Peonie's journey to smart money management

Peonie

Hi Lois, thanks for your message and to everyone else who reply to my ramblings; I really do appreciate your comments.

Before I calculated the renovation costs I changed my standing between my bank & the Hal*fax to one lump sum payment but now I've changed it back again to £250 per week. Plus I've reduced the time it's away from my bank; hopefully I'll make an extra 5p or so interest per month.

I have also amended the FD standing order to £300 per week rather than the monthly transfer of £1200. Hopefully Hal*fax and FD have faster payments like my bank does.

As I had calculated the renovation costs in a spreadsheet and in the SOA sheet; I went through the costs with Mr P, where the money was coming from and explained we are a £1000 short. He said we could use his computer fund. Which I agreed with; then for some stupid reason I said I would then give him back the money from my wages. Why did I say that! At no point did we say that I was paying for the renovations and not the both of us. I'll have to see if I can weasel out of that one.

So I checked the interest rates on the savings accounts and I will still transfer the full amount into the FD saver later this month but I will use the money intended for the ISA to pay the tradesmen. This does mean I will not hit my rainy day target at the end of this month as I had aimed for. I will have to continue to save into the next financial year.

In the next week I'll review the accounts to plan when I'll repay the joint account.

This my friends is the current signature:

Rainy day fund: £11,340/£12,000 achieved 95%. Renovation spends: £83/£2,000 achieved 4%.
12k in 2012 challenge no. 168: £1,260/£4,000 achieved 32%.
Mortgage now: March 2012 at £150,308 end date June 2036.
Mortgage at its highest: July 2011 at £154,000 end date July 2036.

The £2,000 renovation spends was originally going to be new savings but that's now changed.
Next month I'll have a post party when the mortgage hits its first milestone; getting below £150k :j

Lois_E

Peonie wrote: »

Hi Lois, thanks for your message and to everyone else who reply to my ramblings; I really do appreciate your comments.

Before I calculated the renovation costs I changed my standing between my bank & the Hal*fax to one lump sum payment but now I've changed it back again to £250 per week. Plus I've reduced the time it's away from my bank; hopefully I'll make an extra 5p or so interest per month.

I have also amended the FD standing order to £300 per week rather than the monthly transfer of £1200. Hopefully Hal*fax and FD have faster payments like my bank does.

Halifax and FD definitely both have FP. Sounds like you have a good plan.

Peonie wrote: »

As I had calculated the renovation costs in a spreadsheet and in the SOA sheet; I went through the costs with Mr P, where the money was coming from and explained we are a £1000 short. He said we could use his computer fund. Which I agreed with; then for some stupid reason I said I would then give him back the money from my wages. Why did I say that! At no point did we say that I was paying for the renovations and not the both of us. I'll have to see if I can weasel out of that one.

Maybe you can pay his computer fund back between the two of you.

Peonie wrote: »

So I checked the interest rates on the savings accounts and I will still transfer the full amount into the FD saver later this month but I will use the money intended for the ISA to pay the tradesmen. This does mean I will not hit my rainy day target at the end of this month as I had aimed for. I will have to continue to save into the next financial year.

In the next week I'll review the accounts to plan when I'll repay the joint account.

Sounds as though you've thought it all through very carefully.

Peonie wrote: »

This my friends is the current signature:

Rainy day fund: £11,340/£12,000 achieved 95%. Renovation spends: £83/£2,000 achieved 4%.
12k in 2012 challenge no. 168: £1,260/£4,000 achieved 32%.
Mortgage now: March 2012 at £150,308 end date June 2036.
Mortgage at its highest: July 2011 at £154,000 end date July 2036.

The £2,000 renovation spends was originally going to be new savings but that's now changed.
Next month I'll have a post party when the mortgage hits its first milestone; getting below £150k :j

Yay for the forthcoming post party! You're invited to my post party later this month, too - 75% equity here I come! _party_

Peonie

Thank goodness for faster payments.

I just had a shock. I checked my LTSB on-line banking and one account was up £1200. That may sound good but I realised it was from my FD account that had £0 in it. Meaning I had just overdrawn my account by £1200. :eek:

My initial response was arghhhh. Quickly logged onto FD, yep that's where the money came from. Phoned them and they suggested I try faster payments to get the money back today. I did not think money could be transferred on the same day. The FD staff were great and even helped me to fill the LTSB online funds transfer form correctly.

But I am impressed with the LTSB faster payments; it only took 2 minutes for the money to transfer back and I will not be charged a £25 overdrawn fee by FD.

The only thing I am not happy about is the FD online account. The standing orders page showed a standing order had been set up but not the amount or the first payment date. Thus I thought I had amended the standing order to a new date next month and a lower amount. Now I'm concerned about the amended standing order; have I set up two by mistake?

Peonie

We've had some great news. It's been a year since we set up a separate savings account for our mortgage deposit and as the interest is payed on its anniversary of it opening we have been paid the interest - hurrah. I thought we would get around £80 but actually got £270 - hurrah. The money is a great addition to helping us pay for the renovations.

Peonie

Hi Lois,

Lois_E wrote: »

Halifax and FD definitely both have FP. Sounds like you have a good plan.

Maybe you can pay his computer fund back between the two of you.

Sounds as though you've thought it all through very carefully.

Yay for the forthcoming post party! You're invited to my post party later this month, too - 75% equity here I come! _party_

I'll be at your party - 75% equity, I dream of the day we are at the same point. And thanks for telling me about the faster payments.

Peonie

Happy mothers day to all the mums out there.

We're going to the cemetery this morning, hopefully I'll fit a bit if weeding and seed planting in the garden around midday before we travel to my mum and dads this afternoon.

For once I was really organised and gave my mum her present and card last week. The flowers were on their sell by date so I got her a beautiful bunch of flowers originally £10 for £6 and a fancy smelly set for £5, plus a card for £1.50.

Yesterday I bought some fabric for a present I'm sewing and the shop keeper gave me 3 free plants which I must remember to plant later. And I bought some seed compost and vegetable seeds. We weeded most of the back garden yesterday. But we need to tackle the front garden and now the rubble pile has gone from the back garden I want to turn that area into the vegetable patch; including moving flags and a huge mound of compost.

On the house renovations front the electrician has been in, a stud wall has been built and we have had 2 more doors delivered. The plumber will be on site in the next 2 weeks.

Peonie

We've had a great day off work; I mowed the lawns (and mowed through some cat muck - yuck), Mr P did a few trips to the recycling centre and the garden now looks 20 times better. Mr P has even made 2 raised beds and I have spent the afternoon sifting soil from the huge compost heap I want to clear. So far I've filled one of the beds 1/4 of the way and the hardly made a dint in the heap; wish me luck.

My mum and dad nipped in and they have been a huge help. When it comes to gardening I really do not know where to plant anything so mum was a great and told me where I should plant the jasmine and wisteria I brought from our last house.

Mr P works with a door handle company and they gave him 2 door handles and all the bits worth £100. My dad should be able to fit the door handles and the 2 windows we have ordered next week. Plus I don't think I have mentioned the toilet stud walls are up, the insulation is in and the plaster board is in place. :T :T :T

I really do not what to do to thank my dad for the amount of work he is doing.

Peonie

I thought I'd try an SOA calculator from another site and this is the result. Rather than input March's figures I have normalised the figures over the year and this is the result.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1511
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1871
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3382

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 690
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 152
Electricity............................. 46
Gas..................................... 46
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 74.76
Telephone (land line)................... 24.87
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 60
Petrol/diesel........................... 65
Road tax................................ 27.05
Car Insurance........................... 91
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 29.17
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 39.17
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 2
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 13
Contents insurance...................... 10.92
Life assurance ......................... 33.57
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 14
Entertainment........................... 45.6
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 100
Pension................................. 172
Cash ISA................................ 50
Monthly saving accounts................. 550
Total monthly expenses.................. 2698.23


Assets
Cash.................................... 14000
House value (Gross)..................... 220000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 235500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 150308...(690)......2.49
Total secured & HP debts...... 150308....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Kitchen units..................679.16....169.7.....0
Total unsecured debts..........679.16....169.7.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,382
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,698.23
Available for debt repayments........... 683.77
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 169.7
Amount left after debt repayments....... 514.07

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 235,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -150,308
Total Unsecured debt.................... -679.16
Net Assets.............................. 84,512.84

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

The amount left at the end of the month in this SOA is high when in reality it is not. This is probably because I only inserted £100 per month for upkeep of the house when at the moment we are paying a lot more for the renovations. For annual costs I have divided by 12.

I might try it again at the end of the month for March.

Peonie

What a beautiful weekend. We felt like we were on holiday eating outside and my sister and I planned where to build a swimming pool in my back garden, I wish.

We spent the last 2 days in the garden. I have been sieving soil like mad and have only managed to over half of one raised bed. And I have enough compost in the garden to finish the beds and maybe more. Seeds have been planted in the finished half to allow them to start sprouting and in a few weeks (I think) I'll sew some more. If you have any advice I'll gratefully take it as I have not grown grown or vegetables before.

And I burnt my back.

Over the last 2 days we:

• Built 2 raised beds using materials we already had
• Did a shop at Mr L(idl) - £45, includes anti-bird (and cat) netting for the raised beds - £6
• Fixed a fence panel and the gate
• Dug a massive hole to put the second compost bin in its place
• Planted the wisteria and jasmin I brought from our last house
• Cleaned the house
• Did 2 loads of washing and dried them outside
• Sewed while watching the new Twilight film

I can't believe Homebase had a sale on garden materials when I bought seeds and compost from them at full price last weekend.

In other news my works canteen has closed so there will be no more subsided cheap meals for me. It really is the end of an era. But that means I will have to make the effort to take my lunch to work and hopefully I'll lose some weight as I will not be tempted by the fatty chips.

Right, I'm off to make my sandwiches.

Px

Peonie

Mr P separates his work from his home life, which I am not good at, but at times that means I don't know if he's happy or not at work. Imagine my surprise yesterday when he said he was sick of where he worked and wanted to set up on his own. And he was seriously considering it.

Over the years we've had a couple of conversations and it's mainly been me who supported the idea as I know his boss makes a lot of money from his work. He was always against it over cash flow concerns and this was when we had a smaller mortgage, plus one day we would like the whole 2.4 children thing.

Is it a good idea in a recession. Will he change his mind. In short, I don't know. But I do think if he quits I'll have a few sleepless nights while he tries to get clients.