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Put away your purse & become debt-averse
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Ohhhhhh, I am so glad to have got Big Budget Day out of the way. There weren't any problems with it. I reconciled Feb's figures & checked for oddities (none found) & got on with setting March's budget. For the first time that I can remember in a while, we overspent our grocery budget in February - not by a lot, only by £8 or so, but it did make me think I probably do need to revisit it with food prices going up & having 2 cats (instead of our previous one), both of whom require bags of litter as they can't go outside yet (roll on the time when they can!). I think I tend to budget pretty generously for groceries on the whole with there just being two humans in our household, so I also intend to look at the sort of meals I plan too, as we don't seem to be eating as many veggie ones lately, which of course generally work out cheaper. Anyway, I'm sure there's room to trim back there if necessary.
I paid the 1st £100 per month into savings to build back our car replacement pot, having pretty much emptied it when we changed cars recently. I'm going at this the sensible way this time. We need to keep our current vehicle at least 5 years, which is 60 months. I am intending to budget £100 into that pot every month for 60 months. That feels doable, which is the important thing about looking at what we are likely to need & working backwards........naturally the old me would have saved a big fat zero & had the car on finance. Mr F even worse.......had each car on finance, but carried over debt from the previous vehicle onto the new loan. Agggh, we were idiots! The daft thing is, none of this is rocket science. The 'How much do I need to save & for how long?' then working backwards is how my parents & definitely my grandparents' generation avoided credit & the inevitable temptation into debt. I've also worked our Holiday savings pot the same way......I need a certain amount to ensure we can pay the balance & cattery by the deadline next year, so I've worked back to the amount I need to put in that pot every month. It isn't a lot, but the fact that we never used to do this is, of course, why our holidays tended to be paid for on credit cards.
I did find it helpful that we had discussed maximum amounts for each of our 10 savings pots. I will gradually work them up to these amounts (some are there already, some are quite a long way off) & as each one reaches its target max amount, much like debt snowballing, I will be able to use that money to top up other ones. So now, I have that feeling where my eyes are tired from screens & sums, my backside is stiff from sitting on a hard chair, but I do feel better for knowing what our budget currently looks like - in fact, I used to feel like this even back when we were still carrying a lot of debt - I think it's that thing of knowledge being power.
I can hear rather a lot of meowing now, so I think I'll sign out & go & see what's going on.
Love F x2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
2) To read 100 books (36/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 6.8kg/30kg
"Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)10 -
I also feel surprised at the choice of pj's and nightdresses - I don't want to be a Disney princess or have a supposedly funny slogan plastered across me that isn't funny to start with let alone for the duration of the life of the item.Thank you for sharing your budget pot techniques - I'm going to work out a cap on mine too. We've just spent a fair chunk of our car pot on some proactive maintenance - we will probably replace in 3 to 4 years so I need to work out what to put in each month to cover a replacement car. It will be quite a lot each month but not as much as finding it all in one go in 3 years 🤦♀️ Like you I used to get a loan to buy my cars - always added in a bit extra "for luck" and for frittering away on stuff.7
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foxgloves said:Thanks for the suggestion, @maggiem. I shall definitely be stepping up my search. I did find one I like on JL's website, but even if I wanted to spend £79 on a single nightshirt, there were only the smallest sizes in stock.
F
Once you have them they can be reused time and time again.(very MSE!)I Believe.....
That it isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others.
Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery
Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present.
happiness isn't achieved by getting extra things,
but by getting rid of the things that make you unhappy6 -
@Blackcats - It sounds as though we are on similar paths with our savings pots & car fund. It definitely helps me to have a cap on how much each pot will hold, but the amounts can change each year depending on need. My thinking is that when those amounts are reached, I can then via funds that would have been destined for pots into general savings.
@Chrystal - Yes I do have a sewing machine, so that is an option, although I don't much enjoy making clothes. However, on our city centre trip today, I was shocked to find a nice nightshirt that I ACTUALLY LIKED!! (heaven forfend') The 1st two designs I saw on entering the nightwear dept were micky mouse ears, Snoopy & the previously mentioned jelly sweets. I was moaning loudly when I saw those & didn't care who heard me. There was some new stock in too, though & I did finally find something I liked.
F x2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
2) To read 100 books (36/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 6.8kg/30kg
"Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)7 -
Morning foxgloves and friends
I have just added up my spends on food and petrol and like you overspent on the food budget - but by £50! I did set myself a tight budget (clearly) and i do include cat food in the budget. The cat food my cats like has gone up 50p a box for 12 sachets which is some serious inflation. I will need to update my budget to be a bit more realistic. I have underspent the petrol budget but will leave that as it is as i start to go back into the office a bit more often (boo).
Well done on finding a nightshirt - how many did you buy ?
love DeniLBM - October 2018; finally debt free on 16 March 2021
2023 Mortgage Free Wannabee #92023 Mortgage free in March 23 !
Decluttering Campaign member 2023🏅🏅 🏅⭐️⭐️
Decluttering Campaign Member 2024 🏅🏅
Decluttering Campaign Member 20254 -
Hi @Deni_debt-free_dreamer - We've just been saying exactly the same re rising cost of pet food. I understand that UK inflation is running at around 5.5%, but 50p extra on a box of cat food which previously cost, say £4 is a 12.5% increase, so more than double the headline rate.
Re grocery budget, I've been thinking about that too - I expect many people are with the cost of living increasing quite dramatically. If there is an underspend on our monthly grocery budget, either I actively via it to a savings pot or different spending category or it is just added back to the general figure & reallocated on next budget day. I'm wondering whether it would be worth me carrying it forward to the next month as that would mean we'd have a bit more on some months, but without me having actually to budget a bigger amount for groceries. Idk..... only on this site could we discuss the minutiae of such things! I think I probably did more old-style grocery/food money saving while we were still paying off the mortgage. I think I could usefully revisit that too.
F x2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
2) To read 100 books (36/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 6.8kg/30kg
"Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)6 -
Evening @foxgloves
Thanks for the support on my diary about Sainsburys. I ended up speaking to the manager today. She said she has to extend me until April then she will more than likely make me permanent aslong as I keep my IPH up. Which I'm above target. I've also just remembered, that the pay goes up on the 6th to £10PH. Which, interestingly enough my main job has decided to increase my pay from April to £10PH after he asked me a lot of questions about SainsburysI’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Debt Free Wannabe boards and spending & discounts boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
Debt owed;Salad Money - £616.47/£1200 JAJA - £679.70/ £900 Zable - £338.60/£1300 = £1,634.77
Time to start a fresh. — MoneySavingExpert Forum
Time to start a Fresh part 2, 2022! — MoneySavingExpert Forum
New fresh diary for 2023! — MoneySavingExpert Forum
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6494873/fresh-diary-for-2024#latest
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6577209/fresh-diary-for-2025/p1?new=15 -
Good news about the pay increases, @jadewest94. Every little helps with the serious business of debt busting. I even used to save 20ps in a tube & when I got £10 worth, I'd bank them & pay a tenner off the debt. It all adds up, & your debt figure will start with a '2' before much longer.
F x2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
2) To read 100 books (36/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 6.8kg/30kg
"Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)5 -
foxgloves said:Good news about the pay increases, @jadewest94. Every little helps with the serious business of debt busting. I even used to save 20ps in a tube & when I got £10 worth, I'd bank them & pay a tenner off the debt. It all adds up, & your debt figure will start with a '2' before much longer.
F xI’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Debt Free Wannabe boards and spending & discounts boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
Debt owed;Salad Money - £616.47/£1200 JAJA - £679.70/ £900 Zable - £338.60/£1300 = £1,634.77
Time to start a fresh. — MoneySavingExpert Forum
Time to start a Fresh part 2, 2022! — MoneySavingExpert Forum
New fresh diary for 2023! — MoneySavingExpert Forum
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6494873/fresh-diary-for-2024#latest
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6577209/fresh-diary-for-2025/p1?new=13 -
That's just how I used to be, @jadewest94. Every £ freed up from somewhere else went towards an extra debt payment. We owed around £35k at its worst but never regarded it as debt because we were always able to pay it. It was when the LBM struck that I suddenly saw in full technicolour clarity that our debt wasn't just 'monthly bills', it was a dead weight sucking way too much out of our salaries every month.
The first thing I paid off was my overdraft so that when my wages went into the bank each month, it was easier to start budgeting. I was in my early 40s & I'd been overdrawn since I was a 19-year old student. Ridiculous!!
F x2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
2) To read 100 books (36/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 6.8kg/30kg
"Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)6
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