Countdown from £28k...

Sarahwithlove

You've got into good habits and there's nothing stopping you separating the finances. I have a bills account, a spends account and then starling where I can have spaces for different savings pots. I have found this has really helped me keep track of my spending and not go too crazy on things I don't need. Mught be helpful for when you are back in London. That way when you look in your account and see you have money leftover you won't be tempted to spend it because you will know its allocated to something else. 

alt80

I sort of do what @Sarahwithlove is talking about tbh think you do too @ryanm8655 - spends on the amex, bills out of the current account. I also have an instant saver linked to my current a/c where the sinking fund/ holiday/ insurances etc etc goes. Considered separate instant savers but couldn't be bothered in the end as I keep a spreadsheet. No need to split everything into little accounts imo and if budgeted properly can 'borrow' from yourself to sort unexpected and keep reasonable cash flow etc. Done that for years in business - no issues with my business finances so works for me lol. 

Have a separate tax a/c that I never touch - paranoid about going on a mental and not being able to pay HMRC... if you think the banks are bad, they are amateurs compared to HMRC only make that point if you ever go into business/ some kind of consultancy work in the future. 100 serious, never !!!!!! with HMRC - even I've never owed them lol. Parents did and probably why I have the mindset I do about them.

ryanm8655

Sarahwithlove said:

You've got into good habits and there's nothing stopping you separating the finances. I have a bills account, a spends account and then starling where I can have spaces for different savings pots. I have found this has really helped me keep track of my spending and not go too crazy on things I don't need. Mught be helpful for when you are back in London. That way when you look in your account and see you have money leftover you won't be tempted to spend it because you will know its allocated to something else. 

Yeah, I think that’s the next step.

I didn’t bother with pots until now, always meant to but my finances were so straightforward and the wiggle room in the budget so vast that I didn’t really need to. Once I’ve paid deposit and rent I will start though. Will allocate any money leftover to pots.

London in tier 3 now so may be able to save a bit more initially.

Atmosphere at home a lot better now, possibly the relief for them in knowing I’m going now and they have the chance of a fresh start they’re hoping for. London friends that are in flatshares are mentioning they’re falling out with mates they live with...seems to be driving everyone mad. I’ll ask family re: Christmas still though. I wouldn’t be that sad even if I spent it alone to be honest  

A couple more eBay sales to boost the funds a little and close to a sale on some aventus. Might do some new pictures as think a lot of people’s first thought re: aventus is that it must be fake. Actually had an offer that I missed as the eBay app doesn’t notify me for some reason, was for more than I’ve reduced the price to as well, which is frustrating. 

Work has completely died down. Signed on at 10.30 and off at 5. Felt a bit weird not being busy. Today was a bit of a lazy day. Was still tired from the weekend (ate and drank a lot) but feeling refreshed now after a quick gym sesh this evening. Hoping to get up earlier tomorrow (slept until 9.30 this am, which I haven’t done in ages).

Revisited the clothing situation and actually one extra pair of jeans is all I need. Rediscovered a smaller pair of black jeans that now fit. If work is dead again tomorrow then I may pop out to M&S, though left work phone at uncles so wouldn’t be able to pick up emails so could backfire...will leave the T-shirt’s until it’s T-shirt weather again.

Pretty sure my phone contract ends soon so time to start thinking about sim only deals...any recommendations? Currently have 8gb internet, which I often go over as the wifi doesn’t reach my room but that won’t be an issue soon. Saw Vodafone have 10gb data for £8 a month or there are a few £16 for unlimited data deals. Currently pay £35 so a decent saving...thinking 10gb is plenty given wifi will reach my room in future plus I can hotspot work phone.

ryanm8655

alt80 said:

I sort of do what @Sarahwithlove is talking about tbh think you do too @ryanm8655 - spends on the amex, bills out of the current account. I also have an instant saver linked to my current a/c where the sinking fund/ holiday/ insurances etc etc goes. Considered separate instant savers but couldn't be bothered in the end as I keep a spreadsheet. No need to split everything into little accounts imo and if budgeted properly can 'borrow' from yourself to sort unexpected and keep reasonable cash flow etc. Done that for years in business - no issues with my business finances so works for me lol. 

Have a separate tax a/c that I never touch - paranoid about going on a mental and not being able to pay HMRC... if you think the banks are bad, they are amateurs compared to HMRC only make that point if you ever go into business/ some kind of consultancy work in the future. 100 serious, never !!!!!! with HMRC - even I've never owed them lol. Parents did and probably why I have the mindset I do about them.

That’s true actually. I do zero based budgeting and do all the random spends on the amex, have a general amount stashed in another account I don’t touch except for unexpected/semi planned big spends.

Ha. HMRC are a nightmare, it’s virtually impossible to make sense of their !!!!!! ups. After I got paid double last month due to a balls up, they’ve now sent out the new calculation and say I only owe them £800, which I find hard to believe...so going to keep the stash by in anticipation of further monies owed at the end of the year. Though it’ll come out of my wages I’d rather not have to reduce my budget so will drip feed the money as and when...

Sarahwithlove

I'm with virgin they use EE network and I get 36gb data for £13 a month but it is a 12 month contract. They current have 25gb for £12 or 50gb for £16 at the moment. 

Sarahwithlove

Problem I find with putting stuff in a card is it becomes so easy for it to all add up without realising it. That's why I'm a big fan of YNAB as I can track something as soon as I have spent it and see what impact it has on my budget. As a lunch here, coffee there, bit of shopping all adds up. It's about finding the right balance. 

alt80

Thought of you when I saw London tier 3. Tbh I think you'll probably still like getting back there - own space. HMO management a !!!!!! nightmare right now - households too much time on hands and lots of wfh leading to arguments so can 100 see those with family/ flat shares falling out. Single households falling out too, one of my staff's marriage has completely broken down this lockdown. Lot going on before lockdown, he was no saint had numerous one night stands so can't say I feel too sorry for him but they were trying to make it work - 3 kids too.

Great news re eBay sales and lazy day after boozy weekend sounds good to me ha.

Clothing spends sound very well planned. No advice there it's a massive weakness for me, always have liked wearing nice clothes and 100 see it as a 'cheap' fix, not massively cheap really ha. Would cost me a small fortune to replace so can't gain/ lose weight lol.

Yeah no sense re HMRC sometimes mate and they're !!!!!! brutal if you owe them anything.

ryanm8655

Sarahwithlove said:

Problem I find with putting stuff in a card is it becomes so easy for it to all add up without realising it. That's why I'm a big fan of YNAB as I can track something as soon as I have spent it and see what impact it has on my budget. As a lunch here, coffee there, bit of shopping all adds up. It's about finding the right balance. 

Sarahwithlove said:

I'm with virgin they use EE network and I get 36gb data for £13 a month but it is a 12 month contract. They current have 25gb for £12 or 50gb for £16 at the moment. 

Good stuff. I guess I’ll just go with the cheapest I find.

Yeah, makes sense re: credit card. I do now check it regularly for that reason and also have a fairly restrictive limit. I’ll likely always be putting most of my spends on the card for the points but will make pots for holidays and clothes spends etc. That I can then pay against the card for those spends. Will see how it goes but it doesn’t look like the restricted lifestyle is going away anytime soon so don’t think I’ll need the £800 entertainment budget initially, though will no doubt have a few unexpected spends with things I need that I’ve neglected, e.g. appliances and other things...want to get into the habit of cooking every night straightaway as that alone will save me a fortune.

alt80 said:

Thought of you when I saw London tier 3. Tbh I think you'll probably still like getting back there - own space. HMO management a !!!!!! nightmare right now - households too much time on hands and lots of wfh leading to arguments so can 100 see those with family/ flat shares falling out. Single households falling out too, one of my staff's marriage has completely broken down this lockdown. Lot going on before lockdown, he was no saint had numerous one night stands so can't say I feel too sorry for him but they were trying to make it work - 3 kids too.

Great news re eBay sales and lazy day after boozy weekend sounds good to me ha.

Clothing spends sound very well planned. No advice there it's a massive weakness for me, always have liked wearing nice clothes and 100 see it as a 'cheap' fix, not massively cheap really ha. Would cost me a small fortune to replace so can't gain/ lose weight lol.

Yeah no sense re HMRC sometimes mate and they're !!!!!! brutal if you owe them anything.

Yeah, agreed re: own space. Don’t know what happened this morning but also sorts of crying and screaming from one of the kids. Happens most mornings but not sure it’s normal It’s what I grew up with but I don’t know how people live like it day in day out. I wake up early most mornings and just hideout in my room until the kids go to school and the chaos calms. Maybe I should get up and help but I’m trying not to get involved. Can’t wait to have my own space again on that front.

Yeah I think that’s it...testing times for everyone. Never nice to hear about a marriage breakdown, particular when there are kids involved but if he’s having ONS then probably shouldn’t be married. Have done the same as a younger man, albeit wasn’t married with kids, so not judging but it takes a lot to come back from things like that on both sides. Sure he had his reasons though. Either way sorry to hear about it.

Haha, yeah. I usually tend to buy my nice stuff in sales. Got a Ralph Lauren jumper for £29 in John Lewis post lockdown. Wanted the jumper for ages and usually about £130 so was well chuffed. Even in the colour I wanted. Also got lots of nice coats that have lasted ages that I picked up in the sale (jaeger peacoat and all saints leather jacket were particular bargains, actually bought those in my heyday of spending on 0% cards but they were good deals and have had them 4 years and still going strong). Same with shoes and shirts. Some things are worth forming out for as they last a lot better/fit better. Jeans and t shirts I’m not fussed about though. Main thing is the fit and not being completely crap quality. M&S do fine.

Time to seize the day and get my !!!!!! out of bed. 

Are you familiar with homelet? Have sent everything they need for references but they seem to be useless as keep asking for everything again...been a while since I’ve done referencing but I’m sure it was pretty quick previously...

Sarahwithlove

Yes cooking every night will certainly help. I have found menu planning helps. I choose 7 meals but don't decide what day or anything and then can still have some flexibility with it. I always make batches of food like Spag bol and chilli for freezer for an easy dinner and we always have baked potatoes around along with tuna and beans in cupboard. Some days you just want a quick and easy meal and putting a potato in oven usually does the trick. 
I believe you have a LISA? Is that full for this tax years allowance? Maybe look at putting the leftover from your entertainment budget into premium bonds that way you won't be tempted to spend it. If needed in an emergency it only takes a couple days to appear in your bank account. That's my plan going forward once the debt is gone. Otherwise temptation to move money around becomes too easy.
Does your entertainment budget include food shopping? 🙈 I feel like maybe I'm being too tight on myself. I only give myself £100 a month for spends 🤣

ryanm8655

Sarahwithlove said:

Yes cooking every night will certainly help. I have found menu planning helps. I choose 7 meals but don't decide what day or anything and then can still have some flexibility with it. I always make batches of food like Spag bol and chilli for freezer for an easy dinner and we always have baked potatoes around along with tuna and beans in cupboard. Some days you just want a quick and easy meal and putting a potato in oven usually does the trick. 
I believe you have a LISA? Is that full for this tax years allowance? Maybe look at putting the leftover from your entertainment budget into premium bonds that way you won't be tempted to spend it. If needed in an emergency it only takes a couple days to appear in your bank account. That's my plan going forward once the debt is gone. Otherwise temptation to move money around becomes too easy.
Does your entertainment budget include food shopping? 🙈 I feel like maybe I'm being too tight on myself. I only give myself £100 a month for spends 🤣

Yeah, planning is a good shout. Have never really planned meals, hence I'd buy a foodshop and half of it would go off and end up in the bin.

Yeah, I have a LISA. Not yet full so I do hope to max that out by April. Have considered premium bonds but isn't the expected return even worse than a savings account? ha. Did have some years ago but never won anything.

Food shopping is separate. So that's purely going out. In the longterm I might tone the entertainment budget down a bit, also suspect that initially it will be no where near that. But it would also include any random bits I want to buy other than clothes and groceries...

Good news. Passed the references for the flat. Haven't yet asked about moving sooner. I am tempted still, even though London will be tier 3...think I'll send the agent an email. A week isn't going to make that much difference in costs.

Things have been a lot better in general (though there does tend to be some kind of crazy outburst once or twice a day - in the middle of a meeting the other day....not directed at me but at the "problem" child). And small moments where I'm just trying not to interfere for the purposes of not creating an atmosphere. E.g. other family member was in another room and the one dishing up kids dinner wouldn't let the boy have mayonnaise with his sausages (he always has it and frankly who gives a !!!!!! if you think it's disgusting) and then realised the error when one of the girls wasn't allowed salad cream with hers, which she normally is, so ended up with two upset kids... If the other parent was there they would 100% have called it out but I just left it. I just find it weird and controlling and there are a lot of small weird things like that, they usually cause him to have his strops but the parent acts oblivious as if they don't understand why it's happened. Had they realised they'd have to deny one of the girls the salad cream then they wouldn't have done it...but it was all just to be mean to the boy as far as I'm concerned. The youngest has cheese and ketchup in a tortilla wrap when everyone else has fajitas, which is more disgusting than mayo and sausages

There was a snide comment tonight about how they're the ones that have cleared my debt. I just rolled my eyes and tried to ignore it...they were being nosey about my finances so I was telling them I had a budget and separating everything into pots etc. Response, "you don't need to justify yourself to me, we've cleared your debt for you". A) clearly you expect me to justify myself as you keep asking and probing, really?! It's annoyed me as that's clearly what they believe. Was a bit paranoid they were reading my diary but clearly not...

Looking forward to moving on and being my own person again. Will never please them but at least when I'm in my own place I won't need to think about it. Can just do my own thing. Whatever I do they'll criticise. That's just how they are.