Don't call it a dream.... Call it a plan
kittykatneedscash
Posts: 105 Forumite
I'm trying to get my finances in order as I suppose I've been sticking my head in the sand and living for the moment too much.
Myself and my now ex partner bought my grandmothers house 3 years ago when she died. She had lived here 65 years and the property needed a lot of refurbishment no central heating, full replaster, new kitchen, bathroom etc. This wasn't ever really the plan to do this but I felt like her house should stay in the family and hated the thought of it going to a developer. We basically borrowed money off family for the deposit and the start of the renovation funds and have since extended the mortgage. We had no savings what so ever but saw it as a bit of an adventure and our chance to get on the property ladder.
As I said before I bought this with my now ex, I have managed eventually to get the mortgage in my own name. It isn't massive but neither is my salary and going from paying less than half of everything to paying everything on my own I've struggled. So I've decided to get my head out of the sand and sort my sh*t out!
The house still needs some work but more cosmetic now most of the big jobs are out of the way and its definitely liveable.
I've started this diary to hopefully help myself keep on track, any tips and advice will be gratefully received and maybe this may be of use to someone else one day. I want to try and cut down what I spend, make extra cash, pay off debts and start to put some savings behind me as I don't have anything and I don't pay into a pension I'm 33! ( suppose it's something I've always thought I'll sort when I grow up) after my finances are in better order I will look at making over payments on my mortgage as I want to do what I can to reduce the term.
Myself and my now ex partner bought my grandmothers house 3 years ago when she died. She had lived here 65 years and the property needed a lot of refurbishment no central heating, full replaster, new kitchen, bathroom etc. This wasn't ever really the plan to do this but I felt like her house should stay in the family and hated the thought of it going to a developer. We basically borrowed money off family for the deposit and the start of the renovation funds and have since extended the mortgage. We had no savings what so ever but saw it as a bit of an adventure and our chance to get on the property ladder.
As I said before I bought this with my now ex, I have managed eventually to get the mortgage in my own name. It isn't massive but neither is my salary and going from paying less than half of everything to paying everything on my own I've struggled. So I've decided to get my head out of the sand and sort my sh*t out!
The house still needs some work but more cosmetic now most of the big jobs are out of the way and its definitely liveable.
I've started this diary to hopefully help myself keep on track, any tips and advice will be gratefully received and maybe this may be of use to someone else one day. I want to try and cut down what I spend, make extra cash, pay off debts and start to put some savings behind me as I don't have anything and I don't pay into a pension I'm 33! ( suppose it's something I've always thought I'll sort when I grow up) after my finances are in better order I will look at making over payments on my mortgage as I want to do what I can to reduce the term.
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In the past week I've started thinking about things I can do to improve the situation. I have joined TopCashback and then through that compared my energy bills through Uswitch. It looks like just moving tariffs but staying with NPower could save £19 a month (and I should get £33 cash back for going through TopCashback but first time using it so yet to see)
Ive done my first weekly shop actually writing a list and planning meals got to be better than my ad hoc random shops or eating out if nothing planned.
Signed up to Onepoll survey site £6.00 in a day so seems good but can't withdraw until you reach £40 I have a feeling this may get harder to reach the nearer you get. I will update with how I'm getting on.
I have some money in an account that I am saving towards paying family back that was earning pence in a rubbish savings account but I was (always have been) at the bottom of my overdraft on my current account which was costing me around £15 per month in debit interest I have transferred £1250 into this account from my savings to cover this. I will have to be very careful not to dip into it as it's there but this will save me £15 a month.
Last but not absolutely not least and what is my biggest money saving so far is stopping smoking!!!! I have smoked since I was around 15/16 and before I stopped I was smoking around 15 a day. This will save me a shocking £50ish per week!! I am only on day 7 and had a little slip up on a night out on Saturday (but didn't buy any) so not counting my chickens just yet but so far so good. I will keep you updated on this too. Thanks for reading 😊0 -
Welcome! And well done for looking your debt straight in the eye!
Keep posting, everyone is really supportive and keeps you focused on being a DFW.0 -
Current monthly situation
Mortgage £400.97
Council tax £75
Water £41.70
Gas and Electric £ 74 (Hopefully this will go down to £54 if my energy switch goes through)
Buildings and Contents insurance £14.17
Pet insurance £9.69
Sky £48.26 (inclusive of phone, broadband and line rental)
Repayments for family loan £150 ( transferred into separate account I will repay in lump sums)
Mobile phone bill £17.50
TV licence £12.50
Adobe Illustrator £17.15 (signed into a 12 month subscription but I want to continue with this as I hope one day be able to earn an extra income from freelance work)
Postcode lottery £10 - should really cancel as I never win anything I don't play any other lottery though and my sister has a ticket in the same postcode and I'd be gutted if she won and I'd cancelled
Credit card minimum payment £25 ( in the processes of balance transferring then I can start to chip away at the outstanding balance)
£895.95 bills and direct debits per month.
£1328 monthly salary
£432.05 per month for everything else!
Other monthly expenses
Dog food £27.95
Dog walking £24
Gardener £15
Dog grooming £20
This leaves me £86.27 for everything else food, travel to work, toiletries, clothes, leisure. This is the first time I've really sat down and added everything up. To me this sounds like very little to live off, no wonder my debts were getting bigger and things are getting blindly put on the credit card. I was going to ask if other people thought this was a lot or a little to live off but not sure if it really matters as its what I have to live of so will just have to make it work.
Happy money saving peeps! Any suggestions hints, tips welcome 😀0 -
I don't have Sky and now pay £21 for line rental/phone & broadband. I also pay £7.49 for Netflix, so maybe think of reducing that.
I used to have a cleaner but I decided as much as I hate cleaning I'd rather do it myself and keep the money! So maybe ditch the gardener!
Definitely get rid of the lottery!
Do you meal plan and then shop to the plan? Can you sell anything on eBay/gumtree to generate more income?0 -
Thanks for your post Louby (I've just been reading your lodger post. I don't really watch anything on Sky as such just the normal freeview channels however I do use it to record. Don't think I can cancel until 12 months which is December so I may have to review it then.
I have thought about ditching the gardener but she only does my hedge which is quite large and does the other side for the neighbour and clears everything way I don't have transport to take to the tip. I do everything else myself in the garden.
Meal plans and shopping is where I think I can make a difference. I did my first shop on Sunday and planned meals and stuck to my list, before I ended up wasting quite a bit of food and also spending too much money on eating out.
I will be searching the house for things to eBay tonight. I already have 3 brand new handbags with tags to put on.0 -
Well done stopping smoking! I smoked from 18 to 31, 15 a day,it's been 11 years since I gave up, such a good feeling and you'll be much richer financially and healthwise!
Maybe call Sky and ask if there is a cheaper package? I'm with Virgin and have broadband and basic tv for £28. Ditch the lottery too and save that money somewhere, it'll grow before you know it.0 -
Thanks Jox I have an app that's telling me 220 hours smoke free and £66.72 saved think this is what's spurring me on to succeed more than anything.
I will try sky but I think I'm on the basic package anyway think I will cancel when my 12 months is up!0 -
Day 3 of my diary and hoping to have my 3rd NSD (no spend day) in a row. This isn't going to happen very often as I usually have to get the train to work but this week is a one off where I can get a lift all week. Also doing my food shop and meal plan on Sunday has helped massively as I haven't had to pop to the supermarket most nights for something I've missed. Still haven't listed anything on eBay that is the plan for this evening.
P.s Still not smoking and my little app is telling me I'm quids in, actually quite addictive! keep checking it to see how much I've saved so far £66.72!!!!0 -
Can definitely agree with how much money can be saved by stopping smoking! I used to buy between 5-8 packs a week - not that I smoked them all as my OH would smoke them too despite using rolling tobacco! That stopped about 18 months ago - saving me an easy £60 a week (although I notice cigarette prices have soared since). That's in the region of £3120 a year!!! GULP!start = Wed 19th Nov 2008 £21,225
end = Mon 28th Sept 2015 DEBT FREE!
I love a good plan - it may not work.... but I love a good plan!0 -
So last week I managed 4 NSD's which I was very happy about don't know if I'll manage any this week as I'm back to getting the train to work.
I was very happy when £10 appeared in my bank on Saturday from a little postcode lottery win so that's transferred into my savings / paying off debts account so I don't spend it. I also have £33 payable in my topcash back account from a credit card I signed up to for transferring my balance. I have a couple of things listed on eBay that finish tomorrow so hopefully they sell.
Still smoke free my app is telling me I've saved £109.40 !!!0
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