Finally taking back control after a decade of debt

londoner2019

Having a little shuffle around where I put my monthly savings, thanks to some much needed work later this month on one of the walls. It's exterior facing and has experienced penetrating damp issues ever since I moved in 3 years ago. Spent some money on it a while back and it's come back. This time I'm convinced that we will finally have rectified the problem - it involves some waterproofing treatment on the external side of the wall and the exposed brickwork inside, before we plaster it back up again. But that's 2 grand each - so instead of building a holiday fund pot over the summer, the end of the month will go on that. 

Having a quiet weekend as I'll be home alone - will catch up on reading and chill out - maybe head to the garden centre to spruce up my little terrace. But this will mean a cheap weekend and hopefully will give me a little left over at the end of the month to move to savings.

Rud0lf

Just caught up, well done on getting the student loan paid off and for the first mortgage overpayment have you used an overpayment calculator to check how much interest you have saved already? Halifax have a good one you can access without having an account with the, it's really rewarding seeing how much even small over payments like £10 save in the lifetime of the mortgage although it can make overpaying it quite addictive.

Houses always like to send a curve ball when you least expect it, like a damp patch or a broken boiler etc once my debts are paid off at the end of the year my next focus will be building the house and car pots for when any issues arise. The house pot was healthy until we got our rewire and new kitchen.

Good luck with the work when it happens.

londoner2019

A 200 overpayment each month (100 each) saves us 3 years, and 34000 in interest. WOW! Ok, I can see how that is going to be a bit addictive...

Yes, after this month I'll need to slowly rebuild that house pot.

I'm having an OK spend month so far... I can see a couple of quiet weeks coming up so fingers crossed that equates to a little surplus at the end of June. Which is good because I forgot one annual spend - my Amex, which I set up last year. The renewal fee is due this month. I've made more money in rewards/points/cashback than the fee so I'm happy with it. But I need to factor that in for next June.

The holiday pots have been a game changer for me though - all my flights have already been bought so no shocking expenses.

londoner2019

End of month update - I've had a decent month - still have 235 left over in my spends, so even with a weekend out and about I'm easily going to be under. I've had a few visitors stay the last few weeks and with the good weather we have been able to sit on the terrace instead of going to a pub. Saves a few pennies.

Work finishing on the house today to deal with the damp problem. They found a big old ant's nest in the wall... yikes. But that will basically clean out the house fund (sans building insurance, which is due in September). Goal now for the five paydays (end of July to end of Nov) is to save up funds for the big holiday trip at the end of the year (putting 4k in this with a view that I won't spend all that, having bought flights already), and put 1k aside for Christmas.

I have a few weddings on the horizon where I will probably need to buy a new suit. I might tuck any leftovers from the monthly spend into a clothes pot.

I'm also upping the pension (SIPP) contributions starting next month - it means I can reduce the tax bill a bit further.

I must also remember to pop some money away in the fun pot - last year it came in handy when gig tickets came on sale at short notice, so I should really expect to do the same again.

londoner2019

Starting to find that I've got too much "stuff" in the house. I was searching for something the other day and had to clamber through boxes of things I've not touched in the three years since I moved in here. And I do this thing where I wear about 5 things on rotation because the rest of my wardrobe either doesn't fit, or is out of fashion/style. Takes up so much space! I need to have a clear out. (Who keeps a box full of DVDs??? I have a player but it's also in a box somewhere)

I've also cancelled a subscription because I don't have the time to make the most of it. And a few events I had tickets to got cancelled, so there's some refund money coming back.

My main goal is to save for my trip at the end of the year, and then build out a buffer of a couple of months' salary. I have 1k emergency fund and 1.5k in the buffer fund - in my head they serve two different jobs, but in reality they're the same thing, aren't they?

londoner2019

Went through the wardrobes and have a small pile of clothes to donate. Am holding off going through the "winter" clothes like jumpers etc until later in the year. Part of my problem is I have clothes I like but struggle to pair stuff together. Need to think about that.

Am currently under average daily budget for the month. But probably need to do a big shop, and eyeing up a few clothes bits and pieces too. Let's see how I get on...

Lonelygambler

Hey - I think you need to put £20 into your fun pot! 

londoner2019

@Lonelygambler Ha! I've actually got it up to 11.80 just from Chase Cashback and interest... I've got a few refunds I'm expecting to get back, as well as my Amex fee to account for. At the end of the month I'll see where it sits and I'll boost that up to 50 if I can!

londoner2019

How is it September. Honestly.

Came in with a bit of a surplus at the end of August. But anticipating some bigger spends this month, which I will need to factor in a few quiet weekends for. 

A lot of them are gifts - thank yous to a couple of people who really went out of their way to help me out in an emergency, and a wedding gift. I also need to pick up a new outfit for that. 

The building insurance quotes we're getting are a lot more than we were anticipating... so I need to factor in some more expenses for that.

My holiday budget is not as high as I was planning it to be by now... a little bit annoyed by that because I wanted to have everything covered by the time I go in November. 

There's also Christmas to save for. I said last year that the 500 I put aside should really be doubled... maybe I can get by on 750.

I'm really pleased that my 1k EF just doesn't get touched. I've got it in a different savings account, so I never really see it unless I'm opening up that particular banking app. Same with the rainy day fund - there's another 1500 in a different banking app which is never even considered an option to touch. This is a big win for me.

Ultimately I'm quibbling over how best to save 1k a month for holidays and buying outfits and gifts, as well as essential house maintenance. I know that this is a fortunate position to be in, and really I should be focusing more on my mindset of saying yes/spending on all these non-essential things. I currently feel relatively comfortable with my budget - but while rejigging a few things around isn't the end of the world right now, learning to better prioritise, say no, and be a bit more frugal elsewhere, would be beneficial.

londoner2019

Spendy month so far. Expected, but still... I've very much been in a "sod it, life's too short" sort of mood and not been budgeting / managing sensibly. Annoyed at myself for that, but mustn't dwell.

VERY fortunate to receive a surprise email from an old job about some backpay owed. I want that to go into topping up one or more of my pots. Honestly, I've been blessed with a few surprises like this over the last few years and while I'm certainly not complaining, it has allowed me to dig myself out of a hole and not really learn from my mistakes.

Have a quiet last week of the month coming up so planning on reducing my spending as much as possible.