Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget.

humptydumptybits

New gardener has just finished up tidying the garden, cutting all the bushes back. Really pleased with it, he has done a good job.


It was a lovely sunny morning here, looking a bit less cheerful now. I've just had pancakes for lunch, made them for the GC but I had to join in. They are happy now they've started their Advent Calendars.


Hope everyone is having a lovely day.

humptydumptybits

Doingit, I have a spreadsheet with all the annual stuff plus a subset for regular monthly stuff.


I get my private pension monthly, my SRP every 4 weeks, payment for a small job I do every 4 weeks but not the same date as SRP, and rent on two BTLs I have they are paid every month but not the same date as each other or my pension.



It makes it hard to keep track of it all and I find a spread sheet helps. I'd love it if all the money came in on the same day as I'd feel more in control. Having said that I am lucky to be in a good financial position so shouldn't moan.

caronc

doingitanyway wrote: »

Hope you don't mind me asking but how do you budget. Do you do spreadsheets for the year? I will be living on less for at least 4 months and maybe longer so probably need to do better in this area as I still want a champagne (ish) lifestyle! :rotfl: Thank you

Yes I use a spreadsheet to track all my spends. When I retired last year I knew my income would drop a a good bit but I didn't want to constantly dip into my "proper" savings for what really are routine things.
I roughly work out what I expected to spend on annual/ad hoc costs like insurance, clothes, birthdays, xmas etc. and converted that into a monthly cost which I save every month into Pot 1, Pot 2 is my "household" costs or emergency fund. As I have other savings I wanted to try and save £1000 a year in this to cover replacement of white goods etc.or random household items. I save £85 a month into this. Pot 3 is my "social & 5 week month fund". I wanted to avoid that horrible 5 week month feeling and also keep my going out money separate from other budgets. I allow x per week for food, entertainment etc. so depending on if it is a 4 or 5 week month the amount I need can vary. I worked out what this is annually divided into 12 and in four week months put the difference between 4 weeks & a calendar months costs and save the difference then take back what I need during 5 week months. Having the separate pots (I have 3 online savings accounts for these) has really helped me.

My system might not be for everyone but it's worked for me so it's worth taking some time to have a play about with your figures and see what works for you. Good luck

joedenise

I use YNAB but I've got the old version which you can't get anymore and it was a one off payment. The new version I haven't even looked at as it is web based and you have to pay a monthly fee but I suspect it might be a worthwhile investment if you struggle to budget.

I'm another who gets money on different dates each month. My DH's SP every Tuesday, my SP every Friday, my works pension the last working day of the month, my AVC the 28th of the month. My DH's pension is in a drawdown so we use that for big items - we've recently had our bathroom redone using some of that and we're going to have our kitchen/utility/dining room redone next year. Then they'll only be our living room to revamp and then our bungalow will just need redecorating which we should be able to manage from our pensions.

Denise

lessonlearned

candygirl wrote: »

It sounds idyllic 'LL. I'm so glad You're having a fab time.Which company is it?

Hi candy. It’s Fred Olsen. First time I’ve travelled with them. I’m very impressEd

Today is Tenerife. Did a bit of Christmas shopping. Both yesterday and today I have impressed myself by how much Spanish I have mabaged to remember. I’m going to try even harder when I get back to become more fluent.

MNow relaxing on deck. Might need a nap soon. Lol.

Interesting to read all about the various methods of budgeting. I have two bank accounts, one for regular outgoings and one as a holding account and then a couple of those high interest regular saver accounts. It takes a bit of juggling but I find internet banking helps me keep on top of things.

One thing I find helpful is a daily spending diary for all the odds and ends. It can be a real eye opener to show the leaks and where I need to tighten my belt. I find It can be very easy to fritter money away on nothing if I don’t pay attention.

After Christmas I need to rejig everything again and look for better homes for my savings. I also want to set up a savings fund for my grandchild and any subsequent grandchildren that come along.

Got to make every penny work hard. Lol.

DundeeDoll

tesuhoha wrote: »

Did you manage to find anything you liked?

did i see anything i didn't?! I think this will be 2019's project :-) when xoh and i split i took what was left of our wedding china (25 years so a few bits didn't make it) to the charity shop and bought a cheap set from MrT.

tesuhoha

DundeeDoll wrote: »

did i see anything i didn't?! I think this will be 2019's project :-) when xoh and i split i took what was left of our wedding china (25 years so a few bits didn't make it) to the charity shop and bought a cheap set from MrT.

Well its really amazing how it mounts up. Suddenly you have a cupboard/sideboard full of Denby, so good luck.

doingitanyway

Thanks humpty and carconc for the budgeting posts.
I already have a few savings accounts so I will do the 'pots' method that you do carconc so thanks for sharing what your pots consist of. I'm going to spend my morning preparing a budget.

[Deleted User]

I have several savings accounts with the bank. I pay £80 a month into one which covers car insurance and house contents cover, car servicing, tax and breakdown cover. I also have an emergency pot in another. Both OH and myself have savings accounts which we put our pocket money in. We allow ourselves £45 a month each. What we do not spend We save towards holidays etc.

I use an old MS programme, microsoft money, I use it to forecast forward at least 3 months. Our pensions etc come in weekly for the government pension and monthly for all the others.

Life ins etc and fuel bills, rent and rates are paid out monthly so they are entered up automatically. Anything I spend is entered in when I check my bank account on the net each day. I use my debit card when shopping for food, but have a budget, so keep a note in my diary when I go shopping. I also use the debt card for diesel, I put £30 a month in the car.

It works for us.

suki1964

sounds like you are having a lovely time LL

I just popped in to say, that we had a lovely night at the cinema watching The King And I ( Filmed at the Palladium back in September)

The cinema was packed and you soon forgot you were watching a film, the audience clapped along with the stage audience, and a few even joined in with the standing ovation

Well worth going along

Andre Rieu is being shown on the 5th January. He is in Belfast this month, but a decent ticket is £99, then you have the travel and over night accommodation so mum is happy to go along to see him at the cinema for £10