Simple, Slow Steps To Happiness & Mortgage Freedom

Muser1

I was having a mooch in jlewis the other day and they have a near exact kitchen like your eBay bargain. Needless to say it bit pricier! X

I_want_a_baby

Thanks Muser1, it was indeed a bargain! So happy with it x


So I have logged on to the mortgage online banking and got the latest interest figure. This means I now know that after this months payment clears the balance will be £88589.94. Meaning I need to find £90.94 to round it down!


MAY TARGETS:
Big Plan - Increase to £800 (£0/£62.92)
Cash Sealed Tin - Save a note a week (£0/£20)
Baby no 3 Fund - Increase to £50.00 (£0.71/£6.67)
TGW - Reduce borrowed money column to -£40 (£0/£9.14)
Mortgage Overpayment to round down to £88499.00 (£0/£90.94).
TOTAL TARGET £0.71/£189.67


CASH BUDGETS:

Food Budgets
Week 1 £0/£40
Week 2 £0/£40
Week 3 £0/£40
Week 4 £0/£40
Bulk Buy £0/£20

Fritter Budget
£0/£20 for Misc
£0/£30 for wedding we are attending

Fuel £0/£90

Remembered that I have a ticket to a blogging conference that I can no longer attend. I am hoping to sell this to add a few £'s to the above. Here's hoping!


I did spend today £4 on white fish for our puppy who has an upset tummy. He has a very sensitive tummy and white fish is the only thing that gets him back on track so hopefully this will work and avoid a vets bill. I also bought a pack of 6 lidls own brand 'fruit shoots' for £1.25. I plan to take two to the wedding we are going to and put the other 4 aside to take on holiday next month.


I am now off to see if I can find any pennies to save!


IWAB xx


ETA: 71p transferred to baby no 3 fund, leftover after 3 direct debits came out.

nellis10

Hi there IWAB, love reading the exactitude of your diary and money saving!

May I ask a question...when you transfer money from DD or such like, just your little amounts, are they going into separate accounts or do you have one big savings pot that you keep a list of how it is compartmentalised for all your needs? Just curious as I would like to be able to partition my little savings online so I can get rid of them out of my account and not spend them! )

I_want_a_baby

Hi nellis.


I have a HUGE spreadsheet but the main page I use is my bill account page.


I have months going down the left hand side, many columns across which are each budgets and then the balance running down the right handside. At the bottom of each column is the balance for that 'account'. My transfers are all in between columns on my spreadsheet. All I use the online banking for is to reconcile to my spreadsheet.


If I need to spend money I check my spreadsheet to see what the balance is for the category I am spending, no need to check the bank.


I just checked and I have 63 budgets/columns haha! Really didn't think there was that many!


IWAB x

nellis10

I_want_a_baby wrote: »

Hi nellis.


I have a HUGE spreadsheet but the main page I use is my bill account page.


I have months going down the left hand side, many columns across which are each budgets and then the balance running down the right handside. At the bottom of each column is the balance for that 'account'. My transfers are all in between columns on my spreadsheet. All I use the online banking for is to reconcile to my spreadsheet.


If I need to spend money I check my spreadsheet to see what the balance is for the category I am spending, no need to check the bank.


I just checked and I have 63 budgets/columns haha! Really didn't think there was that many!


IWAB x

lol I have my spreadsheet too...I have a Direct Debit Page with the monthly DD and their estimates rounded up.
Then I have a weekly budget page where I have each week until the end of the year with my proposed budgets,
Then I have separate monthly pages for each month where the detailed spending goes, even my cash purchases with my weekly budget go in there too.
I have also some loose change some bagged, some not ready for bags which I will add to from my weekly budget underspends.
I have 2 purses, one with my £40 cash budget for the week, with an emergency £10 in it, and another little purse with an emergency £10 in it too, which I will add only £1 and 50p to when I get them from underspends, the other coins going into my baggies stated above.

I have to be regimental and obsessive about this and make it a game otherwise I go off the boil VERY quickly!! lol

I_want_a_baby

Nellis we sound very similar!


I keep all my 1p's for carnivals, all my 2p's for the arcades on holiday. Any other change goes into my sealed tin. Your spreadsheet sounds epic!


Waking up to gorgeous clear blue skies and sunshine!


Absolutely stunning - I am sure today is going to be wonderful!


Logged onto our banks & spreadsheet & updated everything.


Car filled with diesel £70.38. TRF'd 38p from another account so that the fuel account has £20 remaining for later in the month.


Spent £35ish with The Book People last night - bought a few books for myself for my birthday present (including Jack Monroes Budget Cooking Book), a couple of birthday presents and a few to put away for Christmas. Really happy with the purchases.


Drew out money for food budgets.


£40 for this weeks shopping. Spent £11.38 in Morrisons & £20.49 in Lidl. £31.87 in total. This included £4.60 on dishwasher salt, diahswasher rinse aid and a bottle of dishwasher cleaner. Will nip to Lidl this morning to get some of the sliced cheese and minced beef on offer.


£10.08 interest received - put into the big plan savings.


£1.03 leftover after council tax DD - put into baby no 3 fund.


£0.95 save the change - put into the 'borrowed savings'.


£67.00 received for sale of conference ticket
I did pay for this out of my own spending money originally so I have split this as follows
£30.00 to My Spends
£30.00 To Big plan
£5.00 to borrowed savings
£2.00 to baby no 3.


Therefore todays savings/budgets stand at...


MAY TARGETS:
Big Plan - Increase to £800 (£40.08/£62.92)
Cash Sealed Tin - Save a note a week (£0/£20)
Baby no 3 Fund - Increase to £50.00 (£3.74/£6.67)
TGW - Reduce borrowed money column to -£40 (£5.95/£9.14)
Mortgage Overpayment to round down to £88499.00 (£0/£90.94).
TOTAL TARGET £49.77/£189.67


CASH BUDGETS:

Food Budgets
Week 1 £38.82/£40
Week 2 £0/£40
Week 3 £0/£40
Week 4 £0/£40
Bulk Buy £0/£20

Fritter Budget
£0/£20 for Misc
£0/£30 for wedding we are attending

Fuel £70.00/£90.00


Today is going to be a spendy day.
We are going to go to the nearest big town which is 45 minutes away.
We need a single duvet and pillow for my daughter who is moving to a big bed. Also need their feet measured and they will probably both need a new pair (Last pair was about 5 months ago). They also need a few bits for summer in their size.
I will however write a list (and do my best to stick to it!).


Off now to grab a coffee before a dash to Lidl at 8 to beat the crowds! Sliced cheddar (delicious) 79p for 250g and Beef Mince (also delicious) £1 a pack! Will stock up as much as my £8 will allow!


IWAB xx

ETA: Bought 5 x packs of cheese and 3 x packs of mince - total £6.95.
Two packs of cheese are for my mum though so should get £1.50 back. Will update grocerie total above with the total spend.

nellis10

I hipe I can be as disciplined and you and stick to my spreadsheet.

Looks much easier to read now that I have reduced the font on it!

I feel like an accountant...I was literally moving money from one pot to another yesterday! lol

I_want_a_baby

Hello Everyone


How are you all?


Had a really busy week and a real mixture of spending and frugalness.


The spending was as mentioned in my last post. New shoes and sandels for the children, new summer clothes for them and a single duvet and pillow and single bedding set for my daughter.


All in all LOTS spent and even though it was all budgeted and I didn't go over any budget I still feel a bit sick about how much was spent.


Frugal things have been lots of meal plans & home cooking. I got some bargains which were reduced at the supermarket too!

• hand stretched ciabatta loaf reduced from £1 to 15p
• pack of 5 bakery plaited rolls reduced from £1 to 9p
• A wholemeal brown roll/loaf reduced from 45p to 9p
• Two packs of three thick slices of roast pork reduced from £2 each to 9p each.
• A small savoy cabbage 9p
• A pack of sliced mushrooms 35p
• A pack of prepared butternut squash 9p
• A small cauliflower 25p
• Two packs of 4 teacakes 14p each
• A pack of 5 sugared ring doughnuts 30p.

Just updated the budget and the £22.05 has come in so this went £10 as mortgage op & £12.05 to big plan savings.


There was £2.78 in save the change so this went into the baby no 3 savings along with 15p from another budget to round it up to the target of £50.00.


The £15.50 from quidco had come in too so £10 towards mortgage £3.19 to reach target for the borrowed savings and the remaining £2.31 to the big plan.


I also put 3 x £1 coins into the sealed tin as it hasn't been fed anything for a while so I needed to break the silence and hear a 'ching'.


MAY TARGETS:
Big Plan - Increase to £800 (£54.44/£62.92)
Cash Sealed Tin - Save a note a week (£3/£20)
Baby no 3 Fund - Increase to £50.00 (£6.67/£6.67)
TGW - Reduce borrowed money column to -£40 (£9.14/£9.14)
Mortgage Overpayment to round down to £88499.00 (£20/£90.94).
TOTAL TARGET £93.25/£189.67 (49% Achieved).


Going to a hen party tonight but should be cheap if not free as it is as my aunties house, I am wearing clothes I have already and I have already bought a bottle of wine to take. Oh and I am getting a lift there and back with the hen!!


Plans for the weekend and week ahead are definitely to try to spend cash only and spend as little as possible!


I am very much looking forward to visiting our soon to be home and seeing how the building is progressing. When I last saw it on Monday the blockwork was up to shoulder height!


Off now to get a few bits done, play with daughter and then walk to pick up son from nursery.


Hope you are all doing well, I am feeling like I am lacking in MFW/Moneysaving mojo at the moment so all motivation gratefully received!


IWAB xx

nellis10

Hiya IWAB!!

Well done on the bargainations!! :j

I've started using YNAB (You Need a Budget) software and NOW I see how you can move your money about so easily from one column to another...you are not physically moving it, you are you aportioning it out! I get that now! :D

Anyway, have a lovely weekend! If the weather is good I shall be down on the allotment digging new ground!

Welshlassie

You're doing amazingly well and I love how you have little savings targets each month, it all adds up and you can get so far in a short space of time without really missing any of it.

I didn't realise you were a YNAB user as well. I started using it last July and wouldn't be without it now. I'd tried loads of different budgeting approaches previously, but YNAB is a totally different way of doing it - I love it. I'll have to start syphoning off the pennies they way you are and have some small savings targets each month.