Been through the tunnel and Seen the Light, But Need to Keep it Burning Bright!

Mysteek

Been thinking I might do my savings pots differently. Instead of trying to save into each one all at the same time, I’m thinking that saving for one at a time will keep me more motived as I will have achieved something quicker, if that makes sense. I get bored waiting for things to happen, I like to be ‘doing’ things. So when I get paid this month I will get the emergency fund of £1,000 up and out of the way, me thinks washing machine might not have too much life left in it so best get the EF sorted first.

Next will have to be the house fund, just in case the old boiler (no, not me!!!) decides to call it a day, plus we need to have a new shower room installed and lots of other stuff. Not sure on amount, but thinking £5,000 as a starter, this could change as we go along. Then when that’s fully funded somewhere around April next year (before if DH is able to contribute), I can look at the next savings pot which I think will need to be the mortgage overpayments, which I estimate to be around £3,000. I have until the end of February 2018 to save for this.

The retirement fund will sadly have to wait a little longer (along with retirement), possibly till the second half of next year.

Mysteek

Someone we know sadly passed away suddenly on sunday. They were younger than me. Makes you wonder doesn't it? My immediate reaction was to say "lets sell the house, pack in our jobs and go and get a little cottage by the sea", meaning we should enjoy ourselves while we have the chance as we never know what's round the corner.

Well I don't think that's going to happen. First of all, a 'little cottage by the sea' would probably cost more than our house is worth so that wouldn't be open to us from a cost point of view. And secondly (and more importantly), I wouldn't be near my children and grandchildren:(

If only I could find another way.................

Mysteek

Gas and electricity deal due to end next month so have been looking round for another one. Through the MSE energy club I have found one that gives me £30 for switching and £85 Sainsburys gift card. The tariff isn't bad too :rotfl:

Seasidegal58

I'm sorry to hear the sad news. You're right it does make you think that perhaps you should live your life vicariously as you never know what's going to happen. Only thing is I also think that if I am going to be around for a bit I want to try and have a reasonably comfortable old age and that means not going into a spending free fall like I used to! So I'm working on the positive principle!

Well done on the gas/ electric deal! What a nice surprise!

I sent off for my pension forecast yesterday so hopefully will get that sometime next week.

Mysteek

Gosh I'm so bad at keeping my diary up to date, time just seems to run away with me these days. I can't update my diary when DH is in the house as its secret from him and he's in quite a lot at the moment as work is quite slack. Not seasonal in the strict sense but always quieter in winter. And only manage a few minutes whilst eating my lunch at work. Will have to try and do a full and complete monthly update.


Did you get your pension forecast through Seasidegal?

Seasidegal58

Hi Mysteek :j
I was going to post today to see what had happened to you!


I've been posting today via work this lunchtime as it's quiet workwise today. But I know what you mean about people hanging around while you are inputting on your secret diary! A guy who sits next to me is really nosey! When he gets up you can feel him staring at your screen! :mad: I keep closing down every time he pops up!


No - funnily enough I haven't heard back yet on the pension. Seems to be taking its time. Time to chase it up?

Seasidegal58

Hi Mysteek - hope things are going well at your end. :wave:
X

Mysteek

Oh my goodness, is it that long since I posted, I just don’t know where the time goes these days. Everything is fine with me, thank you so much for asking Seasidegal it is very much appreciated X

Work is really busy at the moment, plus its near Christmas so the usual planning, shopping, wrapping, decorating etc. Also, I’m getting older !! :rotfl:

Must put regular diary posting on my New Year Resolutions List!!

Financials
Well I was doing so well with my Pound a Day for Christmas Fund till I went shopping with DD2. She’s such a bad influence but she’d probably say the same thing about me lol. Truth is we are alike in this respect, we just like being generous and buying things for others and enjoy it when we get a chance to go shopping together as it’s not so easy for her these days with a small baby and a toddler.

So, basically I have spent the Christmas Fund, the shopping for the month fund, plus a bit of money I had allocated for a couple of small things I need to pay for and I have bought things for the little uns on my Next card.:eek: It’s all in hand though, I have not purchased anything on credit card and it will all be cleared by the end of the month. DH has given me some money this week and more to come on Wednesday so I will use it for this purpose. He has money saved up for his insurance, accountant etc. that he has to pay by the end of the month, so anything he earns now will come to me. Having said that, work will be slow now for a few months and he is off with me between Christmas and New Year so not expecting a lot. I have received my Sainsburys £85 gift card for changing to them for gas and leccy so will use this for food till the end of the year. I still have enough in Nectar points to buy the food for Christmas day, I already have choccies, nuts etc. stashed away in the garage (so I’m not tempted to eat them!), with strict instructions to DH that however much I plead, cajole, threaten or blackmail he must not let me have them:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I think I’m going to do my Christmas Fund differently from now on. The idea of the challenge is to open the sealed tin (if you have one) on 1 December and declare how much you’ve saved. I was buying stuff with it from about April time when I saw bargains. Leaving it till 1 December to start just isn’t an option for me as I wouldn’t have enough time left, which meant that I didn’t really know how much I had to spend beforehand so I could distribute it out better. For me it would work better to save up for the following Christmas so that in January I knew exactly how much I had to play with for that Christmas. So what I save in 2017 would be used for Christmas 2018, but would be available for me to use from January 2018. I want it to include birthdays too. We don’t tend to buy for the adults any more, but I do tend to spoil the little uns. So I am going to ‘divert’ money from the house fund in January to the Christmas fund for Christmas 2017 and then what I save in the £1 a day challenge next year will be for Christmas 2018……….. and ……… breathe! Hope that makes sense, it does in my head but I do ramble a bit when typing (sorry).

I also need to sit down before 1 Jan to sort out my budgets for next year. I think I know what I want to do but I often change things around a little. I gave YNAB another go as I said, but still went back to my spreadsheet which I have tailored to suit my needs and have taken a little inspiration from YNAB too. I like my spreadsheet because I can update it either at work or at home, as I email it backwards and forwards. Not as onerous as it sounds as I always update it with my bank account as soon as I get to work and I take my work laptop home so can access the file even if I’ve forgotten to email it home.

So I’m hoping to do my budgets like this from January – if they have 12 months to run, they will be split into 12 equal payments. If they have less than 12 months, I will pay them when they are due out of that month’s pay and then start a 12 month budget for the next payment. This just works in my head and seems ‘cleaner’ and I prefer to do it this way. I don’t have too many like this anyway as most things are paid by DD. I usually pay the house insurance and tv licence in February and March when I have 2 months free from the council tax but they will budgeted for the payments in 2018 though.

Well I've rabbited on for so long I've run out of lunch time, so will sign off for now

Seasidegal58

Hi Mysteek

Your budgeting plans seem perfectly sensible to me. My DD is like you - she buys quite a few Xmas presents throughout the year as and when she sees things. She certainly gets quite a bit of her Xmas shopping done and dusted this way!

I start my Xmas budget in January and put a fixed sum into my YNAB category - I also have a birthday/ad hoc gift category as well. Still I think I'm going to be slightly over budget again for Xmas this year though we're all supposed to be reining it back in my family for next Christmas! I normally begin my Xmas shopping in October - I couldn't leave it till the beginning of December!

It's lovely that you had an Xmas shopping day out just you and DD. I always enjoy the time I spend with mine.

Hope the little arrival is flourishing. Baby's first Christmas!:santa2:

Mysteek

Hi Seasidegal


Thank goodness it makes sense to someone else lol. I have things rattling around in my head and when I put them down on 'paper'; they sometimes don't make sense.


The little one is absolutely gorgeous, he's really content and has started smiling which is a joy in itself.


I like the idea of having an amount at the start of the year which I can work to and know how much I have left at any one time. Hoping this way will stop me overspending on Christmas next year. Yes, we too have said for the last few years that we are not spending as much at Christmas and whilst we start off with good intentions we never achieve it, although I must say that this year is probably one of the best years for me as I was mostly organized.


I will need to start the weight control again in January (notice I didn't say diet as I hate that word lol) as it has gone to pot slightly due to copious amounts of mince pies and the like, most of them bought for me and it would be rude to refuse. My family think that because I am coeliac and often miss out on what everyone else is having, that they have to make up for it and buy me things which are usually highly fattening. Bless them.


Oh well back to the grind