FI Wannabe

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  • Kahra
    Kahra Posts: 88
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    Flights from the past shouldn't really be included as part of your average spends (unless they will be repeated), it skews the average.

    Haha, I could probably do some really creative accounting by taking out the things that skew the average - I'd look positively ERE! :D

    I think part of it is that I've never been in the same job for over a year, or lived in the same place for more than two, since I left school. So our expenses and income have always been all over the place, and my biggest costs are 'one-offs' - education, moving/deposits, travel to new job/see family. This means my budgeting is pretty wonky :D - both sides of the equation are so volatile that I just assume however much I spent last year has absolutely nothing to do with how much I will spend this year! On the plus side, I probably don't have many deeply ingrained financial habits :p - except for spending too much on food and always saving something.

    This stability thing is exciting though - I finally am in a place physically, financially, and mentally where I can save quite a bit! I'm going to have a good think about where I can get those 'quick wins' :j
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,447
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    I was in the boat you were in for 12 years (11 addresses in 10 years etc.), I didn't start to make any headway re. pensions and other investments until I got my first mortgage :)
  • Radically low housing costs!

    Good luck.
  • Kahra
    Kahra Posts: 88
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    Quickest wins:
    - Groceries/household - can easily spend £100/m less AND eat better by meal planning. Will start doing a weekly shop at L1dl, and take snacks and drinks to work to avoid convenience purchasing.
    - Restaurants - no takeaways, keep budget for social nights out... and good beer! Mini goal is to get this down to £100/m.
    - House and clothing shopping - very little now needed in either category. In my YNAB spreadsheet I have budgeted £60/m for house shopping (appliances, decor, furniture, etc) and £30/m for clothing. We spend over £200/m in the last year on average, including a lot of amazing second-hand furniture that will last us for decades. My big spends coming up are likely to be a rice cooker and maybe some new sheets :D
    - Travel - we're still going to be visiting family, but will probably only be paying for flights once next year. Expect the long-term average to be about £250/m without any changes to behaviour.
    - Work things and Other - I've only just separated these two categories, but recent months suggest my work expenses have settled at about £20/m, and £100/m for things that don't fit into another category.

    Without too much effort (except on the food front... that takes some real behaviour change), that's about £480 right there. That would bring my savings rate up to 45% - getting closer!
  • Kahra
    Kahra Posts: 88
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    I was in the boat you were in for 12 years (11 addresses in 10 years etc.), I didn't start to make any headway re. pensions and other investments until I got my first mortgage :)

    That's really exciting to hear, actually! Most of the FI types I've had any interaction with come from a place of almost incomprehensible (to me) stability - permanent job straight out of uni, mortgage, etc. It's nice to 'meet' someone interested in FI who has a different path.
    Radically low housing costs!

    Good luck.

    I feel like a bit of a fraud on this board, but with such generous employer subsidy for rent, we'd be crazy to buy! Thanks for stopping in :)
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,447
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    I also don't have a degree in computer science :D
  • Kahra
    Kahra Posts: 88
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    I also don't have a degree in computer science :D

    You do work in IT though, right? :D
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,447
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    Kahra wrote: »
    You do work in IT though, right? :D

    Well, I'm paid a salary for going to a job in an IT company, can only loosely say that I work :o
  • Kahra
    Kahra Posts: 88
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    Well, I'm paid a salary for going to a job in an IT company, can only loosely say that I work :o

    :rotfl:

    Still paying attention to spends (especially food!), though we've loosened the purse strings a bit since going on holiday. Why is it I never love my job more than when I don't have to do it? :D

    Getting paid once a month means that I don't really have much to update in the way of saving/investing - I get one really exciting day and then just daydream about the next paycheque! A few things to note, though:
    - Grocery spending is at £90 so far, with only about £5 of extras needed to last the week. Still above my £40p/w target for while we're at home, but well on track for the £325/m budget.
    - Restaurant spends so far are £0; we're saving lots of room in the grocery and restaurant budgets for when we're out of town next week!
    - Spend a few quid more on stationery, bringing the total to an eye-watering £4.05:p
    - Sent £100 to P2P lending for a new loan, sold £80 of other loans, waiting for another £40 to sell. Basically, any 'rainy day' pots that have extra funds (gifts, pet costs) get moved to P2P, because I want any savings to be working for me. When I need the money I sell (no penalty), but risk not finding a buyer quickly (or at all). It works for me because we have a significant surplus each month, so I can just replenish the pots on payday. My P2P holdings are small, but FUN :).

    Really pleased with how little we've been spending, but the bank balance is looking quite anaemic since we paid for the last round of plane tickets! I'm thinking of using cash for grocery spends next month, just to create some more 'hard' limits. Too often we each pick up a few things, and I don't even know until the transactions go through a few days later what all we've spent.
  • Kahra
    Kahra Posts: 88
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    Going on a road trip tomorrow, and am so excited to be in a car for a few days! It's kinda sad :D

    I have so much (translation: ALL of the) packing to do. Also want to make sure the place is clean and sparkling before we go. Have done some hoovering and half of the dog grooming - she's walking around with a well-trimmed body and huge bell-bottoms! She gets tired of me clipping her after a while (understandably!) so we do it in stages - this stage is the Clydesdale :D Must make sure that she's properly groomed so the other dogs don't make fun of her on the trip.

    Still need to:
    - Groom dog
    - Make dinner
    - Put away laundry
    - Go for a run
    - Make kitchen spotless
    - Finish hoovering
    - PACK EVERYTHING!!!
    - Print map
    - Call family

    Had a £14.30 spend for work materials, £10 at the supermarket (up to £106.44 so far, I'm ashamed to say. Work in progress), and £4.66 for some cute purple headphones for running. Fridge is looking nice and empty for when we leave - nothing wasted!
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