Diary of a home owner wannabe (my 6 year journey)

gallygirl

pennyforthepot wrote: »

could have done with your advice the other day

PFTPx

Not being a great coffee lover my advice would be 'what's wrong with a nice jar of Alta Rica' :rotfl:

pennyforthepot

Had a lovely day with DH yesterday. We went for a stroll down the high st where we scoured some of the charity shops. He bought me a beautiful grey cashmere dress for £8 which I am sporting today - mmm lovely and warm We then popped into the local for a couple of drinks - we always have our best conversations in the pub then back for an afternoon on the sofa with a defrosted yellow sticker curry from waitrose. Perfect.

Picked up a few more 3 for 2 pressies from Boots so I now have a good stock pile of pressies for DDs friends for next years birthdays. Today I need to pop to Mr T to use up my double points voucher which finishes today and I think there is still a £5 off on a £40 shop so will stock up on meat for next month. Digging deep in the freezer for the last few days of my financial month. Pasta for tonight, lasagne and nasi goreng for Monday and Tuesday and then I'm done for the month. I still have £9 left in my food budget which will be used on fruit and veg and hopefully that will mean I have for the first time kept within my food budget and I still have a leg of lamb in the freezer.

Present wrapping is the task for today and a tot up of my xmas and bday budget for the remainder of the year. I have a few more pressies to get. DSS2 wants some clothes for xmas so I will give him some money for the sales, but need to get him a few more bits to open, a couple of secret santa pressies to get (which I cant do until I know who I am buying for, some more bits for xmas stockings and then hopefully I am done :j

Need to update my budget accounts today too.

PFTP x

pennyforthepot

I lost my post yesterday and didn't get a chance to re-do it so a quick summary:

Lots of bargainicious meat purchased at Mr T, double points voucher used and £5 off £40 shop acquired :j. Xmas and bday wrapping nearly complete and just a few more pressies to buy and then Im done. Purchased half price double duvet and bedset for DS in the BHS sale (though I need to get into the habit of going through a cashback site).

End of the financial month for me today. Its been a hefty month again and I am particularly frustrated with myself for 'losing' the £500 on my car insurance. I have changed the way I account for credit card purchases now which means I debit my budget accounts as soon as I have purchased rather than waiting until the bill comes through - this means that I won't make the same mistake again but makes my saving look healthier than they are until the I pay the credit card bill.

So to conclude I haven't reached my target of £100,000 this month but my savings now stand at £99,753.11. This includes £247.56 in additional income from interest, cashback and money off vouchers. Next month is going to be another tough one as I need to pay out around £250 for DH's counselling, an additional £200 for the gas and electricity bill which for some reason hadn't been set up as a direct debit and I also need to kit out DS in walking gear for his DUke of Edinburgh course which I think is going to be £100+ :eek: I also need to look at increasing the kids budget account by another £50 to £450 as I am currently £1400 in debt to this account which has primarily accrued due to a £750 bill for DSS2's bus pass which I wasn't expecting to pay, £300 for DD to go on a school trip and DS's monthly fee for his programming course of which I have to pay £120 :eek:

I totted up the cost of xmas and bday pressies and think I have just come in on budget for the year :j - though I am hoping to reduce the budget next year so I will need to do some smart shopping in sales.

Came in at £1 under budget on the food front - tough going but having a daily allowance seemed to help keep me on track. I am going to concentrate on yellow sticker shopping this month:rotfl:

Today I am concentrating on the business as I have a small business accountant coming to see me tomorrow - which is a great wait off my mind. The first thing he said to me when he rang was that I was very brave doing the accounts on my own for a limited company - tell me about it. I just hope the fees will be within our budget.

Off to do the books

PFTP x

pennyforthepot

Had a productive day yesterday in terms of the accountant who was excellent and we have agreed to use him - so that is a load off my mind.

On the negative side took the mini in for its MOT and annual service and came out £480 lighter :eek: I had budgeted for around £300 so was not a happy bunny. On a more positive side I used my £3 voucher in Mr S and my £5 voucher in Mr T and have another one to use next week - a little way off to get the £180 back from the car. Although my petrol cost for last month was only £88 compared to £180 that I would spend before we moved:j

I need to do my menu plan for the month this weekend as I hate not knowing what I am cooking or what food I need to buy. Daily spend for food currently stands at £4.91

I am seeing the IFA this morning - I will be interested to hear what he has to say - not sure whether he will be useful but worth going to see.

No list today as I'm out for most of it. I need to get my act together as this week has been rather patchy to say the least and things are starting to pile up.

PFTP x

pennyforthepot

A little late posting today despite waking up at 5.30am and getting up at 6am as sleep failed me.

Yesterday's meeting with the IFA left me feeling more confused than when I went in. I was hoping he would be able to tell me what the best route was to meet my target savings amount and generate a monthly income once we had purchased a flat but as I already have an investment fund, and his knowledge of buy to let was fairly limited he wasn't able to offer any more advice. He did offer some general pension advice - if I wanted to go down that route but didnt really give me any suggestion as whether this was the best way to go. He did however offer advice on using my stocks and shares ISA allowance within my current investment which would help on my tax bill so I have asked him to take a look at my current investment and contact the fund managers to set that in motion. He was also able to offer me a will service which is something that has been on my list for a while - so lets see where this will take me.

Not a lot to report on the MS front as today I had a NSD. Actually as I was writing that I realised it's not quite true as I just gave DH a fiver to go and get me a cheap bottle of wine - it is Friday after all and I have spent the whole day doing housework :rotfl:

Daily food spend back up to £5.09 as I didnt need to get anything in today. Piri piri chicken, dauphinoise potatoes and baked corn on the cob for tea today - all on offer at Mr T the other day :j

Managed to pick up some xmas pressies yesterday for DSS2 - I was struggling a bit for ideas but found a lovely pair of shoes and a couple of shirts that I know he would like for xmas. So nearly done now and glad that its out the way.

Have a great MS weekend

PFTP x

pennyforthepot

Busy day yesterday -mainly doing a kid shuffle :eek: every one had somewhere to go and needed to be taken and picked up again.

LSD £2.77 a few bits for tea.

Worked out my outgoings for this month and I have over £3000 to pay off on my credit cards which means I won't have much to update my signature with. It should iron itself out by the end of the year as its mainly because I have changed the credit card I use to in order to get my Mr T points to pay for the remaining Merlin pass for xmas. As the payment date is earlier it means that I am paying for things in this financial month when ordinarily it would be coming out of next months budget. Have to think of the long term gain rather than worrying about what I won't be saving this month.

Off to my mum's today so topped up the car with petrol and looking forward to a nice roast that I haven't made and catching up with the family - it's been so long since I've seen them all.

I must get back to my lists next week as I'm starting to feel a little agitated without them. There is so much I need to get done over the next few weeks that just seem to spin around in my head if I don't write them down.

Enjoy your Sunday

PFTP x

edinburgher

I am also agitated without your lists PFTP, their absence is a serious disturbance in the force

Do you adjust budgets when things like car servicing are more expensive than expected? That's something I'm trying to build into our budgets. I think of it as informed pessimism (i.e. 'if this has happened in 2013, there's no reason why it couldn't happen in 2014'). Worst case scenario, we should be covered in future, best case scenario we have more left over than expected

Enjoy your Sunday.

pennyforthepot

edinburgher wrote: »

I am also agitated without your lists PFTP, their absence is a serious disturbance in the force

Do you adjust budgets when things like car servicing are more expensive than expected? That's something I'm trying to build into our budgets. I think of it as informed pessimism (i.e. 'if this has happened in 2013, there's no reason why it couldn't happen in 2014'). Worst case scenario, we should be covered in future, best case scenario we have more left over than expected

Enjoy your Sunday.

Hi Edinburgher - I need to get back to my lists - have been absent for a few days as we went down to Brighton to get away from everything - back now, the house is a tip as is my brain :eek: - the lists will be back in force tomorrow.

I typically overbudget for most things particularly when budgeting for the cars as there is no way of knowing how much they may cost - then at the end of the year if there is anything left over it's like getting a bonus which then gets transferred to the savings pot. Unfortunately this year I think I have just spent in this last few days down in Brighton (went a little off plan to say the least :eek:

PFTP x

pennyforthepot

LOST IN ACTION

I have been awol for the last few days and I'm afraid to say totally went off-piste on the MS front. Will provide a complete confessional when I take my head out of the sand and admit to myself what I have spent. Also I have just booked our holiday for next year and went over budget by hmmm lets see - almost 100% :eek:

Keep calm and write a list is all I can say to that.On a positive note I'm still at £5.81 on my daily food budget :rotfl:

Long list coming up tomorrow but desperately need to unpack and do some washing.

PFTP x

pennyforthepot

So this week has been one of highs and lows - starting with a complete meltdown at the beginning of the week. I have let everything get on top of me and rather than talk to DH I kept it to myself - hence the meltdown followed by a MAJOR spending spree :eek:. I got to the stage where everyday was groundhog day for me from start to finish. I felt like I was running a hotel and my family were my guests. So after a long and sobbing conversation with DH I feel so much better and he has started helping me a lot more and I'm hoping the kids will take a little more responsibility too. The major spend started with a trip to Bister Village with a friend and ended with a two day spree in Brighton and the booking of a VERY expensive holiday for next year :eek:

Today I am not allowing myself to do anything other than writing that list that I have been avoiding for so long and sorting out my finances which are in a bit of a state. It's amazing how long it takes to save yet how quickly it can be spent. Lets just say I think my signature will be lower than last months - going backwards is not the way forward

Prepare yourselves for THE LIST which I will post this afternoon ...

PFTP x