My journey to a debt free life

Sun_Addict

I noticed my bank had stopped using the overdraft in available balance some time ago. I no longer use the overdraft facility thank goodness but years ago I did. 

Onebrokelady

enthusiasticsaver said:

I have just googled your question about available balances and apparently under new FCA rules brought in December 2019 banks are not allowed to include overdrafts in available balances.  So  it looks like it has changed and what shows as available is actually money in your bank. 

Why didn't  I think of that 🙄😂 so I can safely say that the balance in my account is my actual money and all this time I have been allowing £50 for my overdraft 😀

Edited to add that I did the sensible thing and googled it too and found an article on here all about it and it now makes perfect sense 😀

Onebrokelady

I've had a pleasant day today and managed to get all my jobs done that I had in mind. I have also been planning how to manage my budget so I can keep a better eye on my finances ,so here are my plans 

I am splitting my budget up so anything paid by direct debit will be left in my bank account, this is basically all my bills except for food shopping, pet supplies and personal spends. 

The food money will be drawn out and put into envelopes and the same with the pet money and my personal spends.
I used to do this before Covid happened and we weren't allowed to use cash but everywhere seems to be accepting cash again now 🎉🤞🎉🤞
I found that I kept track of my money better if I used cash and it's since using my debit card all the time that I lose track of where I'm at in the month. Doing it this way will mean I have to leave the same amount in my bank every month so won't be constantly checking to see what's come out ( of course I will still keep an eye on things but it will stop me worrying so much).

I have a healthy food budget of £25 a week and want to keep as close to or under this as possible, DD2 does do her own food shopping but we do sometimes share meals if I cook something she likes she will have some but then I sometimes eat the things she cooks too so it balances out. I have realised that I am buying bread and soya milk which she also uses but she does pay me rent each month so that's covered. I'm thinking once she moves out I will be able to stretch my food budget further (depending on how the food prices are by then of course ) I will quite happily make a meal divide it into four and eat it for four days if it means I can cook less, when I'm on my own cooking two meals gives me eight portions which is very economical 

My current system is to pay all direct debit bills,then put away that months savings and whatever's left should add up to the cash I need to draw out. I will be putting my personal spends into envelopes too so it's shared out over the month. I'm not sure yet whether to put any unused weekly money to one side into a separate pot or whether to roll it forward to the next week 🤷‍♀️ 

I am going to be cooking more meals from scratch instead of using jars etc and of course planning what we are going to eat. I made Leek Croustade tonight which we haven't had for months and it was lovely, it will only do two days because DD loves it too so did share 😊 there is leftovers for both of us for tea tomorrow so I won't have to cook when I get home and it will stop us from ordering that Saturday night takeaway.

 I'm making cottage pie on Sunday which I'm not sure DD will want so that might be two or four days evening meals. I bought frozen peas and we have carrots that will go with it.

 I also have a butternut squash and some lentils so will be making a butternut squash and lentil curry from the Gousto recipe cards ,we have all the ingredients so I won't need to buy anything.
 I also bought some vege sausages so they will be used for sausage and mash and possibly hotdogs or toad in the hole and I'm planning a Homity pie but will need to buy parsley for that.
 I'm trying to spend less money on things in breadcrumbs and more on ingredients to make nice food with. Breakfast is always cereals or toast and I always take a packed lunch to work,I tend to have the same lunch when I'm at home too so I just buy enough for seven lunches and seven breakfasts 

Of course I've said all this before and it hasn't lasted but I want to get into a frugal mindset before DD moves out and I have to manage without her money. I don't waste money on things I don't need and tend to ask for money for birthdays and Christmas so I can treat myself. I haven't slipped back into bad habits of buying magazines or craft supplies I won't use and I definitely haven't used a credit card since I joined here, I don't use my overdraft and I don't borrow money to buy anything so I'm not doing too badly,I just think I need to focus and use the money I do have more efficiently  😊

enthusiasticsaver

Sounds like you have a good plan both with the budgeting using cash and food plan.  We have recently opened a Starling account and we use that now for spending money and bills stay in our bank account.  They have separate savings spaces in Starling which means we can tuck money away for things like insurance, holidays, birthdays etc etc. What is left is ours to spend on food fuel and entertainment. 

Onebrokelady

enthusiasticsaver said:

Sounds like you have a good plan both with the budgeting using cash and food plan.  We have recently opened a Starling account and we use that now for spending money and bills stay in our bank account.  They have separate savings spaces in Starling which means we can tuck money away for things like insurance, holidays, birthdays etc etc. What is left is ours to spend on food fuel and entertainment. 

The Starling account sounds good, I will check it out just in case my system doesn't work. I do find that I keep track better and spend less when I'm dealing with cold hard cash 😀

Onebrokelady

So today didn't quite go to plan 😟I went to work in quite a lot of pain but thought I would see how I got on, I lasted until 11.30 then had to come home because my painkillers just weren't working,I think every joint in my body was hurting by the time I left so I came straight home and went to bed where I stayed until 6 o clock,I had my tea and a nice hot shower but I'm still not feeling great so will probably go back to bed soon.

I need to see if I can get a doctors appointment to have a look at the meds I'm on because they aren't really helping and I'm fed up of paying for things that don't work. I'm hoping I will feel better tomorrow and will be ok to go to work on Monday 🤞🤞

amber03

I do prefer to use cash when food shopping but the 2 supermarkets I use have the handheld scan and go things which I use to keep any eye on how much I spend. Sadly u have to use a card to pay for your shopping when you get to the scan and go tills.xx

Onebrokelady

amber03 said:

I do prefer to use cash when food shopping but the 2 supermarkets I use have the handheld scan and go things which I use to keep any eye on how much I spend. Sadly u have to use a card to pay for your shopping when you get to the scan and go tills.xx

Oh that's a shame, mind you those scan and go devices are good for keeping an eye on are spending and do speed things up a bit I suppose 

badmemory

Can you use the scan & go to count your shopping & then cancel & go through a cash till?

Cherryfudge

Onebrokelady said:

I'm hoping I will feel better tomorrow and will be ok to go to work on Monday 🤞🤞

I hope so too. xx