nightwolf

We have two of the "baby" versions of this tv, in a 43inch, we love them. GG!

A friend has a similar spreadsheet to yourself, so we regularly trade what works and doesn't. He prefers having it "all in one place". Whereas I turn into a hoarding dragon and won't spend anything if I do it that. Its rather interesting.

@will' I forgot to show you my sheet, which frankly is very simple compared to your own. The numbers are irrelvant so I've removed them or fudged them if need be This sheet also changes depending on the month, some months I'll track other things i might need and I may also keep an eye on financial things I need to track, such as random one of payments in another table underneath. The idea isn't too be too constricting whilst keeping an overview of bills and things I need to do. I also have another sheet that tracks my savings accounts, as well as my pension and student loan. But its simply just tables and a graph with the amounts invested/paid off over time.

...I mean... W/E. Dead to me now Gaston.

This is why sometimes its a benefit to go from a small company to a large one. Or in some cases vice versa. My old company was a team of 70. I now don't even know how many people work at my "new" organisation. My benefits have tripled rather than declined which includes my pension. For some context, I didn't get health/dental at my old company and only got 13 days paid sick leave at any given time. If they had done this for us instead of just the executives, I could have had my surgery privately. ...I'm not bitter. Tangent aside, I currently put in 4% and they match with 5%. I want to go up to the max which is currently 8% with them matching 10% eventually.

@Ganepark32 we sound so similar. I almost was like "is that my partner?". Very weird! But glad to see you back around the forums

I test most of the software and sites that banks use. So I feel you on the workload aspect Julius. Some of it needs to support IE6 Shudder. Work has been...interesting. Long story short I was about to sign the paperwork for a promotion when we were taken over by another company. Said company promised me the promotion and then...we are still waiting. I was about ready to jump ship over it, I even told them as such. They gave me money...then covid. Now I get to WFH permanently. Which is a win as I'd wanted that for a very long time. I've been keeping an eye out for jobs in the interim but nothing has quite taken my fancy (with a few interviews done). It's nice not to stress about it. But I'd have loved to have stayed here with the new role and not worried about moving on in the first place. Bloody politics I swear...

Oh I'm in so deep already that I knew of most of that list, but its useful to have lying around! I went a bit ham on knowledge for a change. I'd recommend a few other places by the way for plant chatter: r/houseplants r/houseplantsUK Both really good for knowledge if you're ever about on Reddit! We'll see how it goes anyways, if we move, the plants will just come off the floor onto the ceiling. Which we cannot do right now in a rental property!

Therein lies the problem! If we get cats I think nearly 90% of my collection will have to be changed up and given away. The rare plant is a Calathea white fusion, notoriously hard to keep alive, but I've managed to keep a fair few humidity loving ones alive thus far, so would love to give it a go! You have quite the collection, some I've not gone for. I don't have any strings of anything thus far, they don't appeal for my space, but I love looking at them.

Haha, I change the story up as I go. But I will! My partner usually says that I'm a wolverine because it has a 6 weeks recovery time and I wanted to drive a car within a week.

@Eenuh I jumped on this thread to talk about houseplants as well! I'd love to know what you've got going on collection wise. Do you have a social media for them or just generally just on fb? I'm currently sat at about 30 plants, after discovering a love for them last year. We currently rent, so the house always felt really empty and I couldn't figure out why. So I bought a couple of plants...and now we're living in a jungle. I love it. I've got Calatheas, pileas, palms, pothos etc all climbin around the house. I'm hoping eventually to get a rare plant (for the uk at least), but its proving rather difficult.

Goodness its been a while, I'm really glad to hear how you're all getting on. @drahkon thats not a weird reason you lovely person, its perfectly fine whatever you choose to do! Me then? - My name is Steph - I'm now 30 years old! - I live with my partner, we've been together 6 and a half years. We're due to marry sometime this year (fingers crossed) - No kids or animals in our household. I can't have children, but we hope to have a couple of cats soon. - I currently have about 30 houseplants? I'm currently looking for a rare one from the US/Asia. - I now weight lift and love going to the gym 3-4 times a week (older forum me would have found this crazy). - I work for a billion dollar company testing software for a living. We now get to WFH permanently - woo! - I have a fair whack of health problems that have been laying "undiscovered" since I was about 14. But we're on the road to sorting that all out. It does mean a fun 7 inch scar to show people, I usually said I had a fight with a shark and lost.

I wondered this too, but then I reminded myself this is the same government that didn't want to give food to poorer kids over the summer holidays. So why are we surprised?

I forgot to add, but yes. We're likely to keep moving it

Following me round the threads! Everything did go ok with surgery, thank you! I will be brutally honest, I nearly died at my own hand and nearly died on the operating table though. My surgeon and consultant at the time quite delicately mentioned weight loss would be a good idea. I had already wanted too and knew why they had mentioned it. So here we are! Best decision. It hopefully means one less complication on my next surgery, which my current consultant is happy about, so fingers crossed!

So there's two things for the personal savings account: 1. Wedding 2. Emergency fund. Our wedding has been reduced quite significantly, we spent about £3000 on just food (it was mostly a food/drinks party, than a venue price), but we got a refund on that and won't be doing the same again. But we'd still like to take our immediate family out for food and pay for a decent chunk of the honeymoon. Otherwise, its simply money to keep us safe. We've had instances in the last couple of years where I have need a decent amount of cash on hand. For instance, my partner had a company car, so we removed his personal car/sold it off. We assumed (wrongly) that his company would give him a few weeks notice if they took away the company car, so we could plan around that. Instead they gave him 4 days, so I had to use my personal fund to help get him a new car. We didn't spend mega-bucks, but for the quick turn around, I had a few thousand come out. It makes me feel a little safer that way, especially with also living in rented housing. At any given time, we have enough money in our accounts (as my partner has his own emergency fund also) to ensure we can move at a moments notice or pay for things we might need to replace.

I'm just going round and spamming all the threads, but whatever, you guys wanted me back. . Quick reminder, that my weight loss does not determine your size or shape. I lost weight because I was very unwell and had just had open surgery (with a 7 inch scar to prove it) and needed to bring my weight down to ensure it was safer to have another open operation later down the line. I'm now 4 stone 2 down at my lowest. Here's me: Down from 15 stone 2 (96kg). To 11 stone (70kg). A size 20, to a size 8/14. I do think about going down to 65kg (10 stone) to build up some muscle, but it will entirely depend on how I feel going further, but this is over the course of the last couple of years, so we're going for slow and steady!

Aye, we were a party of 25. But have just decided to get mum/dads and just get married/meal at the time. We've got our honeymoon for NYC in November. The main thing to remember is that we will get married and he's the best, so it doesn't matter when

I did! We were getting married on 4/4/20 (har har). But everything went to shit. SO we're hoping to get the go ahead on 10/10/20 instead.

*cracks fingers*. Ho boy is this my thread. Let's start with the not so good. In 2016, I was more thousands of pounds in debt than I care to share here. It wasn't enough to be a true cause for concern, but it kept me awake at night and didn't allow for much "fun" at all. It took me until 2017 to start really getting my butt into gear and take control of my finances. Both in my accounts and for the future (aka pensions and the like) As of today, as my accounts stand: 1. £20,000 in a house saving account 2. £5,000 in my personal savings account. I earn nearly £40,000 a year. I'm now very open about money and/or pay with those who are willing to ask. For two reasons: It holds me accountable to my own actions and it also allows others to see their worth. Half of the pay rises I've asked for never would have happened if it hadn't been for lovely folk sharing their own pay/experiences with me. I'm very grateful for it! So how I guess? I use a spreadsheet that I customised to myself. Each month as soon as I get paid, I make a new monthly sheet: 1. All my bills, including rent get moved out of my current account into my savings account. These get moved into my current account when a bill is paid OR needs to be paid. Its a little odd system, but it means I don't spend that money until its needed. 2. My savings, roughly £650 for my personal account and £250-500 go into my house saving account. No exceptions. Money HAS to go into these two accounts, it does vary, but I try to keep it as close to those numbers as possible. 3. Anything over a certain amount of money that I spend gets logged into that sheet for the month. At the moment its £30. This doesn't include food/petrol as that's relatively light and consistent. This might seem odd, but in 2016 I was frequently spending on things i did NOT need. This allows me to recap and ensure I'm able to have fun without going over the top. 4. I don't religiously track everything I spend, so if I spend £11 at a shop somewhere, it doesn't get logged. However, I do check my bank once a day, simply to ensure things are hunky dory and I've not missed something (like car tax that is on DD sometimes slips me up.) So this got a bit long! What are my tips: 1. Credit cards are friends, not something to be scared of. They keep you protected (section 75) and allow you to build a good credit. Allow yourself to use it, but pay it off frequently. Take advantage of 0% and good god if you struggle with this - TALK WITH YOUR BANK. I can't count the times I've had this conversation. Most banks will try to work with you, but don't let it get so bad that they struggle with that. 2. Keep an eye on your balance and what you're doing with it. Money is to be enjoyed, so don't become a dragon. 3. Keep an eye on studentloans and your pension. Especially your pension! My word, I was so blind to that stuff and its really easy to check most of them if you just check who you are with (especially a work pension). Perhaps ask your work to match your contribution if you feel you have enough spare enough month. 4. Chat with friends! Honestly this thread is so good, add this to your social groups. I have a couple of friends that we share spreadsheets with and chat money/pensions/payrises etc. Its really useful and gave me a bit of confidence. This applies to coworkers as well, a reminder that whilst some companies will try to stop you chatting about money, in the UK they legally cannot stop you from doing so. There is NO logical reason to not talk about it, as it only benefits the employer, not the employee. I haven't named things like investing and shares as @will' covered that, but I 110% agree. The company I was taken over by last year enabled me to get nearly a large sum payout in the end. Simply because I said yes. I'm going to stop waffling, but if you've got any questions let me know. ps. @bob increase that pension!

Hi lovelies. Like a few of you I got the email about older members. I do still check in from time to time, but life has been so chaotic the last few years! It sounds like most of you are doing well though.

Oh @Happenstance I feel you, but get out there, I'm sure someone would love to have you on there team. On my own note, its not been nearly 6 years since I started my current job and in April, I asked for a new title/promotion. To cut a rather than long short, I was supposed to have the job by September (we had the contract signed off and wages were being discussed.) Then the company got taken over. Promises were made to get the title by Christmas. More promises.. Finally told a couple of weeks ago IF it happens, it'll now be April next year, but there's nothing to say I'll ever get it. So today I went for my first interview and I've been invited back for a second. Its been quite the emotional rollercoaster the last few months, I don't even care if I don't get this job, its refreshing to be back on the bandwagon and trying to find my worth in work again.

I'm here if you need a chat, my parents, sister and best mate all moved out of the UK in such a quick succession it had me reeling for a long time. <3

Haha to be fair to you, we're doing a small ceremony of about 15-20 people, which is a LOT easier. At the moment we're set for spring next year, but with my niece on the way, we might push it back <3