The Four D's

Poppy1984

Sorry to hear you have covid, hope you feel better soon, sounded like you needed that sleep! You're totally right works really not worth running yourself into the ground for but I get that it's easier said than done though. 

Take care 

Poppy

FootyFanDan

Poppy1984 said:

Sorry to hear you have covid, hope you feel better soon, sounded like you needed that sleep! You're totally right works really not worth running yourself into the ground for but I get that it's easier said than done though. 

Take care 

Poppy

Thanks Poppy, yeah totally needed the rest tbh. I am starting to feel a bit better now so just need to take it easy. I have got my appetite back a bit now - still tired though, but struggling with sleep. 

With work I am kinda stuck between wanting to do the best I can and only been able to do so much ha. There is certainly some decisions to take at some point though coz I can't keep up with the route I am on at the minute.

FootyFanDan

Payday

Not really updated my diary that much this month as been a pretty tough month personally and work wise, this month just needs to do one!.

I have managed to end the month again with spare funds so that will go into savings. I got a little extra in wage too for helping out doing the other work stuff so although it has been a pretty tough month it is nice to have a little extra. I do feel like I need to find some kind of balance in work life, lately it just feels like if I am not at work I am thinking about the place and that isn't good for me long term so need to address this issue but just haven't had the energy this month. Work is a real struggle across the board at the minute for various reasons so hoping once that is settled then I will also settle back into routine of my own role.

Finance wise everything is still going as well as it can. I am managing to allow a little more freedom in the budget so it doesn't feel as restrictive right now, I just need to keep making sure I top up the pots that we have for yearly expenses and the emergency fund too, ideally I want to get this EF to £1000 by end if next year. There isn't much that we are accountable for in terms of real emergencies house wise but the washing machine is deffo needing to be replaced, hoping to survive til after xmas but we shall see.

I have allocated all funds we currently have to the relevant pots needed and I have also managed to update YNAB so that is now reflective of current financial position. I had stopped using for a while but found it keeps me accountable and got me into a better place than I have ever been with finances so it is working. 

Budget might be a little stretched this month as do have a few trips / days away planned and the whole xmas stuff too, but hoping to be fine. The one thing I need to be mindful of is the early pay in December - this year I am hoping I can just leave it untouched until my official pay day, should be possible as its only a week early.

I do have quite a lot of days off work planned in too as using up my holidays that I haven't been able to use through the year so it should be a relaxing end to the year but let's see. I am off tomorrow and the weekend, will do a few bits in the house but still not 100% feeling great so resting a bit too

Tomorrow's Plan

- Renew Car Tax (already saved for)
- Recycling
- Hospital Check Up with Lil One

Hope everyone is doing ok. I will try update more in December 

FootyFanDan

Good Morning Diary world...Happy New Year to everyone. Well updating more in December went well.....😂. I hope everyone had a fantastic xmas, for once I was actually able to enjoy it with the girls which was very much a blessing. I have had some downtime from work over the Christmas period which has given me a nice little break and time to try put some solid plans in place for 2022, starting this year debt free is a great bonus.

2021 brought some challenges and for me I am glad to see the back of it to be honest, we lost a massive part of our family, both myself and partner had covid, finances tested and also not really had the time together we should have due to my work commitments. I plan to change that this year, I love my work and am always wanting to be at 100% but this last 3 months have totally wiped me out to the point of been ill. Even when on holiday I have always been working, part of this is my own mindset but mainly due to the fact of doing 3 peoples jobs. 2022 will be different haha.

2021 - Goals - My goals at the beginning of the year was to get debt free and that has happened so I can't grumble but other than that I haven't really hit many more targets. I planned to be fitter and healthier and that didn't happen. Towards the end of the year i let my finances slip and whilst no debt was accrued it still was not as controlled as it had been in the first 6-8 months of the year.

2022 Goals are still being set but I primarily want to really focus on trying to lay foundations in place to become home-owners, we love our little rented place and plans in place to make some decoration and adjustment to make it more homely are in place but what we both really want is a place to call our own. This is my primary aim this year is to start looking towards a deposit, I have always felt that home ownership was out of reach of us but maybe it doesn't have to be. We currently have an Help 2 buy ISA with a total of £200 in it !!! It was opened at the last minute as they were closing applications and hasn't been funded much since, unsure if the H2B is our best option but I have setup a standing order for the day I get paid to fund £200 into this every month. Any one with advice re this being a good option or is there another ISA out there that would be better?

Budget : I have put together a spreadsheet that details all expected income/outgoings and I am tracking spending through this as well. I normally use YNAB but I think a spreadsheet is the way forward for me. I have factored in savings of £200 monthly for H2B, £200 for other savings and a bit for xmas every month. The budget in this form allows me to see what is due before we next get some income and whilst might not work for everyone I can see how this could work. I am used to not forecasting our income with the YNAB method but been able to see how our decision impact the budget in the future is a good move I hope.

Finances: Overall we are in a stronger position than we have ever been in and I realise we are quite lucky in that way, however I need to get a grip on a few things within the budget to prevent us getting back in debt. We are both building back up our credit scores and we are both trying to be sensible. We do have one Credit card but this is used purely for food/petrol and only when we have the funds already in our accounts to cover it. We do have a tiny emergency fund but this has had funds removed towards the end of December to buy a new washing machine as our old one was done for. So I will use some of the savings target to replenish that through the year. We also have a cap repair on the horizon as I have engine light on - ABS issues.

Personal: This year as been mixed really but I need to re-focus on my own goals as well, I really want to start getting myself back into shape and also start leading a more healthy and a bit less chaotic lifestyle. I think i set myself so many goals that I overwhelm and then plan stuff but never do it. This year I plan to re-join the gym and make this a part of my routine, it really helped my mental space when I did it last time. I also need to find a way of been more productive at work in the time I have there to prevent me feeling the need to work at home on days off. The amount of times working at home  til 3am and then going to do my actual shift at work is scary and probably not very healthy. I also plan to focus more on my family, I have neglected that side of things recently....not intentionally and it make me a crappy person but time to re-focus.

Right time to stop waffling and get ready for football - keep safe everyone and I will maybe update a page just full of goals for me to refer back to. Thank you for the constant cheerleading along the way and here is to a fab 2022

DancingInTheRain

Happy new year Dan, well done on starting the year debt free and your plans for this year sound achievable so good luck with those too.

There's a guide on here to H2B might be worth a read?
 https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-buy-isa/

FootyFanDan

DancingInTheRain said:

Happy new year Dan, well done on starting the year debt free and your plans for this year sound achievable so good luck with those too.

There's a guide on here to H2B might be worth a read?
 https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-buy-isa/

Thank you Dancing, that was exactly the info I needed  

FootyFanDan

Afternoon all, 

I have had a little think over some goals and honestly think the only real financial goal I want to focus on is getting together an house deposit. I have always thought that due to my crappy credit worthiness that owning an home would just be some distant dream, but after working so hard to get rid of my debt and also the increase in wages it finally feels real and a possibility that I could still get on the property ladder. I have done a little research on the H2B link as suggested by Dancing and it would seem our best option would be the LISA due to the timeframes and also bonus been a little better - I do realise the downside is the withdrawal penalty if it wasn't to be used for an house but I am more determined than ever to ensure that I will be an homeowner. 

I have done a little work on my year budget and worked out that in our budget we have room to realistically save £600-£700 per month without really having to sacrifice a huge amount. I would like some little emergency savings just in case something was to go wrong with the car / house appliance but my main savings aim would be to fund the LISA. I will fund the LISA with max monthly amount I can and then I will keep the other savings separately. 

In an ideal world I would like to buy the current property we are in due to us been really settled here, we have been in the house now for 6 years. We also feel really safe here and its a pretty nice village to live in with great access to transport and links to motorways not far away. So it would be perfect, however I also need to plan for the possibility landlord wishes to not sell as well. 

In terms of my credit report whilst I know the score isn't necessarily important all the defaulted (settled) accounts will  all go from my report through the course of 2022 so maybe that will be a positive change. There will still be a CCJ showing on report that was settled in 2019 but hoping by time buying an house is in view this might not matter as much. I reckon 2 years is what I am aiming for.

mark55man

sounds like a great plan - you will get good advice on the property board - I'm sure someone there could help you make the best proposal to your LL.  Prices have risen a lot so LL may be willing to take some profit, and then look for capital improvement projects.  Certainly going to be happy avoiding estate agent fees, but be careful as they aren't that big a deal and he might end up looking to sell eg to another LL which might not go as well for you.

So I think if you go down that route you should not make your current house your only option and should already be prepared to move even if not far.  Certainly the people who do best are the ones who have done their research so just start to look at rightmove etc and maybe some day trips aroud other villages nearby    

FootyFanDan

@mark55man I personally am open to casting the net a bit further out if needed but the ideal solution would be to stay here, but you are right in mentioning it would be wise to keep all options open. I have been watching right move for about 2 years hahaha just never been in a position where I thought it would be a realistic option. I then got disheartened when doing some research about possible amounts and it come back very low - then I realised I entered a wrong amount which made it all wrong lol. The second search with right figures made me reasonably more assured. 

In regards to areas I am quite local to this area so know where to avoid and where would be nice, although some of the very nice areas I would like to live are way above my limits, but we could dream right

FootyFanDan

1st day of the working year down and out of the way. I was expecting to struggle to get up this morning due to the fairly lax routine I had got myself into during my time off, but I was up before the alarm...even if only just it still counts right??. It was a nice relaxing day back and I feel like once I am back into my routine then I will feel a bit more positive about it. The things that were over-hanging before Christmas I have managed to resolve so onwards and upwards

Today I made a list of things I wanted to ensure I did and managed to make sure I stuck to them, I would like to ensure I keep doing these so eventually they just become normal

- Eat a healthy breakfast
- Drink 1 litre of water (I suck at this but will increase over time) I want to try cut out tea and coffee really and fizzy drinks
- Read 30 mins daily (thinking this could be part of a winding down process at night) 
- Take lunch away from desk 
- Exercise daily

I have also made a few January goals to try target other areas. I want to try improve how I use my downtime rather than just been at my laptop just going down the YouTube rabbit hole of endless stuff lol. I plan to make a list of books / shows and podcasts I want to keep up with. 


January Targets 

- Complete 1 book
- 25 alcohol free days (currently 3) I want to eventually stop drinking completely. I am aiming to not drink any more this month at all, however I do have a football away day so am allowing a little wiggle room.
- Start my digital journal - I want to try do this to have somewhere to put down my thoughts/feelings/ideas and also a place to organise things. I am working on how this will work but I figure if I can have some where to get out my things it might take them off my mind

All the direct debits have come out for the month, and petrol / food is taken care of until our next income which is due mid month. The purchase of the washing machine as cut finances a little closer to the line than we have been used to for a little while but nothing that can not be managed