10 years later yikes

debtfreewannabe321

I totally understand the thought process behind keeping some money in savings, it feels like a safety net and I know how long it can take to save a lump sum.

Good luck looking for a new job, are you staying in the same field of work?

1stTimer

I doubt I will stay in the same field but I want to stay with the same company so will just take my time and see what it out there. It’s a huge company so the only filter on the job board I will use is the location as I don’t want to go back to travelling hours just to get there and want to stay as close to home as possible.

Like every where though, there doesn’t seem to be a lot available right now so I am having one of those days where I am grateful to be in a job and earn enough to have a roof over my head.

I got paid early so have spent my morning distributing funds to my pots and savings so it doesn’t sit in my account and I forget.

Last month was a bit more spendy than normal but the dentist was years overdue and also had a couple of birthdays to account for. The presents were all taken care of from the allocated pot but it’s the other bits like birthday cakes and a meal etc that didn’t come out of saved money.

I also bought myself a new dog walking coat from Superdry as they had a great sale on. All my coats are from Temu/Shein and you can really tell the difference when it’s windy outside!

daisy_1571

Evening 1sttimer just read through your diary. Amazing progress on getting your thoughts around paying money forward into the various pots. It really does make a huge difference to life and I'm so glad you are seeing the benefits. The first year or two are great to get the method bedded in but it always needs tweaks as new pots crop up, some pots get amalgamated, others get spilt out. I'm about 20 years into this way of working and have the occasional little tweak, and very occasional big re-sort.

Just a couple of points ive picked up from things you've written. Feel free to ignore, you certainly don't have to answer any part, its just things you may not have thought about.

Dentist: yes, even though you don't like this category you do need a pot for this 😆. Its an expense that will come up again and the money will have to be found. This year you were wondering what pot to take it from. £15 a month and next year you will take it from dentist pot. (On that note do you have pots for other health related stuff? Glasses, massage or physio if you hurt yourself again, anything else you might think of)

Doggie do you use flea/worm treatment as a regular thing? Whether there are fleas/worms present or not ? Ive had animals for over 30 years and have only ever treated on the odd occasion there's evidence of needing it - that's been my experience, you may be different, just mentioning it in case its not something you've thought about before.

Milk: have you sorted this out if its a regular failing for your nsd. Do you keep a list in the kitchen and note stuff down as you are getting to the end of things? When you write your line for going for milk do you automatically think - what else do I need? Bread, beans, cheese, washing up liquid, stock cubes. Then you will be getting everything on one shop and limit your spending days. (Do you keep a couple of emergency slices of bread in the freezer? I believe you can freeze milk too but ive never done it.)

Birthday cake - if this was for someone else I think this should be saved for and accounted for in your present pot. The meal i would either take from there if its a regular part of the birthday celebrations or a category called fun or eating out or socialising or something like that. Either that or maybe give yourself 'pocket money' and any odd thing like that comes out of there. Even £20 a month just for you to spend on anything you fancy can build up and be rewarding.

Your internet fest after xmas/pre ny. The fact you do it every year is interesting and plannable. Maybe take a few minutes and jot down what you bought this year. Compare it to the last few years. Is it the same stuff ? Like, new year/new me fantasy stuff? New hobbies you continue to enjoy ? New house stuff ? Stuff you did actually need but for whatever reason had been denying yourself?

If its all !!!!!! that goes in the bucket or charity shop in January and you don't like doing it and want to stop it then you may want to start thinking about strategies in the coming months so you have the new habit all embedded ready for Dec.

If you like the splurge but want to limit it, start a pot called Dec fun and put money in there for splurges. Then limit yourself to only this amount.

If its actually stuff you did need but don't buy due to extreme saving anxiety, maybe you can loosen the reins a bit in the coming years now you know you are getting on top of your finances and its working well for you and buy things as you need them at the best price you can get and use the correct pot?

Or maybe its stuff that you actually could ask for as presents? Keep a list over the year and you'll be ready with suggestions if people ask? Or ask for vouchers so you can get the fun of shopping but its not with your money ?

Sorry, throwing a lot in there but you seem very good at analysing yourself so likely you'll have good insights into the whys.

Lastly, you said some time ago you worry your landlord may want to sell. This is the perpetual worry of all renters that suddenly you get notice to quit so I fully understand that constant background worry, especially with a pet as that makes it harder to find a new place. Have you considered if you are in a position to buy your place? Perhaps on the open market it might go for more than you can afford but to get that price the landlord might have to do repairs, decorating, new bathroom/kitchen/white goods plus deal with the marketing plus have no rent coming in for maybe 6 to 8 months? Since you have a good relationship maybe you could sound them out about selling to you. (Depending on how interested they are in this, and whether they have a mortgage to pay off or if they own it outright, they may consider lending you the money ie instead of a mortgage lender paying them a sum of money and you paying the lender a monthly payment, you have a legal document that you owe them the money and you pay them a monthly sum to cover interest and capital. They then hold a registered legal charge over the property in the same way a bank or building society does.) You may also be pleasantly surprised if you make a few enquiries with brokers and/or direct that there maybe is mortgages out there for you earlier than you think. Especially with your hefty deposit.

Just a thought, might be many reasons not to and you certainly don't have to explain here. Just throwing it all in in food for thought 😀

Dxx

1stTimer

Hey Daisy_1571 thank you for your post!

You are right I do need a pot for dentist and health related stuff, I am now starting to feel my body is aging a lot faster than my mind so it’s for the best 😬

I do flea and worm my dog regularly as I have a lot of visitors in my garden ( mainly local foxes and neighbours cats) my neighbour has a couple of cats and she is constantly battling fleas so I just stay safe and make sure he is protected. It does come out of the dog pot though so although it seems to be getting more and more expensive I always have the money ready thankfully.

Honestly my groceries and food is something I have never thought about tracking. This is going to sound extremely weird but I’m not a foody, for me eating is just something that has to be done so food shopping has never been something I think about. I don’t have a routine and eat very little compared to most. Milk always seems to be the one thing I get regularly as I am a big coffee lover.

I will look into freezing it though because if I could buy a bigger bottle and freeze then I could grab it on payday and have a supply for the month so thanks for that idea!

Yes the sporadic shopping after Xmas was a big eye opener! I think I shocked myself😂 3 months on I am unsure what and why I purchased so I will go through that today and try to work out what happened. Every year I am asked what I want for Xmas and I always reply I have everything I need so something clearly was wrong.

Ah the house situation…. This is the one thing that keeps me up at night and I honestly won’t sit here and bore you with all my anxieties around it but absolutely yes the only way I am going to stop this is by emailing him and discussing the situation.

I guess I am worried that if I put the thought in his head he may decide to sell now and I am not in the position to buy it yet. The new laws coming in May take away all my stability anyway as I will no longer have a yearly tenancy and I can’t have the worry every month he will evict me. I really don’t understand how 2 months notice is meant to give tenants more power, for me it takes away all my security and will leave me constantly on edge!
Anyway thank you again for your post it gives me lots to think about :-)

LzzyIsGod

I find the older I get the more I spend at the dentist - my actual dentist is not overly expensive but the hygienist is a super pricey visit. Still, cheaper than false or Turkey teeth! I have a designated health and beauty pot which I save up for dentist/prescriptions/hair cuts and I find it works well for me. Nicely builds up in between visits and softens the inevitable financial hit.

1stTimer

Crazy how we are nearly in April already!

Another week gone and not much to report, no big purchases etc so that’s always a good thing. I have been struggling with with my ears recently, the meetings at work have been relentless and even though my headset is very light the pressure on my ears after 4-5 hours is starting to become really uncomfortable. I’ve tried ear pods but they hurt my inner ear so have been looking for alternatives.

I narrowed it down to either a bone conduction headset or a speaker. The bone conduction headset would mean I could also use in the office so have a total switch but the only ones I have found that could work are Shokz and my god they are expensive.

Yesterday I found a Jabra 510 speaker on CEX that was refurbished for only £22 (They are currently £80 online brand new) so decided I would buy that and see if having it for the days I WFH might help. Hopefully it will give me some relief and if I still have issues in the office then I can approach OH and see if they can suggest an alternative for office use.

1stTimer

My savings are back up to where they were before I got the car in Dec 🥳 That makes me so happy and I can now start to aim for my target again.

I had an offer from my credit card for a money transfer at 4%. Because I am still slightly anxious regarding using credit I decided to only try for £1000. I used this to make another overpayment on the car loan and that now sits at £4158.

The credit card transfer is for 6 months so any money I have spare for the next couple of months will be used to pay that and the loan can continue with the standard payments. I’ve done this all really messy lol but it is all written down and both loan and savings and going in the right directions which is the main thing.

1stTimer

I had grand plans for the long weekend, I was going to declutter and tidy the house a bit….

1st wardrobe I was cleaning out and I’ve just found a jigsaw puzzle unopened and looking all tempting. Whoops so now I’ve been sidetracked 😂

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81948279#Comment_81948279

I also got sidetracked by a pesky puzzle yesterday. That’s what long weekends are for!

Sarahwithlove

its good you are building the credit back up again properly and improving your credit score. have you done any mortgage calculators to see what kind of mortgage you might be able to get and prices in your area? it may surprise you what's available.