£142,000 over 23 years....OR NOT!!

fruitloop04

So back from our holiday and happy to report that we kept within budget We went as a group which always makes it a bit difficult as you are not in full control of where you eat etc but managed it!

I have been reading about different ways of budgeting and I think I am going to try combining the envelope method and zero budget method.

I have also read someone's post on here before holiday (sorry forget who's!) and they said that increasing pension payments is also really important. I think I might do a bit of both...increase my pension amount and also OP. What are other people's thoughts on this?

I have also joined in on the MFW's so this will help keep me focused!

varfor

Hey fruitloop - I’ve been doing zero-based budgeting for a few years now and would definitely recommend it. It’s important to keep checking where you’re at throughout the month though. It can be easy to fall into a habit of budgeting after you’ve spent too much! I use YNAB which is really good but has a monthly fee.

I find OPs more pleasing but if you neglect retirement savings you could have a much harder task to building up the required amount (lost time and potential compound interest). It’s definitely worth looking into!

fruitloop04

varfor wrote: »

Hey fruitloop - I’ve been doing zero-based budgeting for a few years now and would definitely recommend it. It’s important to keep checking where you’re at throughout the month though. It can be easy to fall into a habit of budgeting after you’ve spent too much! I use YNAB which is really good but has a monthly fee.

I find OPs more pleasing but if you neglect retirement savings you could have a much harder task to building up the required amount (lost time and potential compound interest). It’s definitely worth looking into!

Thanks Varfor! I am going to give it a go from next month. I get my payslip a couple of days earlier so will organise it all before it even goes in to my account! How much is YNAB per month? I might try doing it myself first on good old paper to see if it works for me and see if I need an app.

Thanks for the info about pensions. I only put the minimum amount in to my pension pot at the moment so I think I will up this but need to work out what I can afford!

fruitloop04

Unfortunately October is going to be an expensive month!! I have to renew my car tax, car insurance and take my car in for a service! I am hoping doing the zero budget though to make sure it all gets factored in. I am due a tax rebate so hopefully that will come in time for me to use some of it to pay for the car stuff!

I am thinking about starting a blog...and maybe monetise it? I hate my job and it would be a welcomed distraction and maybe a source of extra income? Anyone got any experience of this?

fruitloop04

I am chomping at the bit to make another overpayment when I get paid next Monday! I am going to try the zero budget approach, I will hopefully receive my payslip a couple of days before so I can work it out over the weekend

Hope everyone else is getting on okay!

yogavibes

Hi fruitloop - totally agree about looking at where you are and adding a bit of paint to the walls. I'm a bit crazy on redecorating as I love how having a nicely painted room looks - it usually always does the trick of making me love where I am for minimal amount of money spent on paint!

fruitloop04

yogavibes wrote: »

Hi fruitloop - totally agree about looking at where you are and adding a bit of paint to the walls. I'm a bit crazy on redecorating as I love how having a nicely painted room looks - it usually always does the trick of making me love where I am for minimal amount of money spent on paint!

Thanks yogavibes. We definitely need a refresh and then we will feel a lot happier where we are! We need to save up to sort out the damp downstairs and then we can redecorate!

fruitloop04

So received a surprise from the tax man today and have put the majority of it to the mortgage - another £1000 gone! Whoop! My car insurance is due in Oct so the rest will pay this and some will go in to my savings.

My OH's job looks safe for now but who knows what could happen in the future...so still squirrelling away as well as OP.

I know it's a Friday night and I should be doing something exciting...but I received my payslip today, although don't get paid until Monday and I am going to start doing my zero budget. It's sad I know, but I have been looking forward to starting this!! I need to keep focused throughout the month though and make sure I stick to it! Any advice from others doing this would be great. Do you leave a small contingency fund for the month...I was thinking about having £50 for if something unexpected turns up? TIA!

fruitloop04

I am having such a bad at work so far...and it's only Tuesday. It can only get better right? So depressed. Ending up buying rubbish to eat for dinner tonight to try and eat my way out of my unhappiness...obviously hasn't worked.

What has made me happy though is that I got paid a refer a friend fee of £500 so I have put this straight on the mortgage. I have also done some thinking....I have about £13k in savings. If my OH is made redundant then we will okay for approx. 6 months, and I can stop the overpayments. In light of this, I have decided to save £200 a month and overpay the rest. Not sure if it's the right decision or not but I figure it will save my more money in interest than I will get in my savings account!

So for October, I have overpaid £1308.40! This is a combination of joint account overpayment, referral bonus, what should have gone in to savings and from allocating overpayments in the zero budget. Although I have now realised that I am £37.42 away from overpaying exactly £4500....I do like round numbers!! Will see what I can move around in my budget to OP it!

fruitloop04

Decided to do it...£4500 paid off so far!