My New Normal

Fla603

I feel like time is flying by and despite my good intentions there aren’t enough hours in the day to make the updates I’d like.
Tonight I had a quick review of my personal account and was shocked to see how many transactions appeared for coffee establishments for 3, 4, 5 pounds at a time. There were also sandwich bars, the staff canteen and a lunch out with my mum. I totalled it up and am a bit embarrassed to say it was £102.56!!!! To add insult to injury I’m trying to lose weight!!
When I told DH he reckoned he spends a good bit on eating out as well so I think we are both going to be more aware of this. I definitely want to cut this back straight away this month. I’m going to make it a personal challenge to see how low I can keep it and review it again next month.
I also haven’t gotten any further with my electricity bill direct debit, and despite my Sky bill being incorrect, spending 30mins on the phone to have it adjusted/refunded I haven’t seen any reduction in my bill so I need to get back onto them again

Fla603

Does anyone else find the end of the month and pay day really motivating for making financial plans and payments?
As it is payday tomorrow I decided to have a look at how much is left in my personal account and decide what I should “do” with it. I like to start the new month with only that months wage in my current account, and usually transfer any remaining money from the previous month into my ISA. This month however I felt like I had spent on my c/c so decided to have a look at my statements.
Despite considering myself to be debt free I have £1217 On my credit card!!!! While it is interest free until March 2020 it will have to be paid off so I went through all the recent statements and deciphered the following info:

May: £112
April: £25
March: £125.25

These items are all my own personal spends and total: £262.25

Feb: £264
Dec: £319

These are joint family spends and will be split with my husband.
Total: £583/2=291.50

Tonight I have paid off my March-May spends using the money left in my personal account so a payment of £262.25.

DH and I spoke about the joint stuff (feb-Dec) ages ago but it has slipped our mind so I will remind him again tomorrow and we will pay this off by the end of July.

This leaves £372 remaining on my cc.
£109 of this I can account for and it will be paid off at the start of August.
The remaining £263 however is completely unaccounted for and is probably from a balance transfer I did when I took out this c/c. It is so silly to think that I have to pay back this money and I have literally no idea what I spent it on!! Not sure whether to bite the bullet and pay it from my ISA or just hold out and pay towards it in August and then Sept. It is interest free until March 2020 so there is no rush to use my ISA, which is effectively my emergency fund account.

Not very interesting reading but I just wanted to note all these details down so I can reference them again if need be

Fla603

Spoke to DH about the joint spending on the cc and he has transferred me half the money. I promptly paid this off (in case I spent it) so another £291 paid off the cc. I really want to pay my half now - while I remember and also to have it paid off but I don’t want to leave myself short at the end of the month. I don’t know why it matters as it will need to be paid one way or the other by the end of the month (as this is the target I have set myself). So if I pay it now from my current account I might just end up using my savings later in the month... or I use my current account for daily spends now and at the end of the month I end up paying it from my ISA! Or, the ideal scenario is pay it off now from my current account and then just not spend any more the rest of the month and therefore not use my savings!! Simple right?

enthusiasticsaver

You seem to have a good handle on your finances.

Do you work full time and do you split childcare costs 50/50? That is the only downside I can see to having separate finances. That, plus would you have access to enough money should your DH be sick and not able to access his account.

Fla603

Hi enthusiastic saver, thank you for stopping by!
Currently DS is looked after by my mum one day awake and then as I can do evenings and weekends DH and I split childcare so we don’t have any childcare expenses. We do save a token £50 a month for childcare, which we pay to my mum, even though she doesn’t want it. We expect in the future to have childcare costs as I would like DS to attend a child minder where he can learn from and interact with other children. At that point DH and I would just increase our contributions to our joint account to share this cost.
DH and I both work for employers who have good sick pay. We also have a joint life insurance policy which has some cover for serious illness and have individual savings accounts so could manage in the event of sickness.

We have quite a small house and mortgage compared to some of our friends, and have good equity in our house so we could manage on one wage in the event of sickness or job loss for a period of time, obviously really tightening our belts. This is what we tell ourselves when we look at our friends in large country houses anyway! Our smaller semi allows us some enjoyment now (holidays etc) but also means we are not overstretching ourselves.

findingthisdifficult

I've just read your diary from the beginning, sounds like you're really on top of your financial plans. I've subscribed as I found reading your diary motivational.

Fla603

Since my last rambling about paying off my credit card I have only gone and made another purchase on my c/c!! This time for a bed for my spare bedroom aka DH’s work from home office, my ironing room and general dumping ground! There’s a variety of reasons it is sensible and practical to finally turn this into a proper bedroom (which I won’t bore potential readers with) and so £217 has been spent. The bed went on sale so we decided to purchase it now rather than wait for it to go back to full price. It has been paid by c/c for the added security that brings in case of any hassle but will definitely be paid off at the end of the month. This may mean delaying the payment of £291 from some previous spending, but ideally, if I keep tight reign of my spending I could pay both off. That would be a major success for me and is my aim! Of course, now that the bed is being delivered DH reckons we need new flooring, and the room needs read out and painted. My birthday is coming up soon and as there’s nothing I fancy/need I have suggested DH can buy the paint as a present, and if any of my family ask what I would like for my birthday I will prob suggest a couple of home accessory type things I would like to style the room.

In other news, DH and I have started a new diet. I have lost 3lb in week 1 and while it costs £10 a month subscription I’m hoping this will be offset against my major spending on coffees, cakes and lunches out. Last month I spent £130 on such items. My fave order from *bucks is £5.25 alone and a million calories, so dieting really is win win!!

findingthisdifficult

We're living parallel lives Fla

We'll also be buying paint soon as we want to put the house on the market and it needs a lick of paint before the valuation.

Ooh, what is this diet you speak of? I could do with losing a few lbs too.

findingthisdifficult

How are you getting on Fla?

Fla603

Hi FTD, ohh I’m really struggling!! 2 weeks ago it was mine and my mum’s birthday and we had a lovely day out to a rural, Irish sea side town. You would imagine then that it would be quite hard to spend money but unfortunately that was not the case. I ended up buying a new handbag and clothes for DS. I should say that 3 yrs ago on honeymoon I got two lovely MK handbags for a great price and this is the first handbag I’ve bought since. So my cost per wear is in the minus figures!! DS’s clothes where in the sale but from quite a fancy brand. My experience with the brand is that the clothes wash and wear really well so he will get lots of wear out of them and I don’t buy full priced items from that brand.
This week DH and I have both been off work and again we have had some really lovely but spendy days out! One thing we’ve bought was a suitcase, which we do need as we’ve had to borrow my in-laws twice now, and it was reduced in a major sale to £15 from £100. We also went to the amusements and DS who is 13mnths had his first run on the hobby horses. Cost me £4.50 for that one ride by the time I paid for 3 of us. Just lots of spendy things like that! I’m off to get my hair cut tomorrow morning. It’s In desperate need as I’ve put it off so long.
How are you getting on? Surely not as badly as me!!!