The freezing, and the pain to come.

savingholmes

hi FP - the trick with MSE purchasing is to control impulse spending and maximise any purchasing power eg I now rarely buy full price at M&S as they have so many sales you can roughly work out when they are and so on.... So get the "nice" stuff just not for full price... buy when on offer....

Saucer_2

I'm with you on the sock thing, I buy men's socks from M&S purely because I have big feet and the women's socks aren't quite big enough. Last time around I got 7 pairs with the different coloured heels and toes, first so I could make sure they were all paired up nicely in my sock drawer and second so my OH wouldn't think they were his. So why is it that I have 4 pairs and 3 odd ones???

I wonder for the Farritos whether it would work at lunchtime to take the filling and wrap separately and then just make it before popping into the microwave? I have half a cupboard full of those clip lock boxes, so finding the right size would be easy enough, and then just use the clingfilm to roll it up so its a manageable size for transportation plus doesn't seal to itself and can't be unrolled again.

On the crisps and chocolate front, just tackle one thing at a time. Its hard to go totally cold turkey and cut out everything, after all look what you have achieved so far - saved money in lots of different ways, tried a second job in a bar (got a bit of experience to take to the next place), got your bike out, experimenting with meals. It took me a long time to actually get to the point of being able to walk past shops without going in and buying snacks, hence my little snack pots I have at work with me and stacked on the side at home. 50g of dried fruit and/or nuts takes longer to eat one by one than a bar of chocolate does, and now I see chocolate as a treat and not a daily necessity.

3 small steps or 1 stride still get you there, maybe not as fast, but its easy to make small changes a habit.

Pat yourself on the back for the successes to date and the changes still to make.:T

financial_planner

Here we are, then. Two weeks on.

Last week I missed my £100 target. It ended up being £135. Happened last sunday night, I ran out of money and went to the terrible cash machine that charge £2 to take out £20. Then I bought 1x mc donalds, a cornish pasty, a coffee, and the total came to £135. Annoying.

This week, I've spent £65 already. Two nights out (Thursday and Friday). I'm now sitting in an Italian restaurant, I predict I'll have spent another £7.50 by the end of it, leaving me with £27.50 to get me through another 4-5 days. And there is still the matter of the surplus of £35 to deal with from last week. I'm going to need to deal with that, perhaps by only going out once next week.

But it's not all bad news. At least I know what's going on. That is the 'upside' as it were. I've also made major progress in other areas of my life. I now cycle everywhere and two times a week I walk to work, which means I am getting fit and losing weight. Ironically, given my lower food budget, my diet is also much more healthy. All the food is based around vegetables. But unlike the money saving, the food and health aspects are unplanned and I intend to keep it that way. The last thing I want to do is set myself targets that I then cannot maintain. I haven't even weighed myself, because I know as soon as I do, I'll become neurotic about the need to lose weight.

But, taking all this into account, I'm now planning to join a gym for one month only. Its a really expensive, yuppie , spa type gym. And its going to cost me £85 for one month. Crazy, I know, but its also necessary to improve my quality of life. I can't just keep on staring at the four walls of my small room every night. Better off in the Gym, or relaxing in the Jacuzzi or something. To fund it, I flogged some more stuff on ebay. Not strictly in line with the MSE objectives, I know.

I've also been doing some advance planning. I booked two sets of flights to Finland next year well in advance, saving me around £200-£300. To go to my house over there which will also count as my holiday. And, I also used up a load of air miles to book a flight to Scotland around Christmas, I'm going there anyway but using the air miles saved me about £80. This means that I am spending money now instead of paying off my debts, but it's saving me money in the long run. I'm also using last months 'windfall', coupled with the money I saved this month, to transfer to my bank account in Finland. This will cover my property tax payments, heating and insurance for pretty much the next year. It also means that my english bank account will be empty again. But, perhaps that is no bad thing, given that we are heading in to Christmas. It means I can't spend money I don't have. I can't go too far off the rails!

financial_planner

Hi
Just a quick post to update on progress. I've had four weeks of £100 per week. The first two weeks I managed the £100. The last three weeks I have slipped. Week three was about £135, week four was £115, week 5 was £115 as well. I'm not all that worried, as I am still on track, and I have been seriously making some extra money that covers the shortfall, and I'll write more about that in due course. But I suppose I do need to think about how to discipline myself over this and avoiding getting into the trap of unneccessary spending. Anyone have some inspiration they want to share? Would be very much appreciated. Because at the moment, the £100 is all just going on food and entertainment, which is no good in the long term... :-(

financial_planner

Hi all

I haven't posted in a while. I guess though, when you are MSE'ing, you're kind of in it for the long term. My last post haunted me for a while. I'm going to keep on with this diary, because I am certain that, at some point in the future, someone in a similar position to me will find it and get inspired by it.

What has happened? Well, firstly, I fell off the wagon again, in a big way. Shortly after my last post, I went on a trip to finland, spending £1000, nearly all the money I had 'saved' in the preceding two months. And, I'm going back to Finland next weekend as well. The reason is, that I met a girl there. I don't know if it will work out but my conclusion was that I simply had to throw caution to the wind and try it. To pay for the £1000, I simply cut Christmas and new years right out of the equation. That was (in my lifestyle) probably about ten dinners and nights out which would have each cost £100.

Instead, I spent nearly two weeks at my parents house, in a very remote part of the British Isles. There was literally nowhere to spend money. I did manage to spend about £200, on alcohol, presents, food and transportation. But that was it.

Did I miss out on anything? probably not.

But , there was another dimension to my Finnish explorations, and that was the idea of renting my house out. I'd never really researched trying to do this before, but it struck me that it would be quite easy to rent it out as a summerhouse (it is located in an area that is popular with tourists from Helsinki, and there are often festivals nearby and a shortage of accommodaton) and get an income from it. So, I met up with a local agent and did a deal that will hopefully work. The only downside is that I will need to borrow some money to do some refurbishment works (hence my visit next weekend, and again in easter, although I was going to go there anyway). But, if all this works out, I think I will be getting an additional income of £2000-£5000 (before tax).

The trouble is, that this is of course inevitably going to add another level of complexity to my finances, but that's life at the end of the day.

Anyway, this digression aside. I am doing well on the MSE front, because I am hawk eyed on my various accounts now, so I know what is going in and what is going out, precisely. Of course, more has gone out than has gone in, but the position is still a net improvement from where I was when I started in September. I'll try and work out by exactly how much, and repost.

FP

miggy

Hi, good to hear from you again, and all your adventures. Renting out the house sounds good, so long as you have a good agent (though from my limited experience of renting I would add to keep an eye on things yourself as well). While the house is just sitting unoccupied it's going to be a liability and it will also deteriorate. As soon as it's occupied, even part time, that will turn round.

Good that you met someone! H'mmm, could be expensive. Nevertheless a good relationship makes such a huge difference.

As to finances as a whole, well done for putting the brakes on and keeping track of it all. How long it takes to sort it all out really is down to you now. Your Christmas/New Year plans are a good example of what can be done. Why don't you join one of the challenges on here as a way of keeping track of savings made? I thought I was fairly cautious but it's helped me be more inventive and accountable.

Do come back and post again - it's interesting to see how you're doing but I want to see the happy ending too!

financial_planner

Updated SOA

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned....................

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1724
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1724

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 450
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 450
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1000


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................5500......119.......0
Mastercard.....................4000......56........0
Mastercard 2...................200.......0.........18
overdraft......................1100......0.........0
landsbanki.....................160.......0.........11
dad............................10625.....125.......0
Total unsecured debts..........21585.....300.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,724
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,000
Available for debt repayments........... 724
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 300
Amount left after debt repayments....... 424

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -21,585
Net Assets.............................. -21,585

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

financial_planner

So, there you are. (ignore the £450 electricity bill, thats my total monthly spend, based on my £100/week budget)

21585 in debt now.
Bearing in mind that my last SOA was £23120, that shows that I have paid off £1535 in just under 4 months - or £385 per month. Not too bad if you consider that I blew £1000 in finland. You've got to live, at the end of the day!

Miggy, thanks for your encouraging comments - yes, I'm going in to this renting thing with open eyes. It might not work out, but I figure that as long as I'm not spending too much money upfront, i've not got much to lose.

cheers
FP

miggy

financial_planner wrote: »

So, there you are. (ignore the £450 electricity bill, thats my total monthly spend, based on my £100/week budget)

21585 in debt now.
Bearing in mind that my last SOA was £23120, that shows that I have paid off £1535 in just under 4 months - or £385 per month. Not too bad if you consider that I blew £1000 in finland. You've got to live, at the end of the day!

Miggy, thanks for your encouraging comments - yes, I'm going in to this renting thing with open eyes. It might not work out, but I figure that as long as I'm not spending too much money upfront, i've not got much to lose.

cheers
FP

Yes exactly. On the other hand if it does work out then you could have a very useful source of income - something to pay for future trips to Finland at least.

So the £450 electricity cover foods and so on too?

Well done on all that repayment. It really has made a difference hasn't it - even with the trip to Finland you are still in a better position than you were in the Autumn.

financial_planner wrote: »

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................5500......119.......0
Mastercard.....................4000......56........0
Mastercard 2...................200.......0.........18
overdraft......................1100......0.........0
landsbanki.....................160.......0.........11
dad............................10625.....125.......0
Total unsecured debts..........21585.....300.......-
...
Available for debt repayments........... 724
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 300
Amount left after debt repayments....... 424

Just looking at the figures above... I may be missing something (Maths is not my strong point and these calculators don't show all the information of course) but with £424 available after debt repayment, could you pay off those two small debts that are charging interest? That's if you aren't rushing to pay off 0% cards before they start charging interest, which you might well be?

financial_planner

Hi Miggy, thanks again for replying - Yep the £450 is for everything other than bills.

Yes, the two debts with interest are my priorities to pay off. But, the situation is complicated by the fact that I have a finnish property tax bill (£500) to pay next month, if I pay it upfront it will save me interest and having to pay a sum every month for the rest of the year in a different currency, which leads to a nightmareish headache, as I discovered last year with my foreign credit card problems. I've also got next weekends trip to pay, hence my abstention from any kind of social activity this weekend.

I'm also going to throw caution to the wind and pay upfront for two terms of Finnish lessons, that's going to be £380, next month, which will again impair my ability to repay anything for a long while. The MSE credentials of this probably appear quite confusing, but if I am going to start renting my house out, I need to at least converse in the language. And also would be helpful for conversing with the girl I met recently

I'm not too worried about the credit cards, as I can just keep doing balance transfers, as long as I am in stable employment which I am for the foreseeable future. My goal for this year is to try and pay off all my debt to the banks, its about £10,760. If I do really well with the house renting business (eg if I get £5000 income) that will be possible, I think.

What I've learned, basically, is that you have to stay in control of everything. Don't miss a payment and don't lose sight of every bit of money you spend, even if it is depressingly frivolous and wasteful. I'm less enthusiastic about swotting up on finnish tax law and double tax treaties, but I need to do that next.

FP