It's time for a money diet...

Options
12467…13

Comments

  • Lauralozzle
    Lauralozzle Posts: 719 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    Options
    Friday 30th September

    Payday has arrived! I have not gone into the overdraft which is good.

    £700 straight into the joint account
    £50 straight into the wedding fund (Tom put £50 in too).

    I'm seriously considering doing something not very MSE. The plan for the wedding was 2018 so we could save up for it and at all in cash. The problem is I would very much like my grandad to be there and if I'm being honest, I don't think he'll make it to to 2018. He is quite ill (he has terminal leukaemia and is often in and out of hospital frequently) and so I have been thinking about moving it to Nov 2017. We'll still save hard but might have to pay for venue on 0% credit card. He might not make it to Nov 2017 but there is much more of a chance!

    I think if I was to take the credit option a 0% purchases card would be the best bet as we wouldn't be paying interest but it would mean increasing our debt for the short term.
    February Grocery Budget: £190.75/£350.00
    NST no. NSD 4/15
  • Thistle-down
    Thistle-down Posts: 914 Forumite
    First Post
    Options
    If it is important for you to have him there, then it makes perfect sense.
    :happylove
  • Lauralozzle
    Lauralozzle Posts: 719 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    Options
    I've had a word with Tom about moving it forward - he doesn't like the idea of putting it on credit but I think it's the only way forward. (We just don't earn enough to save that amount of money!)

    Saturday 1st October

    Today has been a productive day! I've felt pretty rough today (damn that time of the month) but have made steps towards our goals! Made an overpayment on Credit card (minimum payment will come out later this month) and I've updated my 'debts' in my signature to reflect this. I really like seeing very thing reduce each month!!!!

    Tom's doing some overtime tomorrow from home!!! Double and a half pay for six hours. He'll get taxed horribly but the extra made will go straight into wedding fund end of this month!!!

    I'm also declaring today a NSD - so that's 1/15 done! I've also managed to hit my 10,000 steps a day target too.
    February Grocery Budget: £190.75/£350.00
    NST no. NSD 4/15
  • Lauralozzle
    Lauralozzle Posts: 719 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    edited 9 October 2016 at 3:28PM
    Options
    Sunday 9th October

    So, I've been chipping away at the credit card debt which is now sitting at £206! If I have some money left over I may well try and clear this a little sooner! £206 shouldn't be too difficult to clear at all!!!

    Today has been a NSD which I'm pretty pleased with. I'm hoping for at least 3 NSD next week!
    February Grocery Budget: £190.75/£350.00
    NST no. NSD 4/15
  • Thistle-down
    Thistle-down Posts: 914 Forumite
    First Post
    Options
    How's it all going, Laura? Any updates?
    :happylove
  • LauraB89
    LauraB89 Posts: 164 Forumite
    Options
    This is slightly off-topic but just a coincidence - hi I am Laura, looking to pay off my debts and save up to marry my OH... Tom...!

    Looks like you're further down the road than I am :)

    Will be reading this diary for sure!
  • Lauralozzle
    Lauralozzle Posts: 719 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    edited 27 December 2016 at 4:47PM
    Options
    December 27th 2016

    I haven't updated for a while! I've been not totally fallen off the wagon but I must admit I've not been fantastic either!

    As pay day is Friday I'll update on state of affairs on Thursday. I've not gone backwards, I just haven't done as well as I'd hoped.

    I can confirm that the wedding is booked! We have decided to move the wedding forward because of my grandad. The wedding is November 5th 2017 - so, saving hard is my number one priority for 2017 as I want as little as possible to go onto the credit card. Tom has had a promotion so next year we should see the fruits of that, it's not much but it's better than nothing!!!

    Pay day is on Friday and that is when I'll throw myself back into this full swing!
    February Grocery Budget: £190.75/£350.00
    NST no. NSD 4/15
  • Lauralozzle
    Lauralozzle Posts: 719 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    edited 28 December 2016 at 10:17AM
    Options
    Wednesday 28 December

    So, I've had a look in the joint account - things are looking good. Tom's back at work today, I'm back tomorrow so I'll get the house sorted today.

    One of our Christmas presents was a £50 saving stamps to use at Tesco so I'll pop over to Tesco today and get some bits in. I can't face cold turkey again so I think I'll get some pastry and make a pie to use the rest of the leftovers. After that we don't really have much in. I'll also go to the butchers because after the turkey we have no meat in the house and it's always easier to get this in when one of us is off (the butchers on a Saturday is mayhem!)

    Healthy eating will also return today. Usually I'll end up paying for slimming world or weight watchers but I'll use MyFitnessPal - it will be much, much cheaper to do so. It's just about being sensible really - no more cafe Nero coffee and no more white chocolate and raspberry muffins!! I've just weigh myself and it's not good!!! 11 stone 9.2 lbs - target is s to be at 11stone 5 by end of January

    I've also set up a spreadsheet with our outgoings on so I can keep track of them. Our outgoings are high at the moment but they'll go down as things are paid off this year (namely credit card, sofa and I know Tom is still paying for my engagement ring until June/July time).

    I'll post our outgoings later.
    February Grocery Budget: £190.75/£350.00
    NST no. NSD 4/15
  • Lauralozzle
    Lauralozzle Posts: 719 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    edited 28 December 2016 at 11:43AM
    Options
    Okay,

    So here is a rough estimate of our joint outgoings

    There's money left for our individual outgoings too but I will try and cut this back where I can. We're saving - but we also don't want to spend our lives saving and not having enough to do anything!! It's all about balance!

    My salary: £1228.14
    Tom's salary: £1228.14 (this will go up when he starts his new job)
    Total income: £2456.28

    Joint account expenses (monthly - based on December 2016)

    Mortgage: £504.08
    Council Tax: £124
    Contents/Building Insurance: £14.94
    Gas/Electricity: £83 - we're in credit though (£132 worth of credit - I submitted latest readings today so should be accurate)
    Water rates: £39.55
    Sky (tv, phone, broadband): £45
    Tom's mobile: £15
    My mobile: £34
    Netflix: £5.99 (this will go again the moment I've watched new series of vampire diaries ��) I get it - binge on updated shows then cancel it, I then get it again when others are updated and so the cycle continues! Better than just paying for it all year round.

    Sofa: £78.34 (0% Apr)
    Tom's car: £151.68 (9% Apr)
    My car: £187.28 (7.9% Apr)

    Food shopping (includes food, household items, dog food): £300. This is high - but any left over goes straight to emergency fund.

    Wedding fund: £200 (for now - this will go up)
    Emergency fund: £100

    Total: £1894.98

    My personal outgoings:

    Credit card: £25 minimum (but I plan on paying this off in the next two months as 0% ends Feb so it'll be £60 when I get paid and £60 again on January payday)
    Specsavers contact lenses: £23
    Car insurance: £27
    Petrol: £50

    So this leaves me about £100 spending money for the month after everything. Which is doable!
    February Grocery Budget: £190.75/£350.00
    NST no. NSD 4/15
  • Lauralozzle
    Lauralozzle Posts: 719 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    edited 29 December 2016 at 11:27PM
    Options
    Thursday 29th December

    What a chilly day it's been today! It's absolutely freezing outside.

    So, pay day is tomorrow. I have £1.06 in my bank account. I'm taking that as a win because I've not touched my overdraft!

    Emergency fund is at £550/£1000 so over half-way there. Wedding fund is looking healthy too at £2248.62. We're above target and that can only be a good thing. I got a text off the money shop today stating that they accept silver as well as gold. I've got quite a lot of silver I'll never wear so I might pop down and speak to them about it. Better to get all the money we can get!

    I've worked out my budget for January (runs 30/12/2016 - 31/01/2017) I'll be honest, it looks bleak but doable. I'm going to aim for 15 NSD. I also plan on spending whatever birthday money I get - I originally thought I'd stash it away but I'd like to do something nice with it - such as a meal out/ day out or something. We'll see.

    January budget - I will check take home pay - I've got a terrible feeling it's gone down to £1227.94 (after checking last months wages)

    Take home pay = £1228.14

    Money into joint account (bills, emergency fund and food shopping) = £850
    Money into wedding fund = £100
    Petrol = £50 (hopefully it will be a bit less)
    Car insurance = £26.63
    Contact lenses = £23
    Credit card = £60
    Christmas 2017 (I refuse to let next year be as difficult) = £31

    I've worked out that if I have £15 spending money each week I should completely avoid my overdraft.
    February Grocery Budget: £190.75/£350.00
    NST no. NSD 4/15
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.1K Life & Family
  • 247.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards