Taking care now before I blow it all away (again)

londoner2019

Good luck on your journey! Watching your balance stay the same can get really addictive

Chemtrails

Just an update of my spending between 25th nov and 20th December…..

it’s been kind of crazy and I have had to really stop and think about my impulses to spend money. Luckily income has been higher than usual (it can vary) plus I mentioned that I was due £1000 roughly in back pay, received £466, then received another £500 so my initial calculation of £1000 was correct. However I only put 400 to my savings for dental which I am getting done in February. The other 500 has went towards my costs this month but more on that in a second….

good news is I haven’t had to touch my credit cards which I am thankful for. I really despise the interest on my Aqua card.

ok so spending this month has been much more than I would have liked. I ended up booking a holiday for June 2025 which was a bit mad but I have a while to pay it up. I don’t really regret it although it’s not ideal as it’s money that could have went to paying off Aqua with its horrendous interest rates. 

My other big spend was I went to the hairdressers and all the colour correction, decent cut, great hairdresser all in cost £270. Which I know is nuts but I felt like a million dollars afterwards and still do. So again I don’t have regrets…just less money.

So with these big unplanned spends and Christmas lunch with team, Christmas ‘do’, a bit extra here and there I have totally overspent. 

I have had to do overtime to break even. I am not keen on overtime but I suppose i am lucky to have the opportunity to make more money, especially in months like this.

I think for next year I will put money away monthly for presents so it’s not a big dent in the wages come December. 

Will put my Jan budget up soon if I remember.

hope everyone has a good Xmas and new year.

Chemtrails

Budget for Jan 2024 ( between 21st Dec and 25th Jan)

Mortgage, building ins and life ins		£340.00
Octopus energy		£182.13
o2		£86.00
Groceries		£400.00
Petrol		£140.00
Car insurance		£56.75
Car Tax		£14.43
Tesco card		£70.00
Aqua		£200.00
MOT		£100.00
Milk/eggs		£90.00
Music lessons		£60.00
Dental work		£575
Virgin		£45.00
Sky tv		£67.00
Swimming lessons		£23.00
Council tax		£98.00
Lowell		£15.00
Takeaway		£28.00
Vet plan		£19.99
Glasses		£11.46
Union fees		£8.20
Klarna last payment		£14.99
Parents loan		£160. 00
Presents pot		£52.00

…I have had to budget more for groceries, guitar lessons, petrol and milk/eggs as will be 5 weeks between pays. I have put all the individual bill payments in to my Monzo account pots. I don’t trust myself to have all the cash available in my TSB account until the first week in Jan when the direct debits come out.

Is going to be a tight month as I need to put as much to my dental savings as work will be done in February. I can’t wait. I had a lot of stress a few years ago and I started grinding my teeth which has had a terrible effect on my teeth and enamel. I have a mouth guard now but I am getting crowns in the top front 8 teeth. I will be getting bottom row whitened to match top and will need a new mouth guard. 

The other thing is my car MOT is due. I have budgeted 100 for it but it could end up being more. In that case I will pick up some overtime.

joedenise

Your gas/electric payment to Octopus seems high.  Have you got this on DD or do you pay monthly?  May need looking at?
 

Chemtrails

joedenise said:

Your gas/electric payment to Octopus seems high.  Have you got this on DD or do you pay monthly?  May need looking at?
 

Thanks for pointing this out to me, I hadn’t really thought about it- they are always saying pay more throughout the year to cover the winter bills.
. I  had a look yesterday and have reduced direct debit to £150 starting feb 1st. I am about 500 in credit and when I looked at how much the bills are compared to DD amount the DD amount covers it then some.
Even this month where our electricity and gas use has increased due to be cold and dark it hasn’t cost £182. 

So that’s £32 more a month that can go towards Aqua.