Turning Straw into Gold: Creating Long Term Security & A Solid Home

twiggy86

I have always allocated myself a certain "personal" budget which I can use on anything - such as lunch out with friends. Anything left over at the end of the month then got thrown at the debt. But the key I found to keeping on top of my own spending, was to track EVERYTHING I spent from that pot into a mini-spreadsheet. It really makes you stop and think each time you spend, as really made me accountable to myself, but equally I knew I could spend it on fun stuff guilt free!

MillQueen

Yes, I agree on the importance of tracking, @twiggy86. I have got a spreadsheet that I am using every month, but I am thinking I might also make a daily spends tracker, as it's little things that add up and I do sometimes spend a few pounds here and there. I read something earlier that has added to my pile of targets though. It was about the difference between emergency funds and a savings account (they are "cousins, not twins" apparently). It said that we should have separate savings and emergency funds, so that savings would be for a new car or towards a new phone for example, whereas emergency funds would be for a sudden car breakdown or unexpected house repair. I don't think I have capacity to spread myself towards doing that too, as I currently am overpaying the mortgage, paying down debt, building emergency savings, and have just started a long term investment account that I won't touch until retirement. It's made me think I do need to also have a savings account where I save for planned replacements and goals, as at the moment these are about to decimate my emergency fund back down again, as I need another car. In the long term, I'll work towards both planned savings for needed things alongside the emergency fund, just not yet. Sorting the postgrad loan first!

Blackcats

I have a repair/replace savings pot. I try to keep about £750 in there which should cover replacing a washing machine or phone or TV etc. These are things that usually need to be replaced quickly when they go wrong. I think it's likely that sooner or later they will go wrong but I keep a separate emergency fund for unpredictable things like roof repairs or blocked drains. Initially though I was just relieved to have an emergency fund at all.

RedLipstick

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you're doing very well, I definitely understand the pain of being a one income household and the anxiety that comes with it. Be gentle on yourself, and get that income protection sorted. I don't think it will cover you for job loss though, so double check. Also working on getting my debt down and tracking my NW, with some aspirational goals for 2026. Every year I have a goal, and tell myself "we'll see how it goes" but this year I really want to stick to it, and tracking every single bit of my spending, I went cash though for this year for all my variable spending.

If you're into reading financial books, one of the books that made quite an impact on my own journey was "But First Save 10". Dave's book was a good read too, but looks like you may already know this one.

Good luck, I will be following! xx

MillQueen

@Blackcats I appreciate you sharing that, as the repair/replace savings pot actually doesn’t have to be massive at all, does it, so thanks for that perspective. £750 is doable. I guess I can have a huge one if I like in future (I’m weirdly over cautious and something of a control freak, so I probably will eventually want to have some ridiculous fund that allows me to replace absolutely everything on a timed schedule…). I’m going to hold that “initial relief to have emergency savings at all” as I do have that and it’s best not to get carried away yet.

@RedLipstick thank you for the welcome and the resonance on being a single income household. Morbid as it is, I think my worst fear is some kind of serious illness that stops me working. I generally work through anything, and we joke at work that if I died, I’d rise from the grave and appear at work on Monday. I’ll have a look at the various insurances - I am aiming to get income protection from March. Good luck on the debt and the NW, and wishing you all the best with sticking to it. I hear you on the “see how it goes” being a bit of a hope and a prayer approach as a strategy… you’re now building systems! Everything I read has me believing I should have a million pounds stashed away by now. Currently I’m on “Girls Just Wanna Have Funds” and How To Get Rich”, so I’ll add that one you mention to my list.

In other news, I get a small pay rise in a few months and I’ve decided I’m not doing any lifestyle inflation, I’m just going to divert it straight to debts and savings.

jwil

I've just read through your diary and you have made a great start!

I can resonate with the not wanting to spend any money, but it is important to live as well, so it's good to do stuff.

I used to spread my payments thinly to several different places as well, but it definitely feels like things are moving more quickly concentrating on just one or two.

Good luck with it all 😊

MillQueen

Thanks @jwil - I will go and have a read through yours now too in return 🌺

I have had a good couple of days on the expenditure, as yesterday I used the Too Good to Go app instead of doing a grocery shop and I've got enough to stuff to use up in the kitchen for a while, meaning the only thing I may need this week is milk. I'm currently working my way through all the half-used boxes of cereal in the cupboard (it's strangely satisfying to finish them off) and all of the bread in the freezer, having cereal or toast for breakfast. It's helped quite a bit with spending less on food, as I wouldn't normally eat breakfast, but it's stopped me having urges to buy other stuff later on in the day or getting hungry before lunch time. I have some tasks to do now and then I plan to do some cooking to last for the next few days. I have to walk into town to return some library books and I'll probably have a look in my favourite charity shop.

I am going to roast some radishes, as I got 3 bags in my Too Good to Go haul and I don't really eat them. I tried munching on a few and this wasn't an enjoyable experience, so I am going to try roasting them and maybe drizzling with honey as a snack. I am going to be eating a lot of salad and purple sprouting broccoli over the next few days too. I came to the decision about the car that it will be better to repair the old one I have rather than get another, so there will be some repair costs there too. I will take those out of savings as I was anticipating paying 2k for another car but it seems too much of a gamble and was really worrying me. I;m going to try to make this one go for longer, until I'm in a position to get one that's maybe a few years old. I think if I can get another year out of this one, then I will be in a better position next year. So far I have paid the £60 excess to replace the windscreen and once that's done I will see what comes out of the MOT…

in_need_of_direction

if salads are likely, could you use some spuds up in potato salad?

MillQueen

Yes good suggestion, I have loads of spuds. Having a stay at home day today and I've mostly spent it working, reading and napping, and now need to do some cleaning and cooking.

I spent £50 to book in the MOT, which is a couple of weeks away.

MillQueen

I forgot to mention, when I got a few small needed things delivered (the cat litter etc), they accidentally sent me a big family sized bag of sweet popcorn that I hadn’t ordered. This has been the most excitement I’ve had in ages when I discovered this 😂. I hope some poor other person wasn’t missing their popcorn, but I’m now putting portions into my work lunches this week as a treat. I’m just batch cooking some pasta now (half of a bag of pasta that was only 45p for the whole bag), an onion, and some sliced mushrooms and peppers from the freezer. I will sprinkle some cheese on top and put them in the microwave at work. I’m eating out of the cupboards and freezer until I’ve used stuff up as it’s daft how much is there.