£1300 in hole to Don't Touch It! Savings

CJRyder

Hi there,

I don't know if this counts as a debt so please move the thread if necessary. Essentially I am in £1300 debt to my "Don't touch it!" (DTI) savings. This money was used to ensure that my credit cards were paid off in full and on time, plus some to cover SWMBO's half of mortgage and bills, before I put them away for good.

However, to me, this is a debt that I shouldn't have and whilst I won't have anybody knocking on my door it does bother me a lot.

I currently use the Pot method of Saving and paying for things. £365/month my half of bills and mortgage, £10/month phone bill, £40/month Investment Savings, £6/month charity.

I get paid £289 weekly. £75/week goes into DTI account, £5/week goes into miscellaneous expenses pot, £15/week goes into Luxuries pot, £60/week goes into Disposal Income pot (£40 Spending, £20 Date Night). Does anybody see anywhere I can shave off a few £s to stick into the DTI pot? I'm looking at the Luxuries Pot and trimming that by £5 but more help would be appreciated.

I feel kinda stupid posting it here because of the legitimate situations I read but move this thread if necessary.

Cheers all! :beer:

EssexHebridean

If your situation is bothering you then it is every bit as legitimate as anyone else's - so you feel free to be here! (There are any umber of us on here who stopped being in debt a good while ago but have stuck about here because it's the friendliest board in the -place!)

First thing I'd suggest is that if you needed to use your DTI money to cover a CC bill then there is something in your budget that's not quite right - so why not have a look at that first? In terms of shaving off expenditure, obviously we've not got a full picture but the luxuries pot and your own spending money seem obvious candidates to reduce for a bit to help rebuild your funds.

Is part of the issue that you are currently putting away quite a lot into various savings, and perhaps are leaving yourselves a bit over stretched? You have over £360 going to savings each month which is quite a lot looking at your income?

CJRyder

Cheers for that, I was a little concerned! Also, when does the Edit Post permission get granted?

I suppose that I have always been paranoid with money, but with the DTI fund I am looking to save £10k, emergency funds for a year. Currently at £8.3k. Ideally £1k in Current account too for non-critical emergencies. I used to have that but ended spending too much on crap (pre Pot system).

CJRyder

Morning all!

Pots have been readjusted, with Luxury and Disposable being reduced by £5 each, £10/week paying back the loan from emergency funds. I suppose that I think of this as a balance transfer between credit cards, except done "in house". 130 weeks to go, starting Friday.

Date Night pot has been given its own account using Starling rather than lumped together with Disposable Income. Any balance over £100 is paid into savings.

Disposable Income also has a similar rule. Anything over £200, back into savings. £100 to play with, plus a £100 buffer for unexpected expenses. Held in a long-standing Barclays account.

Savings, mortgage and main current account held at Lloyds. Anything over £1500, into the savings. £1000 buffer, £500 for mortgage, bills and any larger expenses.

Luxury pot - Anything over £500, back into savings.

CJRyder

Good afternoon everybody!

Did an online shop to stock up on some household products - £19 on 48 tins of cat food, £8 on 24 pack of loo roll, 55p for liquid soap and £4.54 on 6.5L of squash. Cat eats 2/3rds of a tin a day so should do us for a fair while. I'm looking into bulk buying liquid soap, washing up liquid, etc.

Luxury purchases - £13 for 20L of apple juice (cider making!) and £2 on a Christmas pudding.

Misc. - £3.50 for SWMBO crisps (will be given back the money) and £1 on having it all delivered!

The apple juice, plus some strong tea for tannins and £1.50 wine yeast, will make 35+ pints of cider. Under 42p/pint for a rather drinkable product, which should save me in the long run.

CJRyder

Wages came in this morning with standing orders dividing the funds accordingly!

£10/1300

CJRyder

Good morning everybody and hope that you all had a lovely Christmas, or just a nice day for those who don't celebrate it.

Standing order has been ticking along nicely since last posting on this thread, plus the day to day spending account crept over the £200 mark by £4.69, so into the pot that went.

£34.69/1300

I have also acquired a bread maker that had been taking up room at my mother's, so saving a few pennies on making bread rather than buying it. 55p for a loaf, or 55p for a bag of bread flour? Hmmm...

Buffythedebtslayer

I am out of debt and trying to save, I stayed on this board because 1) always a chance of a relapse and 2) because like you I feel it is a debt in a a way. I have savings!

So hello and good luck with the plans XX

Blackcats

I'm technically not in debt anymore either but I'm treating my savings targets as debts to myself and am trying to reach the targets with as much focus and determination as if I was paying off a debt.
Bread maker is going to be great. I use mine regularly and the bread is so nice plus the lovely smell filling the kitchen while it cooks. I keep a loaf of shop bought sliced bread in the freezer for occasions when I just want a quick slice of toast after a long day.

CJRyder

Thanks for the support everybody. The problem I had was using my CCs for day to day items to get loyalty points which ended up amounting to very little, and failing to budget correctly. I always saw a nice figure in my account, thought "I can afford that!", bought it and then saw my nice figure disappear. Although I always paid off the full amount I realised that I couldn't account for what I'd purchased (food, drink, etc.) from my day to day budget and then what I'd bought because I'd saved up for it. It was after having to dip into my savings to pay off the bill a third time because of how payday fell, and seeing that I no longer had my buffer zone, that I needed to stop using them and rebuild the buffers. Gave up using them for Lent one year, put them away and started a second current account with a different bank for day to day spending. Gradually the buffer amounts have regrown but now it's time to pay back my savings.

Waiting for a Christmas cheque to clear so I can divvy everything up suitably.

CJRyder

So, I had a small thought that could be a real game changer. I make more than my fair share of booze (both professionally and as a hobbyist) and have collected enough spirits to host a s!ance convention, I have ended up with a lot of it in the house. Now whilst I could slur at you all "I had a NSD... Zzzzzzz..." I have little motivation to not consume it. Although I do drink in moderation, I will now pay £1 towards my savings debt for every alcoholic drink I consume, whether purchased outside or homemade. Not only would this make me think more of "Can I afford it?" I am sure my liver will thank me too.