Walking into another chapter ...

benbenandme

Welcome one and all ... to those of you who have managed to avoid my diaries until now as well as those loyal ones of you who have stuck around over the years, thank you

So another year is about to begin and now seems as good a time as any to start a new diary. This will be my 11th (I think?), I've been around here quite a few years now, I actually don't have debts, well other than the mortgage, but having been a single parent for years I am very aware that I could easily fall off the straight and narrow so I keep a diary as a way to help keep me in check. 

The last few days in December are always my favourite of the year, lots of planning for the year ahead, lots of organising and sorting bits at the end of this year, decluttering, I love it

So the next few posts will outline my finances and my plans for 2023 ...

benbenandme

My SOA:

I have just got a promotion at work so currently I'm not sure what my monthly income will be, I am going to guestimate it for now, and will be a bit conservative with it, so any extra can go into savings:

Income:

Wages                  £1600
Overtime               £200
Ds rent                  £200
TOTAL:                 £2000

Outgoings:

Mortgage              £315 (fixed rate, 1.29%, fixed until Jan 2028)
Council Tax           £175 paid over 10 months
Life Assurance      £29
Contents                £10
Electric/Gas          £155 
Water                    £20
Car tax                 £12
Car insurance       £15
Car fund               £50 (MOT, maintenance)
Ds expenses         £60 (mobile, xbox, spotify - covered by his rent)
Mobile                   £25
Sky                        £40 
TV Licence           £13
Union                    £12
DFS                       £25 (2 years left on this)
Spotify                  £14
Plusnet                 £35
Prescriptions         £10
Food                     £250
Petrol                    £100
Birthdays/ Xmas    £50
Household fund      £75
Haircuts                  £40
Nails                        £20
TOTAL:                   £1561

Leftover:                £449

Over the years I have allowed myself a few treats to creep in here - haircuts and nails especially. I have always bitten my nails but for just over a year I've been having them done every 3 weeks and I am not tempted to bite them anymore. It is worth every penny to me. Likewise, I don't have my hair done very often but when I do it costs a lot as I have highlights. 

Entertainment wise I love football, hence the Sky. The cheapest ticket to go to watch my team play is £32, so I think the sky subscription is good value and I get lots of use from it. Likewise my Spotify subscription gets a huge amount of use - I listen to it while walking, at work and to fall asleep. For any other Spotify users you will know that at the end of the year you get a summary of your usage (Wrapped), mine this year told me that I am in the top 1% of Spotify users for the amount of time I've listened to music this year, so I definitely get my moneys worth from it

I have various savings pots that I transfer money into, currently I have £1000 in a holiday fund (no holidays planned as yet), £1132 in a pot for gas/electric account top-ups, and £1300 in a 2022 savings pot. 

I have received some back pay this week so need to decide where that is going to go too before the end of the year.

benbenandme

2023 plans to follow ...

Snoopys_Fiendish_Friend

Ah yes, single parent here too and so very easy to fall off the wagon! Looking forward to reading your plans. 

benbenandme

I say I'm a single parent Snoopy, my son will be 20 in 6 months but in my head I think of myself that way, ultimately the bills are all my responsibility. 

So my main plans for the new year aren't financial - I will be 50 in the summer and despite losing 2 stone in lockdown once life went back to normal I manged to find it again. It is non-negotiable that it is gone again by my birthday. Those of you who have read my previous diaries will know I like walking. A lot. In 2020 I did a virtual Lands End to John O'Groats walk over the summer, in 2021 I did 2021 miles in 2021 (finished in September as I broke my toe and couldn't walk for a bit), this year I haven't done a challenge and it has meant I haven't walked anywhere near as much as before. So I have signed up for '2023 miles in 2023' with the aim of completing it by my birthday. This means on average I need to do 9.5 miles a day. I am very lucky to live walking distance to the beach, as well as only a couple of miles from a National park, so I have lots of lovely places to explore. 

I am also intending to stick to approx 1800 calories a day, this should hopefully see a 1lb weekly loss. I have various kettlebells, hula hoops and other bits and pieces too. Birthdays aren't usually a big thing for me, but I have provisionally booked a beach hut for a couple of days over my birthday, the plan is to invite friends and family to pop along over the day when they like, there are public bbq's on the beachfront, we can have a big bbq, some games and fun, and I will look fabulous in my bikini

Right, off for a quick shower, back later with more plans

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary 

Four_Seasons

Wishing you all the best for the new year and new diary x

Sun_Addict

Followed you over from your last diary 😁 I can highly recommend the FitOn app for great free workouts and you can join challenges on there to keep you motivated. You can do this 💪

skint_spice

Happy new diary 

Buffythedebtslayer

You can't get rid of me  

Love all your plans 
XXX 

juliejim

Great plans to start the new year.