I just need to be better and develop some good habits

ineedtogetontopofthings

Hi everyone!

This isn’t my first money diary, but a lot has changed since my last entry.

My income has increased substantially, and I now have a partner. Together, we’ve been fortunate enough to buy a lovely home, valued at £700k.

That said, my lifestyle has evolved—so much so that my past self might hardly recognize me! I’ve picked up a few spending habits I’m not entirely proud of, so I’m starting this diary to help me stay accountable and become more mindful about my finances.

So, here’s the breakdown:

Monthly Income (without commission): £4,767

Housing & Bills

Mortgage: £1,811.55
Council Tax: £182.00
Gas/Electricity: £100.00
BT Broadband (expensed through work, I pay the tax): £36.67
Mobile Bill: £29.12 (SIM only, with enough data for work and travel)

Personal & Transportation
David Lloyd Gym Membership (expensed, with tax paid; a vital part of my wellbeing): £127.25
Car Loan: £449.85 (will be paid off by August 2026)
Car Fund (Insurance / Maintenance): £100.00
Petrol: £120.00

Essentials
Groceries: £200.00
Cats (Food, Litter, Insurance): £50.00

Subscriptions
Netflix: £15.99 (covers multiple screens, including my parents)

Debts
Credit Card Payments: £400.00

Personal Care
Beauty: £75.00 (pays for my nails every 4 weeks and a buffer for when I get my hair done 2x / year)

My credit card balances are as follows:
MBNA: £8000
M&S Bank: £5600

Both are on 0% for 21 months, and I'm paying £200 per month at the moment. I plan to pay off bigger chunks with my quarterly commission payments.

This leaves me with £1069.57, I usually give myself about £600 for social and the rest goes to savings. But I haven't been very disciplined of late... post-house, I have about £920 in savings (I did have about £3000, but I just paid off a credit card that had reached the end of its 0% term).

There are no surprises for me here as I have all of this laid out in spreadsheets - however as a remote worker, I’ve noticed I tend to spend impulsively, especially with the convenience of online shopping always within reach. Working from home has blurred the boundaries a bit, and I find myself making purchases to break up the day or add a spark when things feel routine. This is why I have 0% cards (bad I know). I know I need to get better at managing this, so I’m trying to build more awareness around my spending and set some clear limits.

My goal is to enjoy the flexibility of remote work without letting it lead to unnecessary spending - hence why I want to start this diary. I am going to track all expenditure in here and hopefully lock in quite a few no-spend days.

Thanks for reading and joining me on this journey!

Sarahwithlove

Maybe make a list of things you can do when you find you need a break from work. I've found removing my card from websites and unsubscribing from emails really help. I mostly spend my time on here reading other people's diaries now 

perfume_waggon

Good advice there from Saraahwithlove and tracking your spending is, to my mind, imperative, so you've made a good start.

Also, perhaps you could set up a standing order for savings and see it as another regular outgoing that you don't have to think about? It would leave less spare cash to spend so might make you more mindful about where to spend it.

You don't mention pension contributions - if you haven't already, you could consider salary sacrifice especially as it looks as though you'll be in a higher tax bracket. 

Another thing that really helped me to save is to have a goal. In my case it was early retirement, but it could be something more short/medium term such as a holiday or paying down your mortgage. Only you know what will be most motivating for you. For me, having something to work towards is more motivating than focusing on what I have to give up.

Off topic - do you mind me asking what level your David Lloyd membership is? I'm considering joining but they don't publish their fees, so I have no idea what constitutes good value.

ineedtogetontopofthings

Thank you both @Sarahwithlove and @perfume_waggon - you make some great points. I definitely need to unsubscribe from quite a few brands' mailing lists 😂 I put 12% into my pension (with employer match) which I am happy with for now, I would rather build up some liquid cash and a rainy day fund now before I think about increasing that any more!

@Sarahwithlove I am a platinum member and a Blaze loyalist! It does so much for my physical and mental wellbeing, I would highly recommend joining if you can.

On to my spends... quite a spendy day. I went out for dinner / drinks with my friend last night - spent £80 including a taxi home 😱 but this will likely be my biggest night out of the month so I am OK with this. Bought hungover breakfast as a treat for me and the bf to the tune of £18 and we've done a huge food shop for £36.47 each. We are hosting friends over the next couple weeks so bought things that either won't perish or that I can cook in bulk and freeze.

I am out for dinner tonight (but driving, so not expecting this to be expensive). Hoping to spend no more than £30 on this tonight.

londoner2019

Subscribing - good luck on your journey.

Out of interest, how have you got around the Netflix password sharing crackdown? My parents had my Netflix but it doesn't work any more...

ineedtogetontopofthings

Thanks @londoner2019 - I pay for the standard and add on a member slot for my folks so that they can log in too. Was an extra £4.99 / month if I remember correctly!

ineedtogetontopofthings

Weekend spends check in...

Dinner went on a bit longer than expected on Friday, there was a slight overspend with total bill at £44.50. Got a parking fine on Saturday my bf drove into town and I selected my car on RingGo instead of his. Stupid mistake that has cost me £50 - grrrrrr.

I am away with work this week, so a lot of my expenses will be covered (though extending the trip to stay with a friend for the last 2 nights).

My available money for the rest of the month is as follows:

Social: £279.90
Groceries: £111.26
Beauty: £55
Petrol: £100
Cats: £30

My savings are as follows:
General: £930.49
Car: £250.63

On the flip side - I got a cheque through from my factor for the property I sold in August for a refund to the tune of £374.71 . I'll add it to my totals once that clears.

londoner2019

You might be able to dispute that parking fine. I know my friend parked outside my house, typed in his reg number slightly incorrectly, and managed to get the fine lifted. Just screenshot everything and you never know. Honest mistake, after all

ineedtogetontopofthings

Thank you @londoner2019 - I shall look into it.

I have been in London this week, 3 days out of 5 were covered by expenses.

Bought myself a coffee on Monday - £5.15
NSD Tuesday 🤗
Went for dinner with a friend (not covered by expenses at this point) - £48.09 and a bottle of wine to take back to my friend I was staying with plus lunch for WFH at theirs the next day - £13.80
Paid for a takeaway last night as a thank you to my friend for letting me stay - £35.15
Coffee today x 2 - £8.80

ineedtogetontopofthings

Checking in on weekend spends…

£9.94 at Itsu for a quick bite coming home from London
£14.23 for my share of groceries (friends came over for dinner)
£8.60 for some other bits at M&S
£47.92 for petrol
£34 for 3 bottles of wine and some beers as a treat for my SO
£5.75 for a bite to eat while on the go
£50 for coffee / wine when out with friends (I picked up this one, they’ll pick up the next one)
£6.75 for cat litter
£10 for my share of a Sunday night takeaway
£35 for a 3 pack of reformer pilates - going to try pick this up in lieu of going out and drinking to get better and build better habits. 

Made £28 cat sitting and cashed out £37 from TopCashback. 

A spendy weekend but car is full for the month and plenty food in the fridge for dinners though I’ll need to pick up some lunch bits towards the end of the week. 

I’m out with friends in the week and expecting to pay nothing as I picked up this weekend. Wine is stock for the house as it was on deal (and we are hosting quite a bit at the moment). 

Accounts total as follows - I have done a bit of rejigging…

Social: £107.43
Groceries: £85.16
Beauty: £55
Petrol: £0
Cats: £23.25

My savings are as follows:
General: £1305.14
Car: £200.63

Expecting a fairly low spend week ahead. Fingers crossed I can stick to it! I would usually be panicking at ‘only’ £100 left in my social pot and transfer over from savings, but this is a bad habit that I need to get out if.  

ineedtogetontopofthings

NSD today! 🙌🏻