The straight and narrow is, well, hmmm, very narrow indeed

Little_Maya

Hello all of you lovely people I have been a very long time lurker on MSE and have finally got round to registering...

I'd like to say that I am in awe at what you are all doing - there are so many helpful tips from these forums so thank you all for sharing! Although I have no debts, I hope you won't mind me rambling on here - somehow, this is where I feel more "at home" and I really need to keep on top of my spending.

I was made redundant last year (which is a good thing actually :rotfl: I was just getting so stressed and ready to explode!) with a very good payout as I'd been there for 10 years or so. Took the opportunity to retrain into a completely different field and now trying to earn some money for myself. I am living off my redundancy payment until I can earn enough to cover my outgoings.

I "allow" myself £180 a month to cover all food, clothes, entertainment, ad-hoc travel and all the other little everyday things, which is fine really as it's just for me and 2 fur balls. However, I have noticed that recently I've been slipping a bit on the budget front (nothing too drastic, but still :rolleyes:) So I guess what I'm saying is... I need a kick up the backside . Figured that the best thing to do would be to start a diary on here and ask you to pleaaaaaaaaaaaase slap my wrist if I stray!

edinburgher

Fill out a SOA if you want the dedicated crack team of DFW budget fanatics to take a look for you

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280 <<-- see here.

You might think I'm joking, but you'll have twenty suggestions within an hour of posting!

Welcome.

Little_Maya

Hi Edinburgher,

Actually I *think* my soa is pretty good, though I might be brave and post it up

Thanks for the welcome.

claire0788

You think that now but youll be surprised how many ways people on here come up with to save even more pennies

Little_Maya

Ok, off to fill in the "properly formatted soa" (I have everything on paper... well actually back of envelopes from all the junk mail...they are useful after all!) will be back shortly and will let you all rip into it

claire0788

I dont have enough tips to let rip, im just a cheer leader :j

Little_Maya

Right, I'm back

Before I let you all loose to rip my SOA to pieces... just a couple of things: I rounded up all my DD on the soa cos that's what I do on my budget, that way I've always got a few pounds extra to go on a treat at the end of the month. Also, for annual bills, I take the previous year's payment, add about 5 to 10% and then divide it by 12 which means no nasty surprises!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1 + 2 cats!
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 200 (no, I kid you not, not a typo but it's a big development with not that many flats IYSWIM...we got 24h porter, lift, and everything is extremely well maintained and our charge also include a "sinking fund" so that when something big needs doing, it comes out of that rather than us having to pay extra)
Council tax............................. 114 (over 12 months)
Electricity............................. 20 (actual spend - usually they have to give me a refund at some point)
Gas..................................... 23 (as above)
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 28
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 15
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries/clothing/petrol/other travel/entertainment ......................... 180 (this is what allow myself for all the everyday things)
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 50 (cheapest I can get, gotta love East London! Also includes full business use)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 11 (private health insurance)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5
Haircuts................................ 0 (got long hair, do colour and cut fringe myself and ask friend to trim the ends)
Holiday................................. 0 (I pay for my cheap hols with the cashback from Quidco, ebay/green metropolis sales and the likes)
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Gym..................................... 50 (my little indulgence! I go 6 times a week though, wash my hair there, use the lush body moisturiser etc...)

Total monthly expenses.................. 781

[edit due to typos!]

Little_Maya

claire0788 wrote: »

I dont have enough tips to let rip, im just a cheer leader :j

Cheerleader sounds good!

claire0788

No rent or mortgage to pay... wait a minute what does leasehold mean lol ? Is pet insurance something to have with the cats incase anything happens ? I dont have pets but Im sure they could be costly if they get ill.

Little_Maya

mortgage paid off a few years ago (t'was really hard though) and got some savings allocated for "cats and house maintenance/emergencies". The fur balls are mostly indoor beasts anyway though they do have access to a secluded outdoor space (terrace) so can't get in fights with other cats, can't get hit by cars or hurt by nasty people

Edit to say: the £200 is the management charge for my flat in the development, though technically I have a share of freehold rather than a leasehold

savingholmes

just wishing you luck on your journey. Well done too for paying off your mortgage that is a very distant dream for us!