Starting BEFORE I mean to go on

specialkaye

So it's been about 1 month since I last posted - will post 2ce today - to give an update on February and then to set out the goals for March.

So here goes-
Firstly I had to put an extra £20 in my car this month as I forgot about a trip to Nottinghamshire during February - not that I forgot about the trip but it didn't twig that I wouldn't manage on just one tank. I filled it back up yesterday at £43.25 so hopefully this will last a bit longer.

I will actually get recompensed for the 6 days that I was away with the youth group I was on a course for so that will more than cover the additional fuel and the extra bits and pieces I needed to purchase in readiness:
5x tights £3.50
notebook - £3.99
shoe polish - £3.25
snacks for the road - £2
food and accommodation for the 6 days - £28
drinks - £8.83

Other spends not connected with the (paid) week away -
5x tights £4.00
2x formal dresses = £10 each (bad SK - couldn't resist) down from £28 each
Black boots - £15 (sale) down for £22
Black shift dress - £6 (sale) down from £18

Not too bad but not great either. Hoping March will be better as I DEFINATELY don't need any more clothes.

No make up, toiletries, nail polish or perfume or jewellery this month.

Been trying to keep my grocery spends down by getting creative with what been in my freezer - it worked well during Feb but now I've got nothing left! Need to do some bulk buying to stock up.

I made the last full payment to my Dad this month - March is the last payment and will be about £100 less can't wait to be able to do all the (rather unexciting) things like investing and paying off the CC with it lol.

O and started redecorating the kitchen, currently 1 1/2 walls have paint on but it's looking really good. Hopefully I will have it done by the summer haha. Seriously hoping it won't actually take more than about 3 weeks. I've not been doing any during the week when my bf is away so it's weekend work only.

I think that is pretty much it for the Feb update. Back in a mo.....

specialkaye

Hmmmmm so February was a bit of a mixed bag with spends, I have all the confidence that March will be better.

v =[]bg] - the cat says hello!!! oops

So I few updates already for March - the bf got his PPI payment through and it is the process of transferring £1,200 of it to the savings account I made him open a couple of months ago (we opened 1 each). This means that he has the max £1,200 needed to open the help to buy ISA so that is on the list for next weekend. I have also bribed him to put another £300 in out of the remaining £1,000 by saying that I will pay for my half of the holiday flights ( he originally said he would pay for mine when he got the PPI letter).

I just need to him to become a little more comfortable with not having the money there visible - he keeps saying I am 'taking' his money ( the accounts are his and his alone) but he soon comes round when I show him lovely houses currently in our ideal price range ;-)

I am also not going to be able to declare a no spend on perfume this month - bought a lovely smelling one for £15 (well not yet as its from a very well known beauty catalogue so don't pay until it has arrived) - it did come with free nail polish, face cream and body spray so it will satisfy my wants for beauty and nails all in one go! still not great.

No clothing spends to report so far and plan on keeping it that way! had a little reshuffle of the wardrobe to bring a few things I have not worn in a while to the front which should help dampen the need for new things.

One thing I have been looking at maybe spending a little more money on are my cats food. I currently but supermarket own brand tins which as it turns out, like many popular brands, doesn't actually contain that much of the meat displayed on the front (about 4%). Even the posh supermarket ones were only about double that. One of my cats has suffered from a bit of a skin condition, irritated by a plague of fleas this past summer/autumn and his coat went really patchy. I read that better quality food can really help. Still looking into it.

oooooo - just remembered- I looked at the new credit report feature on the MSE credit club and my overspends on the cc are not showing as defaults/black marks. Happy days.

Well I think that's about it for now, will update again soon - hopefully when the kitchen is complete and will have the final costs plus the help to buy ISA is open and can provide £ updates on that.

Kittenkirst

SK you sound just like me, I keep saying I don't need clothes then I nip out at lunchtime and end up picking up some 'bargains'! I like your plan of keeping a log of them...maybe something I should adopt

specialkaye

Hi Kittenkirst - that is me down to a tee. I think I be healthy by getting away from my desk at lunch time and end up in a couple of clothing stores!

So monthly rounds up of spends -
Clothing -Swimming costume -£18.

THATS IT!!!! woop. Other than the £15 perfume previously declared as I actually paid for it this month.


I didn't however quite make it until the end of the month on my one tank of fuel so that is £42 paid on the 27th March (so close!!). Hoping to go all April without needed to fill up - time to get that bike out! OOOOh that's reminded me about a happy little bit of money saving - left work and the petrol station right outside my work at 5:15 was at 120.9 however the forecourt was full so didn't go, I then had to visit my Mum so returned at about 8pm to find the price was now 119.9. I thought that the price would only change overnight! Reckon I saved about 36p lol.

I got paid for my week away - just shy of £300 and still need to claim the mileage. I am terrible at claiming my mileage with this organisation.

In other financial news I did finally pay off my Dad so plans are as follows - increase savings standing order to £200 a month (DONE), get credit card to point where it is paid off IN FULL (lol) every month. After that then either an AVC or LISA depending on further investigation.

Still haven't managed to sort out the OH's Help to Buy ISA :-(, the bank couldn't get us in and we can't do it online so will have to wait another couple of weeks. Ugh.

Kitchen work is still ongoing - its taking forever but its my own fault for not putting the effort in!


I don't have much of an update for April goals this month as work is going to be crazy busy however 1 MSE result - I was going to try and haggle my broadband but realised I was out of contract so switched saving £6 a month plus cashback of £90. Happy days.

specialkaye

Okay - April's update coming up.

Spends -
Swimming costume - £18. It was new but I couldn't find the one a bought a few years ago.
Jewellery - £9.80 on a pair of silver earrings. Proper silver and was 20% off.

THATS IT other than a certain beauty catalogue buy - £6 for some replacement foundation which will be paid for in May.

April was quite a spendy month on eating and drinking out with my boyfriend and friends - the biggest one was a trip south for the bank holiday weekend - never been to centre parks but lordy it's expensive if you go unprepared!! £150 each for the lodge, £30 on the cycle, £39 on the spa, £30 on fuel contribution to my friend, £20 on pre-bought wine, probs £50 on non-pre-bought food while we were there! Eek - first time i've added it all up. The one thing I did save on was the day trip we did buy using supermarket vouchers - saved £34 from on the door price with £9 of vouchers so happy there.

Hopefully May will be a cheaper month! No current plans for anything major.

That's it really for April - work has been crazy crazy so not really had much time to think about anything else.

Got a couple of updates for May already so will get them down as I'm sure ill forget by the end of the moth haha

specialkaye

Okay - some good MSE news for May - I paid off my credit card IN FULL (I know you heard Martin's voice too!!) today. Expecting the next statement week after next which I will have to pay off with next months pay but should be able to clear it

Did polling duty last week for the local elections so that's be a little extra money in at the end of the month and then the June one is a bonus! about £150 each time after the taxes.

Other spends due - cats are due at the vets for their boosters which is about £100
Bought 2 dresses and a top in the sale (total £21) as my washing machine/dryer chewed a dress and a shirt. Need to have a proper clear out as I will have some more items that are past their best and need throwing. The BF things I have too much stuff as it is lol so this will please him. Just need to find the energy lol. Watch this space....

specialkaye

New month... same activities lol. Managed to pay off my card again IN FULL so pleased with that and it should leave me with enough money left for my holiday spending money.

Spends round up for May-

The 2 dresses and top as previously declared - £21
Another dress - £35
Lace trimmed cardigan - £25 = Total £60 but had student discount so saved £6. The dress was an addition but the cardigan was a replacement and a had a couple of the boyfriend style cardigans that I discovered holes in.

Make-up- nothing out of the catalogue (that goes for June too) but did borrow some of my sisters make-up and loved it so £23 spent there :-/

Bought a lovely silver anklet for on holiday for £11.

Not a great month - brings it all home seeing it listed.

I have however cleared out quite a lot but I still have more that I could ever wear and still do not need any more clothes. Just got my summer clothes down from my loft and it all still fits so nothing new needed for my holidays. Just more sum cream.


Finally got an appointment to open by BF a help- to - buy ISA - the same day we fly to sunny Cyprus. Had take it or it'd be another 6 months before we could as the BF will be out the country (HM Forces) July - November.

Sold my old phone for £40 and then promptly bought a new (to me) bike for the same amount. Already cycled to work on it so it'll pay for itself in fuel savings in 3 months I reckon based on 3 times a week and still driving 2 times to enable me to get to my Yoga class which is about 5 miles away and I take 2-3 others who then pay for my class for me in lieu of petrol pennies. Aiming for a tank every 6 weeks rather than every 4. (This doesn't include any other ad hoc trips and trips that a will get reimbursed for through work/youth group)

Feel like finally my finances are in a reasonably stable place - paying my credit card off - have a Christmas savings account (just £25 a month but as I don't yet have kids nor do I host dinner I think it's a reasonable saving) and also a savings account I am now putting £200 a month in so if anything goes wrong I should be able to cover it.

Bet I have jinxed it now!!!

specialkaye

Wow - I truly cannot believe it's been 2 years since I last posted!

Time really does fly when you are having fun, I guess the only real reasons I am posting today is that I have just had a little surgery and I have now off sick for 3 weeks and need things to occupy my time!

So mortgage left is £33976.53 and represents 54.58% LTV of the original purchase price (I've not had it revalued since I bought it), generally still plugging away at paying nearly double the repayment amount (£300 instead of £153 so it's coming down nicely) and looking at moving now so just starting to prep the house and garden ready for a valuation.

I'm currently a week into my post-op recovery and I think I have made purchases every day so far , really hard to find things to do when you cant really move very far!

One thing I have picked back up is Swagbucks as I way to fill my time; some of the bigger earners have involved downloading and playing games on my mobile so that been fun for a few days - if anyone wishes to sign up please head over to the referrals board where my link is posted. Actually if you are thinking to signing up to anything - utilities, income streams, cashback etc its worth heading over there to see if there is a referral link you can use.

In other money saving activities I have done since been on sick is I have switched one of my current accounts to get a switching bonus and it also unlocks a 5% regular savings account which I need at the moment as my Halifax and Nationwide ones have timed out and don't think I can get them again :?

Well I may or may not post again in the next couple of weeks - maybe just to update my progress on Swagbucks lol (currently at 7x£5 gift cards) - hoping to hit £60 before I go back to work in 10 days (hopefully).

Other quick updates having a little look back on my last couple of posts - I'm still paying off my credit card in full each month and I now have over £10,000 in savings ready for when me and the OH take the plunge and move!