Slipping Through My Fingers

enthusiasticsaver

UncannyScot wrote: »

Hi and welcome

My GF has a great way of tracking her personal spending. She treats her personal expenditure as she does her works expenses... receipts for everything and therefore can account for everything. Something that I have actually started doing for myself and can really see a difference in accounting for things that were previously missed...

I know you said you were technologically challenged so perhaps trying to use a excel spreadsheet would be difficult for you. However, I think you can find forms that can be downloaded / printed that can be used like good old pen n paper systems...

I'm sure you'll find out where all the pennies are escaping from and where to eventually

I used to do that too. It is an eye opener how the little bits add up.

teafor2

I'll have to come back on later to make confessions - I've been shopping again but for now just a bit of background information on things that have been mentioned.

ES - I'm typing this wearing my bought for slippers. :rotfl: The £80 for the cc comes out of the joint account. I've been paying £20 extra and will hopefully be upping this to £45 in the NY. I decided instead of saving £50 it'd be better to save £25 and pay £25 off the CC.

Kazwookie - the interest rate on the cc is high and makes me want to cry, but I can't get another deal because I don't work.

Which leads me on to say I feel like I've misled people about our circumstances. I don't work but don't want to say why because I have an irrational fear that the few people I know will read this and know it's me. Extremely unlikely but it's just how I feel. It's medical though, not because I won't. So when I say joint account it's actually husbands money, but we've always 'p****d in the same pot' and joint account is a name that's stuck since we both started putting into it back in 1993! It covers all the household expenses and husband is completely on top of getting the best deals he can for phones, utilities etc. to the point where he bores me rigid giving me a step by step analysis of this deal vs. that deal. But he is who he is and I love him.

I have access to £240 every month which is 'mine' to do with what I want. I'd only have to ask him for more if I was struggling and I'd get it, but the point is, I want to be able to manage on that amount because I should be able to. Actually, I do manage, I just never have any money left over and that was the point of this diary to pinpoint what it was going on and see if I could handle it better.

The only sticking point we have are the dogs Hubby really didn't want them but went along with it. Don't get me wrong, he's the first to call them up to sit next to him in the evening, but when they're getting up to no good he always says "not my dogs, I didn't want them" :rotfl: So on top of the fact he basically pays for pretty much everything else I really won't ask him for grooming money etc.

So I hope that's cleared up a few things. As I said in a previous post, the joint account runs fine, the reason I'm on here is to try and make my money go further or at least account for it better.

Sorry if people have got hold of the wrong end of the stick.

teafor2

On the back of my previous post I've been having a think about things. I guess because husband's money covers most things household I tend to feel it's only fair I dip my hand in my pocket for other things. But he also has money to spend, so maybe I need to hang fire a little bit when we're out and about and we stop for coffee or a bite to eat and not be the one that usually picks up the tab or be the one that sorts out birthdays etc.

Plus it's not as though I've never contributed to the house. I've worked since I was 16 and have put into 'our pot' since we first set up home in 1993 and it was just a few years ago I stopped working.

I feel like I'm justifying myself here, but getting it down just helps me have a different take on the situation.

ImpulseSpender

You don’t need to justify yourself to us on here but I know what you mean, sometimes taking a step back and writing it all down or explaining it to someone helps you to look at a situation differently

teafor2

Thank you ImpulseSpender. Writing on here is definitely helping me get my head around a few things and although I didn't intend bringing up the family finances, now that I have done, I can see why I feel certain spends should come out of my money. Just to clarify though, this is entirely down to my outlook on things so I might need to work on my thinking.

So here we go again! I think I should have started this diary in the NY. It's frustrating to see in black and white exactly how quickly the money is slipping through my fingers. But I knew this would be the case this month so I'm just going to grit my teeth and get on with it. At least I'm laying the groundwork for when I start properly in 2019.

Husband was around today so we went into town and I've finally bought all the gifts I need. The only Christmas spends left are a few extras on food

So down to the nitty gritty. Today's spends were:
Gifts for 2 friends - £6
Birthday gift and 2 cards - £8.60
2 candles - £1.60 - the irony of literally burning money when I've hardly got any left isn't lost on me but I like candles
Toiletry gifts for DC - £12

MSE expert EnthusiasticSaver pointed something out to me this morning that should have been obvious. The slippers I bought for myself yesterday could have been a Christmas present from Mum, so I've reimbursed myself £5. :T

Which means the round up for Day 5 looks like this:
Money in account - £78.44
Money spent - £28.20
Slipper money Reimbursed - £5
Total left - £55.24

Hmmm Might be on here a lot tomorrow. I'm chaining myself to the sofa so I can't go out and spend anything else :rotfl:

WannabeFree

You don't need to explain yourself. I think your post made perfect sense though and I totally understand where you are coming from.

x

teafor2

Thanks Wannabe. I really want to just focus on my money on here but I guess giving a bit of background information helps people to understand my situation.

There was a time many years ago when the children were little when something happened out of our control and we didn't have a penny to our names. Losing our home was a real possibility. Anyway, we struggled for months to keep the wolf from the door and that feeling has never left me. Thankfully circumstances changed for the better in a big way and even when I stopped working we were still more than OK financially. But something like that leaves a big impact and I don't think I'll ever forget what it felt like.

When I work my way through £240 every month without knowing where it's gone, it makes me feel sick sometimes. I don't think I'll stop spending the money but I think knowing where it's gone will help me.

Sorry that was a bit more waffling than intended, but it feels good to get some stuff out.

enthusiasticsaver

You have cleared that up about the way you arrange your finances and actually £240 a month is not so bad if the £80 CC payment comes out of the joint account. Is paying off the credit card from joint finances an option if the interest rate is high? You could always repay it monthly in the same way you do your credit card but without eye watering interest. Just a thought.

I don't think there is anything wrong with being careful with your spends. Maybe next year save something towards Xmas 2019 every month so it doesn't all come out of just one or two months spends.

Glad you have reimbursed yourself for the slippers.

teafor2

ES, I've mentioned paying the cc off out of the joint finances and then paying it back to ourselves monthly, but at the moment hubby isn't keen on handing over £2k and prefers to pay it monthly. As it's his money I'm not going to push the matter. But it's in my name and I'm determined to get rid of it sooner rather than later which is why I'm also paying extra off out of my money. I'll be asking him again in a few months though

Christmas will definitely be on my monthly list of things to save for in 2019 along with the dog grooming

teafor2

Morning All Day 6/31, £55.24 in the kitty, 1 NSD under my belt.

Just checking in to say I don't plan on spending anything today and this time I really think that will be the case.

Plans are to wrap some gifts, walk to the post box, walk the dogs and maybe settle down to a film this afternoon. To be honest I'm glad of the day in. I could do with a rest and so could my bank balance. I'm definitely a home bird and I'm happiest just pottering around the house, especially at this time of year.

I'll be back later, hopefully with £55.24 still to my name.

Have a good day everybody