Taking back control

Little--fish · 14 January 2017 at 2:53AM

Having one of those 'awake in the middle of the night' nights - seems to happen quite often in the past few weeks, usually after one of the kids stirs and then I find I can't get back to sleep as I start thinking about things too much! Unfortunately I am a great one for too much thinking - it has its advantages as I'm good at planning things, etc. but sometimes I can't switch off when I want to.

Anyway, in the interests of doing something positive with being awake - I have just paid off £110 from the CC :j It helped that I got paid today but will need to be extra frugal to not run out of money before next months wages. I'm really enjoying the challenge though and have had a very low-spend January so far!

Well, better try to get some sleep as youngest will be up at 6.30 - and on the go straight away :eek:

Little--fish · 14 January 2017 at 2:58AM

Oh, and another NSD yesterday! So that's 7 in January so far!

I do now need to stock up on fruit and get petrol, etc. so Saturday will definitely not be a NSD - but I will try to limit to just the essentials - and will update my spreadsheet accordingly!

LauraB89 · 14 January 2017 at 9:52AM

Morning Little Fish - looks like you are firing on all cylinders

Keep it up and you will be debt free in no time!

xx

Bobarella · 14 January 2017 at 6:48PM

Well done on another overpayment! Sorry you had a distrurbed night.

mummytogirls · 14 January 2017 at 7:48PM

Evening Little Fish,

Just found your diary and enjoyed reading it tonight.

Well done on what you have achieved so far! Not far to go now :j xx

Little--fish · 16 January 2017 at 8:37PM

Thank you mummytogirls - I've been reading through your diary too and it is amazing what you've achieved so far. Will be posting on there once I get to the end! Thanks for your kind words though, I'm finding it really great and supportive on here which is lovely. It can get a little lonely in Little--fish world sometimes, particularly in the evening as I can't leave the house because of the kids, so I'm really enjoying coming on here and posting. I used to just sit and read the MSE boards once the kids were asleep, but posting is even better!

So, the weekend was good money-wise. Did the predicted top-up shop at Lidl on Saturday and clever-old-me thought I'd just take cash so I would keep to a small spend. Well, really-not-so-clever-old-me totally forgot I only had cash on me until I had unloaded EVERYTHING onto the checkout belt (totalling about twice as much as the cash I had on me :eek:) The other people in the queue looked at me like I was daft as I loaded everything back into the trolley, muttering that I had forgotten something, and then had to go back round the shop putting half of it back

The kids thought it was hilarious and that I am a most silly mummy - it just showed me how used I am to having my card and not thinking about what it's adding up to. Thank goodness I remembered before it had all been put through the till - I think I would have died on the spot if I didn't have the money to pay for it :eek:

Anyway, all good in the end and £20 top up done. Also put petrol in for work commutes this week (3 days a week, 80 miles a day) so shouldn't need to top-up until next weekend.

NSD on Sunday :T so that makes 8 for the month - woo hoo!

Not the best day today, spent another £8 on groceries, about half of which wasn't really essential (think millionaire shortbread kind of non-essential

) just because I was feeling a bit rubbish after work. But......rather than lose it after just one set-back (which is often the pattern with me) I will just chalk it up to experience, recognise why it happened and try not to fall into that trap again :A (well, ideally anyway

)

Anyway, kids asleep, and I am so rock-and-roll that I'm already in bed with my trusty hot water bottles (the very best invention EVER!) and enjoying some money planning. I just had a quick look through the money forecast for the next couple of weeks and I think I'm ok to pay a bit more off the CC - so I did! Another £30 paid off, taking it to £550

Very excited to update sig - and can't wait until the next payment goes into my HTB ISA next week - I'm so sad!!!

Hope everyone is having a great start to the week

Little--fish · 16 January 2017 at 9:05PM

As I'm taking part in the Frugal Living Challenge this year (have followed the thread for the last couple of years and love it) I am working to an annual budget for my expenditure. The idea is that I will stick to this and then save any income over this amount - yay! I've already posted it on the FLC thread but as this is my very own diary I thought I'd put it up here as well

So.....

........my total annual budget for 2017 is £17 000. Here is the breakdown:

Rent - £7800.00
Council Tax - £1200.00
Electricity and Gas - £500.00
Groceries - £2000.00
Petrol - £2600.00
Car Maintenance, Insurance & Tax - £600.00
Telephone, Internet and Mobile Phone - £280.00
TV Licence - £145.00
Footwear & Clothing - £200.00
Gifts - £200.00
Kids Activities - £250.00
Life Insurance - £740.00
Charity - £120.00
Solid Fuel (Coal) - £130.00
Cleaning, Nappies, Toiletries - £120.00
Misc. - £115.00

As I have never done an annual budget before (and boy was it eye-opening and actually quite scary to see things totalled up annually) this year may be a bit of a learning curve. I am determined to stick to the £17 000 but may need to alter the category totals if necessary. For example I think petrol may be a little high, just based on this month so far, so if it looks like I'm coming in under-budget on petrol I will use the 'spare' money in another category that I may be over-budget on. Next year I should have much better idea of what I spend on what from the start of the year and the category totals more firmly fixed.

I also have an amazing spreadsheet (courtesy of Frugaldom

) which allows me to update all these categories, month by month, and keep track of the totals, and also see the annual amount reducing as I spend - I LOVE IT and look at it about five times a day

Bobarella · 16 January 2017 at 9:09PM

Oh dear on the shopping story. But bet you aren't the first to ever do that.

I love the Frugal Living Thread, but haven't been over in a while. Great community there.

Little--fish · 16 January 2017 at 9:17PM

I know, and at least I realised before it was time to pay!

Just wanted to say that I'm reading through your diary Bob, it will probably take me a few days (children-permitting) to get to the end but I'm really enjoying it and I think you sound amazing! I also think it's lovely that you are so supportive to so many people on here.

I will be posting on your diary once I reach the end, I never want to risk it until I've read the whole thing in case I miss something crucial and say something daft!