Budgeting by the beach

DaisyCheerings

So, speaking of the front garden I have finally cut down all the flowers at the front so it doesn't look like such a meadow anymore.  I did try to strim the tall grass and thinner bits, but my strimmer was less than good.  I've ordered one that has rave reviews which was meant to be here by now, but they keep putting back the delivery time.  If it's as good as the reviews then I guess it'll be worth waiting for.

After cleaning my expensive machine it was still working fine.  I've made a few things with it for friends and family, which I've been really happy with.

Financially - I was meant to go away this weekend, but one of my teeth has crumbled, which I assume is due to grinding at night, so I have an emergency appointment with my dentist on Friday.  I also have a hospital appointment on Sunday for a scan I requested a while back, just as a check up thing really, so that scuppered my weekend plans, but has saved me at least £100.

Budgets are doing ok and I'm managing to stay within budget for the most part.  It's a bit of swings and roundabouts really as I keep having to juggle what I assign to each category, but I think being flexible is a good thing.

I feel like I need a decent system for keeping track of incomings and outgoings.  I have so many little envelopes of money in my head that it's getting difficult to keep on top of now that I'm trying to be more aware.  YNAB appears to be the best system, based on how I manage my categories, from what I've read, but it's a pretty big outlay each year.  I'll keep thinking about this one.

doingitanyway

By now you will have the strimmer. Hope it lived up to the reviews.
Hope tooth got sorted and it wasn't too expensive.
Anymore thoughts re YNAB
Enjoy the sea 

enthusiasticsaver

Did you ever work out your total debt figure and your target DF date?  Sometimes having something to work towards and seeing the debt figure reduce is very motivating. 

I was up at 7am this morning gardening as it is so  hot out there. I think gardening is a bit like cooking.  Initially it is trial and error until you have some experience so I am sure the more you do the more you will learn.  Don't be afraid to move plants (after flowering) if they do not prosper.  Sometimes just changing their position gives them a new lease of life (bit like you really ).

I live fairly close to the sea and totally understand how restorative the sounds of the waves are.  I think getting outside as much as possible helps obviously with vitamin D and mental health but I do not have a deficiency so maybe supplements may be worth trying. Can't hurt anyway. 

enthusiasticsaver

As to the envelopes of money I never got on with YNAB and did not want to pay for it but am a recent convert to banks like Starling, Monzo etc where you can have savings pots attached to your main account.  I was fed up with constantly updating spreadsheets, personal finance software etc especially as it is so easy to access online now what we are spending and so many banks categorise your spends now.  So now we have a simple system (which both I and my DH prefer).  All money and outgoings from our Starling accounts.  Two personal (one each) and one joint. We have five pots in our savings space. One for bills, one for gifts and christmas, one for holidays, one for cars and one for the house expenditure. It means I can see at any one time how much is in each envelope without the faff of lots of different accounts. What is left in our joint account after transferring to the pots is disposable income for food, fuel, entertainment etc and we do a monthly transfer to each personal account to cover hobbies, personal entertainment and clothes, hair etc. Something like that may work for you.  Easier if just you too. You can have as many pots as you like.  My DD has Starling accounts too but has lots more pots than me so budgets for food and has a pot for the children and for the pets etc etc. 

DaisyCheerings

Hello @enthusiasticsaverand thank you for your messages.  I have now updated my signature with my debt as on 1st July 2022 along with my currently planned debt free date.  I'll update that as I go along now.  It will be difficult to get the date earlier than the date given as I do throw a lot of money at my debts but who knows what the future holds.

My strimmer arrived on Saturday after 3 delivery date updates from them.  I don't think it was in stock when I ordered as it took a long time for it to state it was despatched.  I was really busy this weekend so I may set it up today and give it a little try out in the garden.

Tooth not yet sorted.  I have to go back on Monday.  It's not expensive as I pay a monthly fee which I do believe saves me in the long run.  I'm also getting a mouth guard made so they'll take the impressions after my tooth is fixed next week.  The expensive part was the drive as I've kept my old dentist which is miles away from me now.  The dentists here have no room for new patients so I'll stay where I am for now and make an event of travelling there whenever I need to.

More thoughts on YNAB are that I would like to try it, but at the price they quote it is an expensive experiment.  I like the idea of the pots, and I do have some different tack on accounts, but it's keeping track of what I have and what I'm spending as those accounts have money that only some can be used at a time.  I feel like my money is just in a bit of a tangle although I definitely see the logic in those pots you have with your bank.  I also have a starling account which I use as my crafting pot, so maybe I should look at moving to that for my main account with the pots from it.

You're so right that gardening is an experiment.  I did mention to friends at the weekend that "I'm learning" and as I'm only currently buying cheap plants I don't feel afraid of trying things out.  I have a watering can now and I water them in the mornings or evenings depending on how they're looking.  I'm also dead heading and cutting leaves back which is making them look nice for such a long time.  I seem to be into dahlias at the moment and they're bringing so much colour and joy to my garden.  I also bought a little christmas tree from the local garden centre in January.  Everything states not to give too much water, but mine looked unhappy until I watered a little every day and now it's budding.  I've also added some solar fairy lights to it and it's looking lovely out there day and night.

How close are you to the sea?  I feel so lucky that I can walk there.  I actually can't say I feel a huge amount better since my Vitamin D prescription but I'm sticking with it and will take supplements as I think I have a bit of a list of things I need to fix before I properly feel really good.

Thank you so much for all the details on how you use those pots and accounts you have.  I'll think about that more as it's a free option and if I can tweak my mindset then that could be the way to go.

I loved reading your comments, so thank you for giving me so many things to ponder.

DaisyCheerings

So now I have put out there my current debt amount which, the amount in itself doesn't scare me, but it does mean that payments towards more being done in the house are going to need to take a back seat, other than work I really need to get done.  This is a bit upsetting, but I'm not taking into account any bonuses or pay increases so we'll see what happens to that amount and end date.  My house is also very liveable so it won't matter if certain renovations have to wait.

The strimmer is here and waiting in the hallway to be set to work. As the weather is so hot here today I'm not sure I'll get out and use it yet, but I'll wait until later this afternoon to see if it's cool enough give it a try.

Last night I actually got out the tower fan which was amazing.  It really cooled my bedroom and me down enough that I could get to sleep and stay that way.  The only issue I have is that when it's on I can turn the lights out on it, but when it's in standby mode the lights don't turn off and they're a bright blue.  I ended up turning it the other way to get rid of the glare and the light wasn't bright enough to wake me.  I think I'll add a short extension plug tonight so I can unplug it when it's not being used and then can just plug it in easily during the night if I need to use it.

Finances this month are messed up because I've somehow overspent on food, massively reducing my weekly budget.  Also, the extra diesel I'm going to need for my next dentist appointment next week is £70 over budget.  With the food, I could live off a budget allowance to keep that from going over, but the diesel is the issue.  I'm going to have to take the extra budget for that from a different account.  I've been told I have to head into London this month for a work meeting, and I've bought that ticket for a lot less than expected (although I still need parking and tube fare) so maybe I'll steal from my commute fund to cover this extra travel cost and hope that work don't ask me in again before I can replenish enough for another trip.

I'm going to do some boot sales next month.  I still have some boxes that are packed up so I obviously don't need most or all of those things.  I know there are a few bits and pieces I want (hair straighteners and some cooking utensils) but for the most part I'm not sure what's there, so I think I'll either add it online or put it in a boot sale and get a bit of a boost to the accounts.

I hope everyone is coping in this heat.  For anyone with dogs, I bought my Mum's dog one of those cooling mats and my Mum added a sheet onto it, and her dog loves it. I'll also be putting a small hand towel into the fridge for her this weekend to put on the mat and keep it and her cooler for longer.

DaisyCheerings

I finally put the strimmer together and decided to take it for a brief test run today!  It's so incredibly powerful.  I've cut so much down already in the back (I didn't want to make a fool of myself by cutting my leg off where people could see it happen at the front) and the nylon cutting part is still un-phased.  It's amazing.  I'm still getting used to angles for different things, but I'm so happy with it.  I do need to wear protective goggles though as a lot has flown back on me.  I'm not sure wearing anything too summery is a good idea either as it spits things up and a stone narrowly missed my arm.  So once the weather is slightly cooler that I can wear long sleeves for 15 minutes or so at a time then I'll get the front cut down.  I expect it to take 15 minutes each side (my house is double fronted with a grass area each side of the front door).

Financially I'm not planning well enough for the month of things I have scheduled.  My tooth is now fixed but I hadn't allowed enough money for diesel for both journeys this month.  I've covered it from other areas, but I need to pay those areas back as soon as I can.  Planning needs to be my focus as I don't want to start any month owing a different pot.  I've also overspent in other areas too which is annoying, but I think that's what this diary is about.  Finding my financial flaws and fixing them.

As I arrived at the dentist yesterday a car reversed into another parked car.  The owner was in the car so saw and felt what happened.  It got very dramatic though with the owner of the hit car going off at the woman, telling her to hand in her license and keys and stop driving etc.  His wife came out and before she'd got anywhere near the cars she was stating how much damage there was, when it would have been impossible to see anything.  They've asked me to be a witness, which I will do to make sure the right story is told.  She did hit him, but she was going 5mph at most in reverse.

I'm coping pretty well in this heat, which I think is a mixture of having light clothes and a fan, and also that being close to the sea gives off a light breeze.  I'm also living in darkness by keeping blinds and curtains closed in rooms I want to keep cool.

So it's time to get the spends sheet out and figure out what's going on with my spends.  I may create some finance stickers for my journal so I can keep a track of what I'm spending and where I can be more mindful.  Just to make it a bit more fun than it currently feels.

Happy Hottest Day Every to all who read this on Tuesday 19th July!  I heard on the radio this is a sign of our new summer temperatures.  So I hope you're all finding ways to thrive in this heat.

Sarahwithlove

I use starling spaces for all my different sinking Fund pots but then have ch@se for everyday spends so get 1% cashback and just use a spreadsheet that tracks how much I have left in groceries or personal spends each month. I then have a s@ntander for my DDs as get cashback on them too. I used to use ynab which was good but expensive so found having it all seperate now works best for me. 

DaisyCheerings

Thank you @Sarahwithlove. The different pots within accounts definitely sounds like a good place to start with all of this, and if it saves me money on YNAB then all the better.  I have a list of allocated funds for each budget (ie. bills, insurances, TV package etc.) so maybe just keeping all categories in their own sections is the way to go.   I used to have a Santander cash back account, but found the monthly fee took all of my cashback so I changed it to a standard account.  I'll have a look at my Starling account this week and set some pots up.  I can see this working for me so I really appreciate you and @enthusiasticsaver sharing your knowledge.

foxgloves

@DaisyCheerings - When we first started budgeting (initially this was to get rid of our debts), I did find it difficult to come up with a 'pots' system which worked for us. It took 3 attempts, refining the methodology each time. It is now working well. We have 10 different savings pots. The money is held in an 'add-on' savings account which is standard with our bank account. I don't bother with YNAB. I just use a spreadsheet. The 10 savings pots are:
Car maintenance

House & garden

Clothes

Leisure & entertainment

Holidays

Dentist & optician

Meow fund 
Presents
Appliances replacement

Tech replacement

Obviously we have a monthly grocery budget too, as well as Personal Spends - a set amount each month to spend on whatever we like, but when it's gone, it's gone.
I maintain this system by keeping all receipts/invoices & updating Savings Pots spreadsheet & any other spends every Monday morning. It isn't an onerous task as the system was set up by me to be administered regularly by me. We do have an emergency fund too, but the 10 savings pots were to ensure we are putting money aside to cover expenses in the most foreseeable categories. None of the above are emergencies, which means EF not raided to pay for perfectly predictable costs like cats' injections, new jeans or replacement washing machine.
But I was kind of popping on to comment that although I think savings pots are brilliant, it can take a little while to get them tailored to your needs & admin preferences/style. So don't give up!
F