I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, now my saving journey begins!

shell16

Morning!

Its a very snowy winter wonderland day today.  Girls have a day off school so they are happy!  I cant see out of my window where I work at home as the snow is piled on the window!

Its weekly cash budget reset day, so topped up £100 to Grocery and £40 to Fuel.  Had £17.01 left over from last weeks Grocery Budget, sent £15 to my March Savings Challenge and I also decided to move £45 from another challenge I was completing into the monthly challenge too.  Its £50 a month to save so now have Jan to March full and already £10 for April.  £2.01 sent to Penny savings Challenge. These 2 challenges are purely from any cash left from my weekly cash budgets, and Im really pleased with the levels im managing to put away.

Nothing to cash out on Prolific, have £1.05 cleared and £8.50 pending.

Just another week left until payday and I will be able to really start with the savings.  Looking forward to seeing those levels grow.  My Budget planner has a very handy bar graph so I can use that to also look at which will be visually appealing and motivating.  I may use the debt bar graph too for a specific challenge, Im not sure yet?

The Pay all your debt off by Xmas 2023 thread I run has had a huge £66,861.37 paid off by members so far this year and 14.8% of the yearly total which is amazing.  Its so nice to be able to run one of these threads as I feel im helping others on their debt journey somehow?  These threads on the Debt Free Wannabe forum were an absolute for me, they kept me focussed and motivated.

Thats about all for my update today.  Stay safe!
Shell x

lucielle

OOOH very snowy!  Have fun
L

shell16

lucielle said:

OOOH very snowy!  Have fun
L

Personally like looking at it, but physically id struggle to stay upright!

lucielle

Absolutely hate driving in it. OH just thinks the cars a giant sledge!

L

~FlowerPot~

the snow does make everything look so beautiful!

what budget planner do you use?

flowers

x

shell16

@~FlowerPot~

I have sent you a message. If you need to ask anything else, just message me.
Shell x

EssexHebridean

It definitely is a good idea to keep at least a trickle going into your basic EF even once it’s at the initial level - you could ways decide to keep the basic fund at the £1k level and transfer the extra out each time you have a few hundred extra in there, but just keeping a budget line in there for it - even if just for £30 or £50 a month - is a good habit to have. Even now we continue to build the basic pot - although right now our main savings focus away from the various regular saver accounts is the new house fund.

You’re having a lot more joy with Prolific than I am - I’m really struggling with it this month.

shell16

@EssexHebridean, Thankyou that's a really good idea 💡 

I would eventually like to save £3k to the EF so the steady trickle once fully funded makes sense for when I'm at the point of attacking the uplift. 

Prolific is ok for me at the moment, although they seem to be taking ages to authorise the payments.  I have £4.75 coming up to the mandatory clearance from nearly a month ago,  the submission provider just hasn't bothered to clear!

Shell x

shell16

Morning All

Its a lovely sunny day today and Im only working officially until 12, although I am super busy with work.  Need to top up car with fuel as going to see my mum at the residential home.   I havent spent anything out of the budget for this yet so £25 of the £40 will likely be needed. 

The grocery weekly budget has around £30 left until reset day on Friday, just need a couple of bits and Im hoping I can use leftover cash on Thursday night when I close off for Saving Challenges along with anything in the Fuel cash envelope.  As it will be pay day on Friday my monthly cash envelopes for Household, Misc, Eat Out etc will also be emptied before being reset again for the month ahead. 

Teachers strikes tomorrow and Thursday so will have both girls at home, which they are very happy with   I finish a little earlier on Thursday and I need to buy some school related clothing/shoes.  I cant understand how both girls shoes have 'broken' at exactly the same time, they had to be sent in with a note apologising for the footwear today.  My youngest needs a new school coat as the zip broke and in all fairness she doesnt think its as 'cool' as she did when we bought it in August last year when she started high school.  I also need some new school shirts for both

I have just £60 to come out of the account before I get paid on Friday and my balance is currently just under £230. I did actually forget that we bought a new bed from hubbys work which is coming out of his paycheck this week, so will be £245 down this month (Thankful for the company he works for as full price would have been well over £1K).  I can use whats left as a buffer in the current account so the deficit isnt as much.

I finally managed a cashout from Prolific of £9.66 and sent £9 to the Starling Savings Pot and the odd 66p to SPC. I have £3.50 cleared again and £8.40 pending. Will keep an eye on there today for any further surveys I can complete before I finish, have managed 1 already today for £1.35.

Think thats about all for now, going to make a fresh cuppa before starting work. Have a great day!
Shell x

shell16

Morning from a very chilly Lancashire! Its blooming cold!

I topped up the car with £30 yesterday when I went to see mum, have £10 left in the weekly budget for hubby to use as resets on Friday.  Need some bits of grocery items like milk, loaf and eggs.  Cant seem to get hold of eggs is anyone else finding that!?

Our dishwasher is broken!  We have been in the house 10 years and we bought from a friend who installed a new kitchen with appliance's in 2009, so I suppose I cant grumble.  The only thing is its an integrated one so they are more expensive than freestanding.  I tend to go for the middle priced option when I buy so looking at around £600 for a new one!  That's my emergency fund all but gone again!  Good job I had earmarked £440 to the EF on Friday when we both get paid, otherwise I would not have had enough. This is the 2nd item to have gone in the kitchen in the last 6 months.  Our main oven works but the fan doesn't anymore, although we haven't used the oven whatsoever since we bought our air fryers (and using them is a damn sight cheaper on energy). 

Girls are both off today and tomorrow due to the teachers strikes and so they are happy they get to have a lie in.  I need to go out today so before I do I will have to remind them to wash up, I can just see their faces!

Thats about all for now
Shell x