Mummy's attempt to budget & save.

atush

Hopefully your ebay will pay off that debt.

I have some brand new converse and K swiss trainers to list. Bought them in the US in Nov, boy comes home from Uni in Dec and his feet have grown a WHOLE size larger. Good grief.

Mummy_Moo

Wow, that's quick! I hope you get a good price for them. I've been really surprised which of my items have been selling, there's loads of interest in the parcel shelf I forgot to put back in my car before I sold it last year. Someone is even watching my Tesco value napkins, crazy, but I'm not complaining

psychic_teabag

Mummy_Moo wrote: »

On the negative side I had a letter just before Christmas to say my gas and electricity bill is going up by £29 per month. Can't change energy suppliers at the moment as I'm tied into a contract with a £100 early exit fee, but there are only a couple of months left and then I'll be looking to see if I can get a better deal.

Is the tarif increasing, or is that they have just decided to increase your DD amount. If the former, can you reject an increase and avoid the early exit fee ? If the latter, can you negotiate with them to reduce the increase ?

Mummy_Moo

Not sure Psychic Teabag. It could be that usage increased so it's my fault not theirs. I'm in the process of going through all of my utility bills, checking contract end dates etc. so I will double check that. Thanks

Mummy_Moo

Just gone through and worked out my budget as I haven't checked it for a few months. Things are looking better than I expected

Final credit card balance will be paid off by the end of next week (at the latest).

Everything comes in and goes out at different frequencies (weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annually and annually), but averaged out over the whole year my income / expenditure is as follows....
Income - £242 (per week)
Bills - £179 (per week)
Leaving £63 per week to cover groceries, petrol, socialising and savings.

I'm increasing my weekly budget from £35 to £40. The remaining £23 per week will initially be used to build up a small contingency fund in my main account, so that the account remains in credit, even during the months where the bills go out before the money comes in. From 1st April 2013 I will pay £20 per week into my savings account. Any funds left over at the end of the weekly budget will be saved to pay for days out, treats and other luxury expenses.

I am aiming to remain debt free and have savings of at least £1,000 by the end of the year.

atush

Well done!

(But grab that Ipad!!!)

psychic_teabag

Are you aware of the Santander 123 current account ? Can't remember if anyone's mentioned it so far. There is a monthly fee, but they give you cashback on (some) bills paid by D/D. For me, £2 fee is offset by £4.50 of cashback per month.

And topcashback will probably give you around £40 to open one.

Anyway, it might be a good candidate for your bills account.

Mummy_Moo

:jDEBT FREE!!!! :j

Just made the final payment on my credit card and I'm now debt free .

Had a really good week, sold loads of stuff on eBay, got one more item ending tonight, then lots more next weekend. Also made a good start on swagbucks, with enough sb for a £5 paypal payment so far, but I'm going to wait until the end of the month, see if I can get it up to £25.

So with the money left over from my weekly budget (I only spent £13.38 this week), and the money earnt from eBay, I've been able to put £47.24 into my "Little Luxuries Savings Pot", which can be used for things like days out, birthday / Christmas presents, or other expenses that don't fit in with the weekly budget.

Good week :j

Thanks for all the tips and support everyone.

atush

So happy for you!!!!!

WELL DONE :T

innovate

And me. Well done, keep at it!