Working the numbers 2019 style

FootyFanDan

mark88man wrote: »

save/make - kudos to my OH for battling the universal credit system - we will be a month late getting money. also my help to DS2 with antandec has resulted in a refund of overdraft and a chance of getting the scammed money back. but it's such hard work on both fronts

I second the battle that is the universal credit system! We had to claim as partner wasn't working, we jumped through hoops to get it then waited seven weeks 3 trips to job centre for a payment of £8.21.

mark55man

FootyFanDan wrote: »

I second the battle that is the universal credit system! We had to claim as partner wasn't working, we jumped through hoops to get it then waited seven weeks 3 trips to job centre for a payment of £8.21.

Oh. My word. Enough said we are fingers crossed now.

In an ironic twist I'm going to teach DS2 a lesson about benefits and disincentives by sanctioning his pocket money the moment he is actually seeing the cash - but he'll still be up on the deal

mark55man

steps 5400 - lunchtime walk with friend
Not veggie - Was vegan until supper when OH had made bangers and mash which were irresistable
NSD - was in the car or at work so not any real option
weight - Made a good start with half size breakfast and lunch. Plus black coffee is back on

clean / fix - bit of work in the kitchen sorting out some storage

save/make - expenses today was super diligent and got a couple of TFL fares in that I had missed as no receipts.

mark55man

steps 4600 - just a lot of walking around at work
Not veggie - packed lunch was left over bangers and a YS bag of salad
LSD - just £10 at the pub with DS2
weight - healthy eating today but seconds of chicken & chickpea dansak and then pub (will be soft drinks)

clean/fix - fixed the wifi by turning off the printer that shares a unit with it. two dish wash loads (god it's neverending!!)

save/make - Saved £6 by filling right up at petrol station near work rather than near home, although the car was running on fumes when it got there - but that's 5 >500mile tankfulsin my 1.6 Astra

PLUS - DS2 got paid his UC so his account is looking healthy again. we had another go at sAntandec so that will be a few days before we hear

DebtFreeMonkey

I've dipped in and out of reading your diary so far but I enjoy reading each entry. Good luck with everything and I look forward to reading more.

P.s. As a 2.5 year vegan, I'm happy to throw cheap, easy meals your way if you like 😉

mark55man

why thank you Alicia1804

we are trying to move more vegan, both for economy and to support our kids at home 2/3 of whom are strict vegans. Its going slowly though, we haven't quite got the store cupboard alance right so often run out of workable combinations

I don't mind you spamming me (ha!!) the odd recipe, for my benefit and that of all readers

off to bed now, got a busy day tomorrow, and then its gets worse for a couple of months until October when I will try and take a break to visit my FIL in Scotland

FloraandFauna

mark88man wrote: »

here you go here's the thread [STRIKE]I stole it from [/STRIKE] that inspired me

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6022611/improving-all-the-time

Rumbled! : )

I'm so impressed that rang a bell with someone. You may have noticed that my initial long list of daily targets also whittled down to a more pertinent three...

mark55man

And here is the report for July - trying to get back a bit more detail to the numbers

CAR - very little non work travel and no annual costs - so under average £100
CLOTHES - under average (£50) - making do with T shirts
COFFEE - pretty much on budget - a late burst of taking fellow teachers for tea made up for early economy (too hot!!)
CRAFTS - under average (£50) - been a busy month
DEBT - all repayments/regular savings made, no overpayments. numbers slightly confused in my spreadsheet as paid June's CC bill on 1/July which flattered June and makes this month look dreadful but its OK underneath
ENTERTAINMENT - (-£200) Significantly over budget - lots of family and old friends coming to visit/stay - will work on a plan for this
GROCERY - (£-150) slipped back this month - a long month plenty of shops and a couple of expensive BBQs saw us well over average
UTILITIES & HOUSEHOLD - On budget - all DDs so no surprises
KIDS - major spends this month but matched in my overall budget by draw down from savings - I think we have just seen the end of this as DD2 has a FT job for the holidays and then will be on her loan through to about December
LIFE (general spends) - came in under average but only £50!!

So a little unhappy with that - took the eye of the ball on entertainment and shopping. So I will be looking at them carefully in August, especially now I have got my weekly tracker feature added into the spreadsheet

mark55man

Financial Reports for Month ending 31 July

Main CC : Now £6719 with £4500 in regular savers Target 31/12/2019 = £0 - still on target

CC #2 : Now £9700 - this was to house DD1 car finance and DS1 van repair. DD1 is repaying regularly and will have paid her share by 0% deadline.

Car Loan - 2.8% - Now estimated £8.6K - Target 31/12/2019 = £6K - still on target

Overdraft £0K - Now -£600 - just different timing to cash flows so looks a bit better than it is but still making progress

Mortgage Now £124.7K Target 31/12/2019 = £118K - still on target 7.5 years to go on current progress. Not a priority for now

Emergency Fund: Now £600 having reached £1200.

NSD's - still pretty poor really - will try and target these this month as well

Extra Income - poor month for that but have hopes for some extra work things in August

mark55man

Finally my daily report

Steps 4600
Not Veggie (reused lovely curry from last night in two wraps)
HSD - Meal out - not too bad for 5 of us, and just the one course/one drink but still £60. Thats about 25% of entertainment budget in first 5% of the onth
Weight: - light breakfast and lunch, but then had burger and chips which was lush but not healthy

clean / fix - spent the evening tidying up my spreadsheets - which doesn't really count but its what I did

save/make - free coffee at work by using an aged buy 9 get 10th free coffee at the work coffee shop. Slightly tarnished by the fact I can get free coffee from the machine but it was nicer