Ev's new MFW challenge!

setmefree2

Thought I'd send you this because I hoped it would keep you smiling:D

evab_2

thanks smf, do you have shares in clipart?:D

EssexHebridean

Hey Ev - sorry to hear you've been a bit poorly. There is some nasty stuff going about at the moment, people seem to be dropping like flies!

You've been extremely organised with your SOA and seem to have thought of most things. I would question though whether £10 per week each for you and DH is realistic? If that's meant to include clothes etc then it does occur to me that if you even need to buy something small ike knickers you're not going to have much left that week! Just a thought....I tend not to budget specific amounts for clothes purchases (I also don't buy that many) but work with a small surplus in my current account which will cover anything like that as needed or if I spot a bargain too good to turn down.

StuartGMC

We monitor spend on clothing and shoes etc, so it feeds into the household budget as real costs. For me I usually get a couple of suits every two years, which at £200-300 each would be significant. For two adults and a (growing) 11yr old daughter, the present average would be £19pw each but this is a little skewed due to the time it has been running.

Recommend that you collate data then see what the true spend is so you have it accurately rather than an estimate.

setmefree2

evab wrote: »

thanks smf, do you have shares in clipart?:D

"Shares" did someone mention "shares" - La la la la - "no I'm not listening"

evab_2

Hi, thanks for the comments, really appreciated.

We don't tend to buy many clothes for ourselves or anything else really in fact the pair of jeans I brought at the weekend was only because I've lost a lot of weight and the other pair had a hole in it! What we've agreed is that if we want something we save up for it.

I've also decided to follow the great example of trudypretty and will put away any money left over from my budget into savings this includes so far:

* £5 left from budgeted payment of £35 for tel/broadband
* £6 left from shopping
* £15 for mobile as I haven't topped up at all in November

this has been added to the windows fund.

Thanks for your help Ev x

EssexHebridean

Well done Ev - I do think that one of the best things about this board is the way we all take on board others ideas and put them into practice for ourselves.

StuartGMC

Ev
Saving for purchases is a very good idea and our budgeting is based on this for some areas as mentioned. You have little ones who don't remain little for long, and no doubt like our dd, have growth spurts which don't fit the seasons/sales. In these cases a reserve fund is probably necessary rather than waiting to save up?

I think we all agree that the more accurate the data we hold, then the more likely we are to spot areas of uncontrolled spend etc and thus improve on the situation.

setmefree2

StuartGMC wrote: »

I think we all agree that the more accurate the data we hold, then the more likely we are to spot areas of uncontrolled spend etc and thus improve on the situation.

Definitely agree with this. My spreadsheet is like going to a confessional box for me. I know I can't trick myself as at the end of the month there will be a great big negative spending variance.

frazzmunch

Hi ev....how is the challenge going???