Am I a grownup yet?

NewShadow

Okay. So I figure I need somewhere that I can keep track of what I'm doing to stay on track and sort my finances.

I know I'm relatively lucky, in that I have only have unsecured debts of around £6000, an affordable (2year ish) DMP in place, and a secure job.

But... I am my own worst enemy. After my DMP payment and my DD's, I have about £300/350 to pay for everything else.

Arbitrarily that covers new clothes, food, travel, dentist and opticians... the works.

In practice, the last few months, no budgeting has been going on at all...

Hoping to use this thread to track my attempts to budget, my progress, my musing on my self sabotage, and anything else that comes to mind.

The first thing I've done is look at my current social commitments for the next month, and set myself a generous and feasible budget of £210.

This is about £90 more than I'd like to be spending, but is about £90 less than I ended up spending last month.

My next plan is to do a meal plan ready for my trip to the market on Thursday.

I want to work out what I actually need for the next two weeks.

First step - find pen and paper :rotfl:

NewShadow

Right, so yesterday was a no spend day. Today I have no intention of going outside, so a second no spend. :beer:

Tomorrow is a trip to the market.

Good news is that I've got £25 in cash in the house, and theres no ATM near the market, so when it's gone, it's gone.

Mealplan written, Required purchases identified:

Week of 1st

Breakfast - no spend:
(HM or Lidl) Yogurt, (frozen) Fruit, Oats - Can be made in batches on Sunday. I have 4 tubs of yogurt in, so I have to see if I can stretch them or make some more to make them last Monday to Friday.

Lunches - £3/4:
2x Baked potato with beans and cheese - need to defrost cheese
2x Shredded chicken pasta - need to buy veg
1x Soup and ryvitas
2x cheese/ham/mushroom omelette - need to buy eggs and mushrooms

Dinners - £5/6:
(frozen)whitefish, potatoes and peas - need to buy pots
Sticky Pork steaks, rice, stir fry veg - need to buy beansprouts, mushrooms
Pork stirfry
2x Butternut squash and aubergine curry
2x Stuffed squash - need to buy a lazy tin of chilli for stuffing

Also need to buy any cheap available fruit for snacking, and I'd like to pick up a pack of bacon (£5 for about a kilo) for this weekend and the freezer(normally splits into three or four).

srirachi

I like your meal plan- butternut squash and aubergine curry

Good luck...

greensalad

Good luck. I feel much the same as you.

I've heard wonderful things about YNAB for helping with budgetting. I do it my "own way". In fact I just got paid and have gone through my list of things I'm letting myself buy and purchased them, knowing I'm done for the rest of the month now.

Also it helps me to have different accounts for different items. When you are a grown-up there are so many items going in and out (to a greater extent) from your bank account it can be tough to keep track of exactly how much of that money is yours.

I have three accounts and a pre-paid mastercard. Current account, where I get paid which is always a nightmare. Utilities account (joint with partner, using Santander 123 so we get cashback) where I pay in a very specific amount monthly to pay ALL our direct debits, then a joint spending account for our groceries and fuel. Finally I'm transferring money weekly onto the pre-paid card and that's my week budget for coffee, food (outside groceries) and fun things.

It's working for me and I'm getting there! You'll get into the mindset soon

NewShadow

Hi Guys,

Ive just realised that for me it's about mindfulness. I'm hoping to use this thread to plan and reflect, as otherwise I tend to just spend without thinking,

Today I'm really pleased with myself. I:

• Walked 6 miles (to market and back):j
• Didn't buy cakes and cheese I didn't want/need :A
• Actually came home with more money than I went out with :eek:

Went out with £25 in cash.

Decided it was time to clear out my coin jar, so sorted the pennies and changed them at the bank = + £10

I've been sorting stuff for the charity shop, and came across a load of sealed DVDs that were going to be christmas gifts, so I took them with me to see if I could sell them in town.

Got prices at a few places, and ended up selling them to the man at the market = + £35

Bought 3 melons, mushrooms, sweet potatoes (cheaper than potatoes), 2 mangos, raspberries, strawberries and 2 kilo of bacon = - £14.50

Had a baked potato with beans, cheese, and 3 cups of tea = - £5

Stopped in a charity shop on the way home to arrange for my boxes to be collected, found a beautiful top, tunic, and trousers (it's an islamic charity shop so they have gorgeous things) = - £15.50

Left home with £25, came home with £35 = result! :money:

NewShadow

srirachi wrote: »

I like your meal plan- butternut squash and aubergine curry

Good luck...

Given I got loads of sweet potatoes on the market, I'm going to swap this over for a moroccan style bake.

Chunks of aubergine, sweet potato, BN squash, tin of tomatoes, tin of chickpeas, cinnamon, cumin and coriander - Yum

NewShadow

Today is perfect!

I was considering going around the charity shops to have a mooch and pick up some tops for work.

It's tipping it down, so I'm sorting boxes in the back room in stead.

NewShadow

Okay, well I ended up going out.

Spent about £80 :eek: very impulse shopping...

£40 on meat from the butchers for the freezer - 2 steaks, 2 chicken breasts, 12 sausages, 12 burgers, 1lb diced turkey breast, 1lb mince, 1lb belly pork, 6 drum sticks, 1lb bacon.

£5 on a cooked breakfast and milky coffee

And the rest on about 10 tops for work, a skirt, and 2 tops for going out in.

Then had a bit of a nasty shock on the way home with a young lad on a bike (mid 20's) trying to dodge round a bus and missing.

I'll likely not hear how he is, but I think he managed to get away with just a crushed hand. Lucky idiot.

parsniphead

Good luck with the journey NewShadow.

It must be nice to come home with more money than you left with. You sound like you are organised.

NewShadow

I can't believe it's only the 7th... This month feels like it should nearly be over - or perhaps that's just my wishful thinking...

This Friday I managed to clear my credit union loan. It was £3000, and its taken me about 2 years all in.

I've still got about £4000 to go in overdraft, catalogue accounts and an old gym membership. Joys of debts following us from university - oh to be young and stupid with money.

My nan isn't very well. She had a stroke about a month ago, and keeps getting infections. My dad's struggling with it. He feels the pressure of being the strong one all the time - always the dutiful son. Now the Drs are asking him to approve taking her feeding tubes away. It doesn't seem fair for a doctor to ask a family member (a child) to make that kind of choice. No matter what he picks he's going to feel awful.

Eitherway, it means a chunk of my cash has to go on train tickets this month.

Horrible week really.

At least the sun is shining.