Turning 32, time to get it together!

iloveshopping93

Brallaqueen wrote: »

I am off work this week, taking holiday, and not really up to much except reading fellow MSEers diaries. They have been very inspirational and very affecting, though some of the figures quoted are so very far beyond my means or understanding to be almost unreal. Should I feel silly that £50 is my target? That others save ten or twenty times that without blinking?

Hi there, I will be sure to stick around and read your diary so please keep it up. I understand exactly how you feel. Currently I take home £1k after tax. I have £600 saved in an emergency fund (would like to increase to £1k). Then I am going to be working towards a house deposit.
I see people save in a month more than what my take home pay is & it used to get me down. Every situation is different, and I have really found that daily payments help. Even if I transfer 50p, £1 etc... I am contributing something towards savings every day without it feeling like much.
£50 is a great target & if it is realistic to yourself, don't worry about what others are saving.

savingwannabe

Hello Brallaqueen,


Chill. I have just rejoined MSE (yesterday) and am saving a tiny amount. I will be v lucky to get £50 in my savings in the next two months. I was in a similar situation years ago but managed to save over £25,000 for a new extension (somewhere on this site) so I know I can do it.


Don't forget you are at a different starting time than other people- As someone on another website once said this is your beginning and maybe someone else's end to moneysaving. Maybe they don't have all the blessings you have. All they have is money and loads of stress possibly. You enjoy being you (I hope) and don't compare yourself to others - everyone is on a different place in their journey.


Chill."....The best things come to those who wait....." Remember the Guiness add.......? hugs, SW.


For the life of me I can't get the smilies to be added (but imagine a Martyn Lewis jumping up and down).

Brallaqueen

Hello, hello, hello!

Savingwannabe and iloveshopping93 thank you both for posting x

You are all correct, the saving is the thing I should be concentrating on right now. The amount is largely by the by, making the fundamental changes is the importaint goal because once improve to myself I can do it, that I can overturn entrenched habits for a new leaf, it will have a positive effect on all aspects of my life.

Well, all my bills have left the account and it will be pay day on Monday.

Done:
History fair was fun, we picked up a present and I got some ideas for future gifts. We did indeed take coffee and sandwiches which was a nice way of keeping the costs down and because I drove, the chappie bought the entry tickets. Total spend was £10 Plus petrol x

Did a silly thing and over catered for a family get together by spending £50 on snacky bites but everyone had already eaten. Oh well, it mostly fit in the freezer or the cupboard and will be eaten eventually. I certainly will not need to do another big shop for a while!

Rounding down for safety I have 100 to last me over the weekend but, you know, lovers are expensive creatures and we have plans to go to Warwickshire this weekend.

To do:
I need to fill the car up which costs about £45 as less than a quarter tank left
I will be paying for parking on Saturday so ~£8 to cover
Lunch out as well so maybe £20 to cover that, even with a Thermos and snacky bites for the trip

So barring any unexpected surprises I will be able to tail something this month, which would be wonderful x

Brallaqueen

D'oh! Forgot to factor in Ukelele night tonight and the ritual Friday take away. I can be quite dim sometimes! Still there is a chance I will be able to shuffle something into the annual bills pot.

Its a bit of a balancing act, having a relationship, maintaining a certain lifestyle and trying to save as well.

My partner earns a bit more than I do, and we have separate finances at present to protect my flat. He came straight from his parents home to living with me so has more disposable income and I have more pride than is really good for me. I tend to want to be equals in everything and find it hard to let him pay for things. He is used to a certain freedom of spending and although he has been really positive and accepting our different situations, he doesn't quite "get" it.

hmmm, reading back it makes him sound unsympathetic which is far from true. He has accepted gracefully the majority of my suggestions and he happily pays his portion of the utilities and shopping. Protecting myself means a certain level of financial pain is necessary and this was my choice

iloveshopping93

Brallaqueen wrote: »

D'oh! Forgot to factor in Ukelele night tonight and the ritual Friday take away. I can be quite dim sometimes! Still there is a chance I will be able to shuffle something into the annual bills pot.

Its a bit of a balancing act, having a relationship, maintaining a certain lifestyle and trying to save as well.

My partner earns a bit more than I do, and we have separate finances at present to protect my flat. He came straight from his parents home to living with me so has more disposable income and I have more pride than is really good for me. I tend to want to be equals in everything and find it hard to let him pay for things. He is used to a certain freedom of spending and although he has been really positive and accepting our different situations, he doesn't quite "get" it.

hmmm, reading back it makes him sound unsympathetic which is far from true. He has accepted gracefully the majority of my suggestions and he happily pays his portion of the utilities and shopping. Protecting myself means a certain level of financial pain is necessary and this was my choice

You do not sound unsympathetic at all. I think it is great that you want to be equals with your partner financially. I earn slightly more than OH & I am always offering to pay the odd thing here and there. He always refuses though!

Ritual Friday takeaway - could this maybe be ritual cook together night? I did not notice until recently just how much we were spending on takeaways. Just Eat sometimes offer 20% off on certain takeouts. Aldi do lots of great naughty/cheat food which is super tasty & easy to cook without costing much. Is this maybe something you could consider every other week to cut down costs slightly? Every penny saved does make a difference.

Cream_Tea

Hi, just subscribed to your diary. Don't be disheartened by others, half of my friends have no savings behind them, no mortgage and big CC's and in their 30's. Excluding your mortgage you have more in savings then you have debt which is great and you plan to keep improving on that.

I started this in October and a summary of the most useful advice I've had to date is:
-Do a Statement of affairs, very useful people then advised where I was paying too much for things and I shopped around.
-I called all my providers (mobile, telephone and broadband, insurance etc) even though it wasn't the end of my contract and said it was too much and I couldn't afford it all bar the gas and electric gave me discounts on my bills and it shaved a few quid off the each month.
-Meal plan, so no unexpected trips to supermarket
-Freezer inventory so I know what's in there and can use up rather than buy more (at my worse I had three bags of peas in a small freezer! Madness!)

Good luck on your journey. I hope you find it as addictive as I have!

CT

Brallaqueen

I really appreciate all comments and all perspectives so thank you all for posting.

Warwickshire was lovely and within planned budget. Darling chappie found a new gizmo to entertain himself with, and even bought me a chippy which I accepted for a change. Lunch and parking came to just shy of £20 for me, he had a much more expensive day.

We had a lovely time wandering round holding hands and just taking in the atmosphere. I have some birthday money but didn't see anything I wanted so will keep it safe and separate for another time.

Had a bit of luck today, mum paid me £40 or something I bought her long ago and had forgotten about so that was an unexpected bonus. I was able to fill my car up for £38 and a bit of spare change for the change pot.

That means I have been able to stuff £80 into savings today as my 'tail' for the month. Quite chuffed!

Brallaqueen

iloveshopping93 wrote: »

Ritual Friday takeaway - could this maybe be ritual cook together night? I did not notice until recently just how much we were spending on takeaway ... Is this maybe something you could consider every other week to cut down costs slightly? Every penny saved does make a difference.

This is a wonderful idea that I will float with himself, especially if we can try cooking something different or spicy. During the week we tend to just throw things together because we are tired and I am just as guilty of the easy option takeout as he is. Hopefully by doing it on the odd week he won't feel like he is missing out.

As per Cream Tea's suggestion I have done a basic SOA. A lot I cannot answer as I just don't know! But this is the bare bones.

Darling chappie pays me 120 to cover his share of the bills, so have included that and his useage. He deals with his car and finances separately. I rounded wage down a bit and bills up to create a bit of a buffer, something my mum has suggested.

I
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 120
Total monthly income.................... 1320

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 305
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 120
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 75
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 12
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 13
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 27
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 70
Road tax................................ 3
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 893


Assets
Cash.................................... 1800
House value (Gross)..................... 75000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 82800


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 64000....(305)......4
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 8000.....(120)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 72000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................600.......6.........0
Total unsecured debts..........600.......6.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,320
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 893
Available for debt repayments........... 427
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 6
Amount left after debt repayments....... 421

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 82,800
Total HP & Secured debt................. -72,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -600
Net Assets.............................. 10,200

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

iloveshopping93

Brallaqueen wrote: »

I really appreciate all comments and all perspectives so thank you all for posting.

Warwickshire was lovely and within planned budget. Darling chappie found a new gizmo to entertain himself with, and even bought me a chippy which I accepted for a change. Lunch and parking came to just shy of £20 for me, he had a much more expensive day.

We had a lovely time wandering round holding hands and just taking in the atmosphere. I have some birthday money but didn't see anything I wanted so will keep it safe and separate for another time.

Had a bit of luck today, mum paid me £40 or something I bought her long ago and had forgotten about so that was an unexpected bonus. I was able to fill my car up for £38 and a bit of spare change for the change pot.

That means I have been able to stuff £80 into savings today as my 'tail' for the month. Quite chuffed!

Sounds like you had a lovely time & I think that is just what you needed. Also, big congrats on the £80 savings that is huge. :T

Brallaqueen

Luck appears to be on my side today. I got paid a end of year bonus along with my wages this month. Taxman took the lions share as always however I got just over £400 so am rejigging things a bit and scrapping the annual bills pot as well as the change pot as they earn no interest. This suddenly doesn't seem like a good use of my cash!

My current savings will now be spread over two accounts.
A regular saver at 6% - Stands at £200. A pay-in is due and will be at least £50
A tsb current account at 5% - stands at £1950. Paid in already last months 'tail' savings plus work bonus.

Change pot - TBC. It will be paid in this weekend and form part of savings. I will have a total soon.

The saver is no access, and for 1% I feel reluctant locking away funds where I can't get at them. As the tsb has a 2k limit, I need to revisit the regular saver now I have a buffer in place or look at opening another current account.

In the meantime I have paid a bit extra off the credit card, £150 this month.
Not financially savvy but i am telling myself that it minimises the risk of miscalculating the end date of the 0% rate and getting stuffed on charges. Plus psychologically it feels pretty good to see the debt go down. I want it gone!