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

LadyWithAPlan

themadvix said:

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!

Yes I know I will get paid but hate how disorganised it seems to make me budget wise.
They are all small companies but I do need to look at this as it has slowed my savings rate down as I have just spent more without a budget.
Now I have realised my £400k mortgage idea at current rates will be over £22 a day on interest I need to save more, spend less and get re focused and on fire.

savingholmes

I think with the way rates are creeping up - you also need to time it right - so you don't miss locking in decent rates... Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.

LadyWithAPlan

savingholmes said:

I think with the way rates are creeping up - you also need to time it right - so you don't miss locking in decent rates... Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.

indeed you are right! 

LadyWithAPlan

Apologies for long post but I am determined to post daily here to keep the focus as I have so much I need to save. It is easy to overspend as I still don't have a scarily large house payment which I know would give me a discipline, so  I need to get  that from elsewhere.

NSD - fail yesterday
I tried to have a NSD yesterday but failed as wanted to pop to see if I had a delivery so went and bought some sweets along with some DF milk. So I am trying today .. will pop to gym later but nothing I need food wise. 
I did win a £50 Sains voucher from comic relief  scratch cards woohoo- so once the cash in my wallet has gone - about £15 I will use that. I often use Lidl but I am spending a lot on food unnecessarily - my cupboards and fridge has too much food for just one person! I do like to buy a bargain though so.

Cooking GF wraps 
I tried today  - as GF bread is so expensive right now and going up (£3.20 a loaf , £3.xx for 4 wraps etc)  - to make my first  corn tortillas. I bought some very expensive MASA gf corn flour at xmas (its soaked in lime)  - for myself and my dad as a gift £8 per 2kg each. So I had a go today and they were delicious - I would like a cast iron tortilla press but thats an un-necesssary expense.. I will get better at rolling them as some a bit thick and the water levels are guess work at present. 
However per pence they definitely cheaper and tastier than buying GF breads and wraps even at £8 per pack flour

Loving my new won pressure cooker
I also won a  £100 6 in 1 pressure cooker earlier in the year ( via a MB site prize draw) I have not won much this year I will note but these are two good prizes)  I really wanted an instant pot cooker - the 11 in 1 with an airfryer or 14 in 1 with a dehyradrator as well....
However a free 6 in 1 was a better deal   - more MSE and it has changed my cooking, what with the pressure cooker, saute elements plus  I get my halogen cooker out as my 6 in 1 does not have an airfryer but halogen fryer works well. I only seem to be using my oven for the hob now so saving electricity as well  and heat in the flat.

Taxes paid /suppliers unpaid invoices
I am looking at my bank accounts and they are low given I have rent to pay Monday,  having just paid my tax bill (which was already saved in my PB but I didn't want to sell them and lose the month in them in case Agent Million calls) so I squeezed my current accounts tight to pay the tax bill cash as well as reducing my MB float - I am not doing much on there at present before premiership starts again just the odd trade, casino and MB free bets.

I dont know if I will get paid by any of my suppliers before Sunday, if I do I will be fine for rent and budgeting August. If not I will be moving cash from my MB float to pay my rent. I will definitely be hassling people Friday as I have realised how I spend more if I dont finalise my monthly budget by moving monies around.

CC get to zero
I still have £584.87 on my cc for last 2 weeks spending including a staycation so I want to clear that off asap and start only using my cc for travel. I only have it for credit score stuff, but somehow when I have thousands in my bank account but thousands also owed  on my cc I feel richer - madness!!. So that stops now.

Easyjet have paid me today my expenses £134.21  which I have just paid off cc as well so balance £450.66 but not got back on the cancelled complaint so I should get £250 back there as well

Music Magpie despite having a 14 days no quibbles return policy - have not yet received my item despite proof of postage last Thursday - £202 + will be paid to be CC then as well so I really only owe £248 on CC which will get paid off asap.

TT
TT £1 as no spare pence, I read through some diaries yesterday and the focus of daily TT's eg shingajimmy seem to really help the momentum. I do have a chart on my wall where I colour in £500 boxes so the 100k target one is looming next month is I get paid much of what I am owed.
I will move all TT's at the end of each month 50/50 into House deposit and Sipp

ISA/Sipp
Finally opened a 22/23 isa with Vanguard now with £75   (I also have a sipp with them).
I have not deposited in my existing S&S Isa this year - its Fidel and expensive!! So plan is to leave the fidel one alone but now build the new Vanguard one.
Need to also add to SIPP more but these uneven payments and my excessive 'summer is here lets party' spending has meant less for my sipps!

Electric
I do owe some electricity but I have an ongoing  battle with that scottish energy company which led me to going to the ombudsman and winning but still not resolved. - it was a dual bill but they have against the agreement split into two and now I cant see what I owe the one argh. So many times I complain and they promise to call back and they have not. So I need energy to call them and fight again

Development 
A side hobby became a well paid side job recently  with lots of possible new v high paid new work being talked about  but I think I could  do with spending money on a one on one session with a specialist to get me up to speed quicker - £200 + at bare minimum  but would be in person and techy specialist help - think its better than an online course  where I would have to sit thru lots of stuff I already am v advanced in or teaching me good stuff but not exactly what I need. 
But the budget is not saying £300-£400 for courses ..
Hmm I will put some aside for August and see where else I can cut but I have been spending like crazy without focus the last few months and justifying it - though this does seems a worthwhile cost to get me more work quicker and look more professional. 
I have to write a blurb on this as a sales pitch for the people wanting to book me so thats todays task along with others.

LadyWithAPlan

Argh lost a long post .... hope all are well.

NSD - 2 days now in a row but with my weekend plans will be difficult for more.
My neighbour has just come out of hospital so I need to grab special ingredients tomorrow to make pierogi as she loves them and they are soft. Plus seeing friends and I have a date with someone I met out last Saturday at a music venue so  

CC - music magpie have accepted my return so once that hits the CC £202.49 I will just have £248.17 to clear which will happen as soon as someone pays me. Then I am stopping using it for expenses and only use for travel. I have it on my phone wallet and my apple watch so I can leave physical card at home. I have not paid any interest using it but have a feeling Dave Ramsey is right - you do somehow spend more using credit even though the cash in my bank acct is there waiting to pay.

MB - just won £94 and £198 on 2  casino offers back to back which is good given football not yet started. Please note I am not encouraging gambling - I have been Mbing for 3 years now - I make about £4.5k a year on sports and casino offers but casino ups and downs means you need to be clear and calm about the maths of it. If you want to start please start on sports book offers first, then free casino offers. I am very disciplined which helps.
I used to track every trade and offer but I no longer need to, I just add up all my bookies and my separate bank acct only used for MB and work out the difference from the float at the end of each month. So I will do that Sunday and add some to my house deposit/sipp 50/50 

TT - moved £1 over to keep me focused.
Sunday I will move over to 50/50 house/sipp split again.

Cooking : I tried making potatoes, a stock and chicken breasts  in the pressure cooker 6 in 1 which were great for lunch.  Never tried pressure cooking potatoes before but very tasty dish and it worked well. I had loads excess potatoes in a LIDL veg box and I never eat them so I gave some away and then am determined to cook the rest into soups etc.

I then used the flavourful broth that was left to throw in the following - feeling very MSE
2 pork loin chops I had defrosted (I always separate meat packages into smaller portions before freezing),
mung beans
loads veg from courgettes, leeks, onions, mushrooms etc
random spices that you would use for a dal
and it is delicious especially served with DF yogurt! Filling, tasty and enough to freeze some and eat more tomorrow. It could be made into soup if blended as well. 
Looking at everyones diaries I need to get a handle on my food budget again if I want to really save more for the flat.

Charity donations/Declutter
A neighbour has a charity picking up clothes in the morning so I will dig some out. I have been meaning to ebay some stuff but the cheaper stuff is probably not worth it and I have this week been decluttering so donations it is. I have a very expensive evening dress that was given to me, with tags on but its too large so that I will keep  
 My flat feels too full of stuff

No gym for last 3 days including today as gotten up too late. If I don't go in the morning I don't go.  So early to bed this eve.

Cheery_Daff

Lots of good work there! Impressed with your annual MB profit. I've been doing it regularly for the last 3 ish months (although on and off for a few years) and made about £200-250 a month, but I don't do much sports any more, and only spend about 30 mins casino a day, which with our dreadful slow Internet only involves 3 or 4 low risk offers 😂

Good luck getting to the gym tomorrow!

LadyWithAPlan

Cheery_Daff said:

Lots of good work there! Impressed with your annual MB profit. I've been doing it regularly for the last 3 ish months (although on and off for a few years) and made about £200-250 a month, but I don't do much sports any more, and only spend about 30 mins casino a day, which with our dreadful slow Internet only involves 3 or 4 low risk offers 😂

Good luck getting to the gym tomorrow!

Yes I have been reading about your Happy Wheel and seeing your daily updates - do you track also on a spreadsheet and track EV as well on the offers?
I do £1 spins on all casino offers since they stopped autospin so big ups/downs so I stopped tracking EV - I only do EV + offers though and I have proven the value of casino already to myself. When I tried larger spins before it hurt but now adjusted - my MB float that moves from £3.5k to £4.5k during Cheltenham and big games  is all my MB profits 


 Why did you stop the sports? Maybe gubbing? I have been gubbed by a lot now but I have 2 teams I always back on to keep them distracted.  A top level and a mid table one.  World Cup should have some decent offers.

I have been slowly getting into Horse Eps at weekends only but I do love those football acca offers and make decent money there so Premiership can't come soon enough for me! 

I WILL get to the gym in the morning as I will go as soon as I wake up, then its fine

savingholmes

Lovely to read your updates. I thought I'd posted yesterday but hadn't. Well done on the MBing - I don't have the right kind of brain for that - but lovely that it's working for you

Cheery_Daff

I don't have a spreadsheet- I signed up to Oddsmonkey right near the beginning, so that tracks sports offers etc, and I use Team Casino to track individual casino offers, then just add the daily casino total to Oddsmonkey. Sounds like a faff but isn't really, just a routine. I usually stick to 50p spins since autospin stopped - haven't been brave enough for bigger than that yet!

As for stopping sports, yes I got gubbed by a few of course, but also I don't do horses, and that seems to be the longer term way of making most profits. I do still do the odd sports offer when they happen to appear and if easy, but I find the team casino list of offers the easiest thing to work through each day, and they send reminders for free spins etc - I hated having to remember/write down when to go back for a free bet. 

If I was doing it full time I'd be a bit more varied, but as it stands, a little routine of 3 or 4 straightforward casino offers each day suits me nicely, with occasionally a bit more at the weekend. 

Always interesting to see what other people are doing though 😊

South_coast

LadyWithAPlan said:

I have a very expensive evening dress that was given to me, with tags on but its too large so that I will keep

Are you planning to grow into it 🤔🤣?