The Ups and Downs of my Emergency Fund

millymolly22

I think for me it's control and independence.  After being left with two young children and a home to run I always need to know I can do this (financially) by myself and not have to rely on anyone.  Maybe its the only child in me too lol.  So as long as I can afford the basics I feel in control.  DH pays for the car and holidays, days out etc.  He doesn't have a problem with it and understands why I am like I am.  

WinterWarrior

I need independence and control too. We both got thoroughly fleeced in previous marriages and had to start again (before we got together). I want the freedom to decide for myself what I buy and I also don’t want to be stressing about his purchases or feeling that I need to say no. As long as we both meet our half of all shared expenses we leave each other to get on with it. We can also treat each other to things without feeling we are treating them with their own money 😁. 

millymolly22

Well its back to work tomorrow after a few days off.  Picked the right week as the weather has been amazing at last, but I think its on the change now.  Managed to get to the seaside yesterday and had our fish and chips.  It was so busy and with the hot weather and it being half term the place was jam packed, although maybe its because we are not used to busy places any more with the lockdowns over the past year.  Not much money saving done at all since payday.  We treated the few days like we were away on holiday so have had a few takeaways and very lazy days.  Just whizzed round the house with the hoover, but not done any proper cleaning so will do that next weekend.  DS football boots arrived today and are a good fit thankfully.  Given him some spends for the rest of the week for when he is out with his mates but hoping for a lot of NSDs now for the rest of the month.  Mr T came yesterday and there is plenty of food in the house so hoping not to spend anything now until next week's shopping delivery.  No more takeaways this month we have had our fair share lol.  I have a hair cut booked in at weekend and colour my hair myself but that money was accounted for at the beginning of the month.    At least its only two days to work then its weekend again, but have a feeling I will be going into a backlog of work tomorrow.

WinterWarrior

Glad you had a nice few days. That’s the trade off though isn’t it, nice days off, but then all the work you missed is waiting for you 😖

millymolly22

Well considering I only had a two day working week I am so glad it's Friday.  Went in on Thursday to a huge backlog and as one employee has left and the new one has yet to start it was all left to me.   Still nowhere near caught up and the new member of staff who starts next week doesn't have any experience so things are going to be pretty tough next week.  So annoying as for the past few weeks we have been reasonably quiet on the work front and as soon as we are one member of staff down it all goes crazy again.  Anyway shouldn't complain at least I have a job after seeing other firms in my sector either closing or making redundancies.  Sitting in the sun this evening with washing on the line and looking forward to seeing our family tomorrow.  Happy weekend everyone 😊

millymolly22

Been a while since I last made an entry on my diary. Still been lurking but not contributing but I need to make more of an effort for accountability. The impact of the cost of living is beginning to get a hold and even though we are lucky enough to not have a Mortgage just the food and utilities are enough to cause a massive drop in my/our disposable income.   When I look back at what we were paying out this time last year it's quite a shock how much things have increased especially our food bill.  I also have three credit card debts totalling £1600 which I really need to work on.  They are mostly 0% interest but it's still a monthly payment I could do without.  So today the credit cards have gone away and a spending diary has come out mainly to control our food spending which includes takeaways (one a month) and probably a weekly bacon roll and coffee.  I online shop at Mr T which has increased by about £20 a week even though I don't seem to be buying as much.  The price increases on basics like bread and milk are affecting us like everyone else.
I haven't had a pay rise for over four years.  I work in the private sector and we have had redundancies in the last couple of years but apparently I am paid higher than others doing the same job so they don't think it's fair I get a rise.  Luckily my husband is on state pension and this month gets a decent rise so that has helped the increase in utility bills.  No holidays this year except a weekend away in October and we have a long weekend with our family booked for next year to celebrate a big birthday.  House needs some maintenance.  Some jobs have already been done and materials bought for the remaining jobs.  This is mainly what the credit cards cover. 
Oh and as my diary title is the ups and downs of my emergency fund obviously my emergency fund stands at zero which is another worry. 
This next month is about taking control again and being fully aware of every penny we spend.

enthusiasticsaver

Good luck on getting control of that emergency fund and keeping on budget whilst paying off the debt. Unfortunately credit cards tend to scupper those with low incomes more than anyone. Personally I would put them away and stop using them. Your already tight budget obviously doesn’t sustain them. Saving for house maintenance is crucial if work needs doing and do the jobs when you have saved up for them. 

millymolly22

I have had two no spend days and other than a loaf of bread tomorrow that's my spends done for the working week.  I actually did have £126 in an emergency fund so I have transferred £100 to one of my credit cards and put the £26 into my current account which was a bit of a boost.  Other than our food shop on Sunday the other spend this weekend should be at the football match but am expecting no more than £20.
I am so annoyed with myself for using my credit cards.  I never learn.    Planning on paying at least £30 over the minimum payment on each.
Roll on payday next week and I can start my spending diary.

millymolly22

So today is DH pension day and marks the start of my/our new spending diary to enable me to see how much money we waste especially on "little" top up shops.  First spend was a Moonpig card.  Definitely not a spend I would usually make but it's for a local autistic boy who has asked for 100 Moonpig cards for his birthday.  Don't normally send him a card but it was my good deed for the day/month. Paid my three credit cards minimum payment plus 20/30/50 extra.  As long as I see a lower balance at the next statement then it's all going the right way.  Will need to fill the car with diesel tomorrow.  Normally I allow £100 to fill up for a month but there is over a quarter of a tank left at the moment so I don't think I will be spending the full £100.  Any balance left over will be put in a new emergency fund account and hopefully remain untouched this month.  Need some birthday cards but most birthday gifts are already paid for except for a friend which I am planning to buy a garden plant for but the local garden centre has the ones I want for about £7.00.  Other than that I plan only to spend on food for us all and maybe one takeaway.  Our weekly shop still seems to be going up each week at the moment.  So day one covered.  Happy Wednesday 😄

millymolly22

So my payday has come and gone.  Did a top up shop and managed to get some eggs.   Why is it so hard to get eggs at the moment?  Debating whether to start buying them from my local farm but their shop opening hours are pretty limited which makes it hard to get to.  Long bank holiday weekend approaching.  DS is at football all day tomorrow (playing then watching) so planning on getting most of the cleaning washing ironing done tomorrow.  We have fence paint all ready and waiting to use but will need to check the weather forecast as it doesn't look too good for outside jobs.  Mr T is delivering on Sunday and up to now my order is about £10 less than I would usually spend so fingers crossed it stays that way.  Probably forgot something 🤣.  Need to do a cemetery visit for my parents and grandparents so the £10 will cover flowers for graves.  Hopefully that's my spending for this weekend covered 🤞