Starting to budget after years of wishful thinking

LegoHead

moving_forward said:

You have done well but still have the guilt of being in debt and wondering if your spending will put you back in debt. It's probally that which is causing stress. When you are a few months into being debt free and living to a budget it will hopefully pass. 

I do have a feeling of wonder if I will fall back into it. I know as long as I follow some rules that should be completely impossible. 
I will give myself the best chance with emergency fund, yearlies fund and budgetting. I have to build these two up again to stabilise my money. 

Get paid on the 28th so will have £3000 in the emergency fund ticked off. Next month will get the yearlies fund topped up to the £1500 minimum I want to maintain.

I have a plan and still a little stress from having to maintain it.

Andyjflet

Just caught up with this, sorry I was harsh on you back in October, not sure I was being helpful but was trying to be cruel to be kind. But wow what a turnaround, my target is to be debt free by the end of the year but I'm struggling a little at the moment, I work in vehicle sales and we don't have any so I'm not earning any commission. 

LegoHead

Andyjflet said:

Just caught up with this, sorry I was harsh on you back in October, not sure I was being helpful but was trying to be cruel to be kind. But wow what a turnaround, my target is to be debt free by the end of the year but I'm struggling a little at the moment, I work in vehicle sales and we don't have any so I'm not earning any commission. 

Thanks, Everyone has been helpful and I appreciate all comments. Cant remember exact details, but I know I needed harsh words at the start...

Not gonna preach that I know the way, but posting on here has kept me accountable and given me something to work towards. 

savingholmes

Well done on the emergency fund. That's my current goal too

LegoHead

Still solvent! Plus still very skint. Was hoping to have a good chunk of spare cash this month however I havent mentioned this before but I also have a Limited company. Was going to keep it dormant, but honestly dont really know what I am doing with accounts which is why I have been paying accountants a fortune to manage this for me.

So I have to pay £834 to them this month to pay for the closure of the company. Luckily I have spare cash this month and still have some savings and emergency fund left over.

Off to Oklahoma City for work on monday and was hoping to have loads of spending money, but now I will have to have a cheap trip.

Have topped up my Yearlies fund with another £300. Aiming to get this to £1500 minimum in preperation for yearly things like car mot, insurance, home insurance etc..

Also had some good news. Finally got council tax rebate and have had a small £25 refund from aliexpress for some unknown reason!

savingholmes

Enjoy your time away.

Ouch to the closing business costs. I need to close mine down too.

LegoHead

Had a change of plan with business so didn't have to pay out yet. Going to try keeping Ltd company but aim to leave dormant for a couple years. Long term plan has always been to setup my own company, but current job pays quite well so using it to build savings up to make the jump one day. I am thinking of making the transition slowly with a few side hustles.

Still solvent.

Getting out of debt was so mind numbingly slow. Saving money is also very slow... 

I set myself two goals of £3000 emergency fund in NS&I and maintain a minimum £1500 in my yearly's bank account. Just hit these targets when I got paid this Friday gone. 

My next goal is to save £5000 to replace my car. I still have my Citroen Berlingo and do plan on keeping it till it can run no more, but want to be prepared with some money ready to make the change. The Berlingo just passed 192,000 miles last week and still pulls stronger than my brothers newer car so fingers crossed it gets to 200,000. £844 in the car savings fund so far, this may go up or down. I think that having an account named "Car Savings 5k" is a good psychological trick to help resist most temptations for dipping in. Will see if this works!

Trying to stay in the I don't have any money mindset by giving myself a very small £30 a week budget to spend on any old rubbish. This seems to be enough for McDonalds and a bit of beer money. 

Have changed my food and fuel budget strategy to now paying myself the months budget into the separate accounts on the first of the month. Will see how this goes, but it should be easier to keep on top of instead of having to check every Friday if there was enough in my main account.

savingholmes

Car savings pot sounds good. I need one too as I've had a spendy year on my car so far.