the nerd's wannabe-mortgage-holder savings diary...

greenmantle

Here follows my heavily-annotated SOA, which is highly, highly hypothetical.

It's an odd hybrid, being produced, partly, out of estimates resulting from expenditure during two months (I kept a Spending Diary) living in another part of town, in a different flat, with full-on rent (over £700 for a room), after having been elsewhere (long story) for the previous five months (so there were some 'set up' costs included). This was interrupted with a long spell of travel for work last month, which I took care to keep separate (mostly) from my everyday expenses. The budget is hypothetical, because I'm now starting on a completely new living routine (cooking/eating in, in a new kitchen), in a new residence (house-sitting, with bills, largely, paid), with some of the summer's major expenses (a small holiday, moving costs, couple of equipment/fee outlays for my exercise hobbies) having already come and gone.

I expect to pay off the entire credit card balance (excess work expense - no I don't get all of these covered) with my next pay, but I'm trying not to make a habit of having these overspend balances sitting there on pay-day.

I'm hoping to shave this right down, so as to channel more into savings while I can - I'll add revisions as I make/discover them. It's going to change in a few months when I have to go back into rented accommodation.

A lot of the very standard things, eg TV license etc, sitting with '0' below, are not paid by me under the house-sitting arrangement.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2 - I'm counting only my income and expenses below, but the '2' number (my BF hardly goes home) is relevant for the lifestyle change of cooking-in, and current stocking up of a good culinary cupboard.
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2236
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2236

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 80 (necessary & set: cleaning charges)
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 53 -this is last month's, which includes overseas call charges - without international charges, the monthly bill is normally around £36-40 - I'm on an 18-month iPhone contract, which has turned out to be invaluable for work, so no change possible there.

TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 - I think this is a high estimate - I'll be striking and possibly exceeding it this month, as I've bought in a whole batch of basics to fill an empty cupboard - for monitoring with the Spending Diary
Clothing................................ 30 - I haven't bought any non-sport clothes for some time - probably about 6 months -, but I'm adding it back into the budget, as there are a couple of sale dresses I'd like to add to the long-term wardrobe, and I need some sandals - I buy second-hand or sale only.
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0 (more detailed estimate on this below)
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30 - currently includes monthly contact lenses & regular prescriptions - lenses will go to be replaced by economic bulk buying, but will be replaced by dentist, who I've avoided for some time..(that may end up eating into 'emergency savings', when I face up to it).
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 (I should have this, but it's a total rip off in London, and most of my belongings are boxed up - will probably put off until the next move)
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0 (bike insurance included in expenses, below)

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 - I buy very restricted pressies, alas - this is very close family only and is a high estimate.
Haircuts................................ 35 - high estimate; I have colour and cut, but only one at a time, and in different, not consecutive, months...
Entertainment........................... 120 - a high estimate based on old spending diary, which included much more eating out due to not being able to use cupboard-like shared kitchens; otherwise includes 1 or two films a month, plus small online rental and music purchases - another one being monitored.

Holiday................................. 80 - first one in three years, just paid for in a lump - normally I tend to add a night or two of recreational visit on to work travel, so the monthly amount includes the money I spend on that, which is difficult to estimate, but really adds up - I attend frequent conferences, sites, institutions etc in order to support my work and I very often don't get the expenses back. My job's like that...
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - see savings, below, kind of.
Other transport (Oyster)................ 14

Bicycle commute (maintenance, equipment) 40 - includes annual service, equipment wear, necessary clothes, LCC membership and insurance - will, unfortunately, probably go up due to needing a new machine on the tax-free cycle scheme by the winter.
Train fares - family visits, work etc... 30 - ah, the joy of car-lessness; I love trains, actually, but these do tot up; this is a conservative estimate, as the monthly amount varies widely.
Exercise - swimming, climbing, running.. 30 - running only included in costs here, because it occasionally involves race fees, and I'm on course to need a new pair of trainers soon; swimming is a per-swim fee, climbing is the most expensive - fee & equipment - but also the most fun... Exercise is kind of a non-negotiable cost for me - I used not to do it, and I can tell you that the health benefits are huge.
Savings deposits - in total............. 1000 (looking to add more than this)
Total monthly expenses.................. 1762


Assets
Cash.................................... 3300 - spread across 1 ISA, 1 regular savings, 1.5 online high interest - will be looking again at the latter soon.
House value (Gross)..................... want a house.
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3300

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
HSBC ccard (travel)............123.......5.........15.9
Total unsecured debts..........123.......5.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,200
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,762
Available for debt repayments........... 438
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 5
Amount left after debt repayments....... 469

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,300
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -123
Net Assets.............................. 3,177

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

greenmantle

Obviously there's a surplus there that I should be able to channel into savings, but because it's been such an erratic summer (moves, travel), and I've just paid for a holiday, I'm currently skint.

Action: Ebay, and keep steely tabs on expenditure. Enjoy the kitchen.

greenmantle

NSD yesterday. :j But have to buy something special to feed a visitor this eve, so, not today...

greenmantle

Okay, I've been contemplating savings accounts, and I'm musing about the suspended animation I'll be in for a few months. Thinking aloud, and no questions in particular, follow.

I'm house-sitting at one address, but have not transferred anything from my previous address (mail-forwarding) so as to preserve the impression of stability on my credit record. So I don't want to start messing around with opening new accounts with entirely new companies, when I'm suspended between two postcodes.

On the other hand, I'm trying to save as much as possible, at reasonable rates.
I've just opened a new Egg online saver at 3.25, to take the balance that is currently in a 6.8% (this will end at the end of the month, I think). All my savings currently are under 5,000, so we're talking small difference in interest amounts here.

I'll likely have to face up to the electoral roll issue soon, when I'll fall off my previous flat's registration (I think) and I'll be unregistered again. Erk.

NSD so far, but this will change when I go swimming later...

greenmantle

two no-spend days in a row, but only because I've been home sick...

Need to buy some insurance soon. Am procrastinating over different costs and covers, but that'll be an *oof* when it exists the account.

greenmantle

Well, the saving's going a bit slowly. A few expense issues:

1) I spent too much on holiday (food/action activities of various sorts)

2) I've been spending extra on food to cater for two (this is complicated, but will be rectified shortly, I hope, with a bit of quiet consultation with the BF)

3) I just dropped over £200 on another return air ticket for a short trip to take advantage of some shared accommodation in a spot where I can do some work-related research. Yes, it's on my credit card, but it's being paid off next month in full.

4) Bought a couple of new bits of clothing for the autumn.

I've added a new target to concentrate the mind (£6000 by Christmas, below, but hoping to exceed this) I've transferred £1000 to the Alliance and Leicester instant access savings to get the Quidco £20 reward. I've also opened a Tesco instant savings account so as to get the extra points on my reward card.

Now on a fairly tight budget to the end of the month, and hopefully keeping to the straight and narrow in the coming months, although I'm going to be busier (so less time for home-made lunches, which has saved me a lot) and have another work-related air fare to cover, probably to go on the low-apr card for two months. I don't like having to use it for that, but it's the way of spacing these things out. There's a remote hope that I can get some extra funding to replace some of this (things are scarce at the moment).

There are upheavals at work (the longterm pain for the public sector that this crisis will cause) and I've joined the union, giving myself another monthly expense of about £17. I'll have to do another SOA soon, probably after getting back from this trip.

greenmantle

Back to reappraise at a very busy time, work-wise. As for the last post:

1) recovering from this somewhat. Incremental increase on my wage this month too, hurrah.

2) BF bought the last food shop and we're switching to a 'pay equally into spare current account - shop out of that' system this month.

3) That air fare was so worth it. I've just had to pay for another one. Total horrendous credit card balance below. Half is going to go this month (being partially paid back); the other half next. Phew.

4) No more spending on clothes for a while, though I'm eyeing a couple of winter essentials up for later... Trying to be careful though.

No time for ebaying, but must, soon. On target for savings this month. Trying to keep a grip on things as work gets ever more frantic...

greenmantle

Still haven't received refund for half the work-related air fares on my credit card, and if I don't pay the lot off in the next five days, I'll be charged £10 interest (this is with the long-term lowish-interest credit card I recently got from the Co-op).

So... I'll transfer the cash out of savings and pay off now. Here is, officially, an IOU for £700 which will leave Egg savings and be paid back out of 1) the refund and 2) next month's wages (in lieu of getting full refund, which is not to be depended on in my line of work, unfortunately)

The additional good news is that I've received notice of some freelance work which will bring in over £700. The bad news is that they're usually slow to pay, and it'll take until Christmas to complete...

greenmantle

Drumming my fingers and waiting to get paid in a few days time.

In the meantime, spotted that First Direct are offering a 5% Regular Saver account, so I've dumped 70 quid as a first payment from the interest-free section of my FD overdraft into that, to build up into a travel/holiday fund for next Christmas (having trouble affording the desired cheapo ski holiday this year, and wd love a small treat next - the rest is for the theoretical house deposit, although since prices are already soaring in London at the moment, god knows how that'll ever come off).

Lately, the decent deals which prompted me to open new instant access savings with Alliance and Leicester (their online banking system is a pain, but got £20 cashback through quidco, so it was worth it, at least for a while) and Egg have disappeared - the latest issues have much lower interest. I guess the banks think interest rates are going to sit for a while.

Need to get working today. Partly on freelance, partly on the regular stuff, which is spilling into 6/7 day working weeks at the moment.

Enjoy the autumnal weekend anyone who might be reading this!

greenmantle

Celebrating new savings level, elimination of credit card balance, and hopefully a healthyish budget this month. Mind, I have to do some travelling later in the month on what's left from the savings top-slicing, so fingers-crossed I've budgeted that properly.

hopefully some reimbursement on the way too...

afternoon all.