Help to keep me honest

glass_half_full

Hi to all,

Hope everyone is having a great Christmas and here's to a great 2017! I'm hoping to post here more regularly, as I feel I will be more accountable for my decisions and this will drive down the debt.

This month has been a bit up and down, not in a major way, but in the way of some surprises both positive and negative. First of all my OH’s pay was down by £350 this month to do with the PAYE stabilising, she was overpaid in September, so should return to normal in January. This caused more than a bit of a panic trying to manage the budget because when you are trying to track every pound, the sudden disappearance of this much is more than a headache in December! After a bit of juggling though I managed to sort it out by moving some money out of the buffer. Thanks to using YNAB this didn’t immediately result in more CC debt.

Wants or needs?

The next big decision financially was to decide on a couple of big expenses for 2017, and are they wants or needs. I had planned to refresh the kitchen with new doors and drawers. The other issue is a holiday in 2017. We had a proper chat about these and decided that this year the holiday is a need and that the kitchen can wait. I realise that for many hardened debt busters a holiday is always a want rather than a need, but that’s our decision this year. So as a result we have allocated money for the holiday, but I made a payment to one of the CCs with the money allocated towards the kitchen. I think now in my mind that the kitchen will wait until we are debt free and the money is saved up. Psychologically it was a great feeling to see the % paid reach 15%.

I’ve signed up for an Uber Frugal January challenge on another blog I follow. This family are hardcore frugal and I know that some of my spending is going to come under the spotlight with this, should be interesting. As a warm up for this I have reviewed the spending over the last 12 months I've been back through our monthly expenses and cut out a few more items that totalled around £50 per month.

I think the other big expense I can tackle in January is our grocery bill that is too high so will be aiming to get this down by shopping at a different supermarket so will see how that goes.

A result of all this tweaking is that it might be possible to clear this CC debt by December 2018 which is somehow a lot more motivating as 2 years seems not that far away and it feels like every small step is worth it.

glass_half_full

Hi Diary and all,

I last posted here on Boxing Day 2016 so it is almost exactly 5 months ago. I go on the forums every day and read diaries, there are so many inspiring journeys out there, hope to post more in the coming days. I notice that since last posting I have reduced the debt by around £1500 so £300 per month, slow steady progress. January was interesting, took part in an uber Frugal challenge on a blog I follow elsewhere where you challenge each and every spend that you have to try to reduce it. This was an interesting experience and in some ways humbling to see how little some have to manage on. On the other side of the equation has been the unexpected; car needing surgery for an oil leak, washing machine died and sundry other issues. But the idea of setting up an emergency fund came to the rescue a couple of times and meant that I haven't used the credit cards or gone into the overdraft territory since I started this journey. I intend to keep it that way!
Is it just me or is everything getting more expensive?! With a budget you see exactly what you spend versus what you thought you would spend. I'm finding each and every line is creeping up - council tax, monthly train pass, groceries etc etc.

glass_half_full

Hi diary and all,
Interesting report on the BBC today saying that the average level of savings is 32 days of average spending. People were also asked what they would need as a buffer to feel secure and this was reported as one years worth of spending! This reminded me of the advice to have a buffer of 3 months spending in place. Somehow I had diluted this advice down and set my buffer at one month spending, maybe because it was more achievable and then ended up dipping into that for various reasons, so it had fallen to very little! So today I am resetting the buffer target to 3 months of spending and I am also setting myself a target to save up for a replacement car for when my current one reaches the end of its life. It seemed odd to me when I started out to save a buffer. Why save, why not just pay off the debt? But I get the idea now that there are at least two reasons to have a buffer. One, because when stuff happens you don't need to go straight to the overdraft or credit cards to cover it. But maybe more important is the idea that it is a good habit to develop for longer term reasons.

glass_half_full

Hi diary and all,
My 19 year old DS decided to defer his University place until this September and take a year out. Myself and OH were ok with the idea as long as he found something constructive to do, work, volunteering etc. It hasn’t quite turned out as planned and we have had our moments over the last 10 months since he finished at college. He had a job for a couple of months in a local retail store whilst it was setting up in the run up to Xmas, but once it was up and running many of the staff were let go. Since then he has been doing various things, mainly to do with his music, performing at various gigs. He is very committed to his music (drumming) and works hard at it often practicing 2-3 hours per day. We have been giving him an allowance each month to keep him afloat. Recently, I insisted that he do something constructive for this and so he is volunteering at a local charity shop two days a week. This was because I was not comfortable with him not having something constructive to do during the day. He has tried to find paid work but so far nothing has materialised beyond the interview stage. So at the moment he does the 2 days volunteering and the rest of the time he is practicing or rehearsing or round at his girlfriend’s. I am also paying for his driving lessons because I want to help him be independent in the longer term. I know deep down that we are probably being far too soft on him and should stop subsidising him, but I think it may be too late to change things now before he goes to Uni. I know what I would say to someone else in this situation, but when it is your own it's different!

UncannyScot

Hi
Thanks for popping on my diary
Will follow yours

enthusiasticsaver

You seem to have got to grips with budgeting and saving and yes an emergency and buffer fund is essential. Also saving separately for holidays, car and house maintenance and improvements. I don't use YNAB but I do use clear checkbook which uses an envelope system so you can see what you are spending on each category and remove money each month from your balance (not physically from the account) and that way you always have money there for these things.

I think I would insist your son get a job or at the very least do things for you to earn his allowance/driving lessons. Has he really tried to get one or is he a bit fussy over what jobs he will take?

glass_half_full

UncannyScot wrote: »

Hi
Thanks for popping on my diary
Will follow yours

Thanks UncannyScot! :beer:

glass_half_full

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

You seem to have got to grips with budgeting and saving and yes an emergency and buffer fund is essential. Also saving separately for holidays, car and house maintenance and improvements. I don't use YNAB but I do use clear checkbook which uses an envelope system so you can see what you are spending on each category and remove money each month from your balance (not physically from the account) and that way you always have money there for these things.

I think I would insist your son get a job or at the very least do things for you to earn his allowance/driving lessons. Has he really tried to get one or is he a bit fussy over what jobs he will take?

Hi enthusiasticsaver,

Thanks for your comments. I am slowly getting there on the money front. Still I feel like I have more to learn from others on this forum.

Yes, he is fussy about what he will or won't do, mostly to do with being vegan, which I respect and understand. For example, he doesn't want to work anywhere that serves animal products. Of course, that pretty much rules out many places. He will need to compromise in due course, and to be fair he is realistic about that. I admire his and his girlfriends idealism on this in a way. I have managed to get him to do a few chores around the house on occasion! We have had the odd blow up where I have asked him to do stuff and had an inappropriate reaction, in which case I have had to sit down with him and recalibrate and reset the ground rules. Problem is he would rather live really frugally than go out to work. I think the experience he had at the retailer didn't help. Times running out now on this year because he has various gigs and performances coming up and then goes travelling in July/August so I think its probably a done deal for this year.

glass_half_full

Had an enjoyable night out on Saturday at an open air concert where DS was performing. Despite there being a bit of rain everyone was really enjoying themselves and having a great time with picnics. Really nice to see people enjoying simple pleasures after recent events. We had to pay for our tickets (£20 each) although his was free since he was performing in the band. We managed to keep the cost down overall by buying the picnic ingredients at the supermarket. We are spending quite a lot at the moment supporting him as he gets established in this band that he is playing for. To be honest, its worth every penny when I watch him performing after all the practice. I'm happy to cut back elsewhere to make this possible. Sunday has been combination of chores, doing a bit of work for work and going for walk to blow the cobwebs away. This evening we have travelled once again 60 miles to where DS needs to rehearse with the band. Am sat in a local pub with OH having a coffee together whilst we both tap away on our laptops! Hoping this week will be unexciting on the money front, boring is good for debt busting!

glass_half_full

Hi diary and all,
This has been such a difficult month, one of those months where not going backwards feels like a victory. Checked the balance yesterday and found £13 left in the current account. We have not gone overdrawn since I started this diary and I don't intend to start now. Had to transfer some money over from savings, but should be able to repay with expenses coming in a few days. It can be a real grind sometimes. This is yet another of the mini LBMs when I realise I have loosened the purse strings a bit too much. Hoping to be able to update the signature with at least a 1% reduction at the end of the month. Tiny amount but it will feel like a big deal if we can do it.