A Budgeteer's Adventure

EatingTheElephant

Just caught up and wanted to say congratulations on the new job. I'm not surprised you cancelled the gym sessions, new job, with a commute as well, is bound to take a while to get used to.

I hope you manage to get the boiler sorted soon.

michelle09

Congrats on the new job! I have a fairly long commute but have found that if I have things to do - respond to messages/mark essays for students/read books etc. it actually goes quite quickly. And then I like to pretend that I get less frustrated by train delays (HA!).

Not so good on the boiler though, have you managed to fix it?

CharlieKat

Thank you for the well wishes Michelle and EatingTheElephant

Still very tired - this commute is a drive as it's not get to-able easily, or cheaply, by public transport - i really need to keep an eye on the petrol spends to see how much the job is costing me - it's not near any shops so i am always organised with food which is good - and i found the microwave this week so should be able to start having some soups etc - especially when the weather gets a bit colder

CharlieKat

I'm shattered i really need to look at our food spends and ensure i can buy fruit and veg as cheaply as possible to ensure a healthy diet - this is where i'll recoup my energy from - trouble is - i'm too tired to look at it :rotfl::rotfl: Has to be a priority as health really does need to come first

I've sold a few bits on the bay which is :T and found a few bits i thought i could sell but they aren't good enough But still, it's things out of the house :T

I had a fairly good day 'shopping' at the carboot last week - for £6 i got: - 1 going out top, 2 new summer jackets to update my work wardrobe (will mean black dresses i wear year round will feel refreshed :T) 5 work tops and 1 dress :T These all go towards filling the gaps in my wardrobe which I'd identified during my clearing out and re-organisation. So i'm really pleased with that haul and they were all really good high street makes too

i also picked up some unused toiletries which i'll use - both creams and cleansers etc - much cheaper than me buying them as i need them and they're a fairly regular spend for me so some good savings there too :T

I also bought some books to read - they weren't the cheapest, or I'd have bought more, I love reading but i'd not heard of either the authors / titles so could only go off the stall holders recommendations based on our nice chat on what i normally like to read - figured it was worth a few pound spend I'm looking forward to starting one based on her recommendation - but i need to finish the one i'm reading now before i do that

Next week we have someone coming out to give us a quote for some work we need doing - hopefully we can then move forwards with the work on the house that needs to be done.

This week i was able to move all money into required bills accounts and I also managed to put some into savings too - i was going to leave the money in my account until the end of next month when my 10% overpayments allowance resets and then use it to start the repayments. Had a rethink on this as adopting the 'pay yourself' first approach has been working for me and i thought it best to move the funds into savings as i'd planned to at the start of this journey last year :T

Any advice? I've been reading about peoples bargainous purchases for meals out etc and have been looking at an afternoon tea - i've never had one before - goodness knows why as i love cake, sarnies and drinks The place which has the offer on is doing a really good deal as it includes a drink as well. But it's spending money! hence my dilemma!! I know everything should be about balance but as i'm only just back in work, and that work is part-time i'm thinking if i should just prioritise my mortgage and bills? This would be going out with a family member so going some way towards this years target of spending quality time with people.

And finally... house i *think* i'd love has come up for sale - why do i check the selling site :rotfl: I clearly can't afford it - had a period of being out of work and on jsa, still trying get money owed from company which closed down, income has reduced and am working part-time. Still, it gives me something to aim for and i guess i've an idea how the local market is and more encouraged to pay this mortgage down and not fritter money away (hence added dilemma noted above).
i do also *think* if i was in a position to buy it i wouldn't, as i'd say it's overpriced by £50k - hard to please, moi? It's much easier once you're in somewhere to have an idea of the size. I live in a tiny home, and whilst what i'm looking at is apparently 4 bed some of the rooms look really small - as in - where will my clothes go? does it have wardrobes? :rotfl: like i say, you can't tell just from pictures though *and* i'm probably trying to put myself off as if i was in a good position i'd be viewing it hey, ho really should take it as encouragement to focus on making this home the best we can whilst we reduce what we owe *positive thoughts*

Jessy103

Personally I think you should do the afternoon tea! Sounds like you've had a rough time recently with being out of work so you deserve a treat! I'm always on Rightmove looking at houses I can't afford but I think it does help motivate you! x

CharlieKat

long time no post

I might try and get up for work earlier to give me chance to pop on here more frequently - I'd post in my lunch but it is too fiddly on my phone and internet usage is very heavily monitored - wouldn't want people i work with seeing my bills and ramblings :eek: especially after the day i've had today:sad:

Ignore the below if you want but needed to 'talk to someone' as it were.

It looks like my travel costs to work will be quite a bit more than anticipated - i did read the guide on here about driving efficiently and have been doing everything already except i'd already filled the car up with petrol. I'm thinking now a full tank will do 2 weeks rather than a month - note to self - Budget to be adjusted when have true cost

Then the boiler has been playing up. I mentioned this previously and had got it working again but it's been intermittent and neither of us are happy, and a bit grouchy, about freezing cold showers, boiler man been and been paid but there's more to be done with replacement parts On the plus side, at least it should be set for winter with the service being done.

Had a large unexpected bill arrive :mad: It seems i was over refunded some money a while ago - i've gone over and over the paperwork and spoken them (and cried whilst doing so:o:() Whilst there was no way of me knowing this at the time, i now have to pay it back. After weeks of being without any money and now working only part-time

Back with a more positive post soon x

CharlieKat

Slightly longer than expected delay. However washing up done, dried moved, tea made, eaten, washing up done, dried, moved :rotfl: washer also on for 2nd load this week. More importantly, it's Friday night and I have a glass of wine

Before all the rubbish happened today / last few days, as noted above I'd been feeling a bit more positive (have been very down and upset with being out of work all this time) and I've thinking about targets, this year, 5 years, where i want to be with things financial, health, personal etc. It seemed a natural time to think about this as this is the month my 10% overpayment target re-sets - so a mortgage year, rather than a usual year.

I'd made some good decisions :T Well i think so anyway :rotfl:

This year I want to:-

Overpay the mortgage by the allowed 10% (any more and there are penalties)

Increase savings pot 1 by £5,500

Start a regular s&$ 1sa

Pay off 2 of my credit cards

Declutter my home

Successfully pass current study course

Successfully pass next study course - specifically linked to my job and career goals - starts and ends before end of mortgage year

Try new hobbies / interests to see if anything sticks :T

That'll do for now. I'm not going to try and do everything at once but start one thing and then move onto the next.

I'm working part-time and my wages are pretty low so things like savings and paying off credit cards will come from making extra money. I need to think about this alot more. The decluttering should help with extra income but I've just done my jewellery (again) and there is nothing left to part with from this. Not sure how successful I'll be in other areas :think:

The state of the house has been getting me down to - it got into a bit of a mess as i was working so many hours at ex job and when i was made redundant i was too upset to do anything much really Today i've cleared the top of my bedside cabinet, as well as doing my jewellery, small but good steps and do feel better looking at how clear that area looks now :T

To clear the 2 cards in a year I'd need to be paying about £17.50 a day :eek: shocked myself when i worked that one out - i really don't have alot left to sell, and certainly nothing of any value - so as i said, serious thought required here.

As a part of trying new things and being happier with each day and week I'm going to get back to my gym classes :j <- that'll be me but with more wobbly bits :rotfl: I'm out of shape at the moment which is also upsetting, and i'm tired from travel to work and concentrating all day learning new role Still, introducing these classes will be good for me and i'll be using my membership as well as gym clothes - so they'll be earning their keep :rotfl:

CharlieKat

I've updated sig to show mortgage balance and balance of card i'm overpaying now.

I've also had a little play on the overpayment calculator - i'm not sure if there's a calculator to work things out more precisely for me but think it is an ok guide anyway. i can't think to work it out but my overpayments are capped at 10% which I pay off as soon as i can but will take about 10 months to do with regularly paying the most i can afford to. On the calc i've just worked out 10% allowance, divided that by 12 and put that in as though i'm paying it over 12 months.

Just heard the happy ker-ching of a sale on the bay so once that's paid i'll get it paid off credit card :T

CharlieKat

Jessy103 wrote: »

Personally I think you should do the afternoon tea! Sounds like you've had a rough time recently with being out of work so you deserve a treat! I'm always on Rightmove looking at houses I can't afford but I think it does help motivate you! x

Thanks Jessy - i've done it - but after getting that bill today sortof wished i hadn't. Anyway, it's paid for now so just got to enjoy it

Jessy103

Oh dear! I'm sorry to hear you're having a rough time but it'll sort itself out soon! Well done with getting a plan in place and clearing your cabinet, I find that even doing a small section of the house makes a huge difference! x