Young And Dumb

Mx_Emmin

Baileys_Babe wrote: »

Are you likely to be getting any money at Christmas? Could that either go towards it? Or to replace the money you haven't put in various pots?

I'm going to ask for money, but I dont know how much I'll get. He has said I can pay in installments though, starting when we exchange at Christmas (when I next see him) so that's nice.

Also, in other news: my other brother has decided he wants to send mum and dad on a super special holiday for Dad's 60th.

Dad turns 60 in February.

He wants £500 per person.

Bear in mind , I am the oldest of the four of us at 26, so theoretically the furthest along in my career. Laptop-brother didnt go to uni so he might be similar as he'll have been working longer. Holiday-brother just graduated from uni this past summer, I don't know if he has a job yet. My sister, the youngest of us, is literally still at uni.

He's annoyed I'm trying to talk him into a cheaper holiday.

He wants to send Dad to see the Northern Lights and cross an item off his bucket list which is a lovely thought but it's not like he'll turn down a cheaper staycation. Theres a lot of possibilities between "ordinary birthday" and "£500 per person" but he doesn't want to hear that right now.

Also, on a related note: my parents visited this weekend and spent the entire time misgendering and deadnaming me, so my goodwill towards them doesn't stretch to £500 right now, even if my finances had (they don't)

Baileys_Babe

Sorry to hear your parents are not being supportive.

I'm at a very different live stage from you and their is no way I have a spare £500 to send my parents on holiday.

No doubt holiday sibling is going to pay for their share by using credit.

If you do this for your Dad's 60th what about your Mum's 60th? & When they are 70 etc. It is a lovely if ill thought out idea.

Is there something else on his bucket list that you and your siblings could organise and pay for which is also more affordable? Is there anything on both their bucket list that could be organised and arranged for a time between their birthdays?

Remember your sibling can not force you to give them money, yes they can use lots of pressure but they can't take your money from your account.

Could you send an email to all your siblings saying something like, the Idea of a very special present to celebrate your Dad's 60th is great but your budget doesn't stretch to contributing £500. Can we come up between us of ideas that are more affordable.
If you all reply to all this will allow everyone to be in the loop and then everyone can be part of the solution.

Drawingaline

It's a lovely thought, but tbh, it sounds like none f you can find £500 by then. I know when I was at uni I wouldn't have been able to find £50, let alone £500, and I went in the time of grants!!!

There are plenty of things that can be done a lot cheaper. Last year I took my dad to a West end show, paid the train fare (we are 45mins away) my sister paid for lunch at @sk,so nothing ridiculous and the tickets were £20 each as sat in cheap seats. Still a fab view. This year he is getting book vouchers lol! But he doesn't expect anything anyway.

Mx_Emmin

Payday!

I took £25 from my groceries budget and made put it into a new "household" category. Not really sure how much for that so we'll start there.

I've put aside £40 for a new coat - it's getting pretty chilly.

I've made a new category I called "Human Grooming" (because it amuses me) and assigned it £15 - and dropped the Dog Grooming category to £20.

I made a new category called "Dog Food & Treats" and assigned it £10 per month. I honestly have no idea. The bags I buy are £6 a time but I can't remember if I only buy one a month.

I've created a new category for Holiday-Brother's idea and am putting £50 per month into it until I figure out what's going on there. I wish I didn't have to do it but I don't know what I'm going to be required to hand over yet. Worse case scenario, it'll make it's way into my Emergency Savings at a later date. On a related note, I've dropped my Emergency Savings contribution to £50 per month. Which I am not happy about.

I've overfilled my "Stuff I forgot to budget for" cateogry this month, with these new categories I'm not sure if I forgot anything. Edit: not over filled this category by as much as I hoped, as I realised there was stuff I'd forgotten �� It'll get better with time. In a couple of weeks I'll have paid off one of my cards. Maybe I'll get this mess with holiday-brother sorted out. If I dare look as far ahead as January.... but then I'm falling into the dreaded forecasting trap. Best stick with the amounts on hand.

Second Edit:
In October 2017, the day before payday, I had -£1599.45 in my current account.
In October 2018, the day before payday, I'd made some progress and had -£946.22 in my current account.
In February 2019,!the day before payday, I had -£1128.55 in my current account (my debt increased again when I moved city).
~*~
This month, October 2019, the day before payday, I had +£180.13 in my current account. Those £ had jobs and purpose, they weren't just... spare. But my account had a positive balance, and I am starting to earn interest rather than fees.

Baileys_Babe

Celebrate money in your account the day before pay day, that is such a change from 2 years ago.
Well done, hopefully this motivates you to keep making the small changes that makes your money work for you.

Probably not making much sense, I'm very tired, I just wanted to pop in and congratulate you.

Mx_Emmin

Is anyone here stockpiling food for Brexit?

What are you stockpiling?

How long are stockpiling for? Days? Weeks?

I havent yet and I'm wondering how far behind I am

happydays89

There’s a preparing for Brexit thread on the old style board,might be worth a look.

Mx_Emmin

happydays89 wrote: »

There’s a preparing for Brexit thread on the old style board,might be worth a look.

Where do I find that? The old style board?

Mx_Emmin

I don't know if I'm letting my anxiety get the better of me

I feel a little silly

My aunt was like "so how much have you got stockpiled for Brexit?" And I'm like "...none?!" And now I'm worried I need a stockpile.

I mean. Worse case scenario. November is tinned food month.

But generally speaking my aunt is a very sensible and smart person, I trust her. Her partner inspects the warehouses where shops store thier foods, so that's where their anxiety comes from I think.

I've just done an online Asda shop so I can have it all come at once, I cant carry what I've got in the basket. I'll order it to arrive Monday so I have time to change it if I've missed something or overbought something.

It's not like dried pasta and tinned tomatoes goes off.

And just because its anxiety driven doesn't mean its wrong. Having food in is never a bad idea.

Edit: Amazing. I was so hung up on the idea of the online shop being my Brexit shop that it didnt occur to me to put my regular shop on there too. I went to the supermarket and bought a week of food when I could've just bought two days and let the truck bring in the next. Silly.

Mx_Emmin

So an update on the holiday thing

I've told my holiday-brother that I can do £100 by February, and beyond that it would depend on how long I had to save up. Some holidays let you make the full deposit later. Mum was talking about annoucing the holiday in Feb '20 but them actually going on the holiday in Feb '21 because Mum's a teacher so she can only go on holiday in specific times of the year. I did mention £200 as a possible maximum to Mum but I regret saying that so I'm trying not to say that again and avoid committing to it. Unbeknowst to them, I'm actually going to try save up £150 by February. I think it'll help in the long run. I've told them £500 is way out.

In order to do this, I've dropped the amount I'm paying into my Emergency fund temporarily. I am bitter about this.

In regards to laptop-brother - I haven't talked to him again since abut the laptop, but he said I could pay £50 per month for ten months. I'm still going to ask for laptop money from everyone else at Christmas, and I'll either pay off a chunk at once and reduce the number of payments, or I'll let it sit in my account and let it go out automatically. I don't know yet.

I can't wait for January though. My debt snowball will kick in then. I'll be paying off the Argos card in a bit (just double checking the direct debit was cancelled in time). I'll have paid off the red card too so I'll only have one debt - the black card.

I have roughly £910 on the black card today. The 0% period ends in April '21, but it ends before the April paycheck so we'll call March '21. Between January '20 and March '21 I'll get 15 paychecks. I could £61 a month and still pay it off before the 0% period ends, especially as I'm no longer planning to put a £1000 of laptop on it. (On the flip side, I am picking up an additional monthly payment for a bit)

This month's credit card payments is £114.32. Next month I wont have an Argos card so it'll be £99.34. That difference in credit card payments will make a difference to my monthly budget. Now, in an ideal world I am paying extra onto my card, more than £61pm so I can pay it off faster. On the other hand, if it's not earning interest, I could be putting more money into savings. There's also other things that will give me wriggle room in my budget, like I'll have more time to save up for next year's YNAB subscription once I've paid off this year.

I'm doing the dreaded forecasting here. But I feel like things will be getting better in January.