Countdown to Part Time…

Spinayarn

Morning - I seem to have got out of the habit of posting on here regularly. Must try harder. Only got £27 left in my incidentals pot and about 10 days to pay day. Going to the pub tonight - probably will drink lime and soda to keep it cheap. 

I have the “round up” feature switched on for my NatWest account so a little bit has gone into my savings account. The NatWest account is only used for direct debits and petrol so I’m not using my card on it very often. I have 2 DDs left to come out this month and one more petrol top up next weekend.

I’m interested to see my pay slip for this month. We’ve had a pay rise but I’m not sure if it takes me into the higher tax bracket at all. I actually need to look up what that is these days! And i often find pay rises don’t mean that much. My best case scenario is +£130 per month but I bet it doesn’t actually come out as that.

Blackcats

Lime and soda is a great cheap drink and very refreshing too.  I was in a pub once and asked for a lime and soda - the bar tender told me it would be 10p cheaper if I had lime and water.  I felt so decadent paying the extra for the soda.  🥂

I hope your pay rise is noticeable in your take home pay.  Every little helps as the advert says.  

I've read that immediately saving the extra money and continuing to spend the pre-payrise income is a great way of building up savings.  I've never managed it myself but it does sound like a viable plan.  Or even saving a % of the pay increase? 

Spinayarn

Hi @Blackcats - didn’t even make it to the pub tonight so it was very cheap! I’ve now looked up tax brackets and I’m definitely still under so that’s good. My plan is to put all my payrise straight into savings - the NatWest reward account is currently paying 6% interest so I want to make the most of that. I’ve been really enjoying looking at the 10p per day interest my emergency fund is currently earning!

Blackcats

That's the magic of compound interest!  It's fab isn't it.  Imagine if we found 10p on the pavement each and everyday.  Even better the bank is giving it to you.  I've pledged to donate to the Salvation Army Christmas appeal all the interest from my Christmas pot, my holiday pot and my entertainment pot.  Seems like a nice thing to do with my luxury pots.

Spinayarn

Morning all,
I’ve been quiet on here for the last week or so, partly because not much has been happening with money and I’ve got out of the habit of posting. Today is pay day though so going to try to track properly this month.
Last month did become a bit tight. I had got about £50 in my over-payment pot but we took youngest daughter to uni and I used that £50 to make sure she had a full kitchen cupboard and fridge of food to start her off. I got to the end of the pay month with nothing on the credit card still though, just a bit of shuffling.
I went through some books, including some of my daughters’ A-level and GCSE revision guides. Used “we buy books” app and got paid £17.00 for them. Not a massive amount but they are out of the house and the extra money was useful this week! I still had £14.00 in my account yesterday so that will go back in the overpayment pot.

My expected payrise hasn’t happened yet this month. Looks like we will receive it next month with back pay for this month. I had planned my budget around the payrise, but somehow I think I can still squeeze £150 into my savings this month. I keep thinking I must have forgotten something! 

I am going away this weekend. The money, including petrol money, has all been saved from my overtime in the summer. I’ve got plenty of spending money (which I will need as I’m basically going to a big market for 2 days!). I’ve also got some birthday money so if I feel really extravagant I should be safe. I’m going food shopping this evening for the weekend. I’m debating going to Morrisons as I can get 10% cash back if I spend over £30 (1% if under 30), but I would have gone to Aldi as it would probably have been cheaper. Hmmm… 

Oh, and the big news is that I have finished paying off my overdraft today! 

As I have typed this, I’ve just had a notification of £16.99 paid to Wild - that’s my deodorant subscription. I hadn’t got it on my budget, but it can come out of my incidentals pot so not a big stress. Must add it to my spreadsheet so I can track it. It’s every 3 months so not a regular payment. I have been thinking of creating a cosmetics pot for things like my moisturiser etc that are a bit more expensive but only bought 3-4 times per year.  I think this shows it would be a good idea. I’ll start that next month.

Blackcats

great news on paying off the overdraft - that's a great achievement.

Spinayarn

Thank you @Blackcats it does feel good to have another debt paid off.

I typed out a long update at the weekend but then somehow deleted it all before I sent it which was rather annoying. Anyway, safe to say I had a very spendy weekend. Spent all the money from my pot, then also went into my birthday money. But, I did not put anything on the credit card or take from other pots so I still feel that was all in control. And I still have about £85 left in my birthday money for treats later in the year. 

My “September” payrise might not actually materialise until our December pay - literally a couple of days before Christmas. I know they will backdate it which will mean a nice lump sum, but if I want  to pay £150 into savings each month, it’s going to be a bit tight. I really need new glasses - I wear varifocals and have found that cheap options are not good options so I need to save up, especially if I want sunglasses too. In the past, it would have just gone on the credit card, but this time I will save up in advance. Maybe the payrise lump sum might pay for them or at least go towards them.

The Whistlefish card stash has proven useful. Got a family birthday I had forgotten but I actually have a suitable card and stamps available in the house. Will get that posted today. Work today as well, followed by Knit group at Starbucks in town. I may need to eat dinner on the go - could be Macdonalds or similar.

joedenise

If you want sunglasses as well as varifocals it might be worth looking at Specs*vers as they'll do sunglasses as your 2nd pair in their 2 for 1 offer.  I agree with you about the cheap ones are no good for varifocals.  They might be OK for readings ones only but no idea as not just had reading glasses for a long time.

Sarahwithlove

If your payrise takes you into the next tax bracket you could always look at increasing your pension contribution slightly to come back below. Don't know if that's an option for you? 

Blackcats

Hello @Spinayarn how are you?  Hope you will post again soon