#95 Back from a break

A lot has happened since I last updated here.

1. New son was born :) We are now officially in the lack of sleep phase.
2. We went on holiday to Cornwall and had an amazing time. Massively recommend Charlestown and also the Minack Theatre.
3. We've spent a fortune. 
1. The holiday cost us about £1000.
2. Wife crashed the car which cost us the £550 excess charge.
3. Car insurance jumped up to £500 (from £190) because of this
4. Vacuum cleaner broke. Replacement was £250.
1. This is on top of the dishwasher, washing machine, hair dryer and timble-drier all going this year! at least there shouldn't be anything left to break next year (...looks terrified at the fridge and the TV)
4. I got a promotion and salary hike from £72k to £80k

I'm pretty proud of the promotion and it's re-invigorated me within the workplace more that I thought it would. I can't talk about salary in person with everyone except the wife so it's nice to be able to put it out there here and be proud of it.

Here's the updated graph showing my earnings (and potential bonus) since I started my career in 2009.

So what's are we doing financially at the moment?

Lots has changed in the previous months I've been away but really also nothing has. We're looking to a) pay down debt and b) divert some money into savings.

In terms of debt, we have £1400 on a credit card following the holiday and purchases I alluded too. That's the priority.

We then have the car loan which is a smidge over £5k.

In terms of savings - this is focused on the additional income my promotion will provide.

We've decided that the salary sacrifice share shave schemes I'm in will be used to provide us with a yearly holiday from 2020 onward. So I'm going to put £100 of my expected additional £300 into this.

The remaining £200 I am currently deciding whether to also invest additionally in the share save or look to put that cash straight onto the credit and then car loans. Undecided yet.

I've also got lax about matched betting since the world cup so trying to pick this up again and perhaps the two go hand in hand.

Divert additional income straight into savings and use this as the stick to force me back into matched betting to earn the money to pay down the debt that I desire. Maybe that's the decision made there. Just needed some time to think about it structurally.