I have more than enough for my needs BUT I really WANT a landrover

vasseur

cherisong wrote: »

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Has anyone noticed I managed to deflect working on my money update to finding something else to do:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Probably because I have to admit that my envelope system has not quite gone to plan. It is not a failure though, I just need to adjust the system to fit my lifestyle. More to follow when I concentrate enough.

No it's not a failure. It's trial and error. If you can remember which amounts and which envelopes you needed to pinch from you can tailr to suit

little_h_2

thanks cherisong, I will check them out :j I like the idea of something quite analytical with some writing down etc.

Long Walk to Freedom is excellent. I took it with me on holiday, not what you might think as a typical holiday read (and boy did i regret putting it in hand luggage!) but while it is a big book to look at even in paperback, it is so readable, once you pick it up you can't put it down. It's very funny in places too, he writes as well as he speaks and I would describe it as very warm (if you can have warm books!), full of hope.

I tried to read Biko after I watched Cry Freedom in school, but found it nowhere near as approachable. I will need to revisit that one some time

yes, the greyhounds are quite chilled (horizontal most of the time!) - Henry the whippet meanwhile is a different story. If he sees you on the sofa he jumps on you, you can see it in his eyes but it's too late to move by that point as he is up in a flash! but he is so warm to cuddle he knows he gets away with it He pulls hard on the lead too, he's more effort than the 2 girls put together!

MrsMoo2U

Ok I give up, I cant concentrate on the money. Suffice to say that the reason the envelopes didnt work because when I had to work away last week I had to pay all of my expenses up front. It took up £60 of petrol and I had only allowed £80 for the month, I had to pay £40 out to take Moo with me and get him into day boarding whilst working, I had to buy (horrible) food at the shows. Why dont outside catering vans cater for vegetarians? and also evening meals and breakfasts as these were not included in the lodgings. So I had to use up the treats and sundries envelopes and most of the petrol budget until my expenses come through. So like I said, not a failure just a readjustment as the envelopes obviously dont work with my current lifestyle. So, as I am expecting my expenses to be paid next week I will be back on track. However I do also have to go to work away for two days this weekend as well so I will still be in the same position. On a cheery note - check out my signature for the Make £10 per day challenge. I only signed up for £5 per day and made that pretty quickly. This however did not motivate me as I have now stopped. Maybe I should have upped it to £10 once I reached my target.
I have had lots of expenses this month that are out of the ordinary. These include, dog walking fees, gardeners to build a fence, vets fees when Moo was attacked by a GSD, He is fine, cheery holiday accommodation fees, and two birthdays that I had forgotten to budget for:(

So extra income in £186.55 various ebay/quidco/refunds
extra out

• fence parts £435
• vets fees 29
• holiday accommodation 240
• petrol £60
  just remembered MOT £160:eek:

TOTAL £924


I have withdrawn the holiday money from my savings account and the fence panels i had already saved for so no negative equity so to speak of in the months budget so far. However until my expenses are paid back in I have

[*]£40 in food budget
[*]£10 in pet food budget
[*]£0 in treats budget
[*]£0 in sundries budget.
Total £50 and I have just over 2 weeks left of the month :eek:Hopefully the expenses will arrive soon!
Savings pot

• beginning of the month - £1142
• mid month =£292

Money from OH towards Fence £250 to be put back into savings and he is putting more in next week.
Total Savings - £542

moo2moo

The important bit is knowing why your budget is wrong and then doing something about it. Once you've figured that out things suddenly fall into place. It may mean that you need an extra envelope with £150 in it for reclaimable expenses ... since in theory this would always be full or reimbursed shortly after usage it would also give you a readily available emergency fund.

If you know you're stuck at these shows regularly perhaps you could keep a stash of pot noodles with you (or a vaguely edible alternative), that way when you get to the catering van and the option is a fried egg cooked in bacon fat for a fiver or starving you won't starve. OK its not a brilliant solution but its better than nowt. Just wait till you try being veggie somewhere like Holland where a vegetable roll contains both a chicken breast and bacon. Still there are times when OH apreciates me being veggie, like South Africa where every slab of bleeding animal carcass came with a humungous side salad. Ended up being easier just to order two slabs of luke warm raw meat and specify the salad came in a bowl, not on the plate. He got to try two different meats and I got to live on salad for 6 weeks.

MrsMoo2U

Moo what a genius you are. Why had I not thought of that extra envelope.When my next lot of expenses comes in I will duly draw it from the bank and put it into an envelope. Of course it means that this month I will be "down" by the £100 pounds that I have spent in advance but hey ho, I will catch up with myself. I laughed at the Holland and SA comments because OH took me to Bruges the year before last for my birthday, he is also vegetarian which makes for easy cooking in my hh, and we ate chips for the whole week because everything came with meat. Great holiday but boy were we glad to arrive home to eat something decent. I love cooking so I always try to come up with at least one new and unusual vegetarian dish per week. Usually Friday night when he arrives home, it makes it special.

Not started the day too well because I went back into the online banking to check balances and realised I have actually spent more on extras than I declared above because there was also the MOT this month. Again I had budgeted for that but it does mean that less has gone off the Virgin CC than I had hoped to throw at this month. Still its a new month in two weeks and I can start again.

Ok, back on that treadmill called work and off to the office. Catch up later.

MrsMoo2U

Should have started work by now but I am soooooooooo bored of budgets that I am just staring at the wall. Need to get my **** into gear because I have a video conference at 2.30 and I have to report on the budgets and the programmes we have in place for the next 6 months. YAWN!! I think I am catching Cheery's diversion sickness because I just arrived back from the second walk of the day to the forest. Moo must also be feeling the same because when I got him out of the car he decided he was going on an adventure around the streets and promptly did a runner. He was really in a playful mood because he kept stopping to let me catch up with him and as soon as I did he would then sidestep me and run in the opposite direction. Now it would have been funny except the gardeners had arrived to finish the fence and they were howling laughing at my antics with him. How embarrasing. Ok, now I really must put my head into the spreadsheets. If anyone sees my light on you have permission to SHOUT at me!!!!!!!!!

Cheery_Daff

Oh no Cherisong! (although I must confess to laughing slightly) :rotfl:

Thanks for the budget update though I love to see how well people are doing :j

What a fab idea about the expenses envelope! Then you're not always having to pinch it from another one and ruining your budget! :j :j

Won't shout as your light's not on (although mine is - oops!) Hope I haven't passed on Infectious Work Avoidance Sickness to you! (IWAS? As in I-Was-Just-going-to-do-it-in--a-minute-honest-gov??) :rotfl: :rotfl: That's my new name for it :rotfl:

vasseur

I'm going to 'try' the envelope system this month, although like you it is a bit of a weird month in that I am off for 2 weeks and will involve buying more food and having more expenses for days out. At least unlike other months when I am £300 in the red when I get paid, I should actually be in the black so feel like I have loads of money at my disposal. It won't work out like that though because I have After School Club fees to fork out for but hopefully the whole system will rein me in a bit and make me think what I am spending. If I can see it actually coming out of the envelopes rather than just figures on a screen....

Different_Corner

Hmmm, given my total budget fallout perhaps I do need to adopt this envelope thang...I'm not very good with cash, but clearly I'm pretty rubbish with a visa debit too.

Playful pups do make me laugh, does he do that bum in the air thing, front paws and head low ? You know you are in trouble then.

moo2moo

Have to admit the envelope thing confuses the heck out of me. I slap everything on plastic in order to get a pathetic amount of loyalty points, my wallet rarely contains any actual cash. Couldn't cope with a fiver from here for this and a few quid from there for that. I'd end up with loads of cash in one envelope, IOUs all over the shop and a huge credit card bill.