£760 ($1200) happy birthday present from work

A benefit of turning 30 at my job is that they up the contributions they make to my retirement. Before they gave me 7% of salary per year into my retirement (£2,660/$4,250) back when I was a baby 20-something.

Now I'll be getting 9% of salary (£3,420/$5,470). This isn't taking into consideration that I'll also be getting a pay increase in March. Yippee!

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm 30 -- whoop, whoop! Time to bring on a serious decade of financial peace of mind and growth!

I made so many mistakes in my 20s and have learned from them (I hope). So I'm very much looking forward to a new decade filled with new 30something problems and solutions!

25% there! -- another student loan paid off

Alright, I'm the first to admit that I've been not at my usual gazelle intensity, but for good reason. That doesn't mean that I'm not still moving forward and this became apparent when I paid off Student loan number 3 today which had a $220 balance down from the original loan of $5000. And as a good friend of mine pointed out, this was a loan that was highly contentious with my former university collection's team. Good riddance!

So that part is really exciting and I've enjoyed the process of paying off the smaller loans and having less monthly payments come out. However, it is still daunting to see how much I have left. Here's the score (all in USDs):

Student loan 4: $1095 (currently under attack)
credit card: $1950
Student loan 5: $3150 Student loan 6: $ 4725
Student loan 7: $30,815 ("Big Daddy")

Grand total: $41,750

That still seems like A LOT but I do have to realise that in this same time period I also saved-- $13k plus a retirement fund of $12k. I've only focused on strictly debt since the summer.

For you numbers people, the smaller loans are at a variable rate, currently resting at a nice 1.4%. The credit card is at 0% (deal fixed last Christmas) and Big Daddy is at 3.15%. I'm paying them in the order that I'm going to do the smaller student loans first and then the credit card in a lump sum and then the Big Daddy. This works best for me for a variety of reasons.

So here's to being 1/4 done in my debt adventure!

new relationship, old money issues

Oh, being in love. It's pretty amazing and blinding and an experience that is all consuming. Thanksgiving is no longer just a holiday -- it's sharing part of my culture (yes, turkey and cranberry sauce is culture!) with my new love. It's creating new memories. It's pretty nauseating for others. I'm filled with more Oxytocin than I know what to do with.

Yesterday we (me+Boyfriend) had the first real chat about money and I dropped the D word, debt. Turns out he has student loans as well. Then he dropped a bomb on ME-- he's bad with money. My heart sank a bit. I mumbled "do...do.... you have a written budget??" with expectant eyes. Nope. Money comes in, money goes out. I didn't inquire further, but he did mention that he at least has a retirement account. Phew.

So I just have to be honest and open about my financial goals because it's clear that I won't be able to rely on him to be the driving force in the effort to re-pay my debts. I'm having my last set of couch surfers this weekend and I should be able to get back on track by using my couch surfer income and bonus paycheck (yippee!) at the end of December. I haven't accrued any debt but I haven't been as aggressive and am going to spend New Years in a different country with the Boyfriend. Also on the list -- start blogging more regularly. Because I've been a bit ashamed at the cash I've been dropping and the furthest thing from my mind was blogging about my excessive eating out and actually thinking of the $1k or so I've probably over-spent in the last two months.

I can see how it's so difficult for couples and am now understanding how eating out can be SUCH an out-of-control expense! I can easily spend in a day what I use to spend in a month eating out. Bringing back some self-control...

Falling in love (but not back into debt!!)

Wow, I'm really and truly falling for this Guy. But at what stage do I have the PF discussion with him? We're starting to split costs generally and my entertainment budget has gone through the roof. Also, I find myself buying new clothes, taking taxis when we're together (it's just SO unromantic to take the tube!!), getting my eyebrows waxed more frequently... I even bought a new digital camera to take photos of US. Whoa.



This week I slyly introduced the first "free tickets" into a date. It went down well. I mean, I'm a cheap date on the drinking side for sure -- and who doesn't like saving money? And the Guy is an economist so it's not as though he's not clued up to the whole money thing. I feel I can be honest with him and so the money chat will come. I'm a big fan of it being discussed right up there with views about sex and religion. It's a deal-breaker in a relationship for me if a guy is bad with money--I just can't go back there.



So far so good with the Guy. And tonight we went dancing and my shoes and new dress looked fabulous! Photos recorded on my new digital camera. Oh my! I'm having fun, though and it's not as though I am not paying my bills--I'm just less aggressive in my repayments. I'm sure once I tell him about my plight against my student loans he'll be on the case and supportive. Because he's just a wonderful person. Insert awwwwww...

The economics of dating

So somehow when Miss Savings not Shoes has spent a month dating -- last night was date 9 -- my whole obsession with savings has gone--poof--out the window. Yesterday, being payday and my usual favorite day of the month--I didn't even calculate my networth as I was too excited knowing that I'd be seeing the Guy and meeting his friends at a birthday drinks in the evening.

I've become a lot less strict with my budget and that's something that I will attempt to reign in. There's my birthday and Christmas coming up and a large part of being a couple in London it seems is traveling out of London. We've begun the tiny early stages of planning that we'd maybe someday go on a holiday together. Maybe.

This is not normal stuff for me -- I've been single for 4 years with a month of dating here and there. I feel like meeting the Guy is a reward for changing my life around. It's also got me thinking naturally that perhaps there is a chance that one day I'll be officially coupled off with a ring on it and share finances with a man--gasp!

However, something that is really important to me is to be debt free by the time I join finances with someone else. I'm not saying that the Guy is THE Guy, but in anticipation for my finances one day being merged with another's, I'd like to not bring my financial baggage into the union. I think it's okay to not bring any assets but I very much feel that my debt is my responsibility.

With that, I'm off to go dancing with my girlfriends and leave my worries of joint finances for the distant future. Happy Halloweeeeeeen!

more busy, less money

That was a large lapse in writing -- I must say life has been hectic and with dating but great and all there’s been less time in my life for thinking about money.
That doesn’t mean that I haven’t of course, I just haven’t written. And now having had date 8 with 9 on the horizon for the Patriot's Game on Sunday, I’ve thought a lot about dating and money starting with the night of my last entry when he expected me to pick up dinner, as he’d gotten the first date’s dinner. I was not impressed. Since then he’s been the main benefactor of our excursions until last night when I offered to pay half of dinner and he agreed. I’ve given him a ticket to the NFL game on Sunday though which was £70 and haven’t asked for any money in exchange. Perhaps he’ll buy me a game jersey??
So, just wanted to check in and say that all is well and happening—and I’ve spent downtime in the office planning my (30th!!!) birthday party. It’s another money hassle as I need to pay the cash up front and have people reimburse me. I think it’s difficult to know when to ask people to pay you back when you’re the one who has chosen the entertainment and invited the guests. I've been doing many cultural and fun activities lately--I LOVE the autumn in London, it's my fave. Theatre, sporting events, dinners, cinema...and I've had to have some couch surfers to supplement my more extravagant life-style. It seems to be balancing out.