Women and cats will do as they please! :)

TheMagician · 2 September 2016 at 10:20PM

Wow, time flies when you're having fun

Long time no see, Mr Diary.

August was somewhat crazy. We went on a holiday to see our family, that was fun and very chilled. Back to work the last two weeks.
This week I've also gone back to college for another course.

My car had its MOT done this week - that's a £250 bill (including the MOT fee). I wasn't surprised actually, it's the first time I've had to spend on the car in the last 2yrs. It'll be good to go for another year at least now so not bad.
Car insurance was also due - £625 for 12 months.
New shoes, school uniform and some clothes for my son -£150.
You see where I'm going with this :rotfl: A bit of an expensive month.

September - braces coming off :j £250.

But then that's it for the year, no more large spends, I'll be able to go back to saving plenty again, October and November are going to be excellent for that. Christmas will be a small spend only - we've agreed to only buy for the kids so it'll be under £100 for everything.

However, I've done something else. I have been thinking about this for months and months. And eventually I did it! I booked flights for our American adventure. We'll be going to California for 2 weeks next year. I got an absolute bargain of a flight, very please with that. Next year I'll have to pay for the rental car as we're going to be doing a coastal road trip LA-SF. And take spending money for motels/hotels, food and attractions but that's next year.
It's an absolute dream come true, I've wanted to visit for years and it'll be quite an experience for my son too.

With all the recent spends I expect to end the year on £20,000+ savings min. Spreadsheet is showing quite a bit more than that but let's take it one month at a time :A

My best friend is also getting married in Romania next year so we'll turn that into a week's holiday too.

Fun fun fun is all that is on my mind

well, a bit of work too, studies are in there as well :rotfl: Just trying to have a healthy life-work balance. Emphasis on life :j It sure feels good.

I've kept my eye on the ball with regards to my career too and expect a promotion by the end of this year. But I need to open the dialogue and start negotiating the route which I will do next week. So there'll be changes there too.

Next exam is in November so pretty easy going, Then 3 back to back in Jan-Feb but I'm comfortable with that, I like to knuckle down for 6 weeks or so and get loads done. Last one will be in May 2017 :j:j:j Woohoo Now that will be something to celebrate! :T

Right, all plans laid out, I'm gonna go and relax now

TheMagician

TheMagician · 3 September 2016 at 9:12PM

With the above costs in mind, I've been trying to make some extra money here and there.

I've earnt £22.50 matched bett***, £26 mystery shopping (first time, not convinced on it yet, will wait till I get paid to see if I'll do it again) and sold a few items on Bay of e - £25 less fees.
Will have to post them come Monday if all pay on time.

I also have a nespresso coffee machine and a car vacuum to sell but due to the huge PayPal and bay of e fees, I'll choose a different route.

I also read horoscopes so will offer that around the office, have done well with it in the past - it's just time consuming.

I want to make up some money that has been recently spent. All little bits add up

I've also got £10 is Asd* receipts, some mine and others wombled.

Fingers crossed it keeps coming x

TheMagician · 11 September 2016 at 6:09PM

OK OK OK - so the car insurance came out, most bills came out, all the big spends are done with and I feel so relieved

I really don't enjoy spending at all, feel much better when I'm saving.
I've updated my spreadsheet and it's looking better than I thought :T

This week I will only need to do a medium top-up grocery shop and will buy absolutely nothing else! Bliss

Next week it'll be £100 for taking off braces, not sure if I'll need to pay for the retainers straight away or after they arrive, so either September or October.

And then that is really it for the year. It'll be a very modest Christmas this year - all about family and celebrations, rather than presents.

Right, I'm off to make cottage pie for my son - his favourite :A and to get ready for the new week ahead - it'll be a good one

TheMagician · 29 September 2016 at 7:40PM

So after 2.5yrs and 30+ appointments my braces are off :j:j:j
Can't put it into words how excited and happy I am - it was definitely worth it

Still getting used to them - bitten my lip quite hard a few times :rotfl: but it's been a week now and they look great, so many people have complimented.

So that's the 1st good news.

Second one is that work is very receptive to my promotion and fingers crossed it should happen this year. Spoken to the FD and he will bring it up in the next board meeting. Hey, soon enough I'll be in that meeting too :A

Third one - the unexpected one. I had a sizeable windfall, completely out of the blue. Couldn't be happier.
This month was horrendous spending wise and I was going to finish it worse than I started but low and behold I have now saved another £500 this month and I'm already closer to my Aug17 target. Fantastic and I'm beyond grateful, wish there was a heart emoji here :beer:

College has now finished for 4 weeks or so, next exam is in November but I'll start studying this weekend - it's paramount that I pass, for my own wellbeing and for work too.
Son is doing well at school, they have swimming as part of the curriculum which I'm so happy about as it's ignited his interest in it. I tried to get him to do swimming lessons for a while and now he's asked for them himself - yay to that :T major life skill, like riding a bike and cooking :rotfl: I always think of those three as something that no child should leave home without knowing, for some reason

oh, and driving, of course. And personal finance too. I think I could go on...

My birthday is coming up. We've got a nature adventure planned followed by a meal in a local in the evening. Good friends, my son, adventure & food - life doesn't get any better than that.

On that note, I'll be signing out & do a few yipees for all the wonderful things life has to offer
:A

TheMagician

TheMagician · 6 October 2016 at 9:35PM

So October is a much better month spending wise - no big bills to pay.

I started with some trainers for both me and DS, as we had none left - £70 for both pairs so not bad at all. Mine are so comfy :T

Then we went to see a podiatrist - DS needs some inserts and physio to stop his feet from going flat. This isn't 100% free but at cost only - £30 downpayment and I think she said another £20 when we pick up the inserts. We'll be able to do physio at home.

My son has also got a dental check up next week at £25 I think...

Lastly, paid for the baggage to see our family at Christmas - £31 return for 15kg, used to be £50 so that's good.

So how much is that?.. £156 - and I said no big bills. Well no, but these things also add up. But that's just life, isn't it. It's not like you can skip on dental check-ups, looking after your feet or PE lessons :rotfl: So I just have to do what this emoji is doing - roll with it.
It's alright, I'm still saving loads.

Started and pretty much finished my Christmas shopping :A A bit early and really organised but I have so many things coming up including an exam that I just wanted to get it out of the way. The full cost for everything came to £111.66.
Ths includes presents for kids only and my mum too as she's got what I call mum's prerogative and must always get something

God bless online shopping - I could never get such amazing and varied gifts without it (and miles cheaper too).

That's my financials so far. Really want to keep it very quiet from now on until the end of the year. We absolutely will not need anything else apart from the food and some toothpaste maybe.
Love having NSDs - today was one and it's such a great feeling, long may it continue.

Right, it's late, the bath is calling me

must go...

TheMagician

submarine76 · 20 October 2016 at 10:21AM

Hi magician, good to hear things are so positive. The states trip sounds amazing, I think it's great having things like that to look forwards to, it keeps things fresh and gives you some drive (pun not intended), not that you seem to need it to be fair. Hope you are having a great week. :O).

TheMagician · 19 November 2016 at 2:12PM

Hello Diary,

It's been a while again.
I have been so busy with life in general, work, DS, friends... I have sat another exam, don't have the results yet but I'm confident I have passed. I will now be qualified in May which makes me so so happy. 6 short months to go.

I've had to buy a few other Christmas presents, so I wasn't quite done there yet. Around £40 spent but now that's definitely it.

Haven't had any other big spends, as planned. I've installed a budget app on my phone and been keeping track of all of my spends, very handy. And this way I also know know much of my budget I've got left without going through all of my banks, adding up the balances etc.

In general, things have been really well. I'm so excited about Christmas and the holidays. Looking forward to seeing everyone.
Been planning our States trip as well, so much to see - how do I fit it all into two weeks.

I've noticed it's been almost two years since I've started this thread. How things have changed! I've managed to save more than £20k, I'm almost qualified and I'm about to get another promotion. DS has also grown so much. Everything around me has expanded with such greatness. And it's always just one little step at a time... Brick by brick, stone by stone greatest things are achieved.

There are some imminent changes and our lives will be very different come 2017/18. I will come back on here and update, maybe it'll be useful or motivating to someone reading out there.

Submarine76, thanks so much for your post, good to 'see' you, hope everything is going well for you.
Judi24 - you're missed, hope life is treating you kind.

TheMagician
X

TheMagician · 31 December 2016 at 11:33PM

Happy New Year!!!
We're abroad so have already greeted 2017 with open hands

2016 was absolutely amazing for us - definitely one of the best years of my life.

2017 is going to top that, I just know it.
It is going to be absolutely HUGE and I can't wait to see all that it's got in store for us.

Hope everyone reading is happy, healthy and looking forward to a fantastic year.

TheMagician
x