The Four D's

FootyFanDan

alt80 said:

Happy New Year. You’ve got some good goals there for the coming year mate. Utilising something that works for you is not ‘cheating’ and focusing on where you want your money to go each month and what you are choosing to spend it on is a great start. You are in a good position, free of debt and on the road to building some savings. You’ll get there in time with buying your own home. It might only be small but perhaps if you fancy a takeaway coffee, take the money your would have spent and put it into your savings for a home - little bits will add up; could potentially pay your conveyancing fees with savings from takeaway coffee, for instance.

Regarding using your credit card; if it’s paid in full each month there is nothing wrong with that at all, best way to buy goods imo, keeps your day to day spending away from your main current account and greater consumer protection (potentially some small cash back/ points based rewards too). 

Overtime might be there for you to take but don’t forget to spend time with your loved ones and don’t miss out on your little girl growing up. I put everything above my family for many years and made myself very ill. Could be worth perhaps having a month or two off the booze, just to reset a bit and another opportunity to top that deposit fund up a bit.

Happy New Year mate. Yeah I think I need to focus on building up savings, I also plan to spend more time with the family and doing things more as a family. This year I have managed to improve my work position in terms of wages and also in terms of experience. I now need to put myself in. a place where work is left at work, this is going to take some time but that is the goal. 

alt80

Some of the problem with building savings imo is having a plan for them so the ‘good habit’ / delayed gratification feels worth it. If I were you I’d focus on your house deposit but ultimately whatever works for you is going to be the best reward.

That’s great news re work, well done mate 100% deserved from what you’ve said on here about how much you’ve put into the job; I’m glad the company appreciates your efforts. You’ll get there with the work / life balance with discipline. 

FootyFanDan

Morning All - I haven't missed these early mornings . Finally back in work today and will be office based all week so the targets / to do

- NSD 
- No Eat out lunch (should easily be achieved as I have packed lunch)
- NO TAKEOUT COFFEE 
- Post letter (already paid for)
- 5k steps - I need to get back into this so low targets for a few weeks. This might be tough as I am office based but if I take a wander around the site it can be achieved.

Hoping by being accountable on here I can cut out the needless spends. Hope everyone has a great day

mark55man

Another one back on the treadmill - I mean 2022 was so last year.  You can get 2000 steps easy by just walking around for a couple or 3 minutes every hour - the rest is harder, but maybe park your car a little further than you have to or if you have any broadcast calls (ie where you listen but don't speak), try doing them on the move

BlueJ94

Glad to see you back @FootyFanDan! Agreed that mse forum helps keep you accountable and on track! 

alt80

Great start to the year @FootyFanDan, now get that coffee money put in that home deposit account. 

FootyFanDan

Morning All,

Hope everyone had a good week. I managed to keep my goals of steps target and hit it each day so thats something I need to keep up and up that goal more every few weeks. No bought out lunches and also 1 takeout coffee although this didn't come out of the 'joint budget'. I have spend a few quid on instant chai latte drink so hoping this week I can take it to work daily. 

Another thing I managed quite well last week was not pointless spending for no reason.  All days weren't NSD as I was at the Leeds match on Wednesday so had food and soft drink - but again this is from my fun money and didn't impact anything family budget wise.

Today I am going to take some time to look at the savings goals and targets in my YNAB and see what can be adjusted. At the moment my Emergency fund is just in one sum in its own category. I have enough here for most emergencies, so I am thinking of using some of this to fill some of the empty ' Non-Monthly' expenses that I normally allocate funds to every month. 

The end of January and early Feb could be expensive but hoping not, I have car MOT / Service due - also Car tax is due. I am hoping that I can pay this in one lump sum. It is only £12 per month so nothing to budget damaging but the mindset of not having it come out monthly would be great. I would love to do this with my Car insurance too but this is normally a bit more than I can pay in one go. The joy of been able to pay my insurance in one go would be fab, but again it doesn't take a huge slice of monthly budget so wondering if worth it I guess if nothing else I would ave on the fees they charge for paying over 12 months

Today will also be shopping day - let me see if i can manage to not go over budget. Have a great day all

mark55man

If it was a choice between car tax and insurance in one go, my gut reaction would be that insurance will charge you more for the pleasure of paying monthly. Your provider may differ but might be worth a check

My OH and I do Car Tax monthly just so I don't have the annual panic - I know its a kind of stupid/lazy tax (but only about £6 extra), but even then its not quite as stupid as driving without tax which has very nearly been the case more than once. 

Steps and self control looking very strong!!!  If you are happy with your EF then quite right to reallocate and reprioritise.  Or maybe go 50-50 as there are emergencies, then there are Emergencies!! so a little bit more never hurts!! 

FootyFanDan

mark55man said:

If it was a choice between car tax and insurance in one go, my gut reaction would be that insurance will charge you more for the pleasure of paying monthly. Your provider may differ but might be worth a check

My OH and I do Car Tax monthly just so I don't have the annual panic - I know its a kind of stupid/lazy tax (but only about £6 extra), but even then its not quite as stupid as driving without tax which has very nearly been the case more than once. 

Steps and self control looking very strong!!!  If you are happy with your EF then quite right to reallocate and reprioritise.  Or maybe go 50-50 as there are emergencies, then there are Emergencies!! so a little bit more never hurts!! 

I think you are right tbh Mark, I looked at insurance and they charge like 12% for the convenience of paying it over 12 months. I think if there is anywhere to target this could be the one. 

I am looking just how to get myself the best position possible re the savings, I think it is a mindset thing with the emergency fund, realistically the funds will all sit as one sum in my bank I just need to enter into my YNAB how what it is there to cover as I save for certain things through the year. I could maybe allocate £500 to the dedicated emergency funds and then the other £500 across all my other saving categories such as Annual Car Insurance / Appliance breakdown / car repairs. I guess I am complicating it more than I need to, I am just not used to having savings haha

mark55man

Ha me Neither TBH.  Not in a properly organised way.  I'm torn between it being never too late to learn, and don't try to teach an old dog new tricks!!!