I need to make £1000 by the end of March...

Nickyj

Same here, I have a separate bank account to my OH and it works for us. He earns a lot more than I do so he pays most of the utilities and mortgage where I do the shopping and some of the smaller household bills (I became debt free in Dec so can afford to pay more towards the bills now) I think we are in the minority as none of my friends have separate accounts but as I said, it works or us.
Well done Shopaholicnomore! You are thinking the MSE way ))

ShopaholicNoMore

I think I've given some kind of impression that we don't share money in this house, or that we have some kind of strange relationship when it comes to money.

We don't. We have a joint account for bills and emergencies. We both have our own accounts, which we pay a certain amount from into joint account an then the have the rest for spends - food, petrol, clothes etc. the main weekly shop I do while H gets top up shops through the week. I have a business as well as a job and business cash has always been for frivolous spending, holidays, meals out etc. We are rubbish at saving so have always just used this cash for those things.

However,since I have had three lots of maternity leave in four years and now work part time, the fun cash is being swallowed up by bills, hence me using the cc. Rather than admit this to H I tried to deal with it myself, which didn't work, which is why I confessed and told him everything in September. We are dealing with it together, but he doesn't have a lot of spare cash to throw at it all either.

Nickyj

I understood what you meant Although we only have a joint savings account (with not a lot n there.....yet!) You've got to do what works for you and it sounds like you have got the right idea. Any bids on your eBay yet? X

iclaudius_2

Sounds like you're really taking the bull by the horns! Funny how money starts appearing when you are paying attention.

Regarding joint income - I agree that life really complicates things - when my DW went on maternity our penny dropped about needing to pool all income and share all costs from a single account.

Trouble was the debts were mine (student loans :mad:) but we realised that if we attacked them together we could be debt free together, sooner. This meant we both had to get on same page regarding sacrifices.

What we started doing that helps simplify a ton is to set a monthly budget a couple days before payday and then on payday to withdraw cash, using cash envelopes (one for me, her, petrol, fresh groceries, kids money). Cash hurts to spend - so you do less of it. Amazing really.

and PS yes telling loved ones and friends 'no' is without doubt the hardest part of making this climb!
good luck - I bet you reach your target

ShopaholicNoMore

Thanks for the support!

One bid on a broken phone and a few watchers on other items so fingers crossed. I don't care what they sell for really, as long as they sell! A few pounds is better than them cluttering up my house isn't it!

Iclaudius -that does sound a good system. The issue is our pay is a bit more erratic. We both get a wage but he gets bonuses and I have business cash so it fluctuates. Hopefully once I get rid of this debt I can be a bit more organised.n

haybel19

Well done on the ebay bids/sales.:j:j:j

iclaudius_2

ShopaholicNoMore wrote: »

Thanks for the support!

One bid on a broken phone and a few watchers on other items so fingers crossed. I don't care what they sell for really, as long as they sell! A few pounds is better than them cluttering up my house isn't it!

Iclaudius -that does sound a good system. The issue is our pay is a bit more erratic. We both get a wage but he gets bonuses and I have business cash so it fluctuates. Hopefully once I get rid of this debt I can be a bit more organised.n

Irregular incomes are pretty common these days. But you can still make and live by a budget! Check out this system here:
http://www.daveramsey.com/article/how-to-budget-an-irregular-income/lifeandmoney_budgeting/

My father works freelance and this works for his household. You can adapt it but the principles are easy. Main thing is to agree the priorities in advance of the start of your financial month

VBW

ShopaholicNoMore

A bad day!

I had to spend the £20 I had planned to save on some ink cartridges....and the I bought a pair of boots! I'm so annoyed with myself!

I've not bought myself clothes in ages but these were a bargain, £120 reduced to £35 and I couldn't resist! I used to think nothing of wasting money in clothes but I really haven't done it in ages.

These six new business interests better come off!

Still a few more ebay bids, and I've got plenty more stuff organised to sell too.

ShopaholicNoMore

Another update from me!

Think I will hopefully be sticking to my £80 budget this week!

I've had a couple more business enquiries - four of the six from last week have come off, so that's brill, and I've had another two...if they come off that'll be great.

My first ebay sales made me over £40 which I thought was not bad for no effort, they are all parcelled up ready to post. Have listed a few more things - including empty ink cartridges after reading a thread on here which said they sell!

Not looked into selling the earrings yet. I will look into it next week I think.

I did buy two car seats over budget but these were a huge bargain - £35 reduced to £15 in Asda baby event.

ShopaholicNoMore

Another bad day yesterday. I need to stop spending. It is so hard though, it's like an addiction, a buzz for a few minutes, and then I feel stressed and annoyed afterwards!

Not going to dwell on it though, it's done now.


eBay sales are going okay, going to scramble out some more stuff and get selling.

My initial target of £1000 was a bit high but if I can make half of that, I should be okay, given the extra business interest which I have had. As long as I stick to my budget from now on! Nearly at £100 from eBay now without much effort.

Freezer is pretty stocked with meat so should only need to spend £25 in supermarket on fresh things and if I go to Lidl again, there is less temptation! Fingers crossed I can just stick to it this week!