New Grad DFW

ab_saver

NSD today! :A

-Had a bit of a rough day at work and had a little cry but all ok and didn't spend any money to make myself feel better.
-Slow cooker dinner ongoing - I was worried about it drying out especially as I left work an hour late. If anything I now have the opposite problem.
-I finally managed to get bounts connected to my fitness apps - I always walk more than 7000 steps so should get a small something every day and even if I don't get a voucher until next Christmas it's better than nothing.
-I still need to do some more sorting for Saturday - plan to do so in front of TV once I've sorted the kitchen out.
-I managed to politely decline my university's phone campaign (that was quick!) to donate towards scholarships for disadvantaged students - I would like to in the future when I'm more financially secure - I'll donate my own money not the bank's

Had some ups and downs today (tired and emotional on minimal sleep) but at the end of it (sorry this is so soppy and saccharine but here goes) I'm so grateful to have my nearest and dearest, that they are well, and money can't change that. Money can't change sorrow of friend who lost their OH or how lucky I am to have mine (even if he is hundreds of miles away at a conference). We are able to plan a future together and that does require money and sensible choices - and we are so fortunate to have that where others have it so brutally taken from them.

So after my little existential wallow - I am so grateful to be going on holiday with OH and having rare quality time together. I'm also kicking myself for the fact that I may miss my goal of clearing the overdraft by Nov.

Thinking into the future, I've made a Christmas list, I have put a budget next to each person, and I have started looking at things. I'm going to start getting things from payday but only if a) they are on the list and b) they are on an offer that is likely to vanish if I wait. I have some supermarket vouchers and some of my gift ideas could be bought from one so that's being considered. I don't want to go too wild though because of 1. overdraft 2. holiday

Thank you to anyone who got through that stream of consciousness!
To quote enthusiasticsaver (and no doubt many others) - onwards and upwards.

ab_saver

Another NSD today. :A

Other good things:
-£7.51 cash back received today
-£5.90 in overpaid bills from student house back (a bit less than I'd hoped for but ah well). This went straight into my emergency fund as it was money I never expected to get back anyway
- Tomorrow's dinner will be subsidised so the cost should be pretty minimal. Got some cash out (including a shiny new fiver) and planning to only spend that.

I've been looking at my spending for this month to try and make a more detailed budget for next month and 2 things became apparent:

1. If the deposit comes back and is as much as it should be (deductions already agreed with agency) I should be [STRIKE]less than[/STRIKE] just over £1000 overdrawn the night before payday with the card paid off :D
2. A lot of my spends this month have been on things that I won't repeat e.g. £200 to a friend for 2 years' worth of communal internet, new phone (old one died 2 weeks before last payday and I tried to buy a dumb phone but my simcard won't work in 2g phones!), paying off old suppliers' bills when on 2nd month of direct debits to new one (energy account nearly £90 in credit with new suppliers) - or things that I repeat infrequently and can build envelopes for into my monthly budget in future - concert tickets (£60 for me and OH but he bought dinner so it balanced out) and climbing multi-visit pass (£130 but should last until the new year at the very least)
So £700ish was on spends not to be repeated, and £180ish on spends to be done infrequently (and maybe budgeted for over about 4 months).
Without those things going out, my (approximate) (non-bill) expenditures this month haven't been too outrageous:
£175 :eek: food (for me and OH - AND my freezer is very full as I used a series of 20% off for new customers vouchers with Mr W)
£85 travel
£19 trip to zoo!
£10 music
£25 gift
about £18 other spends
£38 eating out (pending meal out tomorrow)
Totalling £370ish

With ample scope for tightening the belt considerably, I'm feeling optimistic about next month. I'm planning to have more detailed categories (e.g. a pot for gifts/Xmas) so I don't feel guilty about foreseeable spends that got lumped in the general category.

5 more days to payday - and only planning one more spend day (tomorrow). :cool:

ab_saver

Quick update:
Deposit back with friend - my share should be back by Monday.
Unfortunately £100 got lost in my excitable mental maths and the overdraft will still be the wrong side of £1000... ah well.

Jumblerina

You're doing so well ABS it's the little things that add up, planning holidays really helps your debt journey. We all need to live a little while we pay or debts, I've just started a holiday fund on the recommendation of a few people on here. It's really motivating keep up the great work!

Jumblerina xxx

ab_saver

Jumblerina wrote: »

You're doing so well ABS it's the little things that add up, planning holidays really helps your debt journey. We all need to live a little while we pay or debts, I've just started a holiday fund on the recommendation of a few people on here. It's really motivating keep up the great work!

Jumblerina xxx

Thanks jumble - I think without it I'd go insane. Because it's at 0% it's not world-ending if I don't quite make my target but I'd be so happy if I could. In the process of writing a detailed budget for next month and keep saying that each category has a limit not a target! This month it was the little things that I didn't account for that cropped up and they really do add up!

It's nice to have all the reassurance and support here.

Hoping for a low spend day today (meal out but subsidised).

ab_saver

Planned spend day today.

Total of £17.90 on dinner and drinks out after big event.
Hoping for 3 NSDs in a row to get me as far as payday.

Found out about a big work pre-Christmas party that'll be £55-60 a head :eek:
Will have to budget that in this coming month or next.

There's also potentially a conference on that I'd like to go to in December and would be good for work/CV but I'd have to pay for myself - that's £340 :eek::eek: Not yet decided what to do about this one...

Budget in progress - will see what I can work out....

ab_saver

A good day today!
NSD #4 since I started counting.

Had a good chat with OH and he is also keen to be frugal on holiday - and he offered to do our next big shop, which would include our non-perishable supplies for our holiday.
I've also made a few good spots for his Christmas presents.

I'm making progress on the budget front and on payday (Weds) I plan to share it here - for some slightly odd reasons I won't know exactly how much I'm being paid until the day - only a ballpark figure.

I've also done some more thinking about long-term goals once I'm back in the black.
I think my aim 10k towards a deposit in a year and a half is probably reasonable - especially since I will get a considerable pay rise next August and aim to continue living almost as I am now and put almost all the extra straight into savings (with the logic being that I won't miss it!)
I also hope to set up some other savings pots:
Emergency fund (funded by save the change)
Wedding fund 100/month
Holiday fund 50/month
Big ticket item fund 50/ month

If I'm currently able to clear the overdraft at a rate of approx £400/month (more details on that on payday where I'll do an end Aug vs end Sep comparison, then I should be able to put that amount into savings - e.g. £200/month into HTB ISA, £200/month into regular saver. My online banking has a way of setting up multiple savings envelopes in the same account so that's something to look into. My current source of pondering is that it'll take me a while to get the £1200 you can put in to open the account in the first month - but I'm wondering if I'm better off starting to save sooner and having the money put away than waiting to accrue the £1200 to make the most of that.

This is typical me - loads of plans for money I don't have yet....

ab_saver

Another good day...

NSD #5 :A

Got my £635.80 deposit back from old place. Immediately paid off CC so balance of that now £0.00 :j:j (FYI I always pay off in full anyway)
Barring any spends tomorrow, my finances are now in their pre-payday state (and though it could be better I'm pleased with what I've done with my first month's proper pay).

ab_saver

Good news first:

OD balance £1083.82 CC balance £0.00
Total debt cleared since night before last payday £1079.68 - nearly half!

(Unfortunately a fair amount of that came from getting my deposit back etc rather than my self control)

Bad news:

Got payslip for payday tomorrow... and it's a LOT less than expected. :eek:
Turns out it's an incorrect tax code, due to a previous employer (part time whilst at uni) not producing a P45. :mad::mad::mad::mad:
All smoothed over with taxman on phone, future code will be correct, but no refund until P45 issued. Already emailed them about it so hopefully won't take too long.

I said that my income could vary within a range. My actual pay is £250-500 less than expected. :eek::eek:

This makes the budget for this month that I painstakingly prepared last night come under review once again.

Pay: 1807.14 (will take bank balance to £723.62 briefly - that doesn't even cover my rent!)
Total rent and bills: £992
This already puts me at -£269 before I've eaten (was thinking I might break even pre spends this month) - so overdraft clearing will really be about minimising spending.

My remaining (somewhat pared back) budget is as follows:
£85 contents insurance (one annual payment)
£36.99 gym (this is first month's payment including joining fee, goes down to £16.99/mo thereafter)
£30 gifts/ Christmas
£30 eating out
£35 personal spends (e.g. gloves, tights, insoles - things that can't wait)
Subtotal excluding food £216.99

I've excluded food as OH has offered to pay for the month's big shop. If he does then budget will be £40, if not, then £80.

If I use the budget of £40 - then my spends excluding holiday total £256.99 - bank balance £473.98 (which would be an impressive £600 cleared anyway).
The holiday is going to be what limits the overdraft clearing. I estimate £300-350 for holiday expenses (travel/accommodation/attractions) but would put the other spends (e.g. food, shopping etc) in their original categories.

This means that if I'm positively angelic for a month I could clear another £250 or so this month. The absolute line is that the overdraft must go in the right direction.

I'm wondering about postponing the gym but it makes me feel so much better in myself, and I honestly have been really looking forward to going and have pencilled in when I'm going. I might view it as an investment in my health.

Sorry for (yet another) long post. Well done if you made it this far!

ab_saver

So, payday today. This was greeted with considerably less excitement than expected after yesterday's taxing realisation. Still, it's progress. Found out a colleague on the same pay band got paid nearly £600 more! I'm looking forward to that refund already...

OH did get the big shop so I am working from the smaller budget and will try and do as much as possible from my (overflowing) stores.

Spends today:
Gym £36.99/£36.99
Gifts/Christmas £21/£30
Eating out £4.55/30
Personal spends £32.67/£35

Day off tomorrow with gym induction booked - I'm hoping to use the gym as an NSD activity, but I may have to sort a couple of other bits and pieces whilst I'm in town. I have 13h shifts Fri/Sat/Sun so aiming for 3 NSDs in a row by virtue of being too busy to spend!