Need fresh eyes on my budget!

foxgloves

Having just 1 card left to pay off must feel like real progress & as you see that drop into 3 figures & downwards, it will feel even more motivating. The thing I most appreciated when we got rid of our debt was that our monthly income became solely OUR money. Of course there are always bills to pay, but it is a good feeling to get rid of debts from past spending. It feels like a re-set.

It really sounds like you are on top of the process now & I'm cheering you on from the sidelines x

honeybee1234

Thanks @foxgloves and I'm sure you understand when I say I'm starting to feel freer. It really does feel like the process of a reset doesn't it?

It's also getting easier to acknowledge that it isn't a 0-100 sprint, with perfection from the off. Every time now I make a mistake, overlook something or there's an unexpected expense, I put it on my learning curve. As in, OK, this happened, I now see how to work with this from next month, or that I have an emergency fund sat there just in case, and that emergency fund is enabling me to spend a bit of time building up these sinking funds.

Really engaging with the mindset of "I say what happens with my money" is helping alleviate that feeling I've had of being a bystander to my finances, like they've been happening to me in a passive way instead of setting goals and targets, moving money, and learning to say "no, actually, what can I do with the money I have" rather than "I want to do xyz and I'll deal with the aftermath later." There's always going to be unexpected things come up despite all this, but I feel in a better position to handle these, which is liberating, honestly.

Spendless

Glad you went on trip. The railcard is an investment.

You're doing really well. I agree with foxgloves, having your salary for yourself minus bills is a wonderful feeling.

foxgloves

Yes, I completely agree with what you say about the liberating feeling of finally getting in control of your money. I don't really think it is even about having lots of money (though of course that helps with bills), it is more about being in control of what you do have & making it work in your best interests. I spent too many years moaning that I didn't earn enough to save, when looking back, I could have both lived within my means & saved some money every month. It shouldn't have taken me so many years to discover the freedom of getting my finances under control, but at least that LBM did arrive eventually & I wouldn't go back to how I used to be around money, that's for sure!

honeybee1234

Happy Monday morning lol!

Finances are ticking over well. Nearly all direct debits are paid except a small handful that come out towards the end of the month, and the money is sat in my current account waiting. Pots are paid, and I've been looking at what to adjust for next month but am not making any decisions until closer to the end of the month.

I'm still currently paying the minimum payment on my remaining credit card until I have hit my target for the activities pot for the summer holidays pot for the kids. It's meant to be enough each week to do something, interspersed with low-key free activities, picnics and suchlike.

Today I'm about to start working through a fair list of 'to do' items 😭 I love a list, though there's a few things on there so I need to get stuck in! Life admin, mixed with decluttering and organising the living space. Focus is on tidying and sprucing up the living room atm whilst spending as little as possible. Life admin is around bills and forms.

My bigger focus for the month as well as sticking to the grocery budget, is monetising my everyday. I do love getting cashback when I shop, so I'm combing through everything I spend, seeing where I can update my cashback ways! Ubers for DS are one area, then also I'm looking at doing a delivery again at the start of the month from Sainsbury's rather than in person which a) is one less outing for me, and b) I can run through a cashback site, unlike Lidl.

Anyway I'm going to get on, so have a great day if you're reading!

honeybee1234

Morning!

It's a quiet weekend here for me. The boys are here, yesterday we had a relaxing day at home out of the sun - think the boys were just exhausted from having to be out this week, especially poor DS1 who's had 45 minute bus journeys to and from college in the heat 🥵

Am approaching the end of the month and have noticed a pattern emerging. I actually feel quite guilty as a fair few of you have commented on how well I've been doing... and it's true, in certain areas I have. For example:

• my annual savings pots (Christmas, insurances) are accumulating nicely without being touched
• other pots (hairdressers, birthdays, activities for the boys) are slowly but surely building up

BUT (ahhh why is there a 'but'...?)

• I keep going over my grocery budget
• I keep overspending on home things

GROCERIES

What I'm doing is starting each month with a fresh budget. I track my spending - but crucially, I noticed I'm not actually holding myself to the budget. So I'm making a list, using the list, but I'm not adhering to, say, sticking to £60 per week, for example. Then also I keep underestimating the monthly buys. So I buy x4 bags of cat litter, say, and it's not enough. So then later in the month I'm topping up on this monthly stock but it throws what amount I have left for weekly shops.

HOME STUFF

I am preoccupied with buying home and garden stuff. Yesterday, I nearly spent £400 at Ikea, which I had money saved for part of it, but I was fully prepared to put the rest on a card 😭 I held off but I felt awful, like I was going backwards. I give myself a small budget which I always spend in full as I have a perpetual list of things I want/need.

After talking with OH, I have realised this is absolutely a symptom of what stability means to me. Having my house finished represents my life feeling stable after a very unstable last few years in different houses, and the boys having a nice home to stay in. The house is by no means a right state; it's a list of things I have to finish all the rooms off that I'm working through. For example, I'm working on the living room atm which needs painting and a couple of new bits of furniture, as well as some knick knacks to make it feel more homely.

It's hard as it feels such a slow process and I keep wanting to rush through and spend a chunk to get it done. My plan requires around £300-£400 spending in total. Then the plan is similar for the rest of the house but the other rooms need way less spending, it's a laundry list of smaller bits or jobs to get everything finished. I'm starting with the living room just because it's where we spend the most time so it makes sense.

I'm a bit down about it atm as I so desperately want to be on top of my budget and the thought of nearly using a card again.has really shaken my faith in myself and a clear future.

I'll be mulling this over today to see what I come up with.

elsien

If you are sticking to your shopping list but it’s still not enough, or the four bags of cat litter aren’t enough on a regular basis then you probably need to increase your shopping budget.
Prices have still been increasing and although I am the queen of chucking extra stuff in the trolley that I really don’t need, if you are carefully checking what you do need and still running out of money then you need to tweak the budget a little bit more.

those are my thoughts anyway.

And a huge pat on the back for restraining yourself in IKEA despite how desperately you want to get the house finished. That place is designed to wrestle money from you - I never realised there were so many things in marketplace that I thought I needed until I got there.
So don’t give yourself a hard time for nearly doing it, and instead give yourself some credit for not.

Spendless

Would a spreadsheet of what youve actually spent on groceries over the last couple of months (go thru banking transactions assumming youre not paying cash) to see how much you are really spending.

Youre still doing well. Youve identified where youre going wrong and why and are looking for solutions.

This is all in a short space of time too. Many dont make as much progress at first. For context Id had my last diary over a year before I started making any headway and very nearly gave up on it.

ellenvan

I still think you are doing really well, as you are aware more of where your weak spots are.

There's probably no rush to get everything perfect in the house, but just complete when you have the funds.

Planning and keeping to a budget are the key. Well done also for not using the credit card.

Is there anything you can do for extra funds, bank swaps etc. ?

liselle

As others have said, you’re doing really well.How about looking in Charity shops for ornaments, pictures, etc?I used to just look there for clothes and books but I’ve been amazed at the wide range of homeware they have.