Head out of the sand. Saving for a shiny future

ForestBluebells

Council tax - £93
Tv license £13.20
 Energy - £48.00
Dvla- £12.68
Water £16
Car insurance - £19.61
Dog insurance - £125.68
Dog food - £52
Petrol £100 (less currently due to lockdown)
Food - £160

Spending money - £150
Eating out/entertainment- £64
annual costs - £219

i don’t currently pay for my internet or mobile but will when I leave my current job. 

MovingForwards

Taking out the extras, you can now see the kind of figure you want for your pension, based on 'now' money / costs. Which isn't too scary 😉

You will potentially drive less when retired.

Potentially you may have cheaper dog related expenses too.

The spending money, eating out and entertainment may be cut back as there might be a cheap hobby you fall into which keeps you busy. Maybe only having a meal out once or twice a month in the day. 

My internet is £20 pm p-net, seems ok so far.

There's good SIM only contracts if you have a phone, or do a contract then swap to SIM only when the contract expires; that's what I'm doing when mine expires November.

ForestBluebells

I thought that was me being good because if I wanted a meal out I could spend anywhere between £30 - £150. I
dont eat out very often currently (Only a few times a year Because I don’t have anyone to go with 😫!) but ideally I’d increase that on retirement. I have no problem spending a lot on a lovely evening out if it’s very occasional. If it’s still just me on my own by then I guess that won’t happen though. 

I use my spending money for everything from clothes (well I would if I ever bought any 😂🙈) to plants for the garden, things for the dogs, just any bits I want for at home etc. This used to be £600+ a month so I’ve really cut back and I now think twice before I buy anything. I’ve still
got over £70 left in my spending pot this month but I’ll roll it over to next month so I can afford the fencing/plants I want. 

ForestBluebells

Just trying to sort my energy renewal out. My current tariff is £48 per month dd until end of June (although they refunded me £75 credit and tried to put my dd up so I sent the refund back and refused the dd increase... it seemed absolutely pointless). Cheapest I can find is £58 per month with a small company with bad reviews or £63 a month for a 1 year fix if I stay with EDF 😫. If I stay with EDF I’ll get a smart meter which I quite fancy as it might help me cut costs more. I’ve no idea if I spend a lot or not comparatively. I’m electric only (no gas in the village) on economy 7 and I only put my heating on low when it’s very cold and heat my water overnight too. Seems I use about 70% at night which I don’t know how as I rarely remember to set my dishwasher to go overnight etc 😂🙈. Trying to decide if I should just stay with this provider despite the slightly higher costs.

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks ForestBluebells you have just reminded me that my Fixed tariff comes to an end in July. I am now in the no exit fee window so I need to start looking for a deal too. I pay £80 per month for 3 people with an electric cooker often on 3 different times a day due to shift work & gas central heating. Not economy 7 though. My provider wanted to reduce my dd to £68, but I didn’t want a big winter bill so I put it back to £80. I always go with a name I know & steer clear of ones with bad reviews especially OFTM after what happened to SW

savingwannabe

My outgoings are the same £450 and I have cut back as much as possible. I am going to get a cheaper deal on my broadband and internet next year though. 

ForestBluebells

Maybe I can cut back more then 🤔 I’m not doing a good job of that though even in lockdown 🙈 I was doing so well but I ordered a Tesco shop on top of my weekly gousto food boxes So I’m Over my food budget again this month (haven’t been on target since the pandemic broke out). I don’t think I got anything unnecessary... well I bought a couple of speculative items such a frozen prawns for a future risotto one day... but it means I have them in when I want to make it now.... I wouldn’t shop like that usually but I’m not able to get a delivery slot very often so I never know when I’ll be able to get what I need.

i went to the garden centre today, that’s the first shop I’ve visited since before lockdown as I literally haven’t gone anywhere. I got a new bigger trellis to train my climbing rose up at the front (maybe should have gone even bigger!), 2 camellias to go in pots as they hate my chalky soil, these were reduced to £3 as they have finished flowering this year And I’ve wanted these for ages, and plenty of compost and soil to refill the holes the dogs dig in the lawn 🙈

I didn’t actually get anything on my “list” but I couldn’t choose again. Back to Pinterest for ideas on plants to go on my front garden border. 

They didn’t have any wood so I couldn’t get the bits to make the fence taller. 

Got paid from my online job again so that’s in the pension now. Not sure when my LISA bonus is due I can never work it out but hopefully soon. 

MovingForwards

How about breaking your budget down further so instead of having a 'spends' have each item listed and budgeted for?

You can see what's coming in, under or over budget. Then potentially adjust one at a time.

A good thing to do is go through all your clothes / footwear. Do you have sufficient outfits for work, home casual, out casual, smart / party? If so, you shouldn't need to buy anything new this year aside from 'smalls'.

Many people are finding their shopping delivery sees them spending more than if they went to the shop. Are you putting a few extra things in to build up a supply? Are you picking branded foods over budget / own brands? Do you have dietary requirements? 

Do you need to do a weekly shop because of having a small freezer or not many cupboards? Or could you do a bulk 3 or 4 weekly shop with milk / bread etc as a top up local shop?

What kind of meals are you making? It's easier to do veg with a smaller portion of meat in it eg a veg curry with a chicken thigh, rather than a chicken curry with mushrooms.

Remember, we are a few years ahead with budgeting, our lives / priorities are different due to being older, income is probably lower etc.

ForestBluebells

I wouldn’t even know where to start with breaking down my £150 spending money budget as I didn’t have that level of detail in my 2019 spending review.  I haven’t bought clothes for years. I do actually wear them until they wear through 🙊 I had some jeans I loved and they developed holes which I tried sewing up but my sewing wasn’t up to the task so I eventually had to Chuck them and I’m now wearing even older jeans that I don’t like so much but “will do”. I have no problem wearing clothes with holes in 😂 my tshirt I wore today had a hole in but I still like it so I wear it. In fact a lot of my clothes are worn but I’m really not one to fret over my appearance so I don’t mind. When I do go clothes shopping I tend to just buy multiple of the same item in different colours.. job done 😂 I guess I’m not your typical girl.

i don’t have work clothes as I can wear what I like to work so just wear my holey clothes 😂

I should buy some clothes at some point but I’m sure I won’t. I do lack quite a few of those clothing categories but I tend to just borrow something from my sister if I want something nicer to wear. 

I think it’s because I’m buying a bit more of everything. Usually I’d buy 1 pint of milk but they don’t even sell those currently. I bought 2 of my favourite By cappuccino cheesecake Deserts instead of one as they are long life and I won’t have another shop for 2-3 weeks aside from gousto. I guess it adds up as I was getting quite strict and using up what I had in but I’ve gone a bit off the trail on this front.  I have a massive fridge/freezer so can bulk shop but I also have a freezer full of meals I made Such as chilli con carne, bolognese, cottage pie etc. I could just eat these instead 🙈 I need to maybe cancel one gousto a month and have an eating out the freezer week or two.  I’m definitely completely off track on food spend. Not as bad as I was pre-budget )£350 a month or more! ) but probably at £180 when I budget £125

MovingForwards

You've made me feel normal by saying you buy several of the same thing! In that case you only need £10 a month clothes budget. At the end of the year you can save into long-term savings / mortgage overpayment what hasn't been spent.

£180 isn't bad for food at the moment, so use that as your budget for now, then tweak it down when things are the new normal. 

Do you have e3ay / &m&son shopping / spends? If so, give those a section in your spreadsheet.

Possibly go through a year of statements to see where you are spending and what type of spending then have them as categories too.

Aside from that, view this spreadsheet as your work in progress one, ready for 2021 😀