woah... are those MY finances??

scubaangel

Cashback is fine as far as the tax man is concerned, as far as I know so are surveys (I'm in trouble otherwise!)

If you have a smartphone there's quidco as well, I tend to only use it for the check ins (activate the app to get 5p or 10p a time, at a minimum cash out of £1). Have you explored the snap & save option on topcashback, quidco has a similar one usually different products on them both.

It's pretty easy as long as you know the debt totals and apr's. http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

stewby

Hmmm... Seems to suggest it will take 12 months to pay off everything. It sounds bad but I was kinda hoping for quicker.


My plan is simple... to try and save £200 of my £400 budget every month. My dad is going to deal with the big account and hopefully provide £200 (or maybe more) to the credit card each month. I am determined to get this paid off quicker.


Stupid question... does anyone use the online shopping sites (such as tescimos) to work out how much their shopping is going to cost and then go to the shop to buy it?? Does it work out about the same??


It all starts on Tuesday... Going to hit the ground running. Thinking about it intelligently (a rarity for me), I will be able to gain about 12 non-spend days just from work as I normally can't be bothered going shopping afterwards. Hooray.

scubaangel

But thats 12 months on the planned budget - once you're up and running with it I bet you'll be able to find a little bit extra to pay it off sooner.

I used to try to plan my shopping then stick to the list but more often than not I'd find yellow stickered stuff to bought extra to freeze so spent more, although in the long run it will have been a saving.

stewby

Not so long ago I managed to get into tescimos at just the right time and was able to get cheap mince, lamb stuff and pork stuff. It was perfect... but I have never been able to replicate it since.


My OH doesn't like yellow labelled fruit and veggies which sucks cause raspberries cost £2.00 a pot. At least he accepts some cheap foods. Hooray.


I am very excited about batch cooking. Is it normal to be this excited over batch cooking?? I want to try and make cookies at some point. My mum came down to watch masterchef tonight (the australian one) and she has decided that she wants to try making proper bread again. Hopefully, that means she will buy the ingredients as it is "my expertise" that makes it happen.

stewby

So... I have been noseying at the September step up in preperation for October and I have had a look at how possible it all is. (if the rules remain the same)

* shopping budget for the month.
aiming for £200 for the month.

* write down everything you spend.
should be able to manage this as will use receipts.

* 18 spend-free days. (I am going to class this as not spending any money at all).
I think I can do this as I am working for 12 days throughout October.

* £3 worth of food to be donated to the local food bank. local food bank in tescimos so we should be able to achieve this with no problems.

* packed lunches and "homemade" coffee. (basicaly don't buy anything).
don't drink coffee and no food available at work so all sorted there.

* if you have any social events, budget for them.
have no social life.


* Don't drink any alcohol.
don't normally drink so this should be okay.

* 20 minutes of exercise three times a day.
going to attempt to walk home from work every shift.

* beauty spends can't be above £10 for the month.
no problem. i only really use "simple" shower stuff and I have stockpiled shampoo to use up.


So... It looks to be very possible. See that casual confidence there.

stewby

Lessons being learned every day...

So slept for most of the day which is probably a good thing as feeling a bit miserable. OH is flying down south for the weekend (thursday - monday) to see his folks which, obviously, I don't mind. (besides, he is using his own savings to do it).


So, I will be on my own for a few days which is always a disaster as this is when I feel sorry for myself and go "lap shopping". That's lazy person's shopping where I don't actually use up any calories as I do it all online from my sofa with my laptop on my lap and snuggled up in a duvet. I think I will give my credit card to my Dad tonight. (after I get petrol).

Anyways... back to lessons being learned...

Went to tescimos yesterday looking for something cheap and yummy. Came home with not very much yummy stuff, only to find that there had been a glitch and I could have gotten cheap cookies.
Lesson: Start the day on here and check for any "grabbits" before venturing out the house.
*facepalm*

Sister-in-law tried to tell me how to run my finances. This coming from someone who is in debt up to her eyeballs and still spending (no idea how someone can justify putting a £3500 sofa on the credit card when they have a perfectly good one but I suppose you could say the same about me and my clothes). After she left, dad and I had a proper chat about my finances.
Lesson: dad is always right. SIL has no idea about my finances and under no circumstances am I to mess around with my mortgage. (currently at 1.45%). If I change to a fixed rate then it's up at 4%.


Definitely won't be a no-spend-day today as I need to pay for dropping OH off at the airport. The plan is to then try and avoid going to tescimos on my way home (normal route when I am feeling rotten).

scubaangel

It does look very doable to me too, although I suppose I'm starting from a different point given I've no bills other than my phone, and don't do the household shopping...

Think I'll give it a go this month with you.

Prothet_of_Doom

REf: partner. Rather than split the bills, why not, have them pay an inclusive rent, that includes thier share of bills and have a lodgers agreement. What is the going rate on spareroom.co.uk ? Give them the spare room as thier own space/study/lounge perhaps to sweeten the deal.

stewby

Erm... don't judge me but my OH doesn't pay any bills or anything. He pays for the food occassionally but otherwise it is all from my wages. (He doesn't have a job at the moment and is living on savings).


Eventually he will contribute but once he has a job. I wouldn't feel right asking him to pay me whilst he has no form of income.

Fmess

I did the step down on supermarket products but we decided to step right down and buy all ASDA smart price for 1 month. We found lots of products we like and some we preferred and then continued to buy all the decent ones at the end of the month.