Cheery's country living adventure

Cheery_Daff

First realisation - we are spending more than we now earn. In my head we were just putting less into the kitchen fund/mortgage, but in reality we're actually spending savings (eg for home maintenance etc) faster than we're putting it in as of last month. I know these are averages, but it does show that belt-tightening is now necessary, not just fun. 

Some obvious things that are jumping out to start with. 

Electricity............................. 72.11

Gas..................................... 167

We can focus on turning things off more, and attempt to switch the LPG to a different provider. 

Groceries etc. ......................... 340

Batch cooking once the kitchen is in, and I'm sure we can do stuff before then too. 

Clothing................................ 46

I think we could be a bit less frittery in charity shops... (But this does also include boots, bras, swimming costumes that I've bought this year)

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 163.97

Hmm - this is what it is for now, but might well influence what we buy next time. We'll see. 

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 73.23

I think both of us just need a full set of dentures at this point!

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 190.91

Already discussed, and I can't really say anything as we're going back again today...

Presents (birthday, Christmas etc)...... 80

I don't *feel* like I spend excessively on presents... but this does include sending people the occasional cake or gift when it's not their birthday, and also includes postage for that sort of thing.

Entertainment........................... 370

Hmm. Bulk of this is cafe trips - not rationing til builders are gone but then there will be severe cutting down! Does include a couple of semi-work-related courses I went on. Again, this is both of us though, so not as bad as it looks.

Emergency fund.......................... 158

This is labelled as 'emergency fund' by the SOA calculator, but is actually what we've spent on home & outdoor maintenance, which so far this year has included emptying the septic tank, having the gutters cleaned, chimney swept, building the new chicken run, new thermostat, dehumidifier, paint for the outside of the house, new door for the freezer, draught excluders etc... I think a pretty realistic monthly amount for a house like this. 

Counselling............................. 82.5

Will stop in the longer term, but for now, it's staying. 

Assets: Cash.................................... 32429

Currently earmarked as: 
£15,000 ish for rest of kitchen
£1500 for a holiday next year
enough ready in pots to pay all annual bills when they arise (car insurance, house insurance etc)
The rest is currently classed as 'general savings' - new car (hopefully won't need one for a while), in case anything goes wrong with the septic tank etc. 
I'd like to aim for 6 months of income replacement (roughly  £18,000) as well, but clearly not going to be saving anything other than kitchen money until that's paid for. I do get 6 months full/six months half sick pay though so not too drastic if anything happens to me. 

Ok, I'll stop there, but this feels like a good place to start...

Cheery_Daff

Just realised I've added the annual road tax figure as an amount per month - and now it won't let me edit that post. Obviously I don't pay £60 a month road tax It should be £5, so that means 

Monthly Budget Summary

Total monthly income.................... 2,995.68

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,236.54

Available for debt repayments........... -240.86

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0[b]

Amount short for making debt repayments. -240.86

Still £240 shortfall though (unless I discover anything else where I've put the annual figure in as a monthly one - do shout up if you see anything!)

EssexHebridean

You've already identified the food thing - and yep, that's a very obvious and clear quick win. One thing I will gently point out - the entertainment figure - you say "that is both of us, so not as bad as it looks" but of course the whole SOA is both of you isn't it - so that does need to be taken into account. I also think that you're absolutely right though - once the building work is complete and the kitchen is done you are going to have a really pleasant environment to be in at home, and realistically won't want to be leaving that to go to cafes and similar so often, so that will probably naturally drop right down. Having been through major building works while living in the building too not so long ago I also completely agree that trying to do much about cutting that back until that is finished is completely out of the question - that escape is very much needed! 

Cars - I'm sure you have, but have you played about with various different options for insurance - ie fully comp, multicar (or not multicar if that is how they are insured at the moment). Also have a shop around for breakdown cover if you haven't done so recently - MrEH's previous car used to cost us about £60 a year with Ax@ (his new one is unsurprisingly a lot cheaper) and that was a similar age to at least one of yours I think. that's for a pretty "comprehensive" level of cover too - homestart, what the AyAy would call relay etc. It'll likely only be a small saving if anything at all, but worth a look possibly.  

I think your household maintenance monthly spend will also drop to be honest - you've done quite a lot of "one off" stuff in the last year or so - and things like the dehumidifier will last for years. It's probably a sensible amount to be looking at putting aside, but I suspect will generally speaking run at a surplus.

Obvious stuff - is your council tax over 12 months or 10? If 10, then changing it to 12 could just generally help with the budgeting. Your electricity bill will definitely fall now that the heating is working (and will also probably help more widely with the house needing less maintenance as well as you won't have cold damp walls.) Similarly I imagine the LPG use will drop substantially now there are less gaps and draughts, but that one will be more "wait and see" and also tied in with rising energy costs. 

One thing I have just spotted on that "Emergency Fund" category too - you've included the costs of the ne chicken run there, but I'm sure you said previously that was also included in the YNAB category for the costs directly associated with the hens too - that's not double-accounted is it? 

Cheery_Daff

Thanks EH, lots of things to work through there! 

Yes, council tax is 12 months.

No, I've not double counted the building of the chicken run, but I've just realised I HAVE missed off chicken food/bedding - it's in a separate category in YMAB and I've not added it into the vet one here, so I think that's about £27.

Car insurance is due Feb, so I'll definitely have a play, and breakdown is due about May I think. We've got both cars with the same company at the minute, but they class it as two separate policies rather than a multi car one, so I'll check if that makes a difference too.

You're right about maintenance - septic tank will only need doing every 18 months or so, and I doubt we'll clean the gutters every year either - this was the first time for both of those and we've been here nearly 4 years.

Definitely food and entertainment are the easy wins. Good to know where to start though.

EssexHebridean

Absolutely - plus the stuff like the maintenance will just simply accrue as a bit of a surplus - over time you might decide to reduce what you put aside a bit, but equally you might just let it accrue to allow for the bigger stuff coming along as and when it does - a sort of secondary emergency fund.  

I tell you something as well - that shortfall can *almost* be sorted out simply by just being a little more mindful about groceries and entertainment, I bet. Now that IS an easy win! 

Cheery_Daff

Indeed, and any extra that comes in, whether from Mr Cheery's self employment, or MB, or wherever else, can build up the surplus too.

{Cheery contemplates whether she should admit that she is currently in the cafe}

EssexHebridean

Have an extra cuppa for me! 

Cheery_Daff

Well we just decided against having a second one so it'll have to be next time! 😁 Making us feel slightly better about our small leak - part of their ceiling literally fell in yesterday 😮

badmemory

Do keep an eye on those gutters.  My downspouts were between me & next door & they never cleaned their gutters.  I got fed up with water front and back overflowing,luckily outwards away from the house.  I got so tired of the noise every time it rained that I had mine replaced & had extra downspouts put in both front & back opposite ends to the existing as well as the original.  2 years later their gutter fell down & you should have seen the mess.  If the gutter is slightly tipped towards the house though you can have more serious problems.

Cheery_Daff

Urgh, that sounds grim! Fortunately we're not attached to anyone else, and the gutter cleaners were surprised at how little there was in them considering they'd not been done for over 4 years. But yes, we'll keep an eye out! 

Anyway, an exhausting day. Going to report daily spends for November.

Vets = £138
Food & household = £9.68 grub on way home from vets (including fruit, mushrooms etc)
Diesel = £50
Cafe = £9.25

Talked myself out of, then back into, running club 😂 exhausted but it'll do me good to get a run in,and Mr Cheery has promised to make tea for when I get in. Going to try to keep a rough track of mileage too:

Vets = 84 miles
Cafe = 10 miles
Running club = 14 miles
= 108 miles 🙄

Not sure that's a great start to uber frugal month but hey ho. Awareness is the start, right??