Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

Suffolk_lass

Good to "see" you back!

It's a worry when the invoices go unpaid. Our last two months in Stuttgart went unpaid when DH's agent went out of business and left us thousands out of pocket (over 25 years ago) - still rankles 

themadvix

Yes, I've been there with unpaid invoices, both ones that I did get paid for eventually and those that never did get paid. It's not nice at all. I now only take on clients in the EU and the US (mine are mostly international) with excellent ratings on the supplier ratings system I use. It minimises the risks somewhat - there's no chance of getting my several £s back from the clients in Azerbaijan or Ukraine (both of which were good payers until they weren't.).

I hope yours are both UK-based and pay up soon!

savingholmes

Glad you are ok. Trust they pay up soon. A lot to be owed.

LadyWithAPlan

Hello all, I am finally back online here and have been reading others diaries so

The whole 2022 the one company (who are probably 70% of my income) has been behind on paying me and it has affected both my monthly budgeting as I never know when I am being paid, my saving  and my spending, so i half budget .... So I haven't been posting and thus not focusing ...

I find if I don't do a monthly budget and move my money around I also spend too much.
They are still behind  on invoices but I need to happen to my money rather than the other way round.
I haven't seriously looked at buying my first home since last September  which is actually good when cash flow is not certain, I know interest rates rates going up ....

I am still doing 2-3 days a week for them, I could go looking  for a 5 day a week contract elsewhere  but I will wait til September and see where everything is at as there are some changes afoot.

I note from my signature  I started this diary nearly a year ago on 11th Aug so I will definitely login and update but actually I am doing better than I thought on my savings.

First goal is to hit £100k in savings for house (inc fees/stamp duty) by the Aug 11th

MFW savings 11/08/21  £67,711.70   09/12/21  £79,227.05  25/07/2022  £96,490.19 so nearing my 100k goal
(includes  EF but a £1900 h2b isa not included )

SIPP               11/08/21     £26,644.38   31/12/2021     £30,421.39   25/07/22 £34,501.37
Stock markets have had an impact on SIPP and a bit on my savings however I do need to add more

Paid my taxes today for second payment and my credit card I only got for my credit score keeps creeping up, I pay it in full each month but its amazing how when you put things on it mounts up. I will just add my phone dd and travel on it instead to show it is being used.
So goal is to clear total balance by Aug 11th as well.

Other news:
I had a cancelled easyjet flight so I have claimed and got back £134 on travel expenses, yet to hear re a payment on my flight (as I booked a later one that day that was also delayed`)
The £134 will go towards my credit card bill.

I have just paid cash for annual gym membership and have been going most days especially to have a swim in this heat so worth it I think. I thought long about it as one year up front was a lot but it saves £9 /month so effectively I get 2 months free a year

I finally opened my own company rather than being self employed (cos of mortgage reasons) but as I will go for a contract mortgage and what with NI rates ... I decided to stop hanging around.,

savingholmes

Great progress. Lovely to hear from you again. I wondered where you disappeared 

LadyWithAPlan

savingholmes said:

Great progress. Lovely to hear from you again. I wondered where you disappeared 

Thanks I have been working hard (some weeks working for 5 different companies) but not budgeting properly!! Lessons learn. This forum is lovely for inspiration as well as focus.

Sistergold

Hello @LadyWithAPlan, missed you lots! Glad you are back and focusing on your goals! Wow almost there on your £100k goal well done! Congratulations on opening of your company hopefully it will will work better financially.

Good to have you back as I always enjoy your post 🌺

Suffolk_lass

Good to see you back and great progress, especially if you have been lacking focus! I am with you on the CC creeping up. Since stopping work, my go to JLP card has increased by nearly a thousand a month!

LadyWithAPlan

@Sistergold yes I am glad I am back

I was looking at £400k mortgage and realised its over £22 a day interest at 1.94% so I need to get my deposit up and be more focused. I have bought a lot of fun things and was away on holiday plus London entertainment is never cheap.

As always eyeing up the SIPP vs the house deposit debacle - I have the last 2 years added enough to my SIPP to be below the 50k earnings threshold at least. Going to try daily tt's to keep me focused but the maybe I will split the end of month tt's 50/50 split to SIPP/deposit for a while.

@Suffolk_lass I cant believe my CC - just adding food, travel, bar bills plus off purchase and it sneaks up to £1600 easily! I then have to pay it down! So just waiting for next pay amount and then clearing off in full and only travel going on it and I will move one dd.
I would stop using it but its for my credit rating so ...

The rest of my CC should be paid this week as I am waiting on £134 from easyjet from expenses due to cancelled flight plus a refund on an apple product I returned as I sent back the refurbished one and bought a new one - the refurb battery was not good and a part bday gift

26/07 TT"s
found £13.22 in my monzo TT as they have been doing the round up thing anyway 
Plus added 57p from one account and some £1 cash back from shopmium
So I will add all the TT's at the eom and split to SIPP/Deposit funds.





Hoping someone will pay me on time 
I do have a MB float I can always use easily but I dont want to get back out of the habit of not being able to budget and move money into their various pots

themadvix

I sympathise with clients not paying/not paying when you expect them to - it makes it really hard to plan, doesn't it? Even if you know it'll arrive eventually, you feel that the people you deal with at the companies wouldn't take kindly to their salaries not being paid as expected and yet you're expected to put up with that! It's outrageous.

Glad to see you back!