Something to aim for

pinkypig

That's brilliant - well done you
Wishing you the very best of luck with your promotion, you truly cannot beat a bit of independence and the freedom it brings.

PP xx

getmore4less

dropped in to have a read and doing really well

this caught my eye.

I've managed to spread my big annual expenses out over the year, which helps.

do you mean you save monthly for them
or
pay them monthly rather than in one go.

if the later be very careful on the effective interest rate if they charge any more than the annual/12, also look out for monthly bills that can be paid in one go for a discount, by doing this the companies can hide the APR as they call it a discount.

eg Virgin Media give a £32 discount if you pay the land line up front,

£196 for the year or £19pm that's a hidden 28.88 APR

michelle09

Fingers crossed that the promotion comes through!

Looks like you're doing really well, well done.

Dragonrider

Thanks everyone! Keep your fingers crossed.

What I mean by spreading my expenses out is that I have a bills account and I put £1000 in there every month. Some monthly bills come out of there such as utility/phone etc, but most I pay in termly or annual lump sums eg insurance, kids clubs etc.

However, I have arranged it so that my big annual ones don't all fall in the same month - so car insurance is in March, house insurance in May, car service/MOT in August etc. This means that even if one of these were to be bigger than I was expecting, because there isn't another big outgoing timetabled for the same month, I remain comfortably within my 1000 per month total.

Hopefully that makes sense! If anyone has other ideas of how to organise it, if love to hear them.

Thanks,
Dragonrider

Dragonrider

So, I didn't get my promotion

The feedback was that I didn't play the interviewing game very well, I need more practice. This is booked in for Monday, and I will apply again the next time the process opens....

Plus Christmas blew my budget (because we got kittens!) so I won't manage much of an OP this month - haven't been brave enough to crunch the final numbers yet, but will update you when I've done them.

But 2018 is a whole new year, I have 2 beautiful little kittens as additions to the family, and I am even more determined to make dents in this whopper of a mortgage I am saddled with.

I also aim to look after myself a bit better, and have a number of plans that I'm turning over which I will share when they are fully formed. I don't want to call them New Year's Resolutions, because I never keep those - these will be full-on lifestyle changes for the benefit of me, and therefore also the benefit of everyone else. I am a much nicer mummy when I'm not exhausted or fed up at the state of the house etc etc.

Hope everyone had a great festive season - to me it feels like the mornings are even darker and colder than before Christmas - not sure how that works!

Dragonrider

pinkypig

Sorry you didn’t get your promotion, you will next time 😁,
Good luck with your 2018 goals xx

Dragonrider

Belated Update from December....

So I finally got round to working out my real figures from December!

My totals for the month are:

Food 350.71/400
Fuel 101.53/100
Personal spending 158.45/150
My travel 76.40/100
Family spending 244.19/200

So the painful grand total is: 931.28/950.

I'm amazed by this, as it felt like I was massively over-spending. There were 2 parties, a work Christmas dinner, ice-skating, a film, and a meal out. However, looking back, I've realised that the majority of my extra spending was on Christmas presents, which I then transferred over to my usual account from my Christmas account. So it obviously felt a lot worse than it actually was!

Based on that, I have topped up my remaining 18.72 from the monthly budget with a little bit from my bills account (88.72), and have overpaid £107.44 from the mortgage. Not the £200 I am aiming for, but not too bad for Christmas!

I've updated my signature to show that overall, I am still on track to overpay £200 per month for this year.

Roll on the nice short month of February!

Dragonrider

Dragonrider

January Update

Figures from January....

Food 367.15/400
Fuel 51.91/100
Personal spending 152.21/150
My travel 98.40/100
Family spending 161.20/200

Grand total is: 830.87/950.

Better than last month, but not near enough to my goal of £200 per month surplus. However, I did have a bit going spare in my bills account, so was able to make OP of 169.08 - not so bad after all!

I've updated my signature, and am still working on my other goals for the year - fitness, patience, relaxation/mindfulness.

Dragonrider

Dragonrider

February Update

After a very cold and snowy week, here are my figures from February....

Food 362.77/400
Fuel 55.87/100
Personal spending 100.64/150
My travel 103.17/100
Family spending 149.90/200

So the grand total is..... 772.35/950.

Quite a good month - I OP'd all of the surplus, which was 177.65. However, due to a leaky roof and a car service due next month, I decided to keep the surplus from my bills account in my bills account just in case there is an expensive surprise!

Still, that OP took £998.26 off the mortgage balance, so extremely close to my target of £1k per month reduction!

In other news, I have done exercise every day for the past week, and feel much better for it. This is part of my additional goals that I mentioned in a previous post and have yet to elaborate on. It has made me feel more energetic and more productive, so I am going to continue. It is made slightly interesting when child number 4 wakes up earlier than planned and comes and joins in!

Have a good week, all!

Dragonrider

Dragonrider

March Update...

I've got some quiet time, so I'm sitting at my computer crunching numbers before the chaos of the Easter holidays begins!

My figures from March are:

Food 409.26/400
Fuel 0/100
Personal spending 83.54/150
My travel 92.70/100
Family spending 165.84/200

So the grand total is...... 751.34/950

Not bad at all!!

That gives me an OP of 198.66, which has knocked £1096 off the capital! It was a slightly odd month in that I didn't buy any fuel at all, which balanced out the overspends on groceries and family spending. So I shall have to keep the belt very tight next month, which will mean getting creative over the holidays.

I am continuing to exercise every day (despite a stinking cold), and do feel a lot better for it.

And the next round of promotions has opened, so I'm busy practicing my interview technique in the hope that I nail it this time!

Dragonrider