Family home on the (distant) horizon - savings diary

*little.squirrel*

AimHigh wrote: »

Definitely agree that £120 seems faaaaar more expensive than it should be! Crazy money for a water bill!

With regards to you not being sure where that £100 went this month, may I suggest you keep some form of spending diary? You may already be doing so but I can't remember and am too lazy to scroll back through

I have a funky spreadsheet where I record everything I spend - might be a bit OTT but it certainly helps a) spot where your money seems to be going and b) allow you to keep your budgets updated.

AH

Thanks, AimHigh. I do have a good spreadsheet myself that I rejigged at the start of the year and it has (had!) been working really well. I think because we had multiple people visiting I lost track a bit and didn't log everything like I should have. I still need to go through the statements and see exactly where I went wrong. Very annoying though, so I'm hoping it will force me to keep better track in the coming months. Plus, it will be harder to save the next few months so I'll have to be much more careful anyway.

*little.squirrel*

Alexland wrote: »

At my dentist the hygenist list price is also £40 but when booking the main dentist appointment I always enquire if there are any offers on the hygenist (in a way that implies I wouldn't otherwise be interested) and they have so far always reduced the cost by a tenner if I pay by card on the phone. I get it done every year with the checkup as its a lot cheaper than having tooth problems.

Alex

That's good to know! Unfortunately, I really need to see the hygienist and I need to go multiple times a year so I don't have much room for bartering. I actually have no idea what they charged for though, so I'll need to call and double check.

Alexland

In any negotiation the trick is to appear cool but interested without looking desperate (even if you know you really need what they are selling urgently) while still offering to pay a price that would realistically just about cover the fair market value.

bowlhead99

*little.squirrel* wrote: »

Unfortunately, I really need to see the hygienist and I need to go multiple times a year so I don't have much room for bartering. .

One option if you want to be a money saving expert is to clean your teeth properly yourself between visits so that you don't need to have a professional clean them multiple times a year...

*little.squirrel*

bowlhead99 wrote: »

One option if you want to be a money saving expert is to clean your teeth properly yourself between visits so that you don't need to have a professional clean them multiple times a year...

hahaha, yes! :rotfl:

*little.squirrel*

Not many NSDs this week. Hoping I can manage one today.

Got a bit of a financial bonus this week. We had to file a tax return for the period that we still lived in the States last year and we got a considerable amount of money back that we didn't expect. We now have about $4500 sitting in an account over there that we need to transfer over. This is really quite a boost to our deposit fund. I just need to figure out the best time to transfer, because fluctuations in the exchange rate can make quite a difference when you are counting every £. Obviously I won't include this money in our savings for the year. I need to find a good place to put the money though; at the moment our savings are just in an access saver with a really low rate. I know I've mentioned it time and again, but I really need to sit down with DH and plan to move our accounts somewhere with benefits. Maybe we will get time on Sunday. I've picked up an extra shift at work tonight - DH is away a lot this month so I'll lose a shift or two later on - and then I work tomorrow too so unlikely to have time then.

Got a good numbers of eBay sales this week so that will all go into savings. £90 for the year so far which I'm really happy about. Got some toys to sell too so I'll load them onto local selling sites tomorrow and hope they sell. They are a bit bulky for sending in the mail.

Final balance for Center Parcs paid, with plenty left in the holiday fund for the trip itself. We are supposed to be heading for a family weekend in May that still has to be paid for, but some bad news has left that up in the air just now. Hopefully there will be a decision in next week or so to confirm if it is going ahead or not.

Last day of the Easter holidays here. Kids have well and truly had enough of being home. At least the forecast looks bright so we can get to the park on the bikes today. Happy Friday!

AimHigh

Great news about the extra money coming in! :j

*little.squirrel*

Finally took care of something and spoke to the water company about a meter. We have to wait until the middle of May for someone to come out but the guy on the phone thinks we should half our bill! This will be a great addition to the savings fund. Quick email to letting agents and the landlord has confirmed he is happy for one to be fitted, although apparently we didn't actually *have* to get his permission. So one more month of paying a fortune and then hopefully we will have some savings. It will be a quarterly bill so not sure the best way to budget for it.

4 confirmed eBay sales so that will make a little bit of space and add to the savings pot.

Tired this morning and my feet are sore, but work was pretty quiet last night. Stayed for a drink at the end of the shift which is really unusual for me, but my boss offered and it wasn't too late so a wee glass of wine for me :beer: Picked up another shift, so I'm doing 6 nights out of 7. Then DH is away for 2 nights for work. I'll be tired by next Sunday! Still, a little bit extra for the deposit fund. Actually, my boss mentioned a team leader position she thought I would be interested in. It would be a bit more cash per hour, but I can't decide if I want to do it. Not because I'm not capable, but being a general team member allows me to ask for time off whenever I need it, and I'm not sure I would have that flexibility if I was responsible for certain shifts. Something to mull over though.

AimHigh

*little.squirrel* wrote: »

Finally took care of something and spoke to the water company about a meter. We have to wait until the middle of May for someone to come out but the guy on the phone thinks we should half our bill! This will be a great addition to the savings fund. Quick email to letting agents and the landlord has confirmed he is happy for one to be fitted, although apparently we didn't actually *have* to get his permission. So one more month of paying a fortune and then hopefully we will have some savings. It will be a quarterly bill so not sure the best way to budget for it.

Good news. Just a suggestion but maybe carry on budgeting the same amount as you pay now until the first quarterly bill comes in and then put the difference straight into savings? That way you know you definitely have it covered and can adjust as you go along. Can always keep a little bit of the difference in a pot to cover any variations between quarters.

*little.squirrel*

yes, AimHigh, that's exactly what I'm going to do! I feel pretty comfortable with the budget for everything else so I don't want to allow us any extra because we will just spend it! I'm too keen to see the savings totals get a bit higher!

5 eBay sales in the end so I'm going to cash out some of PayPal and get it transferred over into savings. Anything to bump the total this month because DH's work expenses are considerable with all the travelling he is doing. I know we will get it back and funnel it to savings next month but I don't want this month to look bad on the spreadsheet.

Finally got the new (to me) bike seat with panniers onto my bike! I dropped into a bike shop that isn't too far from us and has a really nice cafe attached to it and the guy gave me the screws I needed for no charge. That's the second time they haven't charged us for something so we thought it worth staying for cake :j Plus, C absolutely adores cake. He savours it and enjoys every mouthful. It's a treat just watching him! Anyway, hoping that I can get to Aldi a couple of times a week for some shopping instead of ordering from Tesco. Saving money and getting fit, right? Youngest kiddie started at early preschool today. She's only going 2 hours on a Tuesday. She was really excited and settled well so I'm hoping she enjoyed it. I went and did day one of couch to 5k, in the !!!!ing rain. I've been telling myself for so long I was going to start when she started preschool that I felt it would be bad mentally to back out. Soaked to the bone! Definitely feel good about it though.

Anyway, need to collect E in half an hour so off to meal plan and get a shopping list sorted.