It's not a lot, but it's enough

SpekySquarehead

Morning,

The Burns Supper yesterday went well. It was a long evening though and I didn’t get home till closer to 12.30am. Given my alarm went off at 5.30am both yesterday morning and today, I’m a tired man today. Already on my 2nd coffee, which doesn’t bode well for my yearly goal of cutting down to 1 per day. Yesterday I had to pay £1 for my lunch and £3 odd for parking. A low spend day however, unavoidable.

Tonight is bowling night which I suppose I’m looking forward to. I’ve got the money set aside and I know February will be a really tight month so going to let the hair down. I’ll need to pay my dinner though, which won’t be much.

I’ve my haircut tomorrow morning then no plans set in stone. My friend mentioned there might be a get together at some point and whilst in Asda I noticed a case of Bud for £8, so that might do me for the night. Well, plus a taxi or 2.

I have a group chat with all my friends and they’re amidst trying to organise a summer holiday. It’s really disappointing to say no but it has to be done. They’re a good group of guys who appreciate I’m saving but it’s just a killer to miss out. What gets to me most though is that some of my friends are going to go and they own their own property or are in the middle of saving to buy. Maybe they earn more and if so, fair play, but I don’t think they do. Makes me wonder if going for such a draconian saving plan is right way?!

Food for thought.

Anyhoo, enjoy your Friday everyone.

Chandelier.

Speky.. I think we all ponder re saving.

In my circumstances I've decided to take a break with my friend, it will do me the world of good. We found bargain flights and hotel though so total cost £115 to go Berlin. I bet you could get some cracking deals.

But it's got to be what you want. Do you think you'll regret not going? It may set you around or under a months worth of saving.. Just another way to look at it.

Maybe state if it's within a budget (that you don't mind) then go. You've already made lots of little sacrifices.

And we're only young once.. For your with minimal responsibilities as of yet

SpekySquarehead

Chandelier - "we're only young once" rings very true.

I've a friend who is only a couple of years younger than me but wants to spend every penny in living life. She's planning a trip, on her own, to Thailand, New Zealand and Australia. She seems to be out socialising most weekends and enjoying herself.

Any money she has saved is going towards spending it on experiences and material things. So she won't have thousands saved for her own place, she won't have an emergency fund, she won't be saving for larger one off expenses like car tax or insurance - and yet my February looks like I'll be a bit of a recluse in order to have those things.

Bear with me here.

I'm a boxing fan and many of the worlds best boxers are training at 3am/4am because they know their opponent is sleeping and so they think it gives them an mental advantage.

I think I would feel the same while the boys go a holiday and spend, spend, spend while I sit at home and save, save, save.

crazy_cat_lady

It's a personal decision obviously Speky, and if you're happy enough to save then carry on with the saving.
I personally like a break away now and again. We're going to Crieff for my big birthday and London in the summer. Not massive all inclusive hols in the Caribbean or anything but for me it's about quality time with my family away from the day to day life of washing, cleaning and going to work etc. For me it's worth the money for a couple of days 'off' from everyday life... If that bit of waffling makes sense.

Chandelier.

I understand Speky.

Last year and the year before I was save, save, save (didn't treat car finance as debt, it was just another bill at time).

I'd watch others and a family member just spend and then question how I manage to save money yet they didn't. They still never understood my answer and stated I was missing out. I never felt I did.

In 2015 we did a cruise to celebrate me finishing university (first holiday in around 4 years). In 2016 we did a small break to the lakes which I found a great deal for and a trip to London to see a relative so costs were kept minimal. This year is different. I've chose to go away with the boy and my best friends family (it's a surprise, he's no idea) and obviously I've found a cheap deal to go away with my friend.

My savings have gone down slightly due to being off work at the moment but once I get back and everything's sorted I'll be all systems go and get back to saving some and paying some off towards debt.

I'm trying to keep an equal balance. I'd like to buy a house and I have a help to buy isa for that which I save the maximum each month into.

Hope you have a good weekend.

SpekySquarehead

Morning all,

I had a lovely weekend doing nothing, yet doing a lot.

Friday evening was my colleagues leaving do. I had originally paid £10 for the bowling but the boss turned up and paid it all so got the £10 back. I decided to take the car so I drank water all night which meant a free night however, we didn’t get food and I was starving so when I said my goodbyes I nipped in for a healthy burrito at a place in Glasgow city centre (£7 odd).

On Saturday I had a haircut so it was always going to be a spend day. I’ve been with the same hairdresser now for 8 years and she’s became a really good friend of mine. Not sure why, but I’ve never tipped. I have however always brought her in her favourite coffee beforehand then I’ll buy her something for her birthday and Xmas. Balances out over the course of the year. Saturday was the first I’d seen her since Xmas and she told me that the present I bought her was the only present she had to open on Xmas so she loved it, so I was glad I done it.

I had some errands on run whilst in Glasgow so done those. Also, Saturday was my first cheat day for the ‘diet’ so I bought myself some treats from Greggs – loved them. I enjoyed a quiet night in on Saturday watching House of Cards followed by an early night.

Sunday I woke and whilst having my breakfast, I wrote a meal plan for the week ahead, using the ingredients I already had first. I then went out to Aldi for as much as I could then nipped into Tesco for anything they didn’t have. Total came to around £30. I came home and started cooking/prepping straight away which meant I had the evening to enjoy with the fam. Lovely.

So all my ducks are in a row for the week ahead. All my meals are planned and ingredients are in, so there shouldn’t be a need for any emergency shops meaning plenty of NSD’s. Only planned spend day is Wednesday when I’ve got football, so I should hopefully get a good few NSD’s in Feb.

Sorry for the long post. Mostly for my benefit to remind me what I done and what spends I accrued.

louby40

Sounds like a productive weekend! Good for you

Drawingaline

Sounds good.

I must admit that I am making sure that I have money in my budget for holidays and experiences. But I am older than you, and am on the property ladder. I just wish I had taken more holidays during my 20's, it is a regret, however missing out on one holiday for this reason is perhaps sensible, just don't say no to every opportunity.

SpekySquarehead

This year I have made a conscious decision to say yes to more things. Yes to more work. Yes to helping people out. Yes to smaller social events, etc etc. But saying yes to most things usually means spending either time or money and unfortunately I don't have much of the later.

As today is the last working day of the month, my standing orders come out of my account and go into my savings but I think I've messed up my maths. My bank statement shows my usual £200 going into my HTB and £350 going into my FD Saver account, although I was expecting £550. Anyway. Long and short of it is, I think I need a fresh start on YNAB. Things just seem a bit off. I'll do it tomorrow or the day after once my bank has caught up with spends.

Yesterday was a NSD and today will be the same thankfully.

SpekySquarehead

Crisis averted. Figured out what I'd done.

For fellow YNAB users, I really like seeing the age of my money increase which is another reason I don't want to start a fresh on top of losing the info on reports.