Update from Ratty

Imelda

hi red_ratty_rat,
How are you finding it so far? I'm glad you're seeing London in the sunshine!

Keep posting and let us know how you're getting on esp with your budget. Gym membership- good if you're going to use it (and I guess you and your housemate will keep each other motivated), also check if your company will pay for something like that (mine pays for my annual subscription up front- I just get taxed each month on it).
As lynzpower said Timeout magazine is a mine of information for things going on in London (a lot of them free), it's expensive though- £2.50 a week but they usually do good trial offers.

PoundsLookAfterThemselves

Imelda wrote:

Keep posting and let us know how you're getting on esp with your budget. Gym membership- good if you're going to use it (and I guess you and your housemate will keep each other motivated), also check if your company will pay for something like that (mine pays for my annual subscription up front- I just get taxed each month on it).

Hi Imelda thanks for your posts!

I go to about two classes most evenings so the gym membership is important to me.

I will be posting my first months receipts at the end June for DFW scrutiny.

PoundsLookAfterThemselves

lynzpower wrote:

free copies of time out

Hi Lynzpower where can I get these? My copy's very old 2004!

lynzpower

Nah its the time out magazine, the weekly one. If you go onto thier subs page you can usually get 10 weeks or something for pound, then cancel if you can live without it - we cant and pay 7.50 a month, but I think its worth it, otherwise we'd simply not find out about allthe free stuff thats on that keeps us from going insane with boredom!

Londons the best place to be broke, i dont think I could bear it anywhere else :beer:

PoundsLookAfterThemselves

Thanks Lynzpower I have now subscribed to 'time out' magazine with the following offer of 13 issues for .99GBP

superjames4

yoshihirouk wrote:

Is it a mis-conception or truth about 2nd jobs having a high tax rate? I am looking into a 2nd job but would like to know this first.

hi, it doesn't matter how many jobs you have - it's the total from all of them which affects the tax rate.

first 5035 0% tax
next 2150 10% tax
next 31150 22% tax
everything on top 40%

so you need to earn over 38335 (from all jobs) before you start paying 40% tax - and then it's only on everything over this amount.

It's worth baring in mind of course that National Insurance is reduced at about the same level from 11% to 1% - so the differnece is an extra 8%.

Instead of paying 22% tax + 11% NI = 33% for basic rate taxpayer
you would pay 40% tax + 1% NI = 41% for higher rate taxpayer

PoundsLookAfterThemselves

Hi all -

Please find my first months receipts, as follows:

Rent and bills £850 (same each month)
Travel, Bus & trains £55.85 (includes £20 credit on oyster card)
Food £170
Entertainment £104 (Ascot, theatre and eating out)
Gifts & Other one off purchases £108.92 (a lot of birthdays this month, also new towels for the flat)
Postage £12.73
Clothes and sundries £27.88 (hair and eyebrow shape £58.55 /every three months)
Gym £59.50

Sub Total £1388.88
Savings and debt £239.86

Total £1628.74 Income £1628.74

Summary
I am surprised by the total of my food shopping for the month, although recently I have started to shop more regularly for food. Buying what I need as I need it, as apposed to doing a ‘weekly’ shop for what I think I need. Gifts and other one off purchases I had completely forgot to include in my original budget? !

Ratty

seven-day-weekend

>> do phone surveys....please be nice if someone rings you to do a survey, it might just be another MSE person <<

Hi! I'm always nice to phone survey people.....how does one get to do these???

ms_london

Hi Red_Ratty_Rat

What was your reason for coming to MSE in the first place? Do you have debt? Were you looking to start some savings? Or were you just asking for advice on your budget?

Your food is astronomical for one person, and its fab that you havent overspent on your earnings this month, but you are cutting it very fine. Would you not rather have some savings than having nothing to show for your wages each month?

I still think your rent is hideously expensive for a shared place, but its individual choice I suppose.

Oh I notice £239.86 goes to "savings and debts".

I know I have turned full circle with my views on money, but there is no way on earth I could spend every penny of my wages with nothing to show for it.



What are your plans for the future? Will you buy a place eventually? I have learnt so much and you really need to think long term as well as for the short term hun.

xx

furrychimp

seven-day-weekend wrote:

>> do phone surveys....please be nice if someone rings you to do a survey, it might just be another MSE person <<

Hi! I'm always nice to phone survey people.....how does one get to do these???

i take it you mean how you get to be the interviewer?! i got mine through an agency, but heard of it through word of mouth really, didn't want to do sales but needed something outside regular office hours to fit around my full time work....try checking market research for your area in yell.com or Google, see what it throws up...(BTW the respondents are chosen totally at random, a computer selects the number, you ring it & see if the person will answer your questions so you never know who you are speaking to, or where they live or anything, people tell you so much, it's crazy!):D