WTBSEs 'Starting From Scratch' Savings Diary.

atush

But how did you do in May? As your spends aren't recorded lol.

In may I had 2 good weeks at the grocery store, and 2 Bad weeks. Will se what tomorrow brings.

Eating out of the freezer today in shame lol.

WantToBeSE

Good Afternoon!


Gosh, its been a while hasn't it! How are you all doing?


Not much to report really. Savings still in tact (yay!) and will be adding some more on Friday, although I am not sure how much yet. I am going to be sitting down tonight and working out my budget. It should be about £500 ish. An expensive month this month, car in the garage, cat at vets, you know how it goes!!


The gym is going REALLY well, I am thoroughly enjoying it..who knew!? I have spent some money on new trainers etc, but I don't feel bad about that as they are needed.


I will update more later, when I have written my budget!

WantToBeSE

Oh dear Lord! Done my budgeting for the week and I am only able to save approx. £200 this month.


£250 bill for the vets
£200 for car


Yikes!

JoJoC

Hi WTBSE, good to hear from you.

I think that considering those two big outlays, you're doing really well to still be able to save £200! It better than a minus!

Glad the gym is going well- are you doing more cardiovascular or weight based stuff or a mixture? I'd like to work out more but it involves too much coordination with my little fella. I do get plenty of walking in though so I do get exercise.

This week was a record low in the shopping stakes- £25.80 in Aldi! So chuffed

We're thinking of booking a holiday...we weren't going to to away this year then I saw an awesome deal for the canaries in December for a week all inclusive for £500 for three of us and it's really tempting. Winter sun might be amazing! Going to check it out properly tomorrow.

I'm waiting on a refund on a direct debit that was taken out even though the account was settled so that's my account £365 lighter than it should be so we're trying not to spend.

WantToBeSE

Hiya Jo


Yes, I suppose its better than saving nothing.


That holiday deal sounds great! That's really cheap, but I suspect its in term time? An advantage to having pre-school children Make the most of it


I have some rather big news, work wise, but haven't got time to write about it now. I'll come back on later.


Thinking about cracking open my POD- I reckon there must be about £100 in there and I could spend that on a weeks food shop, which means I can save an extra £100 this month.


Off to work, catch you later!

WantToBeSE

Afternoon All


I opened my POD this afternoon and there was £101 in there. So that will go straight towards paying for the car repairs instead of food.


I have to pay for my Mindfulness Day again at some point this week, as i am going there in Saturday and cannot wait!


Jo- re the gym, i am doing a mixture of weights and cardio. I want muscle definition as well as fat loss and that's the best way to do it. I don't really feel challenged enough yet, so I might talk to the instructor about upping the reps or sets as I want to feel the really aching feeling afterwards.
All in all i have lost 6lbs, so am happy with that. The healthy eating isn't going too badly either


Work stuff is up in the air at the moment. I cant remember if i mentioned a while back that the boss of the agency i work for has been thinking about closing it down. Well i went over to see her last week and she confirmed that she will be closing it down as from September.
However, i asked her how she would feel about me starting up an identical business to hers, once she had finished trading. She suggested that i take over her business. I said that i am definitely interested. Obviously we need to chat in more detail about it, to work out how it would be done etc. But i like the idea of running the business instead of cleaning for the long term.
Back before i was contracted by this agency, i was attending business start-up workshops in order to start up a cleaning business, so this just seems like going back to what i was planning in the first place.


Positives:
-There is a waiting list of clients ready
-There are existing clients
-There are no other agencies in this area
-Its something i really want to do, and something i have been planning before


Negatives:


-i am terrified...what if i muck it up?


Thoughts?

hex2

It sounds like a positive opportunity to me as long as you get to the bottom of why she is winding down - if it is cash flow can you fix it, etc. And if you don't like what she suggests then nothing to stop you from setting up for yourself anyway. Is there a non solicitation clause in your current contract?

Eco_Miser

WantToBeSE wrote: »

-i am terrified...what if i muck it up?

Well, what would happen?
Would you be worse off than if the agency closed in September?

Since you had been planning to open your own agency, presumably you are competent to run it.

This way, subject to checks as mentioned by hex2, and a suitable price, you would be getting an established business instead of starting from scratch.

JoJoC

You won't muck it up- have some self belief! Of course, mistakes will be made along the way and lessons will be learned, but this sounds like an amazing opportunity and something that you're ready for! Remember your advice a few months back when I had the opportunity ton cover my boss' job? You told me to take it and believe that I could do it! I start on Monday...Eek!

Wise actual advice from people who know more about the value of business and some good questions to ask about profits.

Let us know what you decide

Great job on the weight loss! Your training sounds good- definitely get more advice to increase your reps if you feel you can do more. Feel the burn!

I've got a really busy couple of weeks coming up and could see them far enough.

On the savings front, we haven't saved any more but also, no spending it this month so still the same. I'm hoping to save some at the end of this month as mid-minth is expensive this month!

Hope you all have a lovely day- the sun is shining in Glasgow

WantToBeSE

hex2 wrote: »

It sounds like a positive opportunity to me as long as you get to the bottom of why she is winding down - if it is cash flow can you fix it, etc. And if you don't like what she suggests then nothing to stop you from setting up for yourself anyway. Is there a non solicitation clause in your current contract?

She says that she cant find the staff that she needs to keep the business going, and that she wants to move back home (she originates from a different country).
The thing is, I have NEVER seen the business advertised, either as a job opportunity or for clients. I know the places that I would advertise, having already worked out a rough business plan, route to market etc when I did dome free business set up workshops a few years ago when I was looking to set up my own business.


No, nothing in my contract other then I will invoice her monthly and she will pay within 14 days. I am self-employed.

Eco_Miser wrote: »

Well, what would happen?
Would you be worse off than if the agency closed in September?

Since you had been planning to open your own agency, presumably you are competent to run it.

This way, subject to checks as mentioned by hex2, and a suitable price, you would be getting an established business instead of starting from scratch.

I am not sure what would happen. For my own income, I presume that I would be able to take on some of the clients, and then let any staff do the same if they wished. As I said, we still have to chat and iron out the practical and legal side of things.

JoJoC wrote: »

You won't muck it up- have some self belief! Of course, mistakes will be made along the way and lessons will be learned, but this sounds like an amazing opportunity and something that you're ready for! Remember your advice a few months back when I had the opportunity ton cover my boss' job? You told me to take it and believe that I could do it! I start on Monday...Eek!

Wise actual advice from people who know more about the value of business and some good questions to ask about profits.

Let us know what you decide

Great job on the weight loss! Your training sounds good- definitely get more advice to increase your reps if you feel you can do more. Feel the burn!

I've got a really busy couple of weeks coming up and could see them far enough.

On the savings front, we haven't saved any more but also, no spending it this month so still the same. I'm hoping to save some at the end of this month as mid-minth is expensive this month!

Hope you all have a lovely day- the sun is shining in Glasgow

Thanks for the vote of confidence Jo, its much appreciated. I do have some faith in myself, and would love to turn it into a really successful business that employs a small number of staff (no more than 10). Its just so scary!


I am the same as you re savings at the moment- not saving all that much (or in my case, at all!) but also not using savings that I have already got. I guess that parts a bonus at least.
I am not going to reach my target, I am aware of that. But we'll see what next month brings. I am disappointed but the car and cat needed money spending on them, so not much I can do about it really, and I needed some gym stuff.


I don't know about where you guys are, but its BOILING here in Cornwall. I skipped the gym this morning (I've already been 4x this week) and we went swimming instead for a few hours- that was lovely as the pool was almost empty at times!