Finally taking back control after a decade of debt

londoner2019

It's really silly but I do feel like I could have done all this faster. I've been taking a careful look at my SOA, based on 2023 so far, and I can be much smarter with my budgeting. There are usually a couple of days/weekends a month where I tend to switch off from being eagle-eyed about things - dinners, drinks etc and it really adds up. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with going for dinner, but I could look to plan ahead a little bit.

I've been meticulously planning for June, as I know there are two weekends coming up which could be biggish spends. So I've actually budgeted for them! Set money aside from my "going out" pot (I know, it's been labelled like that as a catch all for all pubs/restaurant spends) and put it in a particular pot.

I also know I want to get a few new clothes (I buy clothes in batches, usually twice a year, because I really have to be in a clothes shopping mood) so I've made a "clothes" pot. What I should really do is save up for those twice-yearly spends. 

Likewise, I bought some event tickets this month. This is another thing that I am going to start budgeting for, as usually mailing lists / tickets are announced and then come on sale that very same week. 

I've already done this for my holiday fund, which has £500 in the pot at the moment. This planning exercise is really helping me be less impulsive (or at least it will give me the financial ability to be more impulsive) - and means I'm really thinking about how I spend everything else on a day-to-day basis.

It's a bit woven into a new focus I have on my exercise and fitness. Being in my 30s, I'm not quite in the shape I was when I was 20, nor do I have the metabolism anymore, but I'm being very mindful now about what I eat and when. I think this will help me cut my food budget down a little bit. (Tip: when you think you're hungry and need to snack, drink water! You're probably just dehydrated). 

My mantra is ultimately to be mindful of every aspect of my life, but equally to not beat myself up about anything if I don't hit the standards I set myself. It's really hard to stick to things! It's ok! I'm pretty sure I have ADHD - I can obsess over certain things (usually less important stuff) and then less other things drift because my brain isn't interested in it. 

londoner2019

I was due to meet a friend this evening but he’s unwell. Shame about it, but the silver lining is a cheaper night in instead. A little sad to be excited by that!

My little budget until the end of the month all of a sudden stretching a little more and I can rest easy knowing I should have a little surplus.

Too many months in the past I would slice a little of next month’s budget off to see me through a few more days of the previous month, sipping into savings and then topping them back up. 

Weirdly despite clearing the debt I am only now being more conscious about this - I guess I just don’t want to ever be back in that situation.

londoner2019

Got paid today, and spent the morning with a cup of coffee moving things into their correct pots.

• The EF is now brimming at 1k (there's even about a fiver's worth of interest in there. Not much but it's an added extra)
• My spending money is now coming out of the Chase current account, which provides 1% cashback. This means bills etc come out of my current account where I get paid, using a zero budget in that account. I don't need to touch it until I get paid next month now.
• My savings (sans EF) now live in a Chase saver, paying 3.3%. This is for my tax bill, which grows every month, as well as my holiday fund, house repairs fund and it's also where my safety net will live. It's all in one, but my spreadsheet has a tab which manages those pots, so I know exactly how much I've got for each.

It's going to be nice seeing the interest slowly grow there!

My mortgage goes up by a lot in July, which is why my potential for regular savings will drop from 750 to 500. I'm still hoping being more frugal will give me some bonus surplus at the end of each month, but I'm being more realistic for now.

londoner2019

A little win today - utilised the 25 cashback offer on Quidco in the MSE email this week. I had already budgeted for some new running clothes, and instead of paying the full 67, I've got 25 off, PLUS an extra 20 off thanks to the offer with UnderArmour. So 67 becomes 22! 

VERY pleased to make some unexpected savings.

londoner2019

I just had a momentary freak out today when reviewing my month's budget. I created a tool to break down my monthly budget into categories, as well as a way to track spending by week (helps me understand how I'm getting on, whether I need to have a quiet week or not).

Anyway, I was looking at what I had left for the month (well, up to and including 29 June, as payday begins a new budget month) and it was very low... I tried to figure out what on earth I had spent all my money on. But I forgot I had already budgeted for a big weekend coming up... that's in a separate budget pot. So I'm actually all good  

In other news, we invested in an air conditioning unit (which came out of the "house stuff" pot). My WFH office gets very stuffy as it's in an attic. Testing it out today!

And we are getting roof work done this week. Again, already budgeted and set aside money for that work. Once that's done, we need to get some plasterers in to do some renovation work on the walls and ceilings in the upstairs bedrooms (have set aside some money for that, getting quotes this week - fingers crossed it's enough!)

And FINAL update... my mortgage goes up next month. We're already talking about making some minor overpayments. I checked and if we can overpay by 200 a month (100 for each of us), we'll pay off the mortgage more than three months earlier and save 38k in interest. Seriously considering this.

londoner2019

Haircut day today - first spend of the week! Had a stocked fridge so no need for other discretionary spends. I love to push starting my spending to as late in the week as I possibly can. It also helps with my mentality to not fritter away cash.

There are a few bits I'd like to get for my garden terrace (things are actually growing in the sunshine, thought I'd planted too late) and there's a few items I'd like to treat myself to (the Grind coffee offer on the MSE homepage being one of them) but I'm holding back until next week to see if I still really want/need them, and also to see how the weekend spending goes.

londoner2019

Reaching the end of the month... a little tight on my budget, but an online food shop means I can survive the next week on the remaining budget.

I had a message from HMRC today saying I've paid too much tax and that I'm owed a refund. It's entirely possible - I was working April-December on a PAYE contract which came to an end - I would have been paying a higher tax rate all that time. I was unemployed for 5-6 weeks, and then I was self employed for the remainder of the tax year. I've already done my self assessment tax return (and even paid HMRC, as it wasn't a groundbreaking amount to put in a savings account until 31 Jan 2024). I thought I had calculated everything to the penny, but clearly the employed/self employed combo can be confusing!

I will put that money in a pot for now until I can speak to HMRC and triple check I am actually owed that (it's £2,300 so not to be sniffed at, but equally not to fritter away if I then have to give it back!)

We've been talking about a holiday in January - so if I can keep it I might put it into my holiday fund, and some into my new "pots", for Christmas, last-minute ticket purchases, and clothes.

NeverendingDMP

Fingers crossed the HMRC refund stays as yours. Nice holiday savings bonus if so. 
I hope you don't mind me asking about the chase account. I'm struggling a bit to monitor and keep an eye on food spends for example. If I had chase could I transfer x amount each week, is it a bank or pre pay? I've heard it mentioned but not fully aware of what it is. Just like the idea of cashback

londoner2019

NeverendingDMP said:

Fingers crossed the HMRC refund stays as yours. Nice holiday savings bonus if so. 
I hope you don't mind me asking about the chase account. I'm struggling a bit to monitor and keep an eye on food spends for example. If I had chase could I transfer x amount each week, is it a bank or pre pay? I've heard it mentioned but not fully aware of what it is. Just like the idea of cashback

Hi @NeverendingDMP - thanks for reaching out!

Chase - it’s a current account, so you’d need to transfer money into it. I find the app incredibly easy to use, I’m really enjoying it (weird thing to say about a bank account but we’re all obsessives here!)

I transfer x amount at the start of every month (I’ve kept my NatWest current account for salary and bills). I still keep a spending diary in Google Sheets, but chase does have a categories feature to help monitor spends.

The cashback sits in a separate rewards pot, but again, easy to shift over. I’ve not touched it yet - I like seeing the pennies build up!

NeverendingDMP

Thanks for the info. I'll have a look. My credit rating is so so,.I'll see what they think of me!.
Would suit my needs well though. Thanks for the reply