Positive Balance: Focused on Budgeting

marcsshell

Just read your diary and you are doing well. Keep it up xx

PositiveBalance

Mindfulness wrote: »

Well done on all you’ve achieved so far. Read the diary from start and must say I’m impressed with how you stay focused.
Wanting to subscribe to your diary, so I can keep on the journey with you. I’m new I’m not sure if this is possible, to subscribe

Hi Mindfulness! :wave:


Welcome, welcome! Alas, I'm not the most frequent diary updater as I do most of my catching-up while to/from work and my tiny screen and big fingers means lots of spelling mistakes (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! :rotfl:)



Protip: if you want to stay focused, have no social life. It really helps!

WannabeFree wrote: »

Hope you've had a good day PB

Bus fares have gone up here too. Must the time for it I think it always surprises me though

x

I know. Grr! Apologies for taking so long to reply but I've been useless (again)! I've probably replied on your thread before I have on my own! :rotfl:

marcsshell wrote: »

Just read your diary and you are doing well. Keep it up xx

Thanks, marcsshell! It doesn't feel like it, sometimes! I can generally only fling a few hundred pounds at the debt most months, which means it is slow going. Still, I should be thankful that 1) the debt is not bigger; 2) it's going in the right direction!


*Runs off to subscribe to other peoples' diaries*

WannabeFree

It's all going in the right direction though! and you're doing pretty amazing Be honest

Hope you're well

x

PositiveBalance

So, after a month to actually get round to writing them down, here are my 2019 resolutions:

Financial goals:

1. Pay off CC
2. Sort out insurances
3. Put £400 in bank account for fund to match giving by another person.
4. Get detailed Sinking Funds spreadsheet up and running
5. Learn to food/transport budget really well
6. Install back and front garden fences
7. Finish up baby emergency fund of £1000
8. Buy tumble dryer(?)
9. Week holiday to see parental.
10. Continue to pay down non-credit card debt (going to take longer than this year)

Non-financial goals:

1. Get fit
2. Declutter
3. Start (some) work on house

Let's see how they go!

PositiveBalance

Soo...

It's payday! And a long time it has been coming, too! :j Although thanks to my newly-developed budgeting skills, I've done alright (food and transport categories still needing tweaking, of course)!

Financial thoughts for this month:

1. I was reading though my diary the other day and remembered that I had intended to set up a Guest Pot for additional guest-related expenses when visitors stay. I have therefore set aside £50 this month to start it. This now means that my monthly pots total is £245.66 and my pots are £265.66 until May given that I raided them to get the CC down before the New Year.
2. My back fence was (further) damaged by the recent bad wind. It has been my intention to wait until the summer to do the work until I had paid off the CC and saved up to get it done, but that might not be possible any more. I have someone who was supposed to come and look at it, but they have not managed to come yet with the bad weather, so I'm just waiting to see if they can patch it up a bit or if it needs doing now until summer.
3. I've probably been paid the most I have ever been paid this month (just over £1700) meaning that I have a £419.98 difference between my budget and what I earned which would bring my CC down to £2011.24 if I am lucky enough to be able to use it to pay off that. That means I would have to pay a remaining £11.24 to find to be able to get it to -£2000. If I had not set up the Guest Pot, I would have done it without scrimping. The Guest Pot is on top of the £40.00 Gym Fund I set up last month. I did not go to the gym last month so I am thinking of throwing it at the debt and possibly also this month's (£40 or £80 respectively).
4. Having said that, my cat needs her annual jabs, so perhaps I should wait until they tell me she doesn't have some random illness and ask me for lots of money when I take her!
5. I'm going to get my hair cut and my eyebrows waxed using my clothes budget this month (well, it's all related to appearance!)

In other news, I have just submitted my gas and electricity readings and done an online comparison to check that I am still paying reasonable prices. I am, thankfully.

In all honesty, there's not that much I can do until I see what's going on with the back fence. Everything hinges on that (no pun intended!)

So...very exciting or repair-y times at PB Towers.

Still waiting for that lottery win...:rotfl:

PositiveBalance

WannabeFree wrote: »

It's all going in the right direction though! and you're doing pretty amazing Be honest

Hope you're well

x

Cold, much like yourself, I imagine, Wannabe!

But yes, I'm getting there. If I am able to throw this whopping amount of money at the CC this month, I hope to have it gone by July at the latest! #ambitious :cool:

PositiveBalance

Well, things have changed fast...

1) I went to the Boots -70% sale and spent just under £75. About £15 worth will be going back and it has stocked me up on hand soap/lotion for the year, but it is slightly more than I wanted to spend and the selection wasn't as good this year as previous years. (9o%+ of this will be presents - apart from the hand soap and one small make-up product I bought for myself.)

2) I have given £200 to someone today instead of putting £400 in a bank account to match their giving in a different way today.

3) I have lent £600 to someone very much in need due to some bad luck. They will absolutely repay me ASAP and I trust them implicitly (otherwise I wouldn't have done it) but this is the money I would have used for my savings pots and to pay down the CC this month, so they will just have to wait until whenever I get the money back (The loan went with a 'no pressure' clause.) Thankfully, I will still have enough money to cover all essentials but this just rammed home to me how important an emergency fund is, and I think the recipient of the loan may have just learned a lesson too, so it's all good.

4) A job that is much better paid than my own has come up and I'm going to apply for it as a friend has kept saying how good I would be at that specific role. It's a massive jump from the role I'm currently in, so I doubt I will get it, but I definitely won't get it if I don't try. Cross your fingers for me!

P.S. It looks like the back fence will be able to be patched up until better weather arrives, which is great!

PositiveBalance

Financial goals:

1. Pay off CC
2. Sort out insurances
3. [STRIKE]Put £400 in bank account for fund to match giving by another person.[/STRIKE]
4. Get detailed Sinking Funds spreadsheet up and running
5. Learn to food/transport budget really well
6. Install back and front garden fences
7. Finish up baby emergency fund of £1000
8. Buy tumble dryer(?)
9. Week holiday to see parental.
10. Continue to pay down non-credit card debt (going to take longer than this year)

Non-financial goals:

1. Get fit
2. Declutter
3. Start (some) work on house

WannabeFree

Ouch expensive weekend then PB, good news the fence can be patched up for now

Take care
x

PositiveBalance

WannabeFree wrote: »

Ouch expensive weekend then PB, good news the fence can be patched up for now

Take care
x

Just a bit! :rotfl: I'll get £600 of it back, though.


Most of my bills have gone out of the account. If I stick to my remaining budget without taking anything else out, I'll have about £50 for food for the rest of the month.

I have a full freezer and cupboards and can take money out if I want, but I'll see how far I can get. I like the challenge (but I might not when I get out out of work and am tired one night! :rotfl:)

I feel a mealplan coming up...

At least I've managed to remember to defrost something from the freezer for tonight. #smallwins :T