food budget for this month. So I have gone over. (And don't worry about the food budget expired mid-month - I've got plenty of groceries to last!). What I will end up doing is taking a bit from another area - rent or transportation - to balance it out. But either way, it was a decision I could've avoided. It was yummy, though.

Tomorrow I work again, 11-6. Monday and Tuesday are my days off. The weather is supposed to be a bit miserable on Monday, so I'll probably end up just staying in and doing laundry/cleaning/sleeping and I'll head into London on Tuesday for a full day of sightseeing!

That is the best part - the fact that the things I enjoy the most in London - wandering around and taking pictures - are free. It's just the getting there. Although I did determine that it would be a 2.5 hour walk from my apartment to Trafalgar Square - so that might be something to try one of these days - assuming I don't get lost!

THANKS

I seriously need to give some big THANKS to Canadian Finance Guy. Seriously. He's given me SO much good information - so thanks!!

I still have a lot to learn about taxes and stuff... I need to get in touch with people and figure everything out. Sometimes I wish I was earning tons and tons of money... other times I wish I wasn't working. Haha. But this will definitely be a steep learning curve.

Thanks to everyone who has given me advice. :)

Budget!!

Okay, as promised, here is my budget. Here is the overall look (it looks just the same as a bunch of other budgets I have). Most of the numbers at the top aren't that exciting - they just keep track of my current bank account balances... hopefully they will be easier eventually when everything is in my Barclay's Account (rate go down...rate go down... rate go down).

This is the more important part. This is my budget. Rent is actually £412 a month, but I'm a bit obsessive and added £12 a month to make the total £1,000. Yes I'm weird like that.

Bills I have budgeted at £75 a month. Council tax is the bill I pay and it averages between £70 and £80 a month. I have a pay-as-you go phone with Virgin Wireless and I don't use it much, as incomming calls are free and I don't call many people.

I give myself £80 a month for transportation, although that is very exaggerated since the most I would spend getting to and from work is £36 a month on Pay as you go Oyster card. Of course, when I want to go into Central London it costs me £2.50 each way.

My budget for food is £120 a month. This is just a tester budget, as November is my first month to be on my own completely (I didn't do a budget for October, and spent 2 weeks with friends). So far £120 seems very reasonable, and as I learn more about food and prices and such I think that I should be able to cut it down even more.

My budget for 'Fun Money' is £300 currently. This is the money I leave myself for everything else. Clothes, Toilettries, Shoes, Trips, Tours, Mailing things, decorations, whatever. Yes, £300 is a lot of money, but I'm here to be a tourist and enjoy myself. I don't think that I'll spend nearly that much, even this month. I plan on being able to 'compound' this unused money for future vacations, like visiting friends in Amsterdam or hosting my mom! Again, this may or may not change depending on how things go.

With these statistics and the current state of my bank accounts, my savings should last me between 8 and 10 months. Not too bad.

My seasonal work should net me between £1100 and £1300, which gives me about 2 months of 'bare essentials' living - ie. no fun money. That was basically the plan, that every month I work equals a month of living expenses. Ideally it would be great if I could work for 40 hours a week, which will net me £1600 during my working time, but we'll see how it goes.

As well, it would probably be nice to work through January, but it's not an essential. I will again start looking for work come July and hopefully work through the fall. And then again, I can count on my Canadian tax return come April and a UK one come the fall again, so that should net a little extra cash. It's all up in the air but for now I'm pleased.

Well, that's enough incoherent mumbling for me. I work tomorrow at 9 a.m. and I should get to bed.

Changes

I decided it was time for some changes in this blog. I was getting tired of the old layout and old progress bars. I removed pretty much everything and will be adding things back over the next week or so. So if I linked to you previously, don't worry, it'll be back! I fear that I've stopped reading many blogs, so the list might change a little bit, but by all means, if you link to me or read my blog or anything, simply post and I will definitely put your link back up!

I'm trying to think of new things to put in progress bars... but I'm not sure of any goals I have... any ideas?

Job

I have a job! It's at an big-chain music store here in London. The first one I interviewed for.... actually, the only one I interviewed for... and the only one that called me back. Granted, I only sent out two resumes - and was going to send out more on Monday if the new job hadn't called me in for an interview.

Funnily enough, I seriously bombed the interview. Like, hard. At least, I think I did. As part of the interview, I had to fill out a product knowledge questionairre (which I basically left the song area blank.... the movies and computer games were a bit better), then put into a room with two managers that didn't seem that thrilled to be interviewing me. I stumbled over my answers and didn't really have good ones. I was super nervous and it probably showed.

Obviously I didn't do too bad at it since they called me back, but it makes me feel like I'm at a disadvantage since I did so poorly on the interview - kind of like they think I'm incompetent - which I'm not... so its weird. At the same time, I have to admit I haven't been 'the new girl' in... well... forever, really. My first Subway job we were all new since the store was new, the second Subway job I was knew but I still knew the work, and at Crime Stoppers office job, I had already been volunteering 2 years so I knew everyong. This is new job and new people.

Admittedly I love the people so far - everyone is very friendly and lots of fun. The job itself seems reasonably easy, but at the same time, I don't really care about music... or movies... really. It'll be a big of a struggle to get on top of what's hot and new now. Yikes.

So, here's the stats, since I'm sure that's what you came for!

The wage is £6.82 an hour. After 22% taxes (what they said I should expect) it comes down to £5.32 - a less impressive, but more realistic number. I am guaranteed 30 hours a week, which nets me £160 a week. There is opportunity to pick up extra shifts, which I probably will do if I find I want the extra money. (As well, since I'll be earning, well, not a whole lot, I should be able to recoup some/most of what I pay in taxes... I hope.)

It's 90p each way on the bus, or a 20 minute walk. I will probably try walking home tomorrow just to see how long it takes, as I haven't actually done the walk, yet. Bonus is that the store is in a mall with a Sainsbury's and a Waitrose and an Iceland and a Poundland (my new fav store - everything is just £1!) which means that I can pick up groceries and other goods on the way, rather than making special trips.

So yes... I work 9-4 again tomorrow (6 hour working, 1 hour unpaid lunch), and will hopefully get the rest of my schedule for the rest of my time there. I am contractually employed from today until January 3rd. There is opportunity to stay on... but we'll cross that bridge when/if the time comes.

For now... I am knackered. And I've GOT to remember to pay my rent... due on the 16th.

LONDON!

Okay, so LONDON! Yes. I am here. I am settled into my (new) life and things are so far going smoothly. However, I have been a terrible blogger! I have been keeping a budget for the month of November (good pf blogger!) and so far have been learning all sorts of new ways to be frugal... and new ways to spend money in a new town!

I am now settled into a 4 bedroom house in Wimbledon. I am staying in a small room on the main floor, while all of the other people (2 single guys, 1 couple) all sleep upstairs. Currently I pay £412 pounds a month in rent (approx. £95 a week), which was slightly over my budget of £100 a week (not including bills). How our bills work is each person pays one bill (in my case council tax), and we tally them up and settle it all every couple of months. One of my roommates is an accountant and he keeps a spreadsheet to tally all our bills and any additionals we buy (such as loo paper and washing up soap) and we balance it out everytime someone moves out or moves in. So far it seems to work.

I really like the people that I am living with. One guy, we'll call him A - the accountant. Is from South Africa. He is, I think, 30, and is here on a similar VISA to what I have, although he plans to apply for a highly-skilled VISA next spring. He is generally friendly and was really the first of the roommates to offer to help me - he showed me where the local Sainsbury's was and offers advice whenever he can. The advice isn't always warranted but I know he means well.

Another guy, called T, is also South African. He is very quiet, and we haven't spoken much. Although he does open up around some of the other saffa roommates, and I think that it is just a level of comfort with the others. He seems very sweet, though. He is moving out on December 8th, first to the USA then home.

The couple, R and AJ (I'll call them RAJ), are also very friendly. R is from Australia and she's my age. She's super sweet and talkative and we get along quite well. It is nice to have another girl around. AJ is from Namibia and is very friendly. Him, along with the other saffa roomies have some very strong opinions, most of which I don't necessarily agree with, but they are a lot of fun and also very friendly. He is the youngest roomie at 21. RAJ are going to their respective homes in December, which I know will be rough on them.

AJ's brother, B, is also living with us at the moment on the couch. He is very sweet and friendly. He will be taking T's room when he moves out in December. He was very quiet in the beginning and I didn't really know what to do with him, but now that's he's a little more comfortable I find him very funny. I am glad that he's staying around when his brother leaves, although I'm sure that will be hard on him.

We seem to be a good match. We're good about cleaning up, and generally we just take informal turns at cleaning and doing the dishes. No one seems to be slacking, and no one seems to have hard feelings, which is nice.

So far adjusting to life outside my family home has been relatively easy. ish. I find it difficult cooking for myself, mainly. I can cook the basics, like chicken... and steak. And grilled onions and garlic bread. But really, that's about it. Oh, and Pasta! So it's taken some getting used to to make some unique or slightly different meals. At the same time, I found out very quickly that eating in is MUCH MUCH cheaper than eating out. Although, at the same time, vegetables are quite expensive.

Originally I had planned on living with a family - I thought that it would be nice to have a family around, and I had more security if I was the only 'renter'. However, I'm glad it ended up this way. I like having people around my own age, I can talk and swear freely without worrying what people will think - or what influence I would have over their children!!

I am really liking London so far. Sometimes I look out over the grey skies and smoggy street and wish for the fresh air and cool winds of the praries, but when I take a walk through the old streets, or wander through another castle with celtic music playing in my headphones, I remember why I came here. It's like I said to some of my roommates: "I found shit on the Thames that was older than my country!". I love the history here, and I can't wait to explore more.

However, for the time being, I am looking for seasonal work. That was always the plan, to have fun for a couple months then work seasonally before having fun again. So, it's off for seasonal work I go. I had originally hoped to work right in the middle of London, where all the Christmas excitement was, but when I realized that it would cost me £5 a day (on pay-as-you-go Oyster) to get from here (zone 3) to there (zone 1) and back, that wasn't worth it - especially when wages here are around the £6 to £7 mark. That basically shaves an hour of work a day, just to commute. Southfields mall is a quick bus ride away (90p each day) and there is plenty of work there to be had. I will be e-mailing out resumes tomorrow morning and hopefully by the end of next week I will have a job! It will be sad to lose my tourist freedom, but at the same time, it will be nice to see some deposits into my account rather than withdrawls.

Anyways, that's enough rambling for now. I will talk more of my budget and such in the morning. Plus I've got to figure out how to apply for an NI number - something that seems to baffle everyone.. Hmmm...

And the Adventure begins

Tomorrow is the big flight. I'm totally ready and getting super excited about it. I've got until October 1st to find a flat - wish me luck! I promise WAY more posting when I finally get settled into a flat. I've been itching to do my budget (among other things!!)

Catch you on the flip-side (of the ocean!)

Leanna

Another month passes by....

... and what a horrible blogger I am!

I appologize yet again for the lack of posting. My world has been turned into nothing but boxes, packing tape and endless lists.

I'm less than a week away from leaving, and it hasn't really hit me yet. I had one mini-meltdown that ended in tears and cold feet, but I'm over that now. It was a bad mix of feeling like things were being forced on me and PMS. Damn those hormones!

My finances are in tip-top shape, however. I've got about $20,100 in savings, along with my £1000 in cash for the trip. This £1,000 will cover me for my first week in London, along with a downpayment on an apartment. I wanted to take out £1,500, which would've covered me for the first week, a damage deposit and the first month's rent, but I wanted to do it without taking money out of savings and I hadn't been paid yet.

I haven't been paying attention to this blog, because really, this hasn't been where my mind is set. I still am reading all of your blogs daily.

Either way, stay tuned, as I get settled in London I plan to get back on track. I am working on a budget right now, as we 'speak'.

Cheers.

July: The Good and The Bad

July, for me, was a mixed month. I have some exciting news to report, some mundane news, as well as the bad.

Let's start with the exciting, shall we?!

I've accomplished ALL MY GOALS for my trip!!!!

I also re-filled my "VISA Fund Account" to $2,000 and smooshed it together with my fully-funded "Pre Trip Cash" fund. I re-named my formerly "VISA Fund" to "DEBIT", as this is the account that my ING Direct Debit card withdraws from.

As well, in other good news, I have booked one of my flights! I have booked a flight with British Airways (via Flight Centre) from Toronto to London on September 23rd, 2008, for the Grand total of just under $650. It's not the best price, but the best I could find with no stopovers and with a carrier I recognized.

I feel very happy indeed that my trip is fully funded, but I still have the same drive to add more to it. I am hoping that in the next 4 weeks I can add another $2,000 to my Savings fund.

I am also really proud of the fact that while I saved money for both my VISA, plane ticket and pre-trip spending, I have yet to drain any of those accounts. I will probably put the $4,000 into my savings account if I don't use them by the time I leave.

In more mundane news, I am feeling a stange mix of panic and exhileration regarding the trip. Packing is moving along slowly, at about the rate of 1 or 2 boxes a day. I have come to the realization that I own a large amount of fragile items. All of the bubble-wraping, newspaper-stuffing and itemizing is very exhausting.

I am rather proud of all of the work that I am doing regarding the packing. For each box, I am photographing and listing all of the items inside. I am keeping these in a file on my external hard-drive, as well as on a sheet of paper both inside and taped to the outside of the box. Each box is labelled with its name and a number, such as "KITCHEN BOX 1" or "PICTURE FRAMES 3" so that I can clearly know what is inside.

I wouldn't have bothered to do all this if I was just moving from one place directly to another. But given that these boxes may stay sealed for 2 years, I want to know what is inside. That way, if I decide that I need/want something, I'll be able to ask someone back home to get XX item from XX box.

Either way, the packing is plugging along, and I'm looking forward to having next week off and finishing the packing.

I also have still yet to book my flight from Calgary to Toronto, but I'm not as concerned about this one. There are many carriers that fly this route multiple times a day and within the same price range. This will probably be booked within the week.

And.... for the bad news. My attempts at riding my computer of Vista has failed. My Dad and I managed to take Vista off and put Windows XP on, but once we loaded XP on, we found out that none of the drivers for my laptop were capable of functioning with XP. Which basically means, that while I could put XP on the computer, my speakers, video, webcam and INTERNET did not work. So... alas, I had to put Vista back on. This time, though, I've done (so many...) backups over the past 2 days. Hopefully this time it won't freak out on me.

However, I'm now in the process of loading all my CD's and other stored music back onto Itunes... It's a very long process and I'm only about 3/4 of the way through it.

So that's the news from this front. I'll still be here, packing and loading, until the first week of September.

Some thoughts from fast-food job...

Im standing here, in my Subway uniform, in a rather pissy/exhausted mood, thinking of all my little money-related pet peeves that I experience from behind the counter....

1) Don't make awkward jokes when your debit comes back insufficient funds. Even though I don't tell you, the machine tells me the difference between incorrect PIN and insuf funds. Don't try it over and over and over again and make awkward jokes about being poor. It's not really that funny...

(1A - Don't make more jokes when your VISA comes back declined right after your debit did. Maybe it's time to go home and make your own sandwich!!)

2) Don't keep your money in your bra. At least, don't hand it to me directly from your bra. I don't want your boob money. It's usually gross and sweaty. I don't need that.

3) Don't pull out a wad of cash (think over $700) and flip through it slowly just to prove to me how rich you are. I don't care. Plus, it makes me think one of two things (depending on your image), that you are either a drug dealer, or Daddy is giving you that cash.

4) Don't wait until you get down to the register to complain about the prices. The prices of everything is on the menu. Look it up. I don't make the prices, it's not my fault Subway is so expensive!

5) On top of that, don't complain about the prices when you are wearing your Hollister shirt, your Puma shoes, your D&G hat and your Chanel purse. Are you kidding me?!

6) Please don't hand bills to me all scrunched up. I'd rather not have to unfold them. If I could hand your change back to you all scrunched up, too, I would. (Note to self: Develop Magneto-like powers).

7) When the total comes to $9.77, don't have $10 to me and ask if you could "just get a quarter back." Um, no. You can't. Your change comes to $.22. Do I look like a penny-making machine??

8) When the total again comes to $9.77, please don't spend 2 minutes looking through your wallet, your purse, your pockets and you shoes for $.77, only to dump the dollar in change into our 'take-a-penny' jar. If you weren't going to keep the change, I could've gotten the $.23 change much much faster.

9) If you are part of a couple (or other type of pair) where both people want to pay for the couple's order, please decide ahead of time. I can't stand it when both people shove $20s in my face and expect me to pick one of them. I will take the one closest to me or I will just stand there until you decide. Seriously.

That really rounds them out. And, surprisingly enough, in the last two hours of my four-hour shift this evening, I've encountered all of them *sigh*.