My 5 year plan

fatrab

When I got my tax bill in January I challenged myself to reduce my outgoings by enough to compensate for it over the year. £100/month was the target but I'm smashing that on fuel alone with the wee car never mind any of the other changes!

So once the big car sells and the termination fees for the mobile and tablet have been billed and paid, my next challenge is to offset the cost of Mrs fatrab's mobile.

£38/month. Doesn't sound much but when you think you're already being as savvy as possible where do you make more savings?

Ideas on a postcard..... (or just post them below )

jwil

fatrab wrote: »

Exactly the same as us. I think once we've cleared our individual debts and the MIL (monster in law lol) is no longer financially associated with Mrs fatrab, we'll wipe the slate and just have one pot.

That's a great question, and one that I'm going to answer by PM - for fear of p!$$ing off anyone who has cars that I recommend that you shouldn't buy!

Thanks again for the PM, great comprehensive advice :beer:

jwil

Hope the car sells quickly.

Rather than trying to offset £38 a month, could you aim to raise the remaining amount? £38 x 9 = £342. Have you got anything you could sell?

Surveys? Sites like Prolific academic can build up quite quickly and aren't quite so tedious as some.

Matched betting if you understand how it works and you don't have an addictive personality?

fatrab

jwil wrote: »

Thanks again for the PM, great comprehensive advice :beer:

You're very welcome, it's a subject I could talk about for hours (you probably guessed that by the length of my PM haha)

As for the matched betting, I know if done properly it's not really "gambling" and I know a few folk who do quite well from it, but I'm not a gambler. Never have been.

I did look into survey sites, but the one stumbling block was that my company-issued laptop doesn't allow access to certain sites (email accounts for example) so that pretty much isn't an option.

I quite liked the challenge last time of making myself think really hard about where to make the savings. It would have been so easy to take a delivery job at weekends for a few extra quid, but I kept questioning my SOA until I found the answer. So I want to find a way to save £8.77 per week from my current spending without earning more or taking up any more of my time, I'm about to start longer shifts at work (with overtime - woohoo) so my free time is going to be very precious.

It needs to be something sustainable that wasn't going to happen as a matter of course anyway (like the fact I'll not be paying high road tax on the big car). The thinking cap is well and truly on for this one!

I can do this!

System

Fatrab I don't think I have posted on your thread before , but I read it all the time. I love your challenges and how well you have done in such a short time.

As for the above challenge , I await the outcome . You have given me a challenge to see how I can fund my dentist appointment which is coming up again soon. I do have health cover for half but need about £25 .

That's it , enjoy your weekend.

LegBeforeWicket

Hi Rab!

I'm sorry I haven't been around lately to give you support and encouragement, but while I've been away it looks as though you have been doing just fine, just as I expected. Your drive and determinaton to fix your finances shines through in your posts.

As for your £38 a month, I'll need to think about that. Like others have said, Matched Betting would bring in £342 without too much effort, but I'm always hesitant to recommend it for obvious reasons. It's also coming up to a slower time of year for it because of the end of the football season.

How are you getting on with MFP?

fatrab

Getting on ok with mfp but eating habit has gone out the window due to being on nightshift. Seem to have put 2lbs back on but don't know if that's just the body reacting to my sleep deprivation!

Been thinking a lot about the extra savings. I used to religiously follow petrolprices website for the cheapest fuel so I'm going to re-register with them and find the cheapest fuel either at home or close to work. Driving economically I can almost squeeze 80mpg from the wee car but it's soul destroying sitting at 60mph on motorways! I'm still snacking too so that needs to stop. The odd donut here or there still adds up over the month to a few quid. And a few lbs I'd imagine.

To be honest I'm grasping at straws trying to find another saving. Eat less and drive slower seem to be my best options! Or earn more..... I shall endeavour to find a way!

Thanks for popping in to say hi Cumbria Lass, I've seen you posting elsewhere so good to finally "meet" lol

fatrab

Sadly, I have dropped a day on my TAFD's. I caved this morning and had a breakfast at a garden centre cafe. I'm going to blame the nightshifts and my body clock being all over the place but I think we all know that's just an excuse!!

Should've been better organised but after two 13 hour nightshifts the last thing I could be bothered doing was preparing food. I've made a good bit of extra money these past 2 nights, almost the equivalent to a weeks wages, so I'm not going to wreck my own head over a £4 breakfast!

However, I will say, that a £4 breakfast was not in the plan!! Tasted great though and not having to do any cooking or washing up was a bonus!

Registered with PetrolPrices again and straight away I can see I've been wasting money by filling up when I'm at work. 4p/litre cheaper at home and my local petrol station is 3rd cheapest in my area, there's only 0.2p/litre of a difference between it and the cheapest so I'm happy with that.

If I'm achieving 70mpg and travelling 500miles every week, that's just over 7 gallons which is 32.5 litres, so that means a saving of at least £1.30/week. Not a huge saving but every little helps.

Next chain of thought is a cashback credit card. I didn't trust myself with credit cards, but now I've seen the light I wonder if this might be a viable option? Paid IN FULL each month of course. Amex has its good opening offer for 3 months but isn't widely accepted and annoyingly not accepted at LIDL which is where I'm doing 99% of my shopping at the moment. This would earn over £60/year on shopping and fuel alone so might be an option down the line but I don't want to make any credit applications until the mortgage is sorted out.

I'm going to call the dealership on Wednesday to discuss the car. I think they've priced it too high judging by others that are on the market. I need it sold. I have a very suitable replacement lined up and don't want to miss it. An £8k mid-sized MPV with £30 road tax, 60+mpg and enough space for the pram in the boot!

And it's payday on Wednesday too!

Cheers

fatrab

Just logged on to my online banking and I've had my cashback (£25) from the energy switch at the start of the year. It's the day before payday, I still have £222 in my current account and I have more money in my emergency fund than I could ever have anticipated. 4 or 5 months ago I'd have less than £100 left to my name at this point. Oh how times have changed!!!

I honestly can't believe how much better I feel. I wonder how much of it is physically down to eating better and consuming less booze, or mentally due to spending less, having more savings and effectively stressing less about money?

I have all my food bought for the week and had to buy a few toiletries so my total weekly shop was £21.14 (with no snacks!!). NSD's all the way from now until Friday or Saturday.

I'm in 2 minds what to do with tomorrow's surplus though. Should I continue to overpay the car finance now that the car is for sale? Or pay it towards the next most expensive debt, the mortgage? Or just sit on it until the car sells then throw everything at the loan in one hit (assuming the re-mortgage is arranged by then)?

I suppose until the car is actually sold then it's finance should remain my priority, I just don't want to risk there being any confusion when the time comes to settle the agreement. But I'm allowed to make 10% overpayments to my current mortgage in it's remaining term which would reduce the amount I'd need to borrow come October and would put me way ahead in terms of my 5 year mortgage target if I could overpay £6k to it in the next 6 months. I don't want to make any mistakes.

I'll think I'll wait and see how the conversation with the dealer goes tomorrow before I decide.

[Deleted User]

That's brilliant, it shows how much your mindset has changed. Well done.

With regard to the surplus, I'd sit on it for the time being. x