Countdown from £28k...

PestoPasta

Hi Ryan, hope things are going ok? I am more of a lurker on your diary and pop in now and again to see how you are doing. Hope that you are still keeping a handle on the money and enjoying being back in London? 

Legs21

Hope everything’s ok, you’ve not posted in a while. 

ryanm8655

Hi all,

I’m all good, have just been busy working and socialising since we’ve been more free.

A bit apprehensive about the spending now things are open. Have a couple of grand in savings. Not as much as I’d have liked but it’s far more than I’ve ever had so can’t beat myself up too much. 

Still buying house bits and also need some new clothes. Haven’t been keeping an eye on the finances at all to be honest but have still been managing to save. I know it’s not the MSE way but I was becoming a bit obsessed and it was getting me down. I’m still aware of spending and also put it off, so I’m still using some of the lessons learned.

Was planning to sit outside a restaurant on the river and work all day but I had quite a pricey weekend so have decided I’ll save expensive days out for when I’m with other people and the utility is maximised.

Back on the dating. Have a second date with a nice girl this week. Optimistic.

Got tomorrow and Wednesday off of work and booked in a pub trip with friend. If I can still have £2k savings at the end of this month I’ll be happy tbh.

Still need to sell the car. What’s the best way to sell a car these days? Can’t be bothered with the hassle is the main concern.

Did have some moments where I was struggling with the whole being alone and lockdown thing but being able to see mates again has been a god send so thankfully that down period seems to have passed and things are looking up.

Another bonus from work this quarter (£300 this time). Not loads but was unexpected and shows I’m doing something right I guess. Will be minimal after tax but it’s more the principle. Though did have to pull a couple of 10pm finishes for the introduction of a big bill I’ve been working on (needed to be on hand to respond to questions).

On the whole, life is good.

alt80

Good to hear from you mate and glad you’re keeping well. 

Couple of £k savings 100% better than couple of £k in the red mate, well done. Working on next level but still having a life def not a bad thing imo. Look on the bright side you could be in debt and in a position where you daren’t have a life like me ha. You’re younger though still need to live just don’t make the same mistakes and wind up where I am ha think you’re brighter than that anyway tbf.

Brilliant news re the girl assuming it’s a different one.

Re car - I’d look at throwing it on eBay or autotrader or something tbf I’ve not sold a car for years but one of my staff often buys/ sells something that’s where he sells them and gets decent prices. Can’t see your car being a lot of hassle - always someone after a cheap car think you said you’ll get about £1.5k for it so realistically they aren’t going to be expecting much at that price point.

Bonus amount is a joke as I’ve said before but perhaps as you say in your job it’s the principle of being appreciated rather than the amount. 

warby68

Glad life is good/improving @ryanm8655 including dating. Did hope that your silence was good busy rather than bad.


If your money is working ok without you tracking it then you've got to a really good place. You can soon pick up the tracking if it goes a bit south. Even just a couple of categories which are most likely to throw you (social, booze maybe). Or just have an extra account or card for certain things so it immediately stands out. Having a think before committing is probably the most useful tool of the lot and you're doing that.


Get the car sold then its off your mind. Is it worth a Webuyanycar punt? I know you get bottom price but if you're busy and its hard work,  there might be a certain price that's worth it for convenience. Husband has a semi retired mate who wheels and deals - if we have anything to sell he does it for a small cut. Do you know anyone like that?

Take care 

ryanm8655

Thanks for checking in both!

Girl is a different one ha. Really nice, going well. 4th date tomorrow.

On the car, I passed a hand car wash, while on a trek, that looked open, so I'll take the car down there for a clean and then take some pictures and whack it on ebay. It's got great service history, receipts etc. So hopefully someone will snap it up. I don't know anyone who wheels and deals but will ask family if they do, that's a good shout.

Think I'll do that next weekend.

Been taking advantage of the opportunity to socialise and with the dating too, it all adds up. Haven't gone too crazy though and I'm not going out on a proper session on weekends as it's impossible to book anywhere, so saving on that front. Also not sure I could handle it. Had 4 pints with a mate last night and was pretty wasted and pretty hungover this morning ha. Keeping an eye on the spends and once I've settled in I'll start tracking them again. Good shout on tracking the booze/food spends. I have a healthy budget though, so should be ok.

Realised I need a new coat now the weather has warmed up (have stacks of winter coats), I was very close to spending £250 on a Ralph Lauren one I like but thought on it for a week and decided to go for the John Lewis version of the same coat for £90 instead (just a harrington jacket). An illustration of how the lessons are still there (appreciate £90 isn't cheap but I like decent quality). Also needed a couple of new pairs of jeans, which I bought in the sale at Uniqlo...initially was looking at Levis as my cheaper jeans only seem to last a year but couldn't bring myself to spend £100 on a pair of jeans. Uniqlo are meant to be decent quality and paid £60 for two pairs...

This weekend is suit fitting for mate's wedding (also need to organise the stag do for August). He's paying for the suit rental/purchase as he wants us in morning suits (did offer to pay but he said no). So Sunday will be quite spendy as we're going for a few drinks/food afterwards. Wedding isn't until September but I'll need a new white shirt and a decent tie. Have two other weddings and stag do's this summer as well, so will need to buy a new suit as not sure mine will fit me, will give it a bash though as it might do ha, I probably was fatter the last time I wore it, which was before this journey even began (Ascot in 2019 :O). Also got £200 to spend towards a stag do in Liverpool (2 dayer). Other stag do is already paid for. An expensive and busy summer ahead!! It all sounds exhausting ha.

Planning to buy some house plants for the flat in the next couple of weeks.

On the plus side I have enough food and booze in to not need to spend anything on groceries this week after a £60 spend last week...

Drinking a lot less now that I'm seeing people. Feeling so much happier!

PestoPasta

Glad things are going well. London is buzzing at the moment - and you are in the perfect location to enjoy it all. Have fun. But keep watching those spends 😉

anjyeah

Hi! This is going to be random - I bumped into your thread after going through "Shared Ownership" searches on this forum. 

I was just wondering if you ever managed to go through with it - as I am also in the process of researching the pros and cons and that initial post you did kinda helped. Thanks! 

ryanm8655

PestoPasta said:

Glad things are going well. London is buzzing at the moment - and you are in the perfect location to enjoy it all. Have fun. But keep watching those spends 😉

Thanks for checking in! Spends haven't been too horrendous other than one big weekend (the last weekend of April). It's been too cold to go out ha.

anjyeah said:

Hi! This is going to be random - I bumped into your thread after going through "Shared Ownership" searches on this forum. 

I was just wondering if you ever managed to go through with it - as I am also in the process of researching the pros and cons and that initial post you did kinda helped. Thanks! 

Sorry - I decided not to bother in the end and I don't think I'll consider it in future. Find the whole leasehold nightmare very offputting and read too many horror story's of people ending up bankrupt by ridiculous service charges etc. Also not a fan of all the fees everytime you want to up your share. My plan changes all the time but I'll be renting for the next two years and see where I'm at then...but considering buying a place outside of London that I let out. Possibly even buy a place back home as I have a mate that manages/maintains his own flats so could pay him to do the maintenance potentially.

I decided to transfer a chunk of savings to LISA just to stop me being tempted to spend. Seeing a big balance does psychologically make me more inclined to spend. It's not done too much damage but could see how it could. I've kept £500 back as an emergency fund and looking to build that back up to a grand as a mini target, hopefully by the end of the month but lets see...

Thinking about upgrading all the bulbs in the flat to LED to reduce bills (a whole load of them have decided to blow at once), also looking at getting a table lamp for the hall and a floor lamp for the living room (seen a £20 table lamp in John Lewis, just need to find a floor lamp that goes with the rest of the flat).

Still haven't bought the plants but might save those for next month.

It's my birthday in just over a month. I did say I'd buy myself the Sonos I want but will see...

ryanm8655

Hi all

A quick check in...

Sorry I've not been on in ages but have been busy enjoying life ha.

Still debt free, which is my main aim for the end of September. Had 4 stag dos and now 3 weddings in a row. Expensive and exhausting ha.

Changed jobs though within the same department. Not enjoying the new job so much but hoping it'll pick up soon. Doing business cases now so waiting for the preferred bidder to be chosen so I can crack on with the modelling. 

Got the masters funded so start that on the 17th September. Going to be hard but should give me something else to focus on rather than going out ha. Have certainly been enjoying life...though within my means.

Have a couple of grand in the LISA. Also stuck about £700 in crypto just before it crashed so that is a bit frustrating ha. £500 was in some crap meme coin and that is now basically worthless ha. Sticking to being risk averse in future.

At the end of September (when weekends start freeing up pst wedding season) I'll have a go at budgetting again and maxing the LISA.

A bit annoyed with work...we finally got news of our pay deal (took two years to negotiate) and its crap for specialists. We're paid more and for some reason they've now decided to converge salaries so our pay rise is well below the average and worse than inflation. On top of that the cut off date for the 20/21 payrise is 31st July and I joined in September, which means I don't get the payrise for that year. Works out at about £100/month after tax I miss out on, plus I don't get the £1200 backdated pay, which I planned to stick in the LISA.. Never had this before, usually if you're in post in that year you get the payrise. I don't get my backdated EHRC pay etiher so I am going to kick up a stink when boss is back from holiday. They're also increasing hours from 36 to 37 a week and there is around £1600 one off payment for that...I assumed when I joined I'd carry over the same terms but turns out when I joined they put me on 37, so I don't get that either. If I didn't have the masters I'd leave  tbh, really annoyed...espcially as I worked so hard for that year. It feels unfair and like a kick in the nuts...

I have now calmed down about it but hoping they'll sort it with a retention allowance or something but with the masters they'll know I won't leave realistically. Grateful for the masters but it's still frustrating. Will see what happens... other than promotions i don't think I've ever had a payrise over inflation and it's been frozen since 2013 for my department.

Makes me regret my decision not to pursue law in the end but I've decided to stop moping and crack on, it only effects me negatively...no-one else cares and I don't want the negative energy. Crack on...

Decided to keep the car...insurance is less than £30 a month now (just renewed and I get £35 cashback). Can't be bothered with the hassle of selling and it is handy having a car. I can come and go as I please when visiting people, e.g. went to see a mate in Hull and it was far cheaper than the train...

Hope everyone is well.