Working the numbers 2019 style

mark55man

I hope so, we have been saving cash (notes) from OH tutoring job since xmas (paid cash in hand, but all declared!) and also we have a loose change jar for the arcade so we are aiming to use that apart from the restaurant meals I mentioned.

mark55man

So holiday going well. Most of the must dos have been done so just enjoying the sun and walking by the harbour with some really high tides but not too rough.

Ds2 and I have discovered the nourishing quality of a giant traditional steak pasty for breakfast - necessary as Dd1 and BF are sleeping on the sofa bed in the kitchen/lounge area. They are not early risers.

So an early stroll and a 900 pasty sets us up for the day nicely - haven't felt like lunch just topping up ds2 hollow legs with a bag of chips!!

Not really thinking about money too much as we always do what we have always done ands that's in the budget. Losing weight may not be going quite so well but am certainly doing the steps. Can't believe it will be payday next week I will give a full report then

[Deleted User]

Sounds pretty idyllic Mark Agree with doingitanyway, there's something very therapeutic about the sea air!

mark55man

Yesterdays highlights were being sat outside the local with a pint watching the waves slap against the harbour wall sending fountains of spray over a gaggle of shrieking youngsters (primary age I would guess) and not have to deal with wet clothes and hypothermia (!) later

mark55man

So travelled back home today although we spent most of the morning/early afternoon there as it was so nice - and decided to leave just as it started clouding over. Leaving later than usual meant we had a great trip back with only the last hour in the dark.

Have caught up with the post and accumulated carp that gathers even in a week. DS1 (who had been at home) had been reasonably diligent (ie more diligent than expected) in tidying up after himself and his GF for the week, so its very much back into the routine already.

we pretty much stuck to budget £20 per person per day - although overshot on a couple of days wher we have things we have done for ages and like doing (a big Sunday lunch and a couple of mornings having breakfast out)

mark55man

So been a busy week after holiday - nothing to report other than rolling up and down the road to work. I am going to do two posts today,

• this one is a money report (end of the month - payday),
• the next a report on targets, plus some changes to better reflect whats important and what motivates me.

Feb Overview

So bottom line net balance for February +£243 - (Less outgoings than incomings). Its been a bit confusing this month as I've started up another bank account to move away from H**C as they really mucked up an important transaction. The surplus was mainly expenses related as Feb's costs was less than the recompense I got for January.

I have updated my spreadsheet which has all transaction from all personal accounts. This has shown my use of CC right down apart from when I forget my wallet, Amazon and a DS1 related thing described below. Feb has been a short motth - quite expensive for the holiday ended up just over £1000 for pretty much everything for 3 people (+ DD1&BF guest appearance) for a week in Cornwall by the sea.

Feb Details

* My grocery was £530 including holiday self catering. That's the best its been for ages, just upping self prepared and cuttig out some of the treats. Mainly for 5 adults and a cat

* Car was £330 of which £230 was work fuel and £100 was personal (excluding holiday travel)

* Entertainment & Social & hobbies (mainly coffee/meals out with friends and family/crafts and social outings) was £550 which included a couple of meals out which were birthday or celebration related - this is fairly constant but at the high end

* Then household and day to day costs (not shopping, but utilities, mobiles, energy, maintenance was about £500

* Family costs - ie kids/uni subsidy / clothes / beauty etc were another £800 - most of which was a big unexpected garage bill for DS1 that would have left him beyond skint. I may transition this to one of the 0% cards as he prefers not to take money and is keen to pay back - but hasn't got the resilence yet to cope with big shocks.

* Mortgage and debt busting was a large proportion of the total so that is heading in the right direction, but I did start the month havig used the overdraft until OH's mid month pay cheque saved the month so I am going to try and work on keeping in the black. My O/D and I are frequent companians!!

mark55man

So firstly I am going to stop doing weekly detail reports, and go back to monthly - I think weekly doesn't really add anything, and its not really helping drive my behaviour. and its a bit dull for me, so must be dull for you.

one of the key difficulties of this debt is the long term natre of it, and we need to find sustainable things to do. so I am going to concentrate on a much smaller number of things, which are cover same areas but not identical to original list.

• Total debt (and avoidance of credit)
• Weight and Healthy Eating
• Steps and exercise
• Lifestyle spending (ie NSD ...)

I am going to leave the green agenda items out, as whilst I am motivated to not buy stuff by NSD (although a bit lax recently), I am not really motiviated in the same way about veggie meals, so I do try and will try but its not for here.

Total Debt Repayments - CC at 80%, Car Loan 90%, Mortgage 98% - CC Transactions 7/181

Weight & Eating - 2 months in -1 lb, Snacks: V.Poor - Main Meals: Healthy - Drinking: Holiday-Poor - At home-None

Steps and Exercise - Steps - Holiday-Good - At Home-poor. Other exercise-None

Lifestyle spending - NSD 1/28

mark55man

So up early this morning - haven't been sleeping very well - so just had a breakfast and put a load of dishes in. now I will go for a long walk and see if I can avoid spending anything today. did a shop yesterday so have enough in, maybe soup for lunch (OH has hurt her hand so I may be more hands on than normal). Then Jacket spuds and beans for tea. Healthy, and vegan too, but only if I can resist the cheese. We pretty much use dairy free spread routiely now - no point in having two tubs

Seeing some friends after lunch so if it stays nice we might go for another walk. Think I will set a target (yes I know) of 250000 steps in March. That's a big number but its less than 10000 a day

other chores are catch up on some no financial admin, and try an declutter the lounge a bit its got boxes and bags in from all sorts that need putting away. Work will be busy this week, with a fair bit of driving but going well at the moment.

mark55man

Yesterday was healthy and full of steps - plus some beer afterwards with friends and a good episode of endeavour on the telly

Today was another long day on the road with a lapse at the services. Popped in for a loo stop and got the curry my oh fancied then ended up with a £25 quid basket that will only feed us for 1 day. SMH.

mark55man

Tuesday was relatively peaceful, although I nearly had a meltdown trying to get our modern photocopier which can fax email and OCR to just copy some stuff - attempt one came out on A3, attempt 2 came out landscape and not portrait and attempt 3 came out single sided Attempt 4 worked which was good for my blood pressure!!

On the road today, but have promised myself not to stop on the way home at any money traps (service stations). Good meetings today (if there are such things), and should be able to hit the road home before the rush.