*sigh* this is still taking a while, but moving forward (slowly!)

ohdearhowdidthathappen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82019597#Comment_82019597

Thank you, that’s so good to hear.

So many people say things like ‘oh, my aunt/friend/neighbour had that and they died’ and I think ‘really?!? Why would you say that!’

ohdearhowdidthathappen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82020222#Comment_82020222

Thank you… I’ll be off work until the end of the year at least.
I’ll have more time on my hands and we’ll have less money. Coming back to the diary seemed a good idea :)

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Since we got up to £20k savings, we’ve slacked off a bit, mainly because we didn’t have a specific plan. We had pots for Christmas and holidays and other than that we were being a bit spendy.

My mission while I’m off is to live within our new monthly salary, so we don’t dip into savings. Just by being more mindful really… if we manage it then when I get back to work we’ll be used to the lower income. The plan then would be to save the extra when I go back to full salary.

I’ve looked through the last 3 months income and the main easy wins I can see are:

• food - we meal plan and shop at asd@, our average weekly shop is £250 for the 7 of us. The kids all eat adult portions. On top of that is the odd top up shop. Our average monthly food bill is £1200-1500, so we could cut a bit here.
• Am@zon - we’re too quick to just order stuff we want. We’re always getting random parcels, each one not high value. But it adds up.
• Kids… our youngest 3 are still in education and get £50pm pocket money each. I’m too soft at handing cash out on top of this… friends presents, when they go out with friends etc Also, when I buy them clothes, tends to be branded sportswear for boys and pricy places like H0llister for my daughter.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

chemo day today…. There are unexpected savings from having treatment. Wouldn’t recommend it though :)

• no hair appointments as I’m now bald (£100 every 8 weeks)
• No waxing appointments as I have no body hair (£40pm)
• Less petrol as I’m not driving to work (£100pm)
• Less entertainment money as I’m not going out as much socially (£100pm)

ohdearhowdidthathappen

I’ve done a budget, I’m currently on full salary, but that will drop to half salary after August’s pay check. I’m not due to go back to work until the new year.

Husband’s salary £5330pm

My salary is usually £3300 (but will be going down to £1650)

I’ll be using the lower figure…. For the next 3 pay cheques, I’ll put the extra £1650 into savings, that will boost savings and also get us used to living on the lower figure before it actually starts. Therefore:

Total salary £6630

I’ve added up all known budgeted outgoings - bills, food, kids stuff, Xmas etc

Total outgoings £5686

So we should have £944 left to live on per month and that should be manageable if we keep a close eye on things.

At the start of each month, I’m going to work out a weekly figure to keep to. I’ll post any unbudget spends on here to keep me accountable and then summarise at the end of the month.

So I’ll add from Monday this week as we’re not too far into the month. On Monday, we had £541 in our account and 3 weeks until payday, giving us £180 per week to live off. So far this week:

Monday - £0

Tuesday- £0

Today - £0

So doing well so far :-)

Blackcats

I hope your chemo is as tolerable as it can be.

Good idea to adjust your budget and spending but if you need a little treat then it's ok to allow yourself a spend. Nurture yourself while you are going through this tough time.

DancingInTheRain

Echoing @Blackcats comment.

I'd say your humour will help you through too 😉❤️

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Thanks blackcats and DITR

Built into our budget, we each get £250 ‘fun’ money, so I won’t be short of treats :)

I’m trying to find humour in it where I can, as otherwise it’s a long stretch of time to feel sorry for myself.

I feel fortunate I found the lump while it was still relatively small. We’re lucky to have the NHS… my treatment would be £350-450k in the private sector. The 12 months immunotherapy alone would be £100k :-0

enthusiasticsaver

so sorry about the cancer diagnosis but good it was caught while the lump was small and hopefully the treatment won’t make you feel too awful. Well done on sorting the finances out too so at least you don’t need to worry about that and you get paid for a year either on full or half pay.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Thanks ES :)

So today’s unbudgeted spends:

• £11 for a prescription. This one was annoying as I’m exempt from paying at the moment, but I haven’t got the card yet.
• £34 - shorts for DD. She’s actually got a part time job now so once she gets paid, these random purchases will be on her. They’ll be paying her £13ph for a 17yo!!! Back in my day, I got £2.67ph at the exact same shop!!!
• £75 - driving lesson, again for DD. We pay 10 lessons and after that they’re on their own. She’ll pay us this one back, but for now, I’ll include it.