The Edcawber Principle 30 October 2017 at 5:22PM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Mortgage-Free Wannabe 1.9K replies 223.7K views

Busy_Mee1

I think you are dead right re making DD use her own spending money to fund toys and treats, not only from your financial point of view, but also teaching her the value of money.

We did this with our two children and they are both really good with money as adults. Neither of them have debt, other than a mortgage and both save for things they want.

It was amazing as well, how often, having to fund things for themselves when they were young, made them rethink their desire to have it.

I also agree you don't owe DD the child benefit. We used ours throughout our children's childhood because we needed it, but then once things improved financially we funded things like driving lessons, cars and university support, so they didn't lose out.

edinburgher

Sorry gang - without meaning to enforce a grumpy Ed echo chamber - I am pretty set on trying to wrangle DD a healthy nest egg by the time she gets to adulthood. Words such as "owe" are purely in terms of me trying to budget and do the accounting, they're not meant to be loaded with meaning and I certainly don't think that anyone who has done things differently is in any way wrong. Different strokes for different folks and I respect you all, just don't want to start that chat again

On the same topic, money "for her" was always meant to be a split between a wee bit of spending (pocket money) and a wee bit of saving (ISA). Pocket money will be deducted from the total that we aim to pay back to her ISA, as she won't be having her cake and eating it. Won't make a huge difference at this point (she has been receiving pocket money for roughly 4 months), but over time we'll be paying less into the ISA as she grows up and needs more money spent on day-to-day things.

YNAB continues to make me weep blood :rotfl:

Things I have forgotten/haven't made allowances for:

• A two night hotel stay in October (£160). Don't want to cancel it as over Mrs E's birthday and booked to allow for an activity that we've already paid for
• The cost of Pr1me (dodgy student version at £39, renews in August)
• A £2.99/month channel subscription through Pr1me. Keeping this, but now taking it from Baby budget
• Another kid thing

On the plus side, I have included our Premium Bonds, so that adds £150 and I have cashed in £100 of loose change this morning (paid straight to current account). More importantly, Mrs E has a job interview coming up for a post that could offer a pay rise of 20% (it's not that simple once total benefits package is calculated, but that's the headline figure).

I had hoped to buy a bike outright for commuting, but it is not going to be realistic. Even a cheap hybrid bike is a couple hundred quid and I'd need a helmet, mudguards and panniers for the huge amount of crap I take into work. I think I'll need to look into our cycle to work scheme, even though I think it's overly laborious and the tax benefits probably aren't worth the faff. It could work out to be quite affordable though, as any purchase would be spread over 18 months and I'm not looking to buy an expensive bike.

beanielou

Could give you a pink helmet. :think:
Maybe not :rotfl:

edinburgher

beanielou wrote: »

Could give you a pink helmet. :think:
Maybe not :rotfl:

I'm not that comfortable with my masculinity :rotfl:

beanielou

edinburgher wrote: »

I'm not that comfortable with my masculinity :rotfl:

Shame

teapot2

Was going to suggest looking into the Cycle to Work scheme - haven't used it myself so wasn't sure how complicated it would be.

edinburgher

Have trimmed the budget again as we appear to be overspent for next month (damn YNAB pestering me). With a little bit of luck, we now have a balanced budget (where is the praying smiley)? :rotfl:

To achieve this I have had to cut: cat funds *2 (10% each), Baby 15%, Transportation 40% (public transport and parking), Groceries 10%, Home Maintenance 80% (emergencies only), Gifts 10%. I have also stopped funding two DD "nice to haves" that have taken another £25/month or so out of the budget.

Not a huge difference overall (about £200), but it should right the ship. Cash flow should also improve by c. £230/month from November (the effect of unbudgeted expenses disappearing and a pay rise of 6%).

Anybody else bored of budgeting chat yet?

I have packed my breakfast and lunch for tomorrow already to save money - currently running down the cupboards and I am eating some right random !!!!!!

Suffolk_lass

edinburgher wrote: »

Have trimmed the budget again as we appear to be overspent for next month (damn YNAB pestering me). With a little bit of luck, we now have a balanced budget (where is the praying smiley)? :rotfl:

To achieve this I have had to cut: cat funds *2 (10% each), Baby 15%, Transportation 40% (public transport and parking), Groceries 10%, Home Maintenance 80% (emergencies only), Gifts 10%. I have also stopped funding two DD "nice to haves" that have taken another £25/month or so out of the budget.

Not a huge difference overall (about £200), but it should right the ship. Cash flow should also improve by c. £230/month from November (the effect of unbudgeted expenses disappearing and a pay rise of 6%).

Anybody else bored of budgeting chat yet?

I have packed my breakfast and lunch for tomorrow already to save money - currently running down the cupboards and I am eating some right random !!!!!!

🙏 you always seem to be on top of things when I read - my mild obsession with having enough money means I don't really get bored with budgeting talk - it's better than always being surprised when things pop up

hiddenshadow

edinburgher wrote: »

Anybody else bored of budgeting chat yet?

I'm almost never bored of the budgeting chat (also post on YNAB's forums, which obviously devote themselves to budgeting).


Hope the spending cuts are easily managed - the brilliant (& not so brilliant) thing about YNAB is it does force you to face the music regarding what you actually spend on a regular basis. (But then there are very few surprise bills to contend with!) Knowledge is power vs ignorancy is bliss, I suppose.

beanielou

Have a good week