Ecoelle's 'this time next year we'll be millionaires' thread

ecoelle

Ok, well maybe not millionaires but i am wanting to save some money for the future.

My challenge is to save £10,000 by this time next year, we already have £5,000 so another £5,000 over the next 12 months. £400 a month would basically mean living of only my husbands income and saving everything i earn from work.

A little background...i'm a working mum from the midlands and after spending some time in debt i am now in the fortunate position of having money in the bank. Mostly due to me being awarded compensation after a car accident and my husbands nan dying in January and leaving us and inheritance.

So i'm going to do an updated SOA and then start to try and trim. Wish me luck and if anyone would like to join my thread and start their own saving challenge for 2012 then feel free, i'm sure there are a few on here already but the more the merrier eh?

ecoelle

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 416
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 120
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1736

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 570
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 80
Electricity............................. 40 We are in arrears with this due to not paying enough on a previous DD
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 20 This includes landline and internet
Mobile phone............................ 25 £10 on my hubbys PAYG and 15 for my pay monthly
TV Licence.............................. 15
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 160
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 20
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 30
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 24
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 30
Other insurance......................... 100 this includes CI cover and life insurance for me and hubby and income protection for my hubby
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 30
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1439


Assets
Cash.................................... 5000
House value (Gross)..................... 13000
Shares and bonds........................ 200 we put £50 a month into share ISA's
Car(s).................................. 1900
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 20100


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 108000...(570)......4
Total secured & HP debts...... 108000....-.........-

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


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,736
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,439
Available for debt repayments........... 297
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 297

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 20,100
Total HP & Secured debt................. -108,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. -87,900

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

lulabelle1

Welcome to the site and best of luck with the savings, x

ecoelle

Well i'm not sure how well we're going to do with the whole savings idea but i'm going to try and keep positive about the future:)

I think for us it's going to be about small changes, things like where we do the food shopping, walking instead of using the car/bus, those types of things. I've found recently how much cheaper it is for us to do the food shopping at Aldi, the quality of food is good and teh fruit and veg is really good value! Well i'm off to have a little look at other posts.

ecoelle

Right today i have had a lovely day so far. My gorgeous little one had her jabs yesterday and so is very sleepy today, this has allowed me some much needed relaxation time but also time for contemplation. I need to come up with a plan. And that's as far as i've got:)

Definate no no as of now is using the CC
Also trying not to take the DC out of the house, i figure if i need it then i will remember to take it out of the drawer, rather than it just being easily accessible in my purse on every venture from the house.


What else? Simple things that people find work?
What would be your one tip?
I'm going to try one tip each week maybe and see which ones work best!

Off to freeze the CC!

ecoelle

Well Thursday is the start of my financial week. Wierd i know but i get paid every 4 Thursdays so it makes sense for me to use Thursdays as my weekly money day. I got paid last week so the 4 weekly paid things have gone already. Now i have £40 for the week so we'll see how we go. I thought i might keep a track of NSD an what's gone where. I find that if i am tracking it then i am more conscious of what i'm spending when i'm away from the laptop:)

Starting with £40

horsechestnut

Look on the Old Style Savings thread for tips; some you can do without any hardship at all. e.g. Stardrops for cleaning. Cheap Bubblebath/Shampoo instead of liquid soap handwash. Do you have a Home Bargains near you? Everything is much cheaper in there.
Do you do online surveys? Not a fortune, but "every little helps".
Do you have a College near you for hair dressing?
If you pay some bills annually then put this money into a savings account and get interest.
Just a few suggestions- hope they help.
Good Luck

ecoelle

Thanks horsechestnut, i'm already trying to save the money up for some annual bills by putting a bit aside each month, i need to keep it in an account though really don't I.

Ok so spends for today
Wilko £7.03
Boots 32p
Co-op £11.71

Now, i work in the Co-op and don't normally shop there as it's more expensive, but today we have double discount day and i only bought reduced stuff which has helped to stock the freezer.

Total left for week is £20.94

Tonight for tea i think i'll do fajitas, and a stew for tomorrow night i think, then leek and potato soup and pasta on sunday. The rest of the week will be a mixture of freezer teas and left overs:)

ecoelle

Right, well today i am meeting my friend and then we are going to town. We are walking in so no bus fares or car parking to pay:) Then once in town we are shopping for clothes for her, i am excited about this, i get the experience of shopping without having to spend any money. Then we are wandering home and hopefully she'll stay for tea. I am feeling so much more positive about the whole money situation. I think that once you put it at the front of your mind then it's easier to keep it there through all the things you are doing. This time last week i would have said 'oh well if i haven't got enough cash on me then i can always use the card, but that's totally the wrong attitude and this is why i would on paper be supposed to have £500 at the end of the month but when the end of the month actually came i would be skint! Well i'm off to get the baby up for her feed and then hopefully will be able to get going for the day.

ecoelle

So spends today are
Farmfoods £3.50
Co-op £8.00

Total = £11.50
so
total left to spend is £9.44

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Hello and welcome.

My tip would be just to avoid shopping trips at all costs. We go once a week and that's it, that way small sums don't just disappear.

Good luck!
Squirrel:j