My Can i do it? Yes i can savings diary

cocalls

Hi there

(not sure if this is the right section to post in so feel free to move!)

Right I’ve had enough of this house, it feel like its getting smaller and smaller as we fill it with more ‘stuff’ also it feels really tatty and after an initial spurt of DIYing 7 yrs ago we’ve both just given up!! And I’ve had enough of squandering my wage I just never seem to have anything at the end of the month to actually show for my money. I get paid £1375 per month and £500 goes into joint account to pay for bills (& food) and £160 goes to pay train travel so where does the rest go? I rarely buy clothes go out etc but looking at my ever expanding thighs I think it goes on booze and snacks! My OH gets the same wage roughly.
I really want to move next yr but will need some money as a back up. So I am going to set ourselves a challenge of saving £5,000 before June 16th (annoyingly I get paid on the 16th of each month) EEkkk! We already have about £150 ish, some stuff to sell, and im going to do quidco, mystery shopping & surveys. So im sure it can be done!;)
There I’ve put it down in black and white it has to happen! My other half is sort of on board (but will need a real kick up the backside as he’s even worse than me!)
So I’m going to start this diary proper on 2nd Jan (going to Edinbrgh for New Yrs Hurrah-will cost a bit but I’ll try and keep the spends to a minimum have 2 bottles of proesceto (sp) and printed off a half price slug n lettuce voucher-every little helps!)
Will do a proper SOA later so knowledgeable peeps can help me with my spends and see the exact figures.
Wish me luck and if anyone wants to join me then the more the merrier!:T

cocalls

Right im back from edinbrough had a great time if rather cold, we spent rather a lot opps but the OH has just given me £50 to pay for trains tickets i bought a while back so im going to put that straight into the savings account woo woo.

I have just checked our savings account and we actually have £245.72 in it (see i told you i was useless with money-nealy £100 more than i thought!)

So the grand total is £295.72

cocalls

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 1350
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1250
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2600

Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 499
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 95
Electricity............................. 24
Gas..................................... 43
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 11
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 30 (OH is £25 I spend approx £5 on payg)
TV Licence.............................. 12.01
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38 (mm think this needs to go down)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 (this is for food/toiletries/cleaning/wine&cat)
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 41.62 (I passed in july)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25 (goes into savings account have £50)
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 159 (my train ticket to work)
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 22.72
Contents insurance...................... 0 (with above)
Life assurance ......................... 0 (we have free stuff w/ work)
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, Christmas etc)...... 0 (will make or take out of entertainment fund)
Haircuts................................ 0 (will take out of entertainment fund)
Entertainment........................... 680 (£85/wk to spend on whatever we want)
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
OH bank account fee..................... 14
Charities............................... 5
Total monthly expenses.................. 1910.35

Assets
Cash.................................... 295
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 120795

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 85950....(499)......3
Total secured debts........... 85950.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdrft HSBC grad ac..........850.......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........850.......50........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,600
Expenses (including secured debts)...... 1,879.35
Available for debt repayments........... 720.65
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 50
Amount left after debt repayments....... 670.65

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 120,795
Total Secured debt...................... -85,950
Total Unsecured debt.................... -850
Net Assets.............................. 33,995

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

In Feb. & March we’ll put the council tax money towards the savings
We’ll both have pay rises in April (OH should be substantial!)
So £670.65 x 6 = 4023.9
Plus CT 190
Money already savd 295.72
4509.62 so only 490.38 to make from other sources!
It looks doable I suppose

We currently save in a Yorkshire BS savings account w/ a rate of 3% and interest is added monthly

fullstop

That is very comprehensive Cocalls, Just one question Did you renew your train ticket (season ticket?) to work before the latest increase on January1? If you did you could have saved a fair bit of money.

cocalls

aha i did try went in before i caught the train to edinbrough for my season ticket starting on mon quoted martin who'd been on GMTV that morning and they told me that he was incorrect and that as my ticket started after the 2nd it would have to be at the higher price humph!

cocalls

Just spent the last hr signing up to the free stuff on quidco-im now prpared for my email inbox to be inundated with rubbish ho hum! But im now up to £17 woo woo.
Just emailed my sis and asked her for her contribution to our other sister xmas presie £25 and have been told that im getting £6.50 i'd overpaid to virgin. To quote Monty Burns 'Excellent' cue rubbing of hands Will add it all to my savings account when all comes through.

[Deleted User]

cocalls wrote: »

Electricity............................. 24
Gas..................................... 43

Have a look here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

cocalls wrote: »

Mobile phone............................ 30 (OH is £25 I spend approx £5 on payg)

Have a look here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cut-mobile-tariff

cocalls wrote: »

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38 (mm think this needs to go down)

Could you get a freeview box? One off payment... Have a look here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-freeview-box

cocalls wrote: »

Car Insurance........................... 41.62 (I passed in july)

Well done! Is this the cheapest though? Got cashback?

Have a look here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-car-insurance

cocalls wrote: »

Other travel............................ 159 (my train ticket to work)

Have a look here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets

cocalls wrote: »

Buildings insurance..................... 22.72

Have a look here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/cheap-home-insurance-tricks

cocalls wrote: »

Entertainment........................... 680 (£85/wk to spend on whatever we want)

This seems very high even for two... As a percentage of your wage it's 25% or the OH 22%. To put this into perspective I spend 7% and this by no means equates to staying in while the lads go out.

cocalls wrote: »

OH bank account fee..................... 14

Is this for privileged banking? If so is it worth it?

cocalls wrote: »

Charities............................... 5

Get rid. Give to charities when you can afford to.

CLAPTON

start to keep spending diaries and write down everything you spend ... often shows interesting results

you have car insurance but show nothing for petrol, car tax, MOT, RAC/AA, servicing etc?

cocalls

Many thanks Davidmt83 will have a look at those sections-
i thought we were doing alright for the basics but obviously not!
sky is just silly really i really don't know why i signed up with them was quite happy with virgin really and sky costs so much more. im with them for a yr come summer i'll look at getting rid meanwhile i'll ring tommorrow and see if i can downgrade.
The car insurance probabally wasnt the cheapest -left it up to OH so no cashback again with them till summer i'll look at changing it then.
The entertainment i put down as £85 pppw just to spend on everything else really like smoking (OH) going out clothes pressies etc anything left other we can chuck in the savings!
OH seems v reluctant to get rid of privilede banking gets AA from in & discount when goes into OD will discuss it with him as ive seen martin talk about getting breakdown cover v cheap.

Clapton-keep meaning to write things down but im v bad at remembering will try thou
Petrol we rarley use the car(hmm do we need it???) so i thought we could pay for petrol out of 'entertainment' sorry should have put was saving MOt & tax as £35/month is ths enough er really don't know-bit of a novice when it comes to cars.

cocalls

yawn morning all-you'll notice that i get up really early!!
Back to work after 2 weeks off not looking forward to it, esp the train journey as it'll be chocker.
Will be a NSD as im just about to make my lunch,
will charge phone at work,
take book and not buy mag
cycle from train st to work have given bike(brompton) a once over yest so all good
Tea is haggis neeps n tatties mmmm

Will phone sky today and a £80 standing order for the savings came out from the joint acc today that i didnt have a chance to cancel-oh well all good!
Actually need to go over the joint acc incomings and outgoings as i think we have a surplus but i cant figure it out I have mild dyxlexia in maths esp (and spelling so excuse that!) so figures really do confuse me but i i try!

[Deleted User]

cocalls wrote: »

im with them for a yr come summer i'll look at getting rid meanwhile i'll ring tommorrow and see if i can downgrade.

I've never been with them so I'm unsure but could you ring to see what penalites there are for cancelling? Might these out weight your current monthly costs?

cocalls wrote: »

The car insurance probabally wasnt the cheapest -left it up to OH so no cashback again with them till summer i'll look at changing it then.

Get these savings anytime. Provided you haven't claimed, most policies can be cancelled with a refund. While a few charge penalties, you’re still likely to save more than their cost

Source: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-car-insurance

breakdown cover v cheap.

Go with AutoAid - I can recommend them highly. They charge £37 for what the AA/RAC charge a ton more for... Details here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/roadside-recovery