Savings for the Boy & Me

Chandelier.

A new month is nearly upon us and I have decided to pull the purse strings much tighter. It shall be No Spend November for me! I have decided to budget off my work income only. Any other income shall be split across the saving accounts I have.

November 2018 Budget

Income:
£1291.00

Outgoings:

Board: £200.00
Phone: £23.00
Gym: £22.50
Union: £16.40
Denplan: £11.99
Prescription: £10.40
Insurance: £7.99
Ice Skating: £350.00
Petrol: £60.00
Car: £80.00
Food: £60.00
Childcare: £50.00
Registration Fees: £15.00
Birthday: £25.00
Christmas: £50.00
Entertainment: £100.00
Emergency: £100.00

Total: £1182.28

Surplus:
£108.72

Skint_yet_Again

Hi Chandelier good luck with the no spend November. I notice your monthly food spend is very low at £60 how do you manage to keep it so low as I could use some tips

pinknsparkly

Hi Chandelier,

The wedding sounds gorgeous but I can see your need to tighten the purse strings a little now! I really wanted to pop in and say how impressed I am with your attitude to scraping your car - that kind of "well it's happened, I've got the savings to sort it out so there's no point in getting angry or stressed out about it" is an amazing approach to take and one that I'm trying to get better at taking in my own life

Wishing you all the best of luck with your no spend November!

Chandelier.

Skint_yet_Again wrote: »

Hi Chandelier good luck with the no spend November. I notice your monthly food spend is very low at £60 how do you manage to keep it so low as I could use some tips

Skint, I live at home and pay a sum towards the food shopping bill. My mum makes up the rest but as a family of 3 + lodger, we generally spend around £200 a month or less. We also have my uncle come for tea twice a week. We cook from scratch, shop around and only buy what we need. We try and minimise food wastage as much as possible.

Pink, I had to adopt that attitude because I knew the situation could have been ten times worse. It was a few scratches, that is far better then an actual accident and injuries. I picked my car up on Sunday and it looks pretty much brand new. You can't even tell anything happened. He also tidied up another small scratch I had from when someone reversed and scratched my car, £300 well spent.

I have been doing some Christmas shopping but have jigged my budget and increased it in some areas. I have bought the boy a nintendo switch for Christmas as that is what he has asked for, although he did turn round and say he couldn't have it as it was too expensive . Bless his little heart. I shopped around and found a really good deal for the console plus one game, meaning I saved £41.99. Also I had a free £50 amazon gift voucher (earned from CC reward points) and bought two further games. I have one more item to buy for him and then he is done for.

So yes my Christmas budget has increased due to me buying a more expensive item for the boy, but the good thing is, I saved the money all year round to do so and will not have any other unexpected spends out of this.

Chandelier.

Hello,

I haven't updated for a while as life has just been busy. I became a bit obsessed with saving money and needed to let go a little. I'm doing the best I can with what I have.

Last month, I saved £750 which seems to be my average. That does not include all the other budget pots I have/save for towards yearly expenses etc.

My savings are as follows;

HTB Isa: £200.
FD 5% Account: £300.
NW 5% Account: £250.

November has turned out to be another spendy month due to unexpected expenses and other small things but I'm within my budgets which is all that matters.

I'm still saving into my budgeted pots but they are all looking a bit sparse as I've had to jig around money here and there. I've decided I'm only going to top up the most necessary ones for this month and start afresh for all the others at the beginning of next year. That's what I did in January this year to cover all costs.

I'm looking at possibly changing my car to something more economical. At the moment over the course of the year it costs me alot for the service, MOT, car tax and insurance. I'll be looking at cars that are more cost effective and maybe downsizing to one that's more appropriate for our needs. At the moment I have quite a big sized car and it's just too big for us. I currently fully own my car and there is no outstanding finance for anything. I'm hoping to get decent sale price for it and will look into cars below that threshold, I may even get money back which would be a bonus.

I've also been thinking about my adventures for next year. The plan is to go Amsterdam with one of my friends. Another friend and I are possibly looking to go to Italy. I'll plan something seperate for me and the boy, what yet, I don't know. I need to book some annual leave in the summer holidays and I can then go from there. One of my savers account, matures in January so I could use this as my travelling fund. I'll then save another lump sum each month to go towards other future things.

My 0% credit card currently holds a balance of £350.00 due to dental treatment expenses. I've decided I'm going to pay this off by £50 each month and let it tick over slowly. I also add my monthly expenses to my AMEX card which I pay off in full each month- I do this for the points which i cash in when required for Amazon vouchers. Through using both these cards, it should hopefully help me build up a solid credit history for when it comes to me applying for a mortgage in the future.

I've been on a couple of dates this month which have been fun. I don't think it will mount to anything but I'm happy to stay friends. We seem to get on well and share the same sense of humour but admittedly we are both commitment phobes which doesn't bode well. It has given me a confidence boost though and allowed me some time to myself to go out, relax and have fun.

I'm planning as many Christmas activities as possible for December and filling up my social calendar. I do love this time of year, even if it can be overwhelming. I just need to take it at my own pace and not over do things. I've some Christmas shopping left to do and will try to complete that over the next upcoming weeks. I've bought my brother and his family presents which my mum will take to them when she visits next weekend. I have my works Christmas do coming up which should be fun- lots of preparation for that and I'll set some funds aside. It's not often I go on a proper night out so I'm going to make sure I celebrate and have lots of fun.

I've a few things I want to get done today. I need to post an important letter and I want to stock up on some things I need. I also want to buy some pretty wrapping paper. I'll shop around for this stuff. I think I've around five more people to buy for and then I shall be done. I'll do some online and nip into town for a few other things.

The boy will essentially get three christmases in one day this year. He is spending the morning at mine, then going to his dads for a few hours and then to his grandparents. I've a decent work schedule over Christmas/New year but I shouldn't need to worry about childcare with all the support I have.

I am meeting up with friends later where we are taking the kids ice skating and for pizza afterwards. This should be fun and memorable for them. They all get along so well- it's our own little ice skating family. I love it and get on great with everyone.

I'm just taking each moment as they come. You never know what is around the corner and what life may throw at you. This year has been a slight mix of ups and downs and it has made me reflect on a lot of things. I've developed and grown as a person and there is still more things for me to work on. Little steps each time as they say. I'm getting to know myself a lot better and my mental health is pretty stable right now, long may it continue. We may have even cracked the right medication combination for now. I'm functioning well and doing what I need to do which is all that matters, I seem to be managing myself a lot better. Don't get me wrong, I still have days where I do struggle a little but these are getting less and less.

I'm off to revise my budget for this next month and may post it on here to keep myself on track. I'm going to allocate more money to certain categories, just to give me some more leeway for upcoming events. My income for this month has slightly increased which is a good thing and gives me some breathing space.

savingwannabe

Gosh how organised are you??????Glad your health is ok.

Your saving is fantastic. I think the idea of 3 holidays is wonderful. I am soooooooooo envious. What fun you will have. DS will be v busy on Christmas it sounds like great fun for you all.

Chandelier.

Morning,

I've been quiet as of late due to the Christmas/New Year period. It's felt like I'd blinked and the whole of December disappeared right before my eyes.

December did end up a rather expensive month but all costs have been accounted for. The boy loved his Christmas presents and was over the moon with everything he received.

It was a busy month overall with days out here and there, going out for meals/catch up with friends and the boy was in nine different shows in relation to his ice skating. We managed it all in the end.

And here I am again at the beginning of the month, ready to start my saving pots again for the year ahead.

My 5% saver account matured today so I've moved the funds across to another account and happy with the interest earnt (£97.60). I've closed that account down and opened a new 5% account which I'll pay the maximum into each month.

So as it stands I have two 5% saver accounts which I pay the maximum into and also my HTB Isa. It's giving me something to work towards and adds to my saving fund whilst maximising interest where possible.

I'm still saving into my extra budgeted pots/annual expenses pots.

I'll update all these into seperate posts to make it clearer to read/understand and I can always look back on these when I feel the need too.

Chandelier.

Main Saving Accounts.

• FD 5%: £300 per month.
• NW 5%: £250 per month.
• HTB Isa: £200 per month.
  
  Total: £750 per month.

Chandelier.

Budget Pots 2019

1. Ice Skating: £350 per month.
2. Entertainment Fund: £200 per month.
3. Car Fund: £125 per month.
4. Petrol: £80 per month.
5. Food Fund: £80 per month.
6. Childcare Fund: £50 per month.
7. Union Fund: £15 per month.
8. Birthday Fund: £40 per month.
9. Christmas Fund: £60 per month.
10. Emergency Fund: £100 per month.
    
    Total: £1100

Chandelier.

That's all my savings and budget pots laid out for the month. It makes me feel happy seeing the pots filled once again as it feels like a fresh start. Obviously these will go down once expenses come out but whatever is left over at the end of the month will roll over into the next so I build up a buffer for any future unexpected expenses.

I have also calculated the total cost of my bills and added a small buffer just incase. I have worked out that these come to a total of £350 for the month.

I still have numerous different bank accounts but the system works for me. I am trying to tidy my banking up as much as possible.

First Direct: This is my main current account which all my income goes into. I then transfer my income out to another account and leave just enough to cover the bills for the month. I do not plan to use this debit card for daily spends. At the end of the month I'll transfer a balance back across to divvy up the funds into said budget accounts.

Nationwide: This is the current account that all my income is transferred into. I let it build up to the £2500 limit as I then receive 5% interest on this. At the end of the month, I'll send the money back over to FD ready to split between the next months budget.

Halifax: This will be my account for entertainment purposes throughout the month. The app updates any spends automatically and I'm able to see what is left on a daily basis. I

Monzo: Any surplus income shall go into this account and I will be able to see where my other spends are going. I tend to fritter money away quite easily sometimes so this will be interesting to monitor, especially with it being put into categories. Whatever is left over, I'll let it build up and when it reaches a certain amount I'll transfer it to my savings or my emergency fund.

I use my amex card for the cashback/reward system. This is paid off in full each month and earns me points which I can later redeem. I'll most likely use it for Amazon vouchers to put towards birthdays/Christmas. Whatever money is spent, goes into a side account ready to pay the DD at the end of the month.

I have a 0% CC which has a balance of £300. The promotional offer runs out Dec 19, so I'll get it paid before then. I'll most likely make payments here and there. I'm not worried about it.

So that is how my system shall work