DD's accountability thread

DD265

I hope everybody had a great Christmas

We stayed in - split the meal into three; we got sundries, Mom got the (takeaway, purchased the day before) curries, and my sister got the sweet stuff. It worked out far cheaper than a full roast or eating out. In terms of presents, I overspent a little but not massively. OH and I have a £50 limit but I spent about £75 on him in total so I could buy him something he'd really want (£60 from Ikea). He was very pleased. In total my present spend has been under £200 for December (including a birthday and meal); hard to put an exact figure on it because of the way I track gift card/voucher purchases.

We've been car 'shopping' the past two days. We're not actively looking to buy yet, though if it'll end up being ordered, I need to get a shift on as we're looking at 3-4 month lead times and I am supposed to have said car by 1st April. We've narrowed the list down a bit; driven a Skoda Karoq (nice, though very light on the steering), a SEAT Arona (lovely to drive, a bit small on the boot but far cheaper to lease than the others) and want to test drive a VW Tiguan tomorrow. I'm struggling to balance my desire for a not-huge car with a medium term view of what we might want space wise. If we get a big dog and have a baby, I think the Arona will be a squeeze, but without either of those, I would happily go for it; it's basically a hatchback on stilts (giving the ground clearance needed).

I was lucky enough to get some cash for Christmas, so have paid it in via the Post Office. At the moment it's included in £180 I've set aside to replace my Fitbit with a Garmin but I intend to move all that to the new car pot and delay the Garmin - the sensible option. As it stands the car deposit is going to use up all of my emergency fund (I have the owed money back) which isn't ideal.

I've already done January's budget, having been paid a little earlier than usual. There was a bit of December catching up to do - namely a new pair of trainers (me), and a work bench (us, but I paid!) - but not too bad at all. The budget for January looks healthy, so a good start to the year. We're going to have a budget meeting on Friday and that's when I'll clear out categories and revise goals etc.

DD265

It feels a bit late to say happy new year, but I haven't been online so happy new year. :rotfl:

I've been busy being ill, and whilst I had the fortnight around Christmas/new year off work, hosting three groups of people tipped me over the edge so I just needed a break from the internet.

We've bought a car - a 2015 VW Tiguan. Not taking any car finance on it, but I've done a £9250 money transfer from my MBNA card to pay for it in one go. The money transfer is interest free for 20 months. Originally we were looking at 2013 plates under £8k, but then decided that it was worth spending the extra £2.5 to get another 2 years out of the car (based on my car allowance). It sucks because I was so close to having both credit cards paid off, but I told myself that debt is debt, and free debt is better than interest paying debt.

The plan is to swiftly rebuild emergency fund, making lower payments to the MBNA card for a couple of months. Then the car allowance money - £350 a month - gets thrown at the MBNA card, and when I get bonuses from work I'll overpay, clearing it in the 20 months (or sooner). After that the car allowance money gets saved towards the next car so that when the time comes, we have the risidual value in the Tiguan plus potentially £12k+ of savings.

We've also decided to sell the Golf. At £200 a month to keep it on the road, we can't justify it. We will have some overlap though, as the MOT won't be done for another two months. Not sure when we're picking the Tiguan up; I insisted on a cambelt change so it's in the garage and I'm not pushing as fiscally the less overlap the better.

I threw my Garmin money in the car pot, but family clubbed together for my birthday so it's on my wrist and I'm really pleased with it. I have some Amazon vouchers too, as well as a TK Maxx one I got for Christmas, so I'm resisting the urge to spend those willy nilly. They'll be useful when I'm feeling skint but want to buy something!

We had our budget meeting in January and tweaked a few categories, plus moved some surplus around. I think I do need to pay a bit more into the joint account every month, but will get the car on the driveway first. We've also got a trip to Ireland in March for a family member's big birthday. It's adding up with flights, car hire, cat sitting, airport parking and an Air B&B. The good news is we can split some of the costs so it's looking like £250ish which isn't loads really, it's just the timing I think.

I've already bought Mum's birthday present for February, so aiming for a quiet couple of months, car aside.

DD265

Picking up the 'new' car tomorrow - I'm a bit excited. Part of me is wishing I'd traded the Golf in because the cost of insuring it alongside the Tiguan is pretty high, and I've still got to get it through the MOT (and a service). My plan is to book it in for a 120 point health check with Evans Halshaw - it's free - to get an idea of what I might be facing. If anything's flagged up I can then make a decision on whether to flog it as-is to a dealer, or continue down the private sale route.

Thankfully to aid in my financial situation I'm getting an £800 bonus from work at the end of the month. HMRC and SLC will take their cut naturally, but I should still come out with a decent chunk. Obviously once the Golf is sold, we'll hopefully have enough to replenish my emergency fund and a reasonable amount left over. It's all a bit of a balancing act, but I feel like it'll work out.

I've spent some of my Amazon vouchers - a different strap for my Garmin, and a book. Said book is on how to decide about having children. This is still something I am not sure on, and OH doesn't have strong views either way. The book comes highly recommended, and I think it'd do me good to feel clearer about this. I'd like to be able to set out a 5 year plan so I know where I'm headed. I appreciate that things don't always go to plan, but if we're going to do a loft conversion we need to start saving. If we're going to stay kid free, we ought to focus on paying down the mortgage and reducing outgoings so I can follow a dream career change. If we're going to have a biological baby, we need to be saving for maternity etc. Obviously a lot of these are ultimately similar; reduce outgoings and save up, but I want to know what I'm saving up for!

DD265

Very pleased with the new car. We can also fit both on the drive which was a matter of some debate between us. We're planning to withdraw from the finance a week on Wednesday, when OH gets paid. Whilst we could do it now, it'd mean taking a large chunk out of his emergency fund too.

Having made that decision yesterday, today the boiler has broken. We have home care with British Gas so they're coming out on Wednesday. We still have hot water because we have an immersion heater, but no central heating so I shall definitely be going into the office tomorrow. :rotfl: BG came out last year to see to the boiler - same issue - and replaced a part. I would not be surprised if they tell us that the boiler needs replacing, as it's 14 years old. We'll cross that bridge on Wednesday.

I was proud of myself yesterday. Ignoring the car, it was a low spend weekend, but the car didn't come with any carpet mats. Rather than buying the VW ones, which I could get for £80, and which I wanted, I opted for good quality tailored ones for £26 which will do the job. Figured I hadn't exactly compromised on the car, going £3k over budget, so would have to make sacrifices elsewhere. I'm trying not to repeat the mistakes I made with the Golf, where I ended up spending half as much again tarting it up. It made me feel better about buying an older car at the time, but was really unnecessary.

DD265

I'm pleased to report that the boiler is not broken, and it was just a case of the thermostat needing new batteries, and poor communication between OH and I. When he said he'd checked the temperature in the house and it was really low, I assumed he'd used the thermostat. It was also hidden behind my birthday cards - I've put a monthly reminder in the calendar to check it from now on, but we also know what to check first if there's a next time! Thankfully we were able to cancel the engineer in time, so no call out fee to pay.

OH has also been given news of a £2.5k pay rise today which is great. I'm sure it'll get swallowed up somewhere... I think to maximise the benefit we ought to throw it at paying off debt faster, but we also need to be saving for things like a new boiler specifically. We'll know more at our next budget meeting at the start of February. At the moment, we're waiting to sort the car out and see what the lay of the land is after that. I'm also hoping for a pay rise this year - or more achieveable bonuses. I won't find out until April though, which feels a long way off.

DD265

I withdrew from the car finance agreement today - £9847.79 down - and cancelled the asset protection insurance - £349 coming back my way. OH had to sub me £1100 to do it - I don't get paid until Friday, whereas he got paid today. Whether he'll expect the whole £1100 back is a conversation we need to have.

I've done a forecast for February and, not knowing exactly what my takehome will be, it looks reasonable. I won't have a huge amount of disposible income, but I should have enough. I've ended up not spending a huge amount in January apart from the car, and I still have some gift card balances if I want to scratch the spending itch.

My bank balance hasn't been this low in quite some time, but I don't feel worried, which is nice. I've been hearing people complaining about January being a long month - not for us! And people celebrating February/March being council tax free as though they're desperate for the extra cash. Again, not for us as we pay our council tax over 12 months, but it's not a concern as everything is budgeted over 12 months anyway. I'm enjoying feeling relaxed about my finances, even with the ridiculous amount of debt I just took on. :cool:

Unfortunately we do still have to book flights to Ireland and car hire, so best get on that on Friday!

DD265

I got around £500 extra in bonuses (take home) which was handy. I was able to transfer £1100 back to OH - we'll talk about it at our budget meeting next week - and still meet the goals on my other categories.

Barclaycard balance is down to £800 this month when the payment goes out and MBNA will be £9712.50. I was thinking earlier that I could pay more than the minimums on the MBNA but save the money in a higher interest savings account, then pay it off in a lump sum. On the other hand, I do like to see the credit card balances going down, and being so near to the limit on that card is going to have a negative impact on my credit file. I don't anticipate needing any credit but it's nice to not be up a creek.

I could also initially throw more at the Barclaycard to get that paid off faster, and the emergency fund to build that quicker... or I could just stick with the plan of chipping away at the MBNA card with the car finance amount (and proceeds from the Golf sale). The interest rates on offer aren't so good that I'd make much from it anyway!

This weekend has been a tad expensive. We bought some new bedding for the spare room on Saturday, and a throw for the bed to keep it free of cat hair today. These are all part of the colour scheme for the redecorated room at least, so I won't be replacing them later. I paid for a meal out (for 4) yesterday for my Mum's birthday - I paid for my sister as we'd invited her and she can't afford it. There was 25% off the bill at least which saved about £18. Then today Mum and I went shopping and I spent £55 (including the aforementioned throw). Still within budget, and we've a social event next weekend which will probably wipe out the remainder of my discretionary spends.

My phone has been in for repair for over two weeks now; it's getting replaced under warranty. I'm getting a bit lost without it; I miss YNAB for a start! I'm using my work phone temporarily so haven't wanted to install everything on it, but I didn't realise how long it'd take to get my phone back. I'll be chasing them tomorrow.

The other decision I need to make is whether to transfer the personalised registration from the Golf to the Tiguan. It'll cost me £80 plus two sets of plates (circa £15 each). Honestly, I'm not sure it's worth it... The plate used to really make me smile (it's an inappropriate acronym) when I had the rubbish commute that I found extremely stressful, but I don't feel as strongly these days!

beanielou

I have always wanted a personal plate.

Why don't you pay down the Barclaycard & then you only have one card?

DD265

Thanks Beanielou - I figured I'd potentially regret giving the plate up more than I would keeping it - and if I got another in the future that'd be £250 more - so I've taken the plate off. For the next car, I'll have saved a much better budget and will be setting some of that aside for things like overlap insurance, plate transfer etc.

I was thinking the same about the Barclaycard - and the emergency fund. As it stands, the Barclaycard is set to be paid off at the end of May (interest free ends in June) and the emergency fund will be back to £1k at the end of October, ignoring the 'save the change' transfers. Then I'll decide how much to throw at the MBNA card each month vs savings account until the end of the 0% deal.

Picked up my phone tonight - a brand new handset. Just going through the process of setting it all back up! Didn't spend anything else barring a little cash whilst at the shopping centre and I count cash as spent when I withdraw it.

I think February is going to feel like a long month now; I want pay day to roll around again so I can pay more off!

beanielou

I think that's a good plan on the plate & the BC.