Living life on my terms..

savingwannabe

First of all I want to say hi and welcome. Thank you so much for all your work as a healthcare worker especially over the last two years. All the medical workers I know are burnt out from dealing with covid and the backlog of late diagnoses, a vvv stressful job and we are sooo grateful for all your hard work. 

Well done on tidying up. All the best with saving. We all help each other and posting on here does help. Good luck. 

Hoffnung

So its been a while since I've last updated this diary...

There hasn't been too much going on, just the usual day to day things. I just seem to be plodding on and keeping my head down, which isn't always a bad thing. 

Money-wise, I am trying to be more mindful when it comes to buying things and asking myself if I really need them or if they are important/urgent. This seems to help a little bit. 

I am still tweaking my budgets and splitting my income/outgoings between two accounts. My main bank account is where all my bills/expenses come out from and I then use the saving pots on Monzo for all other monthly outgoings/savings for annual expenses. This makes it much easier for me to see where my money is going. 

I've been trying to simplify and tidy up my bank accounts for a while now and hopefully I've finally got the hang of it. One of the main reasons for this is because we are aiming to buy a house later on this year and I don't want my bank statements looking too messy/confusing/cluttered etc. 

In regards to buying a house, I am going to start reading up on the first time buyers guide on MSE and check out the forums here for advice. I like to be prepared and will most likely create a loose budget for all things housing related. I've already been looking at what we may be able to borrow and looking at what type of properties are available within our budget; ultimately I don't want to overstretch ourselves too much. 

Pup is nearly 11 months old now and she is very spoilt . I've found the cost of some things creeping up steadily and I'm trying to balance it all out. I spend quite a bit on dog related expenses and I'm looking to cut back in a few different areas and stretch some things out. Her food alone costs us around £58 every 4-5 weeks, eek! 

I'm going to take some time to make a plan for myself for the next few months ahead and also prioritise the things that are important to me. 

Bit by bit, I will get myself to where I want to be and start living for each moment again. It's been hard after struggling with depression for two years but the cloud seems to finally be lifting and I'm looking forward to the future. 

MovingForwards

I find the information provided on the different forums useful as a starting point. It helps prepare you and manage expectations. If there's any pointers needed, just ask as a couple of us purchased in the last 2 years.

Keep looking at the sale properties as it helps you work out what you like dislike, again invaluable if you've not lived in many properties over the years. Aside from a detached property, all the others have their quirks with layouts and how the rooms adjoins the neighbour.

Furbabies are always spoilt, they wrap us round their little paws and manipulate us with their eyes, but offer unconditional love in return.

Try and post a little more, just to get things off your chest and see progress is being made. 

atrixa

MSE was invaluable when I was buying. My expenses were:

Original estimate breakdown of costs				Realistic estimate				Actual payments
Booking fee	£        200.00			£                 -				£0.00
Valuation Fee	£        400.00			£                 -	free with mortgage			£0.00
Survey/trade reports	£        500.00			£        275.00				£275.00
Broker	£        300.00			£        295.00				£295.00
Conveyancing	£    1,000.00			£    1,000.00				£887.10
Removal	£        200.00			£          20.00
Locksmiths	£        100.00			£        100.00				£140.00
Lifetime Legal Insurance								£1.00
Home insurance				£        170.00				£119.29
Appliances and furniture	£        900.00			£        900.00				£1,340  approx
Total	£    3,600.00			£    2,760.00				£1,717.39
Deposit	£    7,000.00			£    7,000.00				£                                    6,500.00

Obviously these will vary wildly based on your circumstances/location. I found that I spent far less than estimated on the buying process and way more on stuff for the house once I was actually in it. I got £500 cashback from my lender, which was completely unexpected and the H2B ISA bonus helped a lot too. I didn't pay stamp duty as a first time buyer and due to the cost of the property. Best of luck with everything, the process is painful but worth it.

Hoffnung

Thank you for the estimates/costs Atrixa- they are interesting and something to look into. We are North West of England.

in regards to house funds, I have already maxed out my HTB ISA plus more as I keep paying into it- the interest it gains each year is better then any other saving account right now. The yearly interest payment is due next month- last year I received £220 in interest alone. 

The rest of my savings are just in an extra account within my main bank. I continue to let these build gradually and sweep what's left over each month. 

I also have a help to save account (the government one) which I save £50 into each month and then I pay £25pm into a saving account for my son. 

The last time I looked, I don't think there were any savings/bank accounts that would make my money work for me.. gone are the days of 5% interest in my regular saving account- I used to max these out each month too. Maybe it's something I need to look into more. 

Anyhow, today pup has had a training lesson this morning and she has now gone to daycare for the afternoon. This will give me some time to do some tidying around the house. 

I'm regards to expenses for pup, a main chunk of the budget goes on daycare for when we are working or if needed for another reason. This is something I'm going to look at cutting back over the next few months, where possible. The other main expense is her food which I although expensive, I do not want to cut back on. Instead I might stretch her food out a bit more and feed her things like tinned sardines, eggs or we occasionally feed her raw food via a Kong as a long lasting chew. I am guilty of also buying her lots of treats/chews when I see them .. I will try my best to cut back there haha. 

Aside from that there isn't too much else going on.

I've been messaging a couple of my friends with the view to meet up over the next couple of weeks- it will be nice catch up. 

I've returned an Amazon parcel which should give me a refund of £13.00- better back in my pocket rather then me forgetting then being unable to return. 

The plan for the afternoon is to tidy up the kitchen and maybe rearrange a few things and see what we have in the freezers. I will pace myself through this though as sometimes I do too much at once and burn myself out.

And if I get time, I'll go pick up everything off the living room floor and send the Eufy round to clean. I haven't used this in a while.

I best get on with it all now. 

MovingForwards

V1rg1n coach acc, pays 1.75% maximum in £250pm for 12 months. Only allowed one open at a time.

V1rg1n current acc, pays 2%, on the first £1k.

NW/RBS d1g1tal, needs a current acc, 3% maximum in £50pm, only one allowed and the high interest is only on the first £1k saved. 

There's a long running thread on the savings board which lists the better rates and is updated each week.

Make your own pup treats, fish biscuits go down well and double up as training treats.

Hope you rested up between tasks.

Hoffnung

Hello!

Thanks MovingForwards for the suggestions, I'll take a look at them later on and do some further research. The deals just seem a lot more sparse now compared to a few years ago. 

There hasn't been much else going on since I last posted. I've tweaked our budget a little in some places to accommodate increasing expenses/outgoings.

I have been a bit more mindful about my spends and decided that I'm not going to buy things unless they are definately needed and will be put to good use.

And if there are things that are worth buying, I'll let them sit in my basket or wish list for a couple of days and see how I feel about it afterwards. 

I think over recent years I've realised that quality of items is far better then quantity and I apply these thoughts to either things I want to buy or days out/meals out. 

A lot of my socialisation with friends is going out for meals so I put aside money each month to cover for these. Some weeks I go out more often then others, some weeks I don't go out at all. I know these costs can soon add up but the benefits are really worth it for me but it is also something I could easily cut back on, if needed to. 

Anyhow, I've just come back from a walk with my friend and her dogs. Little pup is covered from head to toe in mud but has had a great time and is now currently sleeping in her crate. 

I'm going to have some lunch and then start on my to do list for the day. I sometimes find it hard to have the motivation to get started but I'm working on this. 

The plan for the rest of the day is to:

- Clean kitchen

- Book opticians appt
- Book dentist appt for my son

- Photocopy some paperwork.
- Fill in some important forms that need sending back imminently over next couple of days. 

I best get going! 

MovingForwards

Using time to think and plan is free and you're changing thought process.
The nicer weather will be here soon and you'll be able to take advantage of it.

Hoffnung

Afternoon,

Nearly another month has passed since my last post.. time seems to be going so quick this year, but at least it's nearly spring.

I'm looking forward to the nicer weather and the lighter morning/nights ahead of us. It will also be good to get some Vitamin D- I'm currently on high strength supplements due to deficiency. 

Anyhow, as the cost of everything is going up, we are trying to cut costs elsewhere to make up for this- just like everybody else. 

Things I've done so far- 

1) We've had less takeaways and I've not been eating out as much.

2) Swapped pups food for cheaper alternative but just as good and suits her needs fine. 

3) Cut back on doggy daycare. 

4) Finally turned the heating off now the warmer weather is here. 

I'd like to start making an effort for us all to lose some weight.. I've put a lot of weight on over the last 18 months and it seems my son has put quite a bit on too, eek!

The plan is to cook from scratch more, balance all our meals out and increase the amount of exercise we do. 

It will take time to get back into the habit of eating a healthier/balanced diet but I'm sure we can all do this. Plus I have three weddings to attend this year which is a good incentive to lose some weight. 

That's pretty much it really!

MovingForwards

Bulk out meals with pulses etc, they are cheaper and take on the flavour of what you're cooking. Look at alternatives for meals to keep them varied, instead of using rice my OH makes a pearl barley risotto and cous cous compliments salads.

I find exercise always involves procrastination, whereas a 2 minute walk several times a day brings movement and steady body changes, without the impatient want it now, why's it not happened feeling. It's also helping to have sunshine, warmer temperatures and more daylight.

You're doing well spotting where changes can be made, planning and putting them into practice.