FI Wannabe

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

You seem really well focused on achieving your goals. Good luck! However, just a thought, do you need to set a budget? Frugalwoods suggest that the budget should always be nil, so you have to think very hard about buying anything at all. The thinking is that if you set a budget, you are likely to buy things you may not need just because you are still within budget. Interesting idea, I think?

Kahra

Oh my, it's been a long while since I've posted.

SSS, I love the Frugalw00ds! I've been thinking a lot about the no budget philosophy since you posted that. At the end of the day, it's a psychological strategy: do you spend less when you assume you're spending nothing, or when you set a limit? I think either way I go over :P I may have to do a few trial months to see if there's a different method that would work better for us.

slowlyfading

We're also aiming for FI and have a blog documenting that, so I thought I'd say hi! I'm not a fan of the budget to zero method, though it seems to have worked for the frugal woods

Kahra

Hi SF! I've read parts of your blog through your journal, thanks for stopping by here! I love your Ultimate Dream Fund sig, and really admire those on the board that are working towards FI with little ones.

I love the idea of the 'spend as little as possible' budget, and it's what I started with when OH and I moved in together years ago. Only, I really struggled with 'as little as possible' and ended up justifying some expensive things that I felt we 'needed' (top-of-the-line Dyson!) and on the flip side either postponed purchases or ended up with inappropriate second-hand purchases for things we could genuinely have used (like sitting on the floor because we had no sofa, or ending up with a used mini-fridge instead of a proper one!). The grey areas were hard for me and it took a lot of mental energy for unpredictable results, though now that we're settling into a money routine and have fancy grown-up things like a table and a bookshelf (both used!) I feel like it's a strategy that could be worth re-visiting.

Kahra

Okay, time to confess more sins -

Kahra wrote: »

Total September Budget Goal: £1616
Total September Saving Goal: £1616
% Income Saved Goal: 50%

Actual numbers:
Total September Spent: £1740
Total September Saved: £1701
% Income Saved: 49%

We both spent and saved more than planned in September - thanks to doing some extra work on our days off! I was pleased with our grocery budget (£297.77, get in!), and about £75 of spends were work-related and reimbursable. Don't really know how to account for that.

Kahra

Keeping the post avalanche coming...

I didn't post a goal for October, and it turned out to be majorly spendy, mostly in the gifts department. I lost a close relative this month, and spent a lot of time and money on family, with absolutely no regrets. I had more reimbursable work expenses this month that would have knocked the spent amount to under 2k (still was a spendy mcspenderson).

Total October Spent: £2147 :eek:
Total October Saved: £1092
% Income Saved: 34%

Kahra

I forgot to mention that in Sept we received another £10.60 in interest/dividends, and another £229.96 in Oct. Hurrah for quarterly distributions! Sept's distributions covered one phone bill (barely!), but this month passive income covered both phones, internet, gas and electricity, and our gym memberships. It'll be Jan before the numbers are this high again, but it's nice to think that I didn't need to go to work to pay for those things this month!

slowlyfading

Kahra wrote: »

Hi SF! I've read parts of your blog through your journal, thanks for stopping by here! I love your Ultimate Dream Fund sig, and really admire those on the board that are working towards FI with little ones.

Thanks for reading my blog plodding along with the fund, though not quite as quickly as I'd like...

I love the idea of the 'spend as little as possible' budget, and it's what I started with when OH and I moved in together years ago. Only, I really struggled with 'as little as possible' and ended up justifying some expensive things that I felt we 'needed' (top-of-the-line Dyson!) and on the flip side either postponed purchases or ended up with inappropriate second-hand purchases for things we could genuinely have used (like sitting on the floor because we had no sofa, or ending up with a used mini-fridge instead of a proper one!). The grey areas were hard for me and it took a lot of mental energy for unpredictable results, though now that we're settling into a money routine and have fancy grown-up things like a table and a bookshelf (both used!) I feel like it's a strategy that could be worth re-visiting.

For me, I feel like it's a bit too restrictive, if you see what I mean? I can see how it would work, though

slowlyfading

Kahra wrote: »

I forgot to mention that in Sept we received another £10.60 in interest/dividends, and another £229.96 in Oct. Hurrah for quarterly distributions! Sept's distributions covered one phone bill (barely!), but this month passive income covered both phones, internet, gas and electricity, and our gym memberships. It'll be Jan before the numbers are this high again, but it's nice to think that I didn't need to go to work to pay for those things this month!

Ooh, October is great! Can I ask what paid out in October? Oct/Nov/Dec are very small payout months for me, at the moment anyway.

Kahra

I use YNAB to budget, and I love it. I've kept track of every penny for the last 4 years, and even though I think we spend too much at least I know exactly where it goes.

A few months ago, I started 'paying myself first' - I move one paycheque to our S&S ISA on payday, and leave the other for us to live on. I'm still experimenting with saving strategies, as we figure out how finances work with two stable incomes (!! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay !!)

The problem is, we tend to have spendy months and lean months. After this last spendy month (and one earlier in the summer), I have a lot of red columns in YNAB. I hate red columns in YNAB. The credit cards are paid in full every month, we are managing to live on one income, but we're in the metaphorical red by the time we get paid.

So, I'm challenging us to clear all the red columns by the end of the year. We've still got a lot of presents to buy, but have paid for all holiday travel. I'd like November to come in under £1322 excluding gifts.