Learning to walk before I run

Suffolk_lass

edinburgher said:

Well, that's us £106 worse off

£110.13 here. Click and collect for us. Fortunately it is on September CC spend and is going to hit the account in October, traditionally a quiet month here. Christmas wine stocks, don't you know?!

edinburgher

I was on the 8-limbed mollusc site submitting my meter readings for the month and was pleased to see that they have forecast that I can reduce my DD by approximately £8/mth. Not much in the grand scheme of things but it all helps and at least we are being more disciplined than forecast

£6 withdrawn from Prolific, with another £6 to follow tomorrow. I'm going to do a couple of hours overtime this evening but am really not feeling it after a very early start (my exercise class, will have to quit this in the new year unless there is a pay increase and a healthy lump sum arising...)

Booked cheap tickets for DD1 and I to go and see an animated film for National Cinema Day. Less than £8 in total, I bought a £10 voucher, 70p cashback to come from that and a fun activity to look forward to at the weekend.

Edit: Back down to earth with a bump. Oven fixed - yay! Both elements replaced = £112 - nay!

savingholmes

Great news on the oven being fixed and on the survey money.

Cinema sounds lovely.

edinburgher

3 hours of overtime last night (£80 before tax). 

Need to get a plumber out today as our toilet is leaking brown water Serious question, how does anyone ever save an Emergency Fund? I am counting 5x broken appliances or household repairs in the £££ region in 6 months

beanielou

It’s blooming hard to build an EF. 

edinburgher

Good news and bad news

The toilet isn't leaking. The poor plumber stripped half of the toilet and surround off, identified a problem with a valve in the cistern (running after flush) and the buttons (one not working). He didn't, however, identify what was causing the toilet to leak and was adamant that it wasn't. He then looked at a small amount of standing water on the sink mixer tap, which I explained was leaking slightly and probably needed a new cartridge if he could fix that as well. Turns out the leaky tap was running across the basin top and seeping down the side of the vanity unit/surround, the toilet was just where the water pooled...

So my toilet isn't leaking but I'm now waiting on a quote for a replacement valve, buttons, cartridge and a pop-up waste (have already tried fixing this myself). Goodbye all the money, although no one item should be that expensive of itself.

My favourite bit was when he was convinced we were just p****** on the floor

badmemory

edinburgher said:.

My favourite bit was when he was convinced we were just p****** on the floor

Reminds me of when DS was quite young - he wasn't either.  I hate plumbing issues with a vengance.

savingholmes

On the EF - If you get a lump sum at any point - put that straight into your EF and that way it gets an overnight boost. I followed DR in the US for a while and he recommends £1K EF - although some on here suggested a starter EF of £500. He recommends selling stuff or working extra jobs/overtime to get that initial fund so it took away the reliance on credit. Otherwise you are digging a hole faster than you can empty it. I slept so much better once it was in place. I'm now working on my 3-6 month fund.

You are very future focussed and are good at prioritising your pension - but perhaps you need to split more of that or redirect some of those extra payments temporarily so you have a decent EF.  I used to feel thrown for a loop when something as small as a kettle needed replacing - once I got to £1K EF - even though at times it got close to empty and I had to start saving again - it felt so good to be able to buy something like a washing machine for cash for the first time ever.

I know you are frustrated now - but despite the battles you are facing - you are ahead of where may of us were at your age so stop beating yourself up. You just need to adjust your focus a little so you have short, medium and long term savings goals - rather than just the long term ones.

edinburgher

@savingholmes - we have been on the straight and narrow and using YNAB for 4? Months now. No credit being used unless it's for a few days or for Nect@r points.

I've got all the pots in place, they just take time

Lump sums is an idea now our core budget is better under control. New mortgage is £1300+ vs current £805, so fate may have other ideas

An hour of overtime last night (£32 pre-tax), £6 from Prolific, £5 from ZipZero to eight-limbed mollusc today and FIT submitted (just shy of 1,000 kWh) 👍

Job application to complete this weekend but procrastinating as it would be a step up

Edit: woohoo - £202 from FIT!

beanielou

Stop procrastinating 😂😎