My 2009 Plan

Miss_314

Hi there :hello:

This is the post I always start to make then chicken out and delete before I hit 'submit'. Tuh, maybe this one'll make it through.

I thought I'd start my own diary after lurking and posting infrequently since last August. The new year seemed like a good place to start so I've set myself a few challenges this year and thought starting a diary here might get me motivated for the year; I only hope I don't offend anyone along the way.

The History

I'll start with a bit about me...I'm 23, full-time student with 1 part-time paying job and 2 voluntary jobs with local charities. I'm also 'in charge' of not only my own finances but also my mother's finances (I still live with her) as she's terrible at managing her finances and has debts which never get paid, so I have control of her accounts.

On to my own finances (this is the part where I hope I don't offend anyone on this site and always delete my posts)...I'm not actually in any debt (if you discount my student loan) and am actually a saver.
My Incomings =
My student loan
Part-time Job

My outgoings (fairly low as I still live with my mother and we have an 'arrangement') =
Car running costs
Credit card payments (not my card, it's my mother's, hence "arrangement")
Any costs occured during voluntary work (varies and not reimbursed)

Er, that could be about it. I'm not sure atm, it's late and I can't think properly. That's an almost embarrassing list

Anyway, onto "The Plan"...

1) I currently pay at least £150 a month (have been since October 2008) on the credit card and I'm hoping to keep making overpayments to clear it by 31st December 2009
2) I intend to tighten my spending habits this year and up my savings by £5000
3) I have budgeted an average spend of £48 pounds a week which is for petrol (I have to drive at least 150 miles pw for uni/work) and all other misc expenses, including food
4) Have at least 52 NSD this year (I've had 3 already)
5) Keep on track of Mother's finances, as well as my own, so she has savings by the end of the year
6) I get paid weekly so aim to do weekly budgeting accordingly
7) Make a weekly list of achievable targets to keep me organised
8) Fill up my sealed money tin and use as my full budget for Christmas 2009

The Problems

1) Mother's finances can be quite difficult to rganise and budget for as every time I think I have a grip on them, she surprises me with more debt she's obtained (fences, pawn shop, quick loans, borrowed money from friends etc). I give her a weekly allowance from her disposable income and maintain control of her bank cards but still she finds ways around getting more money that I find difficult to not pay (with her money...sometimes).
2) My own finances can also be difficult sometimes to keep track of as my hours vary at work from week to week. £48 pw should be a manageable sum on minimal hours, though.
3) I'm actually due to go in for an operation in a couple of weeks and have to take approximately 2 months (unpaid) off work as I'm unable to do my job whilst recovering
4) I'm wary of encountering "unexpected" expenses (for example, I was robbed out of the home just before Christmas which cost me approx £400 to replace things) that I don't budget for.
5) Time. Ok, I'm not a mother and I don't work full-time but I do have a lot of pressures on my time (uni, jobs, finances, relationship) and things keep happening to knock me back and make me want to give up everything some times (see points 1, 3 & 4). I feel I can't afford (financially and literally) to let anything slip and it's all very much in danger of doing so right now.

That's about it for now. I need to go to bed, I have a 7am start tomorrow. I invite any comments on my "Plan" over the weekend. I'll start my weekly updates on Monday, got a busy weekend ahead of me.

I hope I didn't annoy too many people

Miss_314 x

Buffythedebtslayer

You won't annoy anyone hon, not in a fit state to reply but wanted to say hi and well done for hitting the submit button,

being organised is half the battle i think! and you are organised and aware of the obstacles you will be kicking out of your way....

I will subscribe so I can find you again
I too have an early start
take care
Buffyxxx

PercyPig

Hi there Miss-314! :wave: I don't think anyone will be annoyed at all! Well done for taking charge of your mother's finances, sounds like you have a lot on your plate but you also sound very organised.

Best wishes,
Percy

epsilondraconis

Well done Miss-314 on your efforts. Perhaps it would be useful if both your mother and you keep a spending diary and write down everything each of you purchases. At the end of each week you could run through them both. Perhaps if someone hasn't included everything they should have on their list, they have to do all of the chores for the following week?

Anyway, keep posting and good luck...

Caroline73_2

Well done on being such a sensible, mature person at 23!

I will watch your thread with interest but your mother needs to get a grip and not rely on you.

Miss_314

Thank you for your kind words, they're much appreciated.

epsilondraconis, thanks for the suggestion but I already tried it. I bought the mother an academic diary for her to put all of her spends in at the start of October (when I took control). I said we were going to look at where her money was going at the end of each week as before I took over she was spending approx £150 a week on ...well, I don't know becuase she hasn't left me see the spending diary since I gave her it and has since confessed she only used it for 2 days. I know I need to get her on track before I hand control of her accounts back to her but atm I'm only giving her an 'allowance' of £50pw for her to spend on whatever she wants which is a figure I know is sustainable from her income whilst making her debt repayments and having a little left over for 'emergencies', so I don't worry too much about what she's doing with the £50.

Hadn't really thought of doing one myself, though. That's a good idea thank you, might start on Monday. I predict 60% of my outgoings go to Tesco

Anyway...
Just thought I'd pop on here quickly to put up a little "to do" list for the weekend so I keep motivated. Also, I just checked my online banking and remembered that I do have another outgoing...£25.50 for Internet/TV package every month for the household.

Anyway, back to the list...

Clean house (started that at 8am; just taking a quick break)
Do washing up
Wash uniform for work tonight
Make grocery list
Do the grocery shop
Take library books back
Fill out form for work regarding the 2 months off
Get book I need out of library
Read at least 50 pages from C&D textbook
Post off some forms at post office
Finish the fiction book I've been reading this week (only 400 pages left to go...I swear it hasn't been distracting me from my uni work at all this week :whistle: )
Read through book I need to get from library today
Contemplate hoovering

...all to be completed by 11.59pm Sunday 11th January.

I think that's enought to ge getting on with for 3 days. I'd like to sleep and go to work too. Wish me luck x

Kimonokawaii

Hello Miss_3414

You're not annoying anyone, you're doing well to not be in debt as a student and it's a wonderful thing you're doing for your mum...good luck with your saving challenge!!

Miss_314

Caroline 73, thank you for your comment.

I know you're right about her needing to get a grip but I don't have time to sit and try with her much these days as everything is a delicate balancing act for me right now and she has her head firmly wedged in the sand.

I do need to come up with some sort of plan for when I hand her accounts back over to her (aiming for Aug 2010 at latest, when her debts are paid off if all goes according to my plan). I'm scared she'll just run up more debt and overspend again as she's only grudgingly going along with things atm and hasn't really adopted the budgeting concept or cut back on anything. All of this debt now is as a result of her overspending after I paid off all of her previous debts (out of my money, not hers which cost me a couple thousand ££) back in 2005. She didn't learn that way so I need a better plan this time and this is the best I have for now.

mrskirsten

I would just like to congratulate you on being a sensible student. I'm 19 and have friends who have just started Uni and they all just seem to throw their money away. (This included my boyfriend until he got signed off due to glandular fever).
And don't worry about annoying people, you're obviously a well organised, well meaning person
Good luck in it all and I'll subscribe to see how you're getting on

Miss_314

Just thought I'd swing by and update my list o' tasks.

[strike]Clean house[/strike]
[strike]Do washing up[/strike]
[strike]Wash uniform for work tonight
[/strike][strike]Make grocery list
[/strike][strike]Do the grocery shop
[/strike][strike]Take library books back[/strike]
[strike]Fill out form for work regarding the 2 months off
[/strike][strike]Get book I need out of library[/strike]
[strike]Read at least 50 pages from C&D textbook[/strike] Done!
Post off some forms at post office (Was too busy so I'll have to go Monday)
[strike]Finish the fiction book I've been reading this week (only 400 pages left to go...I swear it hasn't been distracting me from my uni work at all this week :whistle: ) - 300 pages to go now[/strike]
[strike]Read through book I took out from library[/strike]
[strike]Contemplate hoovering [/strike] - Well I thought about it

Only a few left this weekend then to fit around work. 'Course, I did leave the hardest ones 'till last

Miss_314

Miss_314

Just another update. Been at work all day today and didn't finish until gone mignight last night so I'm suitably knackered!

Still, got a few more things done off my list so all I have to do now is visit the post office tomorrow and finish off my fiction book. Not too shabby, if I say so myself.

Just managed to get my uni work done whilst watching Repossessed on bbc iplayer from (i think) Wednesday night. Got the feeling that if the wife from the second couple who worked in he butchers was paired with the husband of the last couple who worked about 12 hours a day in two jobs then they'd at least be safe from repossession :undecided

Going to go soak in the bath and finish my book now x

Forgot to add, Saturday was a NSD for me too! Also, I get paid tomorrow so I'll work out a weekly budget then and probably start a spending diary.