Mini LBM - need to get back on track!

FacelessNumber

Hi to anyone who decides to read this. Really this thread is for me, to try and stay on the MSE bandwagon!

Today I had a 'mini LBM' when I bought a ready meal (!) for £3.63 and it was disgusting so I couldn't eat it. What a waste. Now it isn't like me to buy ready meals but it made me realise how much less I'm thinking about what I'm spending lately.

So, I am attempting a spending diary...have never managed to keep one for long before but am hoping that it will make me a bit more accountable.

Quick background info:
Me and OH have a mortgage of £83766.63 - we have been overpaying but have slipped a bit lately.
I have a Christmas fund currently sitting at £500 so no problems there.
Savings in various accounts total: £1392.11 but car repairs, holidays etc come out of this!
I owe my parents £310.
I have a student loan of approx. £3850.

The idea of this thread is just to help me stay focused over the next few months - I have a lot of changes coming up, a new job starting in January and we are planning on moving in the first half of next year so lots to do!

FacelessNumber

I decided to make today's spends a separate post as the first one was getting quite long!

Fairly spendy day - part of it was before I decided to start this though.
£6ish in Tesco (including aforementioned ready meal! As well as milk, kitchen roll and lemonade).
£45.99 on my sisters birthday present
£6.49 on razor blades for OH
£8 on dishwasher tabs
£4 on dog chews
£2.50 on two birthday cards
£ on stewing beef for OHs tea (made 4 portions so not bad)
£2 on oil (I like to buy rapeseed oil and this was the cheapest I could get)
£0.80 on fresh bread to go with stew.

I also cashed a £30 cheque and requested a £60.60 payout from TCB so not a terrible day! Tomorrow should be low spend, although I may need some diesel I shouldn't spend anything else.

joedenise

Don't know if you realise but most SM cheap veg oil is rapeseed oil - it's certainly cheaper than buying oil labelled "rapeseed".

Denise

edinburgher

Is your student loan income contingent (i.e. you pay £x of anything over £y salary?) If so, I wouldn't include it in your debts, as it shouldn't impact on your ability to borrow elsewhere and is one of the cheapest forms of debts available.

FacelessNumber

Thanks joedenise! I will definitely look out for that next time!!

Yes edinburgher it is and I realise that it doesn't matter in terms of debt BUT I am paying interest on it and it is on my spreadsheet so I have included it for the sake of completeness.

I have not been at home for the last two days, hence the lack of posts. Had a lovely day out on Wednesday in a spa - paid for by mum so £10 spend only on some wine. Also had to get the car serviced - had forgotten about that and that set me back £88.79.

Yesterday I started Christmas shopping so quite an expensive day!

£7 in Primark (£31 spent but £24 was buying for someone else so will get that back!)
£93 in fatface
£42.97 on an xbox game!!
£28 on chocolate boxes / biscuits etc
£7.80 on lunch
£5.40 on hot drinks (one for my sis as it was her birthday!)
£65.13 filling up with diesel

All in all not too bad. fatface was an extravagance but the money has all been budgeted for so not a problem. Going to continue Christmas shopping online today hopefully! Feeling quite organised overall.

SmlSave

Welcome to the board FN

FacelessNumber

Well Friday and Saturday were spendy for OH as he had arranged for us to go for takeaways with friends both nights!! But he paid so NSDs for me

Today £7 in Tesco on a few bits.

Otherwise not much to report. Back to work tomorrow after a lovely week off

Planning on getting some Christmas shopping done online today so am off to get cracking!

FacelessNumber

Back to work today after a great week off. Leaving my current job on the 8th January so a bit manic in the meantime!

Some Christmas spending yesterday...£91.80 on various presents. Plus the £7 in Tesco.

Otherwise no money spent today so quiet day in all. Trip to the vets was a re-examine so no cost which was a bonus

newgirly

Hi faceless number, welcome to the mfw boards and best of luck

FacelessNumber

Oh dear!

I've been completely AWOL for a week! Have been a bit hectic. I'm starting a new job in January and have been doing some training there on top of my full time normal job. Also had a friend over all weekend and am trying to organise Christmas presents and stuff in between so not much time for being on MSE!

I will do my best to pop in with regular updates, but also haven't had a chance to do my account checks / spreadsheet updates since payday (last Monday).

Oh well I'm off for an early night as I'm shattered!

FacelessNumber

Well I made my first extra overpayment to the mortgage in ages over the weekend :-) £82.42 gone from the mortgage forever.

However there's always something that needs paying for isn't there? We are thinking of getting a new shower put in....we are currently showering in the bath as the shower leaks (not a huge amount but we don't want to use it. But because we are moving next year we are trying to balance out the inconvenience of using the bath all the time against the cost of a new shower against how long are we likely to be here. The house is likely to go on the market in Jan/Feb but obviously we have no idea how long it will take to sell!

Anyway by my estimates we need another £350 for that adding to our savings/house pot. Have to see how much I can scrape together in the run up to Christmas!