New diary for 2013: The year of keeping things simple

Ruby789

Just writing this down somewhere so I can look back on it later and see progress.

Last year Aug - Jul my current account cost me £123.48 in interest and £100 in charges. My avg. debit balance was £728.71, and my avg. credit balance was £89.53.

MUST do better!

And over the same period I also wasted £240 in interest on a credit card. So the best part of £500 down for literally nothing!

Ruby789

Have managed to get out of spending much of my pocket money this week, but I over spent on v-day stuff (which comes from a different budget).

There isn't much to show for how much I spent which is a real shame. I decided to hand make some foody gifts, but it would have been alot cheaper just to buy pre-made stuff, and get one of those dinner for 2 for 20 quid things. Based on the results so far would have been alot nicer too!

Hopefully the effort will be appreciated, but he'll have no idea how much I really spent. Not that that should matter, but I would like him to know that it cost more than it looks.

Ruby789

Money, money, money, it's all I think about these days. The week just before payday is the worst, I get so anxious!

Have to decide what to do about rolling budgets. I have noticed that when the urge to buy something hits, I mentally note the budget pots which have credit in them before deciding what 'I absolutely have to have'. This is not the way round I need things to be, I have a small budget specifically for wants, the rest should solely be about needs.

Though my budget is based on a full year, and was then just split into 12 equal installments. Some will need the flexibility of being a bit under sometimes to cover the eventual overs.

Need to really think this through, else I'll waste money just because it's labelled as being for spending, or, not have enough at some later stage and end up just taking money from some other pot and eventually giving up on the budget alltogether.

My all or nothing personality type is a proper nuisance sometimes. Need balance.

Ruby789

Thinking about opening an ISA. I'd have barely anything in there before the 5th April deadline, but it makes sence to start saving into an ISA eventually so theres no harm in trying to put some in for this years allowance. I should have £200 each month from next payday to save as remaining debts are at 0% and my family have said they'd prefer I saved than paid them back early.

This will also give me a chance to take my custom away from M&S who have drastically dropped their rate only a month after I opened the account, not impressed.

Might also give me a push to get those last few bits up on ebay as a way to make a bit of cash by April (and clear some stuff out). The deadline is only 7 weeks away so no matter how frugal I am I doubt i'll get much past £500, but ... for me that's absolutely huge, having a positive balance at all is amazing. ISA's also feel more like money you really shouldn't touch so might keep it safe from my mitts.

Ruby789

Now that my debt feels manageable, i'm starting to really worry about the future. I'll update my signature on Friday when the final figures for the month are in, but I should only be left with the 0% debt at that point. Spreading the remaining debt over the free terms will mean I'll only need to spend £100 a month on debt repayment which is in reality very little.

The budget I have drawn up will leave me £200 spare to save each month. I would like to stop wasting my money renting and start looking towards the future. I'd like a family (and a hubby) in the next 5 years (read asap!), so a mortgage is very sensible and necessary really. I'll never be able to afford it on my own, so I'm looking to save £15k as my half of a deposit (and hope my future mister is in the same (or better) position when the time comes). Would still be priced out of most of London but it's something to aim for.

At my current saving rate (and including debt repayment money when i'm debt free), it will take until September 2017 to raise that money.:eek:

There are likely to be other things in the meantime as well, you know how life is. My job is unlikely to have any significant pay increase over the next few years either, and to retrain will cost more money now and i'm not even sure what I could move into.

I'd happily get a part time job, but in this climate I don't fancy my chances.

Fairly depressing now that i'm looking at it.

Ruby789

Where can I find some extra money ......

• Be really ruthless and ebay everything that isn't a false economy and that I won't eventually need to repurchase. I have lots of low value items, I may as well try and sell these.
• This year has less personal care outgoings as I have stocks to run down. I will keep as much of this money as possible and put into savings as a lump sum at the end of the year. This should then encourage me to keep my spending low the following years.
• Find a way to pay less rent ....
• Start budgetting from zero again and see what savings can be made across all budgets, every little really will help bring that date forwards.

Ruby789

It looks like I have massively under budgetted for my holiday, to the tune of £150! Hotel and flight were not bad, but daily food and drink, and doing touristy things are adding up (i'm researching and putting together a spreadsheet, i've not gone yet).

Boyfriend is not enjoying me talking about money constantly and trying to keep everything cheap, so I need to make this a budget holiday by stealth! We earn similar, but I have more outgoings, and debts to pay etc.... so he feels less of a pinch. Plus i'm in a weird place in my life right now.

What also doesn't help is that we have different ideas of what is fun. I'd forgo nice meals and evening drinks for a bigger tourism budget, he'd opt for the exact opposite. Naturally :rotfl:.

There is a middle ground in terms of that stuff, and then all I need to do is not draw attention to my cost cutting measures .....

Have decided to put the shortfall on my credit card (instead of using next months planned savings). I really need to avoid the OD altogether as i'm awful with it, and savings makes me feel positive (which I really need). If I time it right, I won't have to pay the bill till after I get paid in March which gives me time to find more money to pay it all off before there is any interest.

I'll keep looking for ways to trim the predicted budget down, and I'll also continue skimming budgets until it's all paid off before it attracts interest. I'm sure if i focus it can be done.

Ruby789

Ok I can find £40 by halving my food budget next month. I spent only 40 this month as I had a full stock cupboard. I still have a few bits to use up, that plus the £7 menu thread over on OS should see me through the month and give me an extra £40 towards the holiday. I'll have a week of holiday excess in that month so a bit of a cut down on either side will do me no harm.

Ruby789

Having spent considerable time looking at the holiday budget and trying to come up with something realistic, I am still exactly where I thought I would be yesterday (needing to find £150 more). We might be able to make some trimmings when we are there, maybe we won't want a proper dinner one day etc... but for budgetting purposes I've included everything I can think of.

At least I know now that I really do need to find some more money from somewhere.... If I can put the hotel on my credit card that solves the cash flow problem without going near the overdraft at least. The money won't likely be taken until we check out, meaning that i'll have another pay day before the card bill will be due for payment and that will give me access to next months holiday installment of 70. That plus half my food budget is £110. Now I just need to find another £40 and hope i've not forgotten anything.

Ruby789

:j I'm under 2k in debt now :j

Edit: That's 59% paid off!!!

Now need to make sure the holiday doesn't cause a back slide .... have spoken to my boyfriend about putting a cap on the holiday and he's happy with the amount i've suggested. Now to try and come in under that .....


I'll still need to find the £150 in case we do spend it all. I've identified:

• £70 March holiday instalment.
• £25 From food budget. This will be hard to stick to. Sometimes I only buy food because I want to cook something! Sure I could survive for a month on very little if I had a bit of self discipline.

Still leaves me with £55 to find elsewhere, and I could also do with finding another £77 so I can achieve my savings goal this month too.

So I need find / make £132 this month.

I'm skimming budgets already, and i've not much left to ebay so this is actually quite a challenge! Plus, being a recluse and not socialising is damaging friendships so I need to stop skimming my 'having a life' budget . Invited to three things this weekend, skipping one, going to half the other (can't afford both halves) and not decided about the third. Need to get the boyfriend into the MSE mindset then it will be much easier! Right now he feels that i'm spoiling all the fun. Though if we planned stuff and budgetted together we could do more really.