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

Treadingonplaymobil

HOW EXCITING. I just idly checked my Quidco and Topcashback accounts to see if the cashbacks I was waiting for had cleared, and Quidco had £62.24 and Topcashback had £55.68. Have withdrawn both and will divide up according to my complicated formula (most towards debt, some towards improving our budget for next month).

JoJoC

Excellent! Hopefully it'll make a little difference to both I love little things like that - it's like my credit union account. I pay it monthly like a bill to save up for christmas but split a small amount off into a separate account which has around £200 in it. I completely forgot about it all the time but when I remember it makes me feel like 'whew, there's a buffer there if I need it'.

Your complicated formula intrigues me! Not sure why because even if you told me I'm not sure id understand! Haha

kirtsypoos

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

HOW EXCITING. I just idly checked my Quidco and Topcashback accounts to see if the cashbacks I was waiting for had cleared, and Quidco had £62.24 and Topcashback had £55.68. Have withdrawn both and will divide up according to my complicated formula (most towards debt, some towards improving our budget for next month).

That's brilliant! Unexpected chances to debt bust are my favourite!

Treadingonplaymobil

JoJoC wrote: »

Excellent! Hopefully it'll make a little difference to both I love little things like that - it's like my credit union account. I pay it monthly like a bill to save up for christmas but split a small amount off into a separate account which has around £200 in it. I completely forgot about it all the time but when I remember it makes me feel like 'whew, there's a buffer there if I need it'.

Your complicated formula intrigues me! Not sure why because even if you told me I'm not sure id understand! Haha

It's not actually remotely complicated - I just worked out a division which seemed sensible for anything extra I get in on top of my bare minimum income to make life more enjoyable and make sure we weren't short later in the year. At the minute it stands like this, although I may adjust things as various pots top up:

30% debt
10% towards next month
10% family kitty
10% to food budget
5% Christmas
5% birthdays
10% DH kitty
10% my kitty
5% car MOT/servicing fund
5% saving for new bike for Child 1

I am already contemplating reducing down the payment to DH and my kitty to 5% each, as we both actually have £50 in there now, so enough to purchase new trousers or top if anything wears out in the next month or two.

Moneywhizz

Sounds like you are actually really enjoying budgeting now. It is the key to being in control and not being stressed by the expenses that come along. You are doing brilliantly.

Treadingonplaymobil

Moneywhizz wrote: »

Sounds like you are actually really enjoying budgeting now. It is the key to being in control and not being stressed by the expenses that come along. You are doing brilliantly.

I really am! My competitive side has come out in force and I've cheerfully become the Official Household Penny Pincher.

Treadingonplaymobil

A good day today - finding £100 ready to pay out in your cashback accounts is always good for morale! So have managed to put a bit towards various budget pots in advance for next month and still have over £30 extra to pay towards debt as soon as the money hits my bank account.

I also got bids on two of the three things I have listed on eb@y, so that's a minimum of £30 coming in after fees.

Have also had a good solid productive day with work and housework type stuff (mainly batch cooking), and I think I’ve done pretty well on my lists….

To do today:
1. Avoid the temptation to spend ANY money when I go into town with my friend today (just for a wander and a catch up). Might just not take my wallet so I can't be tempted. Done! Left my wallet at home so I couldn’t give in to temptation.
2. Batch cook tomato soup for when I'm away at the end of this week as DH might not have time to once he's home from work, and I do. Done!
4. Batch cook chilli for the same reason. Done! Although accidentally used mega spicy chilli powder so it’s actually only any good for DH and me, way too spicy for the children, even though they’re pretty brave eaters.
5. Social media while working. Done!
6. Try again to tidy the bomb site that used to be my dining room. Have made a bit of progress on this, but it’s still not great.
7. Try again to return the online order that's been loitering for over a week. Return processed and ready to drop off at a Hermes place tomorrow (I HATE companies that make you email before you can return something. Will never order from them again).

To do this week:
1. Sit down as a family (we have a weekly family meeting on a Monday, this seems a good time) and come up with ways to reduce water usage. Done!
2. Look for paper/online copy of washing machine manual to see which cycle uses least water/energy, as part of an ongoing mission to reduce costs of both. Done!
3. Log into ee - our last two bills have been c.£91, which is even more ridiculous than the £85 contract fee, so we’re clearly overspending somewhere. Done, and lightly horrified to see that our bills are actually £89.75, not £85. That's a crapload of money on mobile phones.
4. Find out how much preschool bill is for this month and pay it - they seem terrible at giving out invoices and I don’t want to inadvertently get into arrears! Done! Annoyingly higher than expected, but not horribly so.
5. Ask at school whether there is dressing up for world book day. Done, and nobody seems to know! Will have to tap all my inventive skills if there is a last minute demand for costumes.
6. Put all insurance renewal dates into calendar in advance so I have time to search for better deals.
7. Put a date in the calendar to reassess gas and electricity usage/DD. Done!

Ammeretto

hi TOP.
hope ýou don't mind me posting but i have just read through your diary and you're doing really well.
I'm a big fan of YNAB though i must confess i still use my spreadsheet too. I cant seem to give it up and i use it for forecasting.

you reminded me to log onto quidco and i noticed that i have some funds due. Nowhere near as good as yours though mine is £8.11 but every little helps.

Treadingonplaymobil

Ammeretto wrote: »

hi TOP.
hope ýou don't mind me posting but i have just read through your diary and you're doing really well.
I'm a big fan of YNAB though i must confess i still use my spreadsheet too. I cant seem to give it up and i use it for forecasting.

you reminded me to log onto quidco and i noticed that i have some funds due. Nowhere near as good as yours though mine is £8.11 but every little helps.

Thanks for stopping by! I have a spreadsheet that I use alongside YNAB for forecasting too. Not regularly, but I have all the numbers and formulae in there and update them every now and again when i want to play around with our budget.

I am such a convert to cashback sites! I used to think they were such a strange concept. I still think they're strange, but I am remarkably unquestioning about things that make me £50 every now and again. :rotfl:

Bobarella

Have a good trip with work. Envious of your peaceful train rides I spent mine today chasing my daughter up and down the aisles of the train