Getting it together...one £ at a time!

horseeatsallmymoney

I've just sat and read through your whole diary and it's given me lots of motivation!
I like the way you line up your goals and talk bout the good things in the week.
Glad you got your holiday money back. We got ours back 6 weeks after cancelling, but at least we did get it back!

Homegrown0

Thanks for stopping by @horseeatsallmymoney - after me moaning about my distinct lack of motivation, it's nice to know that past me has managed to pass on some motivation. Maybe I should read my own diary back? haha 

We are only half way there in terms of getting the money back - transport costs are back but we are still awaiting accommodation costs (which are the highest cost). They should be in over the next week or so though. Just glad I didn't need to put up too much of a fight! Nice to hear you got your holiday money back too. It does make a big difference in times like these. 

Homegrown0

Morning all! I'm doing my best to keep motivation and productivity high at the moment - must stop feeling down and guilty for not being productive and actually do something about it! 

Yesterday was significantly better than last week, so just need to keep it up and step it forward today. Even an additional 5% of effort/ focus will make all the difference. 

Not a lot to update really - the meal planning/ shopping is going well. Although it's expensive, it's working and we're wasting very little. And more importantly, we're enjoying every meal we have and feel so much healthier! Now just to figure out how to bring down the cost (this will be easier when the kids are back at school and husband is back at work )

Still no refund from the holiday accommodation company - my brain seems to think that the more regularly I check, the quicker the refund will be made... Must get a grip! They did say 10-14 days and I think it's been a week. 

I'm awaiting the next big government announcement in Scotland (Thursday) which will determine what happens next with my husband's work. I'm hopeful that he'll be able to stay furloughed since I'm still working full time and we have the kids at home.His company will take some time to get back up to full speed once it reopens, so i have my fingers crossed that his boss sees benefit on both sides. Even just for a few weeks. I can't even bear the thought of the alternative juggle. 

Days until pay day: 13

Homegrown0

Well... as if this Tuesday couldn't get any more exciting... 

HMRC wrote to my husband and they are refunding him £23.10, since he paid too much tax. Why aren't we the people who get thousands refunded? haha Anyway, I can't complain. It's money in our pocket. As soon as it's paid in, it'll be transferred either into the credit card or our savings account. I'll see how I feel. 

Better than a kick in the teeth

doingitanyway

I know what you mean I got a tenner last year. The systems are in real time now so the days of big overpayments are rare.
Love the countdowns being reintroduced, although 28 weeks to Christmas freaked me out a bit.
I'm the same as you, spending a bit more but eating loads better. I think your food shopping/eating outcome is a success actually...
Hope your mojo comes back soon.

Homegrown0

Homegrown0 said:

Well... as if this Tuesday couldn't get any more exciting... 

Turns out I spoke too soon earlier! My husband did a job at the beginning of the year and was due to be paid for it just before Coronavirus took over the world. The company closed for lockdown and we weren't sure they'd reopen so we hadn't relied on the money. In actual fact, I'd written it off entirely. 

However, the company opened up again this week and paid him this afternoon! What a turn up for the books. 
It now means that I've hit my £10k end of month target two weeks early!

I'm still planning to make a decent chunk of savings at the end of the month and treat it as though we haven't had this extra injection of savings. 

Good times!

Homegrown0

doingitanyway said:

I know what you mean I got a tenner last year. The systems are in real time now so the days of big overpayments are rare.
Love the countdowns being reintroduced, although 28 weeks to Christmas freaked me out a bit.
I'm the same as you, spending a bit more but eating loads better. I think your food shopping/eating outcome is a success actually...
Hope your mojo comes back soon.

Ah, i didn't realise that @doingitanyway. I just assumed I was unlucky
28 weeks until Christmas is entirely freaking me out too. It was only Christmas a week or so ago, I'm sure... Although now I suppose it's 27 weeks. Eek! 

Homegrown0

Morning all, 

No changes here - another day of coasting financially. Better than financial bombs dropping on me, of course, but coasting makes me antsy to make more progress. I'm very impatient, in case you hadn't noticed! 

Savings pots are ticking along nicely... here's a roundup: 

Renovations savings: £10,121.34 (finishings and contingency and, if we can build it up enough, new windows and doors by the end of the year)
Christmas credit union: £350 
Credit union general: £401.68 (I generally cash this out at Xmas too but like to keep some money available for drawing on throughout the year, whereas I can't lift the actual Christmas account money)
Clothes/ gifts savings: £300 (this is being saved for new shoes for the kids and school uniforms for 2 kids)
Holiday account: £0.14 (haha)


Days until pay day: 12

Homegrown0

Good afternoon all! It has been a week since my last post and I'd like to share with you that I have not sinned. Well...not financially anyway

Again, all is ticking along well. Just waiting on my final debt standing order of the month to leave my account then i'll be able to do a June roundup. 

Refunds from all holiday parties are now complete, so there's a minimal amount left on our credit card now. I will pay this off at the end of the month. 

The £23.10 refund from HMRC came in so that was fed into the savings account. Hoping to be able to save another £200-300 on pay day, but there's a lot of variables that could change that. 

Looks likely that when school returns after summer, kids will be back in full time, so I will need to start planning and budgeting for full school uniform x2. In MSE news, my eldest's school blazer now fits my youngest so I'm delighted about that! One less thing to buy (and the most expensive part, at that!).

Otherwise, it's business as usual here. Hope all is well in your worlds. 

Days until pay day: 6

Homegrown0

June 2020 ROUNDUP!

Balances and paid amounts
Loan: Paid off  (yes, i'm still displaying this on my totals)
CC1: £3,889.87 / £4,736.59 (£846.72 or 18% paid off)
CC2: £3,067.00 / £5,031.14 (£1,996.56 paid off - 40% paid)

Total: £6,956.87 / £25,619.44 (£18,671.54 paid off, 73% paid)

Highlights

• Overall debt dropped into the £6k bracket  JUST!
  
• Very close to breaking into the 2k bracket for CC2 and the 6k bracket for overall debt - this will be achieved in July

Savings

• £10,144.44 in savings (saving hard for extension contingency and furnishings, hence why debt payments above are less than usual and we're saving like mad)
• Hoping to add another £200 at the end of the month when I get paid to round off June with £10,344.44 
• Aiming for £11,500 in savings by the end of July 
• £300.50 in clothing/ gifts account - set aside for kitting out both kids with school clothes for the year ahead and 2x new trainers for both...best get saving!
• £350 in Christmas saver (payout in November)
• £401.68 in credit union (I usually use this for Christmas activities and presents in November/ December)
• £0.14 in holiday savings account... 

Things of note/ coming up:

• Our finances will change again in August as our renovation/ build will commence and the financial structure that we've decided on will commence. I have mapped this out. It all looks good, and extremely doable within out budget. But I still have to be mindful that things will change and we will not be saving so handsomely from August onwards.
• It's still unclear what will be happening about my pre-agreed pay rise. It will happen, but I'm not sure when it will be. I had loosely put together our financial forecast as the increase was due to start from next month's wage but as it's still up in the air, I've just updated my spreadsheet to assume that nothing changes until Christmas. That way, when the pay rise is confirmed, it'll have a positive impact on the spreadsheet. I'd rather that than have to reduce savings on a month by month basis if it still hasn't been confirmed. Trying to keep a positive mentality.

Days until pay day: 6
Loan payments left: NONE!!! - Yes, I'm still going on about it! 
Childcare payments left: NONE!! We are now £550p/m better off (although we have lost 20% of husband's wages and will be paying for after school clubs when things return to normal). But this is such a wonderful feeling after paying tens of thousands to nursery over the last 7 years