Risen from the ashes ...

rising_from_the_ashes

Arrrrrgggghhhh

Just to prove how useless I am .... I've *found* £40+ that I'd lost.

I couldn't figure out how the cats pot only had around £20 in it (when I knew it should be over £60) ..... I'd transferred the money as I spent it and when the cc bill came in - now, if I've done that for every budget - no wonder I'm in such a mess:eek:

Def going back to a once a month transfer!

Hovel_lady

Sounds, umm, complicated :cool: but glad you're "found" the missing £40

rising_from_the_ashes

Hovel_lady wrote: »

Sounds, umm, complicated :cool: but glad you're "found" the missing £40

:rotfl:Yup ...... I have actually *lost* nearly £300 in total so I've made a total t*i*t*s up of it!

Arrrgggghhhhh!

wannabee_in_credit

Hi Rising...
Just found your diary so saying hello, and popping on to subscribe.

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Wannabe:wave: - I will warn you that I sometimes (only sometimes, I hear someone yell!:rotfl:) rant on about money a bit too much!:o

Working hard to get better ......:)

rising_from_the_ashes

Is it ever going to stop raining!:eek:

Needs for May - need to have a "tight" month to try to claw back some of the mess I've made this month!:o

So ... will keep adding them on here in the hope it keeps me from spending too much!:o

1) Scales (broke mine last year sometime )- needed to weigh wee cat .... really need to try to get some weight off her (around 1kg overweight) but complicated by the fact that big cat is around 1kg underweight *sigh* ....

Wondering if these can come out of the cats pot rather than the household one;) - although I also need to shift a few pounds too :rotfl::rotfl:

Suffolk_lass

Just realised you also have a debt free diary so I've subscribed - I hope that's OK. I haven't read all your posts but I see you are having a spot of frustration with your budgetting. I don't know if my system might help a bit...
I use a spreadsheet with a worksheet each for two bank accounts (mine pays the majority of bills and DD and DH's is our running costs folder) - another each for credit cards and one for savings. I put far too much into savings each month because I mentally accept I will raid it when big bills happen - it also means I eke out what is left as I hate paying OD charges or interest on CCs.

In my bank account worksheet I have a list of electronic payments that go out by date order with the anticipated monthly amount. To the right of this I have all the less frequent payments like insurance and heating oil with a record of what I paid over the last year - I split it into predicted and actuals. I total the predicted column and then divide by 12 to tell me how much I need to allow for all of these things collectively - so if the average monthly is £400 (it's close), I know that this much of my savings isn't really. I try to only have enough for the regular payments in that account.

Perhaps rather than me wittering on in your DFD, let me know if this is of any interest and I could explain other bits (I think you previously thought you might try my quarterly big-shop where I add extra to every third month to stock up on staples by dividing by 16 instead of 12 months and taking two portions for every third month out of the running costs account).

Don't be too hard on yourself.
Excellent news for Pennygrabber, BTW
All the best
SL

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi SL :wave: - great to see you too!:)

A bit of frustration with budgeting ...... yup!:o

Anyway, thanks for the tips - I'll have a proper read & digest after work ...... it's a bit early (even for me) to get into budgets!;)


Best news of the day ....... the sun is out!:j

rising_from_the_ashes

House insurance renewal

Got this through today ..... £228 ...... gone up a bit (£38) - was hoping for £200:rotfl:

A bit more than will be in the pot by renewal date - will be £200 by the end of May (when I'll have to pay the cc bill that it'll be on).

Not too bad I guess - did some other quotes and one was for £435 :eek: (from another well known insurer:() so may have to stick with it.

Positive

Now I've got the "house & car" pot, the shortfall can be covered by the car money (nothing due until next Jan) and quickly made up.:)

rising_from_the_ashes

Sorry folks .... a few more changes - getting into that time of year when things renew and I can easily lose track:o

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1334 A whole £8 better off after the NI changes this month - what shall I do with it!
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1334

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 277
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge[STRIKE] (leasehold property)[/STRIKE]..... 11 Estate maintenance
Council tax............................. 94 Over 12 months (incl single person's discount)
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 34
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 12.99 line rental = £12.99 but discounted to £9.49 with advance payment: saving pays for anytime calls (£3.50) much better than the £23.50 I was paying!:D
Mobile phone............................ 21 Cashback throughout contract brings this down to £8.50:j but going to try to save this
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21.5
Internet Services....................... 6.49 Just got 1/2 price for 12 months:j (and 3 x limit!)
Groceries etc. ......................... 140
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 100 This is just going up ..... and up
Road tax................................ 2.5
Car Insurance........................... 23.5
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 35
[STRIKE]Car parking[/STRIKE]............................. 3.2 Breakdown cover
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 18.75 Cats ins (will need to add dog ... when I get one!)
Buildings insurance..................... 12.5
Contents insurance...................... 12.5
[STRIKE]Life assurance[/STRIKE] ......................... 21.66 Income protection insurance
[STRIKE]Other insurance[/STRIKE]......................... 18.75 Boiler insurance - ends Oct (boiler too old after :eek:)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 8.5
Entertainment........................... 50 Never spend this much - also covers "anything else" spends
Holiday................................. 20
Emergency fund.......................... 25
[STRIKE]Emergency fund.[/STRIKE]......................... 25 Replacement boiler fund (will be adding boiler ins money once this finishes)
Dog (all excl insurance)................ 40
Cats (all excl insurance)............... 50

Total monthly expenses.................. 1166.96


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 5000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 70000....(277)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 70000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,334
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,166.96
Available for debt repayments........... 167.04
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 167.04

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 5,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -70,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. -65,000

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.