Happy New Years Everyone!

I started a post a couple days ago, mostly dicussing my lack of posting and some thoughts about the new year, but got stuck halfway in and gave it up. Despite having a great desire to blog daily, I seem to lack the skill to do so. I won't appologize, even though I do feel bad, because I'd like to try to cut down on the guilt in my life.

Before I get onto the financial matters, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Years! This was my first New Years and Christmas both outside of Canada and away from my family. Fortunately I had some of my closest friends visiting and keeping me company over the festive season, and thus wasn't completely alone.

Christmas here in London felt odd. There was no -20C temperatures to avoid, no snow/ice on the ground, and little gift-buying. I cooked my own turkey with stuffing, potatos and gravy (and it was surprisingly good!), wrapped my own presents, and watched very few festive movies. I lacked the general merriment that my house radiates over the season, where my mother bakes constant cookies and listens to christmas music as the dog hops around the oven, watching the turkey cook. It was very low key. It was lovely, though. Just different.

New Years here in London was chaotic. We decided to head into central London to watch the fireworks. Yes, I know what you're thinking - most Londoners told it to me too - I'm crazy. But, I'm only here for two New Years Eve's, and I figured that I had to do this at least once. We got down to Lambeth Bridge about 10:50 p.m., and wiggled into a good spot to watch the fireworks. By the time midnight fell upon us, we had gotten ourselves to some good positions. We 'oooed' and 'ahhhed' for the 15 minute duration of the fireworks then spent the next 3 hours trying to get home to Southfields Tube Station. As far as people have told me that is standard, but when I read in the papers that 700,000 people had come out to watch the fireworks, it was still pretty amazing.

Told you it was a pretty impressive view.

All in all, it was a good festive period. I ended up catching a pretty nasy cold, which made working as much as I did rough. I am still riding the tail ends of it, so I'm not 100% better, but working on it. I enjoyed having my friends here with me, it was nice to chat with people that you have a history with, rather than my flatmates, where I have to explain a lot of things. Splitting cooking and grocery bills was cheaper(ish), too.

Other than that, I'm still working on my new figures for the rest of this year. When everything is calculated I will post again. Hope you all had lovely holidays!

November in Review

Okay, a couple days late, but here is November for you:

Before I present the numbers, I have some thoughts. This was my first month of actually living within budget. I tried in October and gave up keeping records - plus I had several friends take me away to Paris for a week which was an expensive trip. I am impressed that I kept records of everything I purchased, despite some unflattering results.

So, here we go!

So here's the bad news. Budget was blown. Mainly in the food department. The 'fun money' department, too. The good news is that I was under in my other areas, which eventually led to a minus £81.88 in the budget. It is always an interessting time - the first budget. Granted I have done many a budget in my... well, life. But this is the first in a new currency, new city, and new bills.

I've determined that my weaknesses are mainly snack food, as illustrated here:

Not to mention that many of those supermarket visits were partially fuelled by snack food. My bad.

Now the 'Fun Money' category is meant for fun, and in this case it was a fair amount of randomness.Some random household stuff, little things here and there, as well as some food. Now it was 100% junk food and snack purchases that went into this category.

On the plus side, this was the first month where I actually got to use my all-important 'Income' square!!

Yay! My first paycheque! This was only for 4 days work, so it wasn't very impressive, but still, it's money I am earning!!! Yay!! While I get paid £6.84 on paper, I am in reality taking in £5.47. And, because this is my first paycheque, I didn't get taxed NI (National Insurance), which everyone seems to say will come out on my next cheque. So far my tax rate is 20%, and will probably go up to 30%. Ew. Bonus is that I will get some (most?) of my Income Tax back come tax time, and the NI I can transfer back home to an RRSP when I leave.

Here's more good news! This is what I have in my accounts right now to start December with:

Not sure if you can see that, but I have a grand total of £7,808.17 in all my accounts. I have adjusted December's budget slightly, as you can see:

I think that this new budget will be difficult, especially as I have friends visiting for christmas and new years, but also good. If I can stick to a budget like this, I can make my money last for 10 months, not including any money I will make over the next 5 weeks. Especially since I have so so so many people visiting in the spring - I want to make sure I have lots of money saved for doing fun things with them!!

Hope you enjoyed my budget breakdown.

In all honestly I would like to post more. Really, I would. But this past week has been exceptionally rough for me. So many things are stressing me out. I'm homesick and bored and emotional and lonely all at the same time. 3 of my roommates and our local couch-dosser are moving out, and the search for new roommates has been stressful. We've found our single guy, but are still looking for a couple to take the double room. We need to have the room filled by December 19th, or they don't get their damage deposit back. The landlady will use their damage deposit to cover their portion of rent (up to 1 month) while we find people. If we can't find people during that month, the rest of us will be responsible for covering their share until we do. This is because we sign the tennancy agreement as a group. I would've rather preferred that I'm NOT responsible for other people, but 99% of all shared flats seems to run under this kind of rent.

Its stressing me out because I DON'T WANT TO PAY MORE FOR RENT. BahhhH!!!!!!!! Sorry. had to get that out. I hate the search of new people, but that is mainly because I hate change. Really. I do.

The roommates have posted several ads on GumTree but haven't had any response. We're in a good area (Wimbledon/Southfields/Wandsworth) and the rent is pretty cheap I think (£576 per month), especially for a couple. It's a great house with great people. I understand that this is probably a shitty time to be looking, but seriously. Is no one in London looking??? Can someone please give me some advice?? Its driving me nuts.

And I guess just the holiday season is bearing down to me. I'm stressed and homesick. All I really want to do is curl up and sleep everything away. Blah. That's how I feel. Blah.

Anyways enough ranting. Any help or suggestions on the flat-mate search are greatly appreciated. I think I would feel 10 million times better if we just found a couple to move in!!

Hours

So, as a 'full-time', seasonal 'colleague' at my local music store, I am entitled to a 30 hour workweek. My contract expires on January 3rd, and when I leave I am entitled to 4 days paid vacation.

This afternoon, my manager man has a little meeting with me and states that due to the economic 'situation', the big-wigs have decided that full-time, seasonal 'colleagues' are getting their hours cut down to 25. Ouch.

Fortunately, because our store is such a sucessful store, my manger man has been able to dip into our bank of 'overtime' hours to ensure that all of us seasonal staff get our regularly scheduled 30 hours a week. Yikes.

I'm glad that I will still be getting my 30 hours a week, because otherwise, I would've had to seriously reconsider my job. The thing is, with the Visa, I'm only entitled to 52 weeks working, and because of that, I must take advantage and work as much as possible. So far I've been able to pick up extra hours here and there, as well as one shift when someone else called in sick. Its been good.

Amazing, though, how fast a contract can change due to an economic situation. Yeeeesh.

I've been tagged!

Hklover86 over at My Money Diary has tagged me for a meme! I have to post 6 random facts about myself, so here we go!

1. I don't drink coffee or any other coffee-flavored beverages. This isn't a religious issue or caffeine issue or anything, I just don't like coffee. Plus I'm proud of the fact that I don't need coffee to wake up in the morning.

2. I can't live without Vaseline. It's my lip gloss and seriously, I panic if I leave the house without it and will either return to get it or buy a new one while I'm out. Seriously. It's like an addiction. I really need to cut down.

3. I could stare at the night sky forever. For ever. I do my best thinking, best conversations and best relaxing under the night sky. I miss seeing the stars now that I'm in London, and back home it was often way to cold to be outside for long periods of time. I need to go somewhere closer to the equator.

4. Change that is beyond my control makes me very uncomfortable. I like to feel in control of my life and I get horrible feelings of anxiety when things happen beyond my control (for example, like my roommates moving in and out, job searches, etc).

5. I flirt more with guys I don't like and have no feelings for than guys I actually like. There is less risk involved with guys I don't like, less to lose, so I feel more comfortable. Odd.

6. I sometimes worry that I'll never be financially independant, even though I am debt free. Will I ever buy a house? Have a car? Take (more) vacations? Who knows.

Hope those were random enough for you - if you'd like to do one, leave a comment and consider yourself tagged!

Blogging Daily...

... doesn't seem to be something that I am capable of. Hmm.

That's probably because for the last week or so, up until the day before yesterday, I was feeling pretty down and miserable. I go through these spells once in a while, where I get depressed and sad - usually its a mix of feeling alone, and the grey weather, and feeling like I'm not in control (mainly when it comes to roommates moving in and out, etc - I don't usually welcome change).

This is my 2nd week now at my job, and I'm still liking it, which is good. I feel more and more like I can do (almost) everything without asking everyone what I am doing. Plus it changes enough to keep me interessted, and the fact that I only work 6 hours (and one hour break for lunch), keeps the days short.

I've been able to pick up extra hours, too. Most of the time when I work a 12-7 p.m. (we close at 7 p.m.), I've been able to stay an extra hour to help with stocking. And I took an extra shift on my last Monday, which is nice. I didn't tally it up, but I got almost 40 hours last week.

On the budget side I'm doing alright. I've gone over in my food category considerably, however I'm still under budget in my other categories, so overall I'm still way under. I will go into my budget analysis a bit more at the end of the month. And I'm looking forward to getting my paycheque, too!

And off to work I go...

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.