Stopping the backsliding… a family of four no longer living beyond their means

LittleGem

hope all is well with you @Bluegreen143 missing your posts!

Bluegreen143

Oh my goodness, I am a neglectful diary owner!

Life has been busy, and I continue to feel a bit uneasy that I’ve put too much identifying information on this diary, which has put me off posting.

And yet, it’s undeniable that I’m better at our finances when I post regularly… so here I am!

LIFE UPDATES

My brother-in-law was living with us for the past several months, but has recently moved out so we are back to being a family of four at home so we can get control of the grocery budget again.

This week I got a decent (£5k if I was full time) merit-based payrise, which brings my FTE salary to £55k, pro-rated to £48k. Even pro-rated I’m now out-earning DH, who is on £43k, which feels quite wild! Work has been quite busy of late, so it feels good to have my performance recognised.

So what are my financial priorities? Finally crack getting some decent savings is the answer 🤦‍♀️.

We don’t have any credit card debt, though we do have a car loan (not sure of the current balance, maybe £15k). But we don’t have any savings. Our joint account balance is currently £1,400 and that’s it for cash on hand (minus the smaller amounts we keep in our personal accounts). Argh!

The good news is that both Red and I are on the same page about sticking to a proper budget, getting some savings behind us and working as a team. We’ve started using YNAB again. It’s time-consuming tracking everything but we’re rubbish at keeping it all on track if we don’t!

Will post this now so I don’t lose it and then do a more detailed budget post probably after dinner.

tiddles

It’s great to hear from you again! I’m sure you will be motivated to build up some savings with support from this thread.

Bluegreen143

OK, so current YNAB pot totals for our joint account (not the monthly budget, but what is currently available):

Total available: £1,405.83

FOR THIS MONTH

Groceries: £271.59
Petrol & parking: £21.75
Fun money: £40

ANNUAL BILLS/SUBSCRIPTIONS

Home insurance (due June): £61.82
Amazon Prime (June): £47.50
Car service (July): £66.67
Road tax (July): £60
Car insurance (August): £87.50
Brownies subs & uniform (September): £12
Scouts subs & uniform (September): £12

UPCOMING EXPENSES

Nephew’s first birthday (June): £25
Cub camp (June): £50
Spain spending money (end June): £250*
Scotland week away (end July): £400**

*This is an all-inclusive holiday - the actual holiday has been paid for.
** Only £100 has been paid towards the accommodation for this trip to date.

This Friday we’ll get child benefit, which I’ll probably budget to filling up the car and then put towards some of the next “upcoming expenses” - e.g. Red has two nephews who are getting married in August, plus we need to start saving for Christmas.

Then Red is paid on the following Friday, which tbh will mainly be put towards next month’s bills & groceries.

Today’s update - joint account

Wow, today has been busy and a bit crazy! Lots going on in the office at work. I did take breakfast and lunch with me 😇.

However, I was so rushed I clean forgot to pay for parking at Bambi’s gymnastics. I’ve never done that before there! £50 parking ticket 🤦‍♀️. I was all set to pay from my personal spending money, but Red has offered that we should pay for half of it from the joint account, which is sweet. So £25 from the joint account, need to decide which pot to raid.

I also spent £8 at Tesco from the groceries pot buying dessert to share to congratulate both kids on getting excellent report cards. Would only have been about £5 but I got sweets for Bambi, who won’t eat most desserts (strange little child!).

Personal account

I’m not so bothered about cutting back on personal spends for now, but I’ll record that today I spent £2.25 in a newsagents on some snacks for Bambi and I in the ill-fated rush to gymnastics (after being held up late at work), £9 on a box of hair dye at Tescos, £7 for a to do app subscription I use for work and £25 for my half of the parking ticket (😭). A bit on the spendy side!

fionaandphil

Lovely to hear from you, as you say life sometimes just gets in the way of good budget intentions. If it helps post on here to make yourself accountable then go for it!

Great news on the payrise and a good springboard to start your next savings goals.

Sounds like life is as busy as ever, make sure you book some time in for yourself and practice a bit of self care.

beanielou

Good to hear from you. That’s a good wee pay rise.

Bluegreen143

Thanks all! It’s nice to be back. Hope you’re all well!

Plans for tomorrow

• Working in the office - will take breakfast & lunch. Suspect work will be a little mental again, as we’re preparing for several big events over the next few weeks.
• Will probably visit the school playpark after school pick up time (free fun!) - depending on the weather.
• Planned dinner - baked potatoes.
• We have parents’ evening to discuss the report cards then will drop Monkey at Cubs on the way home.
• I’ll need to finalise my Thursday Tesco order. We are trying to be really strict about the grocery budget, and ordering helps us stay in budget better than shopping in person.

No planned spending, unless we do stay to play at the park. If so I’ll try to park at Lidl and buy something small, as it’s cheaper than paying for on-street parking (they have the thing where you need to scan your receipt or you get a ticket).

FootyFanDan

Glad to see you back posting

Catscoffeecake

Welcome back, sounds like you have got a good hold on the budget again. I find using YNAB massively helps me stay in budget even if its time consuming to set up, but month to month its not too bad if you sort things in the moment or same day.

Baileys_Babe

Lovely to see you posting again. Well done on the pay rise.