Now or never

joedenise

Well done on getting some pots set up.  If you like to have a takeaway now and again how about setting up another pot for eating out.  You could use it to have a meal out, a coffee or a takeaway.  I fund mine with about £20 a month but don’t use it every month so it builds up over time.

Its_time

Hmm good idea! @joedenise To be honest the only takeaway I like is a Chinese and only have one every 4 months or so as its a car journey away and too far for delivery, but we have the others like burger and chips much more regular just because I haven't meal planned and just plain can't be bothered. 
It's just cost me £4.40 for 2 bags of chips, I was outraged but DH said its only £5.40 for the whole meal for 3 people, so not bad all things considered.

WinterWarrior

Aren’t you supposed to put eggs in a bowl of cold water and if they float they’ve gone bad?
well done on your pots! 

southern_chick

You’re doing really well. Could you give both you “pocket money” each month for things like chocolate that you don’t want to come out of your food budget. You each decide what you spend it on and once it’s gone it’s gone!  You could agree on an amount and draw it out in cash and each keep your own money. That way you can have the small treats without it impacting on your shopping budget. It wouldn’t have to be a big amount £5 or £10 each a month or whatever fits into your budget but you can both spend it on what you want without any guilt xx

enthusiasticsaver

Sounds like you are doing very well in making a start on building the spending pots.  As you say you will be in a different place next year after getting used to saving for these things and not spending on credit.  I have used eggs more than 2 days out of date before.  You can tell when you break them if they have gone bad.  Awful smell. 

Its_time

@WinterWarrior and @enthusiasticsaver Re the eggs, I did the water test and 6 of them stood on end which I read is meant to be fresh but going old and one lay down which is mean to be fresh.  None of them floated.  I've all but 2 of them making about 50 fruit muffins and a chocolate brownie tray.  Thinking about going shopping tomorrow to buy a few bits including margarine to finish using the eggs up, but of course that depends on whether they are still usable tomorrow and of course which is the best idea do I throw 2 eggs away against the worry of how much I might actually spend if I get to a shop.....will have a think about it.
Have got to make a few more pots later this evening when we have eaten, the diesel, the treats and maybe a clothes account.  @joedenise and @southern_chick we definitely need some treats, I hated it when I had to think about the chocolate coming out of my shopping so clearly we need a pot or I will have a breakdown over that, I think £20 a month each might be ok, might need tweaking up or down but it's a start.
So dilemma:  I now have the £1250 available and have ordered some horse bedding at a cost of £220 all in!  So happy with this I had actually budgeted....budgeted you hear!!!!....up to £350 so a massive saving there.  Pet account is running at £210 today and I have ear marked £175 from the £1250 to pets, which gives a total of £385 which would cover the £220 leaving £165 in the pets account.  Or do I let the pets account pay the £220 leaving £165 in pets and putting the £220 which would not then go from the £1250 or do I stick to the plan and pay it from the £1250?  I am confused......

enthusiasticsaver

It will be a work in progress to get the monthly amounts right. Ideally you would work out how much you spend annually and divide by 12. Initially though as you have no buffer it may take a while to build the pot up. How often do you have to pay for bedding/feed? If you reckon £175 a month will cover the pet costs then you would put it in savings pot so it is ready to pay for bedding from there. All costs should come from pets saving pot. 

WinterWarrior

Definitely need a treats fund…I would break without something sweet every day 😬

Its_time

Right! I think I have sorted it, mammouth task.
Eventually after lots of adding up and dividing by 12 etc. I have had to admit and accept that my horses cost me about £300 a month, sighhhhhhh, I can honestly say this is the first time in my life that I have actually added it up honestly without being in denial (maybe still just a tiny bit).  That includes, bedding, hay/haylage, farrier, medication and the muck heap being removed.  On top of that is feed and wormer but if I am honest we can sometimes go 2 years without the muck heap going, I am not prepared to send any more money a month over to that at the moment, we need to see where we go with it.  The amount includes the farrier at 6 weeks, sometimes and often it is more like 7 weeks so that is a little bit extra and the medication has only just been bought which is a 6 month purchase, also the bedding has been bought today which is another 6 monthly purchase.  I am sending over more money over the next month or so but in January I will start with £300 a month.
I might be sorry in a few months but I will keep a really close eye on it, I really will.
So the £1250 has been divided as follows:
£400 bounced back and forth a few times with DS who I owed £350 for my ebay purchase, so that has gone from the highest credit card. Over payments to the debt so far this month are £1025.60.
Another £175 to the pets account which after deducting the £220 (decided to make pets pay for the bedding) the balance there is £165.
Another £175 to the emergency fund which is now standing at £385.
My business account now stands at £400 which gives me quite a bit of leeway to make purchases before the next sale comes through.
£20 has also been sent to our wants account, we are not big spenders but we need something.  I am not sure whether we will send £20 a month will see how it goes, maybe £10 a month is going to be enough.
We need to sort out a diesel payment for each month but it is really hard at the moment with such big payments going out to all the different pots, trying get them high enough quickly so we are in advance.  I've just topped up my car so that will last about a fortnight and DH's car is not used much at all and has quarter of a tank in it.  We also need to sort the clothes account, again we are not big spenders and wear our clothes out before throwing them, and then some!
I haven't taken into account my business earnings so there will be some 'wages' for me from there which I can put for diesel etc. and DH's money can keep on making over payments.  This is soooooooo difficult, I suppose that's why it's all such a mess.  I am sure it will settle down as time goes on though, I need to make it happen.  I am so indecisive I can't decide whether to go shopping or not, the question is can I trust myself to stick to my little list.
I have also joined some challenges on here that fit in with my plans, mainly the emergency fund challenge @WinterWarrior (thanks for your advice over there) and I am hoping the Tilly Tidy thread will run next year if so I will join that as well.  I could also join the NSD challenges and the weekly shopping budgets but I think it will be too much to update so will leave them for now.  Still no spends on Credit cards or Overdraft.
Missed The Larkins tonight, will have to watch on catch up tomorrow.

gollygosh

£300 a month for horses is really good, I’ve got two and even on diy livery they cost £800 a month! farrier, insurance, bedding, livery and feed. So wish I could afford a house with land 😩 but the costly South east so no chance 😃