The Ultimate Incentive to have an amazing 2010.

Tete_en_l'Air

poddle911 wrote: »

Is NIM's dad definitely still in a position to give you the deposit if his business isn't going well?

That's what I was wondering. Are you still looking at the same house?

Dinah93

Yep, hopefully the morgage company will contact about the survey this week.

Cinny91

poddle911 wrote: »

I got the hair stuff with Glamour too - one of my friends bought me a subscription for my birthday last year and I wasn't sure you still got the freebies, so yay!

I really want the James Brown stuff now! Used it last night and it still smells really strong today, keep on swishing my head to smell bluebells. Making me feel quite dizzy. Having to behave though cause I've just booked in to have my roots done and it's gonna cost £38 :eek: I think next month I might try it DIY!

Dinah - I think that's one of the things with setting up your own company. You just have to jump in with both feet and just pray it works. Are there any places near you that are doing easter markets? You could bake easter related goodies to sell do to get a feel for the demand - plus I think with something like that you wont need H&S as long as you're kitchen is nice and clean! Plus cause you'd have a month to prepare you could sew some cutesy easter stuff to sell.. like eggs or something!

Dinah93

I can't do anything atm I don't think, as I'm signed off, work could fire me. For a while I've been considering the possibility of market stalls. Wondering if maybe a side earner could be making cupcakes and biscuits for the market, my grandad can sell them as he's retired and we split the profits.

Cinny91

Seriously?! Blimez! The idea with your Grandad sounds good though, and I suppose if you were to go with him to the stall one day you could just say you're helping him out. Although it would be a smidge cheeky!

Urghh, I so completely need to get back on top of my money! It isn't like I'm buying loads, just what I am buying tends to cost a lot Going to do my first proper budget of the year for next week. See where it gets me, my thinking at the moment is weird though. OH is still paying his debts off (he's finally on top of them now though, which is great, but I'm not holding my breath because everytime he does something happens - either his car breaks or his mum puts his board up) so I'm paying for most things, and I'm also in the mentality that I should enjoy my money now before I properly have a car to maintain and before OH clears his debts and we start saving again to move out. Hope that makes sense! I think I need a [STRIKE]harsh[/STRIKE] gentle and loving kick up the bott from Dinah!

lulu984

That would be so cute to have a cupcake table! I'd love to be able to do something like that. You should defo look into it all while you have the time off.

I've just redeemed another £21 from Amazon, makes my total just over £200 from there.
I do a "media survey" everyday, but i cant remember why i do it, i dont seem to be earning money from anywhere, maybe its just entries into a sweepstake or something. But today they invited me to join a panel to earn £10 vouchers as opposed to the £5 i'm currently earning. Confused, but sounds good!

Dinah93

GARGH, huge long reply and my internet stopped working and lost it. Okay, reply to cinny take 2.

I'm no good at harsh with you,. you're just too sweet! But on request I'll give it a go...

Two things jump out at me. The first is the car. Who pays for it? The MOT? Service? Anything that breaks? Insurance? Basically I think you need to start budgetting for these things, this means saving every month. I put aside £125 per car, while my car is a higher insurance group than yours, I've also had my licence 8 years, so I'd be suprised if your insurance is lower than mine. This figure does not include petrol, only you know how much of this you use. You need to get a start on this now so you actually have the full year to save up for, otherwise you're going to be in debt if the car breaks down and you need to pay to repair it. If you are looking to move out this means you are going to be financially independant, and can't relly on your parents for this kind of thing.

This leads me onto the second point. You say your OH is thrown back whenever an unexpected cost comes up. This concerns me. If his budget is this tight I'm very worried you're expecting to move out when your budget just can't stretch to it and that will lead to being in debt just to make ends meet. Equally he needs to start budgetting for these costs, like the car, just as you do. You need to both be certain you can afford living costs.

So sit down together soon, and decide how the bills will be split percentage wise. Once you know what you personally will be paying, draw up that budget for you personally now.

As a guide:

Joint costs (so all divided by the percentage, or halved as you two decide)
Rent (varies wildly, you know what you are looking at)
Electricity about £40 per month (all costs are a low estimate, but could vary a little lower or much higher if you don't watch them!)
Gas £45
Water £35
Council tax £100
Food £150
Landline £15
Broadband £7
Tv licence £12
I assume no sky/virgin
Holiday savings?
Emergency savings - I would recomend trying to set asside a minimum of £50 a month that IS NOT TOUCHED for things like furniture, this is for emergencies.

Your personal costs (not halved) you may not have all these
Car as discussed above, around £125
Petrol
Dental insurance/put aside money for dental £25 or so would cover 2 checkups and up to 2 fillings - better to err on the side of caution
Pet insurance/put aside money for pets £30 or so per pet
Prepayment prescription? £12
Mobile phone £20?
Spending money
Optical costs if glasses/contacts
magazine subsciptions
Other essential costs

So, got the figure you NEED each month to live on? Things like spending money come last, if there is only space in your budget for £100 spends a month, then thats how it has to be. For the sake of clarity lets call the monthly money when moved out £450 you need for joint things and £200 for personal exluding spending money.

Now, how much do you spend on rent etc now that you won't when you move out? Lets say this is £150.

Your personal spends won't really alter, but you need to start setting this much aside now to cover car costs etc.

So if in future you need £450 a month take your current outgoings for rent out of this and you need to be able to save the £300 difference a month from now to moving out time. This NEEDS to be a livable budget, its no use giving up absolutely everything to make the £300 a month, because you can't live like that forever. If you can comfortably save the £300 a month, and still live in a manner you are happy with in terms of buying treats, going out etc then thats fantastic. Don't count on never going out as you'll live together, you'll go out, just maybe not as much. Sitting in the house is nice for a few months, then you need to get out a couple of times a month for a meal or see a film otherwise cabin fever sets in.

Bear in mind the £450, £150 and £300 numbers are illustrative, you need to fill it in with your real numbers. Always slightly overestimate rather than underestimate. Getting to the end of the month with £50 spare is great, getting there £50 short is an issue. ie If your phone bill is normally £20 a month, call it £25, just in case.

I really hope that makes sense Cinny, it's basically a 'start thinking now' post. Start looking at your budgets, and start setting aside money for your personal costs like the car now, to ease you back into saving gradually ready for when you need to also be saving to move out.

Cinny91

Dinah93 wrote: »

This leads me onto the second point. You say your OH is thrown back whenever an unexpected cost comes up. This concerns me. If his budget is this tight I'm very worried you're expecting to move out when your budget just can't stretch to it and that will lead to being in debt just to make ends meet.

It'll be a while before we move out - we're thinking end of 2011/early 2012. By then I'll have finished my management/accounts training and be working full time, and OH has been submitting store ideas at his work so hopefully he'll be managing by then, so we'll have a better income. (or at least I hope we will!)

I'll sit down tonight with my trusty old notepad and get scribbling. I really do need to start some kind of more permanent savings, like you said to 'ease' me back into it - I'm saving £50 a week atm but it's for the holiday/my laptop so it doesn't feel like proper savings.

Thanks for all the comments though, given me plenty to chew on!

Dinah93

Okay if you're waiting that long to move out you don't really need to be doing all that yet, but you seriously need to think about budgetting for the car x

Cinny91

Don't really need to sort out monthly costs just yet, but I do need to start saving even if it's only £10 a week for now. We'll be renting, so it's not like it's for a mortage deposit but I want to be able to get things I really want to have for the flat rather than making do with someones castoffs - I know it sounds a bit snobby though!

But yup, I really do need to start thinking about the car more seriously. It's road taxed until August. MOTed and Serviced for the next year. But I need backup incase something goes wrong (I think we all know who bad renault electrics are!)

Tbh I could do with another savings account for all this - so money doesn't start blending into each other! But I have 3 as it is; ISA for permanent savings, one for holiday savings and another which is a mix of car/laptop savings. I don't think I could cope with another. Although I think I do have one hidden somewhere!

Sorry for taking over your thread Dinah!! x