To infinity and beyond!

I_Love_Steve

Hello Everyone,

I am a long time lurker but first time poster and i have decided to start a diary to give myself a kick up the backside in order to start saving and stop living month by month. (Luckily i do not have any debt apart from my mortgage and student loan)

A little background about me, i currently live alone with my cat, however, my boyf's flat is up for sale and when it is sold he will move in with me. We will use some of the money made from the sale of his flat to do up my flat and then put mine on the market and buy a house. We hope to have a big deposit as possible so i want to start saving now to make it easier for when he moves in we will have alot of disposable income which will make it easier to save but also easier to spend! Boyf is nearly at the mse way, but i will have to gently prod him from time to time.

So plan of action:
1) Change house insurance (done saving me nearly ten pounds a month :j)
2) Start doing overtime at work
3) Meal plan
4) Don't spend money on frivolous items like chocolate, wine and trashy magazines! :EasterBun

I will also post my SOA too as that will give me motivation to look where i am wasting money.

:smileyhea

Itsarandom

Hey there I Love Steve! Welcome to Diary-land and wishing you and your boyfriend every success!

I am also trying to save up for a deposit so my and my partner can buy our first home together - only I am starting nearly 5000 in the wrong direction!

Will be subscribing and looking for inspiration!

I_Love_Steve

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1124.6
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1124.6

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 363
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 81
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 26
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 10.5
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 10.14
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 14.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 26.95
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 7.76
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Charity................................. 4
Total monthly expenses.................. 734.34


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 130000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 49105....(363)......5.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 49105.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Student Loan...................10130.....23........0
Sofa...........................273.......13........0
Sofa...........................154.22....11.86.....0
Total unsecured debts..........10557.22..47.86.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,124.6
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 734.34
Available for debt repayments........... 390.26
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 47.86
Amount left after debt repayments....... 342.4

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 130,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -49,105
Total Unsecured debt.................... -10,557.22
Net Assets.............................. 70,337.78

I_Love_Steve

Eeek! Well just as well i did that as it shows i do have two other debts!! Thankfully at 0% and they will get paid off when my boyf's flat gets sold.

I_Love_Steve

Hi there Itsarandom,

I am not sure how much inspiration i will be!! I think what i am going to do is see how much extra money i can make per month, I have seen threads on people making an extra £10.00 per day, but they kinda scare me at the moment so i am just going to see if i can make an extra £200 per month. I will start overtiming it this saturday and do as much surveys as possible!!

I am also going to see how much money i can save per month, by not buying silly things and also meal planning. Unfortunately i am pretty much broke and pay day isn't until 28 August so my cunning plan can not start till then. But at least i can prepare for it!

Good luck for your saving too!! Its an exciting time isn't it?

Barebear

I_Love_Steve wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1124.6
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1124.6

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 363
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 81
Electricity............................. 30 - is this right? very low
Gas..................................... 26 - is this right? very low
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 10.5
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 10.14
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 14.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 50 - Really? Can you cut this?
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 26.95
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 7.76
Contents insurance...................... 0 - Do you not have this?
Life assurance ......................... 0 - Do you not have this?
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0 - £50 on clothes, but no hairdoo?
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Charity................................. 4
Total monthly expenses.................. 734.34


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 130000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 49105....(363)......5.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 49105.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Student Loan...................10130.....23........0
Sofa...........................273.......13........0
Sofa...........................154.22....11.86.....0
Total unsecured debts..........10557.22..47.86.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,124.6
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 734.34
Available for debt repayments........... 390.26
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 47.86
Amount left after debt repayments....... 342.4

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 130,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -49,105
Total Unsecured debt.................... -10,557.22
Net Assets.............................. 70,337.78

Hi - see what you can do about the above. Hope it helps. It's best to detail everything, then you have a stranglehold on things. Budget your entertainment spends too, then hammer anything extra at the END of the month into debts.

I_Love_Steve

Hi Barebear,

Many thanks for your comments, the gas and electric are my monthly dd's and they are in credit at the moment. Oh and my boiler died too so absolutely no gas is being used!!

The contents insurance is included with the buildings but the insurance company gave me a combined quote so didn't know how to separate them.

I would cut back on clothing and i know i should but i lurve clothes shopping!! But you are right, i will be making steps to change this and i have put on a bit of weight recently so really shouldn't buy anything until i lose it.

I don't have life insurance as at the moment i do not have any dependants, when my boyf moves in, this will have to change.

I have not had my hair cut since February and i really need too, so thank you, this is another area where i need to input a figure.

I think what my problem is, is that i don't budget for meals, haircuts etc. Anything that is left after the bills are paid is fun money for me.

(I currently have a bills account set up in which i transfer a set amount each month to cover my bills), so what i have thought i could do would be transfer an extra £50 per month which could cover hair cuts, presents etc This would be the best way i think for me, as if i see i have money in my current account, i spend it. So if it is safely hidden in my bills account i wont touch it.

I will also budget in £50.00 for entertainment and then the rest will be for saving :-)

Well hopefully it will work out like this!!

Barebear

Great stuff, you seem to have a good hold on things. I started with the BoS Bill payment account some years ago and I couldn't resist dipping back into it when I got the urge to buy something. I got into some trouble and ended up paying alot of bank charges, so if I could give you another piece of advice, it would be to be extra mean on yourself. Don't letr anybody put pressure on you to buy something or go somewhere that you really cannot afford. Your budget for entertainment and food is sacred.

Good luck

I_Love_Steve

Hi barebear

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement :hello:

I_Love_Steve

Well today i have been bad, a magazine, crisps and chocolate bar at lunch time as i was having a stressful day at work. I didn't even think about mse while i was buying it, it wasn't until i got home and logged on did i think about how much i spent! It was roughly £3.50. However, on a plus point i have won at least £10.00 on one of those free scratch cards........

But tomorrow is another day and a fresh start. Maybe a spending diary is in order so that i understand how much i am spending and what i am spending it on (and who knows it may even make me stop myself from buying chocolate etc and will lose weight into the deal!). Or second thoughts maybe i just don't take cash to work!

:smileyhea