Taking Voluntary Redundancy and looking at my budget!

Hurdler

So... today is the day I need to put in motion some cutbacks ahead of the June 5th leave date.

On very very basic calculations - I have about 1 year's of coverage if I only have the basics.

So right now here's what I think I MUST keep:
1) Mortgage - currently overpaying by about £250 a month so dropping this back to what it should be for £250 extra a month.
2) Utilities: Council Tax, Water, Electricity/Gas - All paid monthly with single person occupancy discount for Countil Tax ... all remain as DDRs as is.
3) Dropping as much as possible from my Sky package and dropping HD service until I get a job and can afford to have it again - aim to call them today to get that sorted.
4) Insurance cover for appliances, buildings and contents. But need to buy my company car (I have enough from an inheritance to buy it outright) and need to factor in Car Insurance (PLEASE don't make me use GoCompare... that advert has put me off for life!!!)

OK... so... here's where things get a little shady!
I have an account that I usually funnel £100 to as extra "burn" money for the weekend, Oyster Card top ups etc ... I am not sure whether to just pause this for the time being?
I also have a Tesco Clubcard Plus account that I chuck £75 a month to and that is solely used for groceries once every 2 weeks (if I need top ups in between it's normally milk, bread etc that I just then pick up using cash from the Sainsbury's down the road after the gym).
I am undecided as to whether to keep funnelling money into these "piggy bank" funds as this will all be coming out of the big fund. Although one could argue with the £250 saving from the mortgage - that would still work (as my initial calculations were done at the current mortgage payment).

I am keeping the gym payment... I make use of it and I think once I actually LEAVE the company it will be exceptionally important to continue having that in my routine. And again - I can fold that into the mortgage saving and still have around 1 year's of coverage.

The last time I had a lot of debt - I set an account that allowed for £70 a week and anything that DIDN'T get spent in that week went into ANOTHER account that was my treat account. That is still my intention to use (and I have the means to continue with that). I took the step of locking up my credit cards and basically... if I don't have the cash/current account funds to cover it - I don't have it. Simples.
Since the recession I have been MUCH more sensible about my grocery shopping and planning, and leave much more simply... and obviously takeways are out. I prefer to buy a ready meal on a Saturday from M&S as my treat - feels like a T/away as I don't "cook"...

Any other advice?
(apart from apply apply apply for jobs!)?

Thanks for reading!!!

GeorgieFTB

I think you sound v sensible... but you might need to use GoCompare... sorry, see if you can use confused first...

If I was you I would look at applying for proper jobs but I have found temp jobs are quite fun and might give you some more time, the last time I had a temp job was some time ago, before the meltdown the rest of the world had a few years ago, so they might not be as easy to get.

If you know you are only going to be doing a job for a finite amount of time then I've found you can do anything... and find it fun. It might be quite a change of pace...

Good luck
Gx

Two9A

From flicking through that post, it feels like you're throwing good chunks of money into groceries/treats. It may be worth starting a spending diary, and writing down each thing you buy, then analysing whether you need it.

If you don't go out at weekends, cut back on groceries somewhat, and perhaps drop Sky altogether, you might end up with 18 months' coverage...

Hurdler

I am applying for comparable jobs and was lucky that I had over 18 years service so the package isn't great in these times, but it isn't bad.

BUT - I am also sounding out a new career in Journalism - so looking to internship type roles in Journalism/Copy Writing which pay A LOT less than the jobs I am looking at for my experience, but then this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to have that career change (I am 42 so still have over half my working life in front of me).
I have 3 applications out with IT roles at the moment so there are opportunities out there ... but I am also looking forward to a bit of me time until that job comes.

Update: I am saving almost £300 in bring my mortgage down to what it should be... so I'm thinking it still might be advantageous to have the "piggy banks" that Martin mentions for pockets of money.
I'm working on the principle that at least I then have strict budgets to work within but cash available in those banks when needed.
What was a bit frustrating was the conversation with Sky.
Rep: Why would you want to get rid of HD?
Me: Umm... because that's £10 a month extra that could pay for groceries maybe?

Really, people... we are in a recession, surely I am not the only person who downgrades their package when times are hard?

Hurdler

Two9A wrote: »

From flicking through that post, it feels like you're throwing good chunks of money into groceries/treats. It may be worth starting a spending diary, and writing down each thing you buy, then analysing whether you need it.

If you don't go out at weekends, cut back on groceries somewhat, and perhaps drop Sky altogether, you might end up with 18 months' coverage...

Yeah - i actually used to have a spending diary... I stopped it when I was on a particularly stressful project and found I was forgetting to even write down what I was spending.
Good idea....that will start on my first day of freedom.

foxgloves

I've also taken voluntary redundancy. Before committing myself, we agreed to the following changes: Going down from 2 cars to 1 car (saving on insurance, tax, maintenance, petrol, etc), getting better deals on various monthly bills which we have achieved for breakdown cover, home & contents, my life asurance cover & car insurance. I did use Confused.com for better car insurance. The renewal was for £30 a month despite me never having put in a claim ever in over 20 years of driving. I managed to find the same level of cover for £16-88 a month. Definitely worth doing. We agreed on a monthly food budget (2 adults) of £250 & that I will continue to menu-plan to stick within this. (Have been on budget ever since....so far, so good). We have cut out regular monthly donations to charity, but will continue to support in other ways, & have cancelled insurance that isn't really necessary. Also, changed to bank account with no monthly fee, getting a car which has lower running costs than previous model (more mpg, etc). On top of that (we always cook from scratch anyway), we decided to extend our vegetable garden by sacrificing a couple of flower borders, so we can grow more food. Virgin Media package hasn't been cut yet, but certainly will be if we need to. When we started talking about the possibility of me taking VR, we made a list of all the things we most enjoy doing, and apart from going on holiday (which tends to be self-catering cottage somewhere remote in this country one week per year), all of them were free or inexpensive. I think growing our own veg & wanting to live a bit of a greener lifestyle has impacted on our values and we really seem to enjoy the simpler things in life now........& we've been big naughty spenders in the past.

Hurdler

Thanks foxgloves
I too have been a naughty spender in my time, and am using between now and June when I leave to really get myself into a more frugal frame of mind.
Interestingly - I thought about ditching those two "piggy-bank" accounts but in a chat with someone at my bank they suggested I use them exactly as you do as a food budget. It's not like the money disappears if it's not spent at the end of the month.

Next up on my list in my last month of paid work will be to set up a contracting account - it is an option open to me for interim work.
I am also writing about these experiences, in the hope that it will help get me on the Diploma in Journalism course, which is the real reason I put in for a VR in the first place.
Mind you - that's not stopping me from applying for jobs more in line with my current career.

The one thing that is clear is that as the days go past, I feel more energised than I have been in the longest time. One of my friends told me (when I found out the company were making me an offer) that it might feel overwhelming now, but I will wonder why I never did it before.
I got my job as a grad in the last recession. And if I could land that job then, then I will land something else.

In the mean time, like you, I am actually looking forward to some of the simpler things in life!

Hurdler

An update. I left my company on 3rd June. Just before leaving there was a flurry of interest on an updated CV after my first meeting with the Outplacement consultants which resulted in 2 final round interviews, both for permanent jobs (I had also created a limited company to perhaps go contracting if nothing permanent was coming around)... I have an offer being formulated by one of the companies, and the other has me as their second choice candidate.

Now... I just have to negotiate a couple of things (namely holiday and car allowance)...

I still have a way to go yet - so no upgrading Sky and overpaying the mortgage JUST yet!

Hovel_lady

Brillant news x

Hurdler

Oh and I cashed in a bunch of company shares which paid for the car, insurance ... And I even checked out car insurance AND reviews of the companies listed!!!

I was all set to train up and make a go of contracting, but in this climate in all good conscience I can't turn down a premie role (in my skill area) ...

But like I said - now starts a bit of negotiation as the location is a 70 mile roundtrip and they are initially offering less holiday than when I started as a graduate *cough* MANY years ago *cough* ...

atush

Wow! What great news- so pleased for you.