£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Treadingonplaymobil

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

I think you need to keep a savings cushion because of your erratic income. As I recall you do not draw a regular salary from your business account but tend to dip in to it when you run short due to unexpected spends? Is that correct?

I think in your position I would try to get to the point where I could draw a regular monthly salary from the business account and work your monthly budget using that figure. If money builds up in the business that will cushion you on leaner months (like the summer months and maybe December?)

My personal preference is to have an emergency savings account and an annual bills account to cover Christmas, car expenses, holiday and house maintenance. At the moment we only have one current account as our budget is not that tight now but in the past we had two. One for bills and one for discretionary expenditure monthly.

In an ideal world you would pay a budgeted amount to the debt every month and then any residual income in the bank account at the end of the month would go as further overpayments.

I do draw a salary from the business account - used to be around £150, now I am intending to draw £350, which my sums suggest should be feasible, and makes for a more realistic budget (and therefore less chance of dipping into other savings pots).

HairyHandofDartmoor

It's tricky. Whilst I understand the need for a cushion, I know that I personally have zero willpower and would be tempted to spend the cushion . It's very easy to convince yourself that you 'need' something.

Maybe half cushion and half credit card would be a good solution? Alternatively have a savings account that you cant access online for your cushion. Having to physically go somewhere to draw the money out would stop impulse buys .

Treadingonplaymobil

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

It's tricky. Whilst I understand the need for a cushion, I know that I personally have zero willpower and would be tempted to spend the cushion . It's very easy to convince yourself that you 'need' something.

Maybe half cushion and half credit card would be a good solution? Alternatively have a savings account that you cant access online for your cushion. Having to physically go somewhere to draw the money out would stop impulse buys .

That is exactly my problem! Amazing how much one's 'need' for something increases when there is money available.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 32: Day 7

Today is the first day in WEEKS that I can actually see an end on the horizon for my current to do list. Have just been adding onto it relentlessly for so long that I've given up any hope of getting to the end of any day with it cleared. Not sure I'll manage it today, but definitely closer than it has been. Started today with 34 items on it, have ticked off 8 already.

Spent some time balancing my budgets this morning, so confusing with the CC spending, but think I've got it all sorted now. I THINK (although not 100% certain) that I don't need to use the CC again, as I have enough cash flow in the current account to get through to the end of the month, then the plan is to not use it again. Really hope so, it would be lovely to be done with it.

Had to email my mortgage broker this morning with all my info so she can look into remortgaging in November. Incredibly depressing having to confess it all! The £20k parental loan isn't on paper, but everything else is, obviously.

to do today
1. Put clean laundry away
2. Clear those remaining 28 to do list items!
3. Go through gifted&talented autumn course programme with DC1 and see if anything appeals.
4. Menu plan and mySupermarket list - aiming to keep it down below £75 again.
5. Try out the library ebook thing - DH has sorted pin codes etc, and I can cancel the Audible subscription if it works.
6. Go for a walk - feeling very sluggish and unhealthy after so long sitting at my desk working this month.

to do this week
1. keep spends to a minimum while away with work. Went well, only ended up needing to buy one small meal/snack, about £8, in all the time I was away.

to do this month
1. keep the total spend for the month below £3,500 (last month was miles better than the previous average £3,900, going to try to repeat the feat). More or less on track. Ish.
2. get my new website finished and launched (crosses fingers, toes and eyes).
3. just work as much as possible and make some money back to recover the enormous shortfall that faces us this month! Going better than expected, although still need more work in to actually clear the CC

Treadingonplaymobil

Well that's nice. Managed to tick off 15 things on my whopping 34 item list. Which would be pretty good, if only I hadn't also added another 11. :eek:

BUT, I did manage to clear some of the things that have been just dragging on and on and on and one and on, and most of the things I have added are just website trouble shooting stuff that can be tackled at my leisure over the coming few weeks.

Another fairly cheap food shop - £68 total. Dare I hope that we're actually getting better at this budget food shop thing? Although we had one crazily expensive week this month we've actually only spent £307 in total so far, and in theory should only need one more small top up shop before the end of the month. Record breaking.

to do today
1. Put clean laundry away. Done, but created another mountain to iron, since it was sunny.
2. Clear those remaining 28 to do list items! Well, that went well. Not.
3. Go through gifted&talented autumn course programme with DC1 and see if anything appeals. Done, he didn't fancy any and I haven't pushed it - he's very tired at the moment and he doesn't need anything extra that he's not really excited about.
4. Menu plan and mySupermarket list - aiming to keep it down below £75 again. Done.
5. Try out the library ebook thing - DH has sorted pin codes etc, and I can cancel the Audible subscription if it works. Not done.
6. Go for a walk - feeling very sluggish and unhealthy after so long sitting at my desk working this month. Only a short one, but done.

to do this week
1. keep spends to a minimum while away with work. Went well, only ended up needing to buy one small meal/snack, about £8, in all the time I was away.

to do this month
1. keep the total spend for the month below £3,500 (last month was miles better than the previous average £3,900, going to try to repeat the feat). More or less on track. Ish.
2. get my new website finished and launched (crosses fingers, toes and eyes).
3. just work as much as possible and make some money back to recover the enormous shortfall that faces us this month! Going better than expected, although still need more work in to actually clear the CC

Hiddenidenity

Well done on the food shop and your to do list. Always so busy! x

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 33: Day 1

It's funny to see the weeks ticking away since LBM day. Can't believe I'm in my 33rd week of this business - inching up towards a year! Still such a long way to go, but equally it feels like we've come so far already. It's like turning an oil tanker, getting out of the old spending habits and mindset, but I feel like we're slooowwwwwly making the turn.

I have a client today who booked and paid about six months ago, which always feels slightly like working for free as it's so long since I saw the money. It's going to be a full day session too, so not a lot else will get done today.

to do today
1. Bake biscuits for client.
2. Plan next week's work time.
3. Feed sourdough so I can make more tomorrow. Recently started using this recipe and it is literally the best sourdough I have ever eaten in my entire life.
4. Weigh the ghee I made yesterday - I'm fairly sure it's cheaper to make than buy, but I need to check how much I actually made to be sure. Butter is so expensive now though!
5. Final website read through.

to do this week
1. Launch website! Finally.
2. Spend a little time on smaller business - it has been SO neglected in recent weeks.
3. Redo SOA once DH has been paid (assuming pay rise finally comes in!).
4. Prep October's YNAB categories.
5. Start to plan advent calendars and Christmas presents so I can get a handle on spending.

to do this month
1. keep the total spend for the month below £3,500 (last month was miles better than the previous average £3,900, going to try to repeat the feat). More or less on track. Ish.
2. get my new website finished and launched (crosses fingers, toes and eyes).
3. just work as much as possible and make some money back to recover the enormous shortfall that faces us this month! Going better than expected, although still need more work in to actually clear the CC

Kittychick

Hi, just a quickie.. I don't think this will be a problem for you but I downloaded the Borrowbox app and when I got my first audiobook it sent my phone crazy. I had to put it in safe mode and delete it. We have now downloaded my account onto the iPad and it works fine. Maybe it's something on the android version or maybe it's not good for Sony phones. I'm fairly sure you have an iPhone but thought it was worth mentioning it's great on the iPad and I'm on my second loan now.

Suffolk_lass

As butter is so expensive now, there's a bit of a trend for making your own - ys double cream is ideal - have you considered this, if only for cooking.

I remember reading on here that it's best to wash it after you've strained off the buttermilk (great for scones, as you will know) and then add a little salt. This will stop it going rancid too quickly. It does't keep for long but it's ideal for cooking and you can freeze it (in portions)

HairyHandofDartmoor

It's good that you've got rid of some of the items on your list that have been hanging around for a while. Those are the ones that can drag you down emotionally :T.

You're doing well on the food shopping front. Food shopping is always my nemesis .