One Step at a Time..

PurpleJay

Hello!

It's time to start a new diary

I am fortunate in that I don't have a huge debt compared to most and I do have a little saved but I am aware that I am not spending within my means and over time, my savings have dwindled. I will be starting 2014 with about 1k on my credit card. It's time to give myself a talking to, pay off the card and get my savings back to where they were 3 years ago. I started a MFW diary back then but I have paid nothing extra off the mortgage since then (when i paid off a lump sum from savings) and am now worse rather than better off, I clearly belong here! I got in a right mess some years ago and had my first lightbulb moment when my bank refused to have me as a customer anymore! I ended up back at my mums, paid off my debts and was determined to never end up in that place again. I am terrified that I am letting things slip. :eek:

You are such an inspiring bunch and I hope you will feel free to chip in from time to time, all comments very welcome.

I have had a bit of a rough year what with one thing and another, I had a fall in January twisting my knee and then my appendix out in April. In the summer I was diagnosed with gallstones and I am currently recovering from surgery to move my gall bladder which I had done just over a week ago. I had a big car bill at the start of the year £1200 and then vets bills for the year came to about £500. These were not expenses I had planned for. On top of everything else, my marriage is on the rocks so to speak. More on this later. I am hoping for a better year in 2014!

I am responsible for dealing with the household finances. I work part time and also do an Avon round. My husband is self employed and contributes £100 per week when he can (he is being good about this at the moment), we have had issues in the past. We also claim tax credits and child benefit. We have a 7year old boy who is my sun and moon

I own our home with a mortgage. One of my next tasks is to check what is outstanding. I renewed my mortgage deal earlier this year and now have a fixed rate for 5 years but can't remember what is owed. More on this later too.

The next post will be my current SOA from budget planner.

PurpleJay

Here we go, my SOA. I have juggled a bit on budget brain and it just about breaks even, this clearly means I have been spending more in the past... Must try harder.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883.61
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . .. .. ... . . . . . .. .40.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . 383.24
Board from Husband. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 433.33

Monthly Expense Details

In Your Home

Mobile phones . . . . . . .Contract until 2015 . . . .. . . . . . . . 33.00
TV licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.12
Internet & Home phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
House & Garden maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 65.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.91
Council tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152.50
Bank account fee. .. Incl travel ins and mobile phone ins. . . . . 9.50
Home insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.38
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404.03
Mortgage life insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.21
Life insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.58
Food and household shopping . . . . . . . . . . .... . . .. . . . . 220.00
Drinks for home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 43.33

Motoring & Public Transport

Petrol. . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . 120.00
Car tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 12.00
Car insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.50
Car maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Breakdown cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00

Debt Repayments

Credit card repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00

Savings & Investments

Regular saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
Mortgage savings. . . . . . . . . (£2 per week). ... . .. . . . 8.67

Family
School trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.33
School meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.17
Pocket money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£8.67
School clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.00

Entertainment

Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family days out & Cinema/Theatre trips. . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 0.00
Big days out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
Shopping for fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet costs incl food . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00
DVD rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinks/Eating out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 20.00

Clothes, Health & beauty
Optical bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Beauty treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Work clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
New children's clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
New clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00

Education & Courses

University tuition fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.25
School fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Your courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 0.00

Big One-Offs

Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Winter holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Summer holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.33
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00

Odds & Sods

Newspapers and magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular charity donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 3.00
Meals at work, Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00


Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,740.18


Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,735.48

Comments welcome.

apple_muncher

Hello purplejay! Well done on starting a brand new diary. You know it'll help you stay on track, especially as you have a lot on your plate to deal with. I know what you mean about you ds being your sun and moon - feel the same about my dd! They bring us such joy and laughter, don't they?

Anyway, good luck on your journey. I think of my life as a dot-to-dot puzzle where I can only go one step at a time before I see which way to go next. I'm sure in the end it will make a beautiful picture, even if it feels like scribbles along the way! Oh dear, I'm wittering. Oops!

PurpleJay

Hey Apple Muncher! Thanks for dropping by and for the encouragement.

How old is your DD? M is 7 and makes me laugh everyday! He is good company and isn't to big for a cuddle yet either, long may it last

I know Kat has been trying to get us to do it for ages but I really do need to write down every single spend. The money is going somewhere. I tend to set budgets based on what I think is reasonable or what I think I should spend rather than what I can afford! My SOA makes no allowance really for any extras. For example, this year I bought quite a bit if camping equipment which I justified by saying it was cheaper than a proper holiday and would come in for the future. All true but did I really have the spare cash? Probably not.

I was looking at what I need to put to one side each month for car expenses but then also at when they are due. I need tyres now but don't have enough in the kitty. I will need insurance in May, by which time, I won't have enough in the kitty. This is why despite trying, I am always behind. Plus if something breaks unexpectedly - no money in the kitty. Wonder how others deal with this. Do they have one pot for all bigger annual spends like car, Xmas, birthdays, house and garden maintenance and hope that things balance out over the year? I have separate pots but in reality will end up shuffling the cash round to pay for things as they come up.

I need to look at when things need paying over the year and how much and not just how much over the year as a whole to make sure I have enough when its needed. This seems like a good place to start... More soon.

PurpleJay

Happy New Year everyone!

Time for an update. I have done much planning and note taking over the past few days and here is some of the things I have done/decided.

I have joined NSKs January challenge 'The Janus Illusion'. As part of this challenge the following will apply :-

My food and grocery budget is £180 (going to try for £30 pw to start with)
my pets budget is £30 (hopefully less)
My beauty budget is £10
My fuel budget is £120
I will downshift 5 brands
I will donate £3 worth of goods to a food bank
I will take my lunch to work everyday (£3 in drawer at work in case)
I have 1 pre arranged meal out planned £30
I will not visit cafes/coffee shops etc
I will attempt 20 mins exercise 3 times a week
I will not buy any alcohol or visit the pub
I will make a note of all my spending
My debt free date is set at 31/12/14.

Phew!

In addition, I have signed up to the crazy clothing challenge 2014. My budget for clothes and shoes in 2014 is £120. I will set the same for my son. This does not include birthday and Christmas pressies or items bought using money made on eBay.

I am not sure how this will play out. I bought 2 dresses in the run up to Xmas costing £110 so this kind of thing has to stop. I don't need any dresses, coats or shoes. I could use a couple of tops and a pair if work trousers although if I loose abit of weight I have some skirts which will fit.. In fact quite a bit if stuff which hasn't seen the light of day for some time. I lost some weight in 2012 and sold my big jeans on eBay. I hope to loose another stone this year. Don't want to set a target I won't reach and this should be manageable. I will weigh in on Monday morning... When the cake is gone

PurpleJay

Continued...

As well as the above, I have been using the budget planner (budget brain) to help me work out what I spend each year on things like car, birthdays, Christmas, holidays etc.

I am going to put away money each week in my online pots labeled car £20, house/vets £8, birthday/Xmas £10, savings £2 and monthly into the holiday/fun pot £80.

I am also going to pay a minimum of £80 per month from my credit card and any money left over will be put to one side. I am going to put money into envelopes each week/month for groceries (incl pets and toiletries), fuel, planner outings. If any of these have money left at the end of the month, I have a money box which this will go into. This can be my emergency fund.

Any money made in eBay or by doing surveys can be used or saved for treats. This is my incentive to earn a little extra :-) For example, in december I got a 6 month magazine subscription and a note book from maximiles, a free bra from a mystery shop and a £15 iTunes voucher from eBaying. I have started doing nectar adpoints and signed up to tesco orchard so will see how that works out. I have about £50 in nectar points but keep saving it in case I run out of cash at some point. I use quidco as much as I can. I did try swag bucks but soon lost interest. Might give it another go but not sure it is for me.

In 2014 I intend to do some serious decluttering. I have loads to eBay. I am making a rule that if something of low value has been listed 3 times and not sold, I will gift it instead to the charity shop or recycling bank.

My to do list for this weekend is :-

Make food inventory - done (we have so much in the cupboards)
Meal plan for the month
Clean out the rats
Change cat litter trays
Sweep floors downstairs
Take down Xmas decorations and put in loft
Do ironing ready for school
Visit mum
Buy bread and milk
Washing

PurpleJay

Oh and forgot to say... I have booked for me and my son to go to Disneyland Paris in Feb 2015!!!! So excited and we got a great deal with early booking and kids under 12 free :j:j:j

It is my intention to be debt free when we go with enough money saved to pay for everything and have a great time. This will help to keep me motivated throughout the year.

This year, holiday plans will be cheap and cheerful with some camping and maybe a few days at the seaside. We have all the camping kit so won't need to buy more. M's Dad and I have bought family zoo membership for Xmas so I am looking forward to some picnics there throughout 2014 without incurring further spends

PurpleJay

Hiya, time for an update.

So far this month:-

Grocery 60.50/180
Pets 0/30
Fuel 40/120
SFD 7/20
Beauty 9.87/10
Food bank 0/3
Meal out 18/30
Alcohol 0/0
Pounds lost 0

Feeling pretty good about my spends so far.

I am off work now until Monday and then I am starting to work 5 days until further notice. Hopefully until the school summer hols with a bit if luck. It is only 6 hours a week but makes a big difference to my income.

I have a guardian newspaper on a Saturday but am wondering whether to cancel... It is 2.50 a week and that is 130 a year! I could do quite a bit with that.

I made some choc buns and smash scones yesterday and at the weekend a fruit cake, Viennese tarts and more choc buns. I love baking/cooking I am not sure it saves money making cake though as we all eat more cake! It is much nicer than shop bought though

Last Friday I went into town rather than a big supermarket which am sure saved money even though I spent a little more than I planned. 20 in Iceland, 10 in the green grocers (for 2 bags full of stuff) and 20 in the small co-op - that was where I overspent tho I did get a few yellow sticker items.

Had a January sale to try and clear out my avon stock and sold £46 worth. Also got a £6 quidco payout

Last night I went out for a lovely Thai meal with some NCT ladies. Mine came to 18 and I got a lift there and back so came in under budget whoop whoop!

This morning I am doing some flylady crisis cleaning! That is 15 minutes tidying/cleaning per room as fast as you can x 3 and then a 15 minute break. I am going to start now and do 2 rounds before lunch. My list of rooms are bedroom, utility room, sons room, dining room, lounge and kitchen! I am halfway through. Time for smash scones and a coffee.

Hopefully going to sort out my balance transfer to my 0% card today or tomorrow.