Need fresh eyes on my budget!

joedenise

I would second a £1000 Emergency Fund. An easy way of adding to it is to Tilly Tidy the odd amounts in accounts whenever something comes out of it so if it ends with 27p then transfer that. All those tiny amounts eventually add up. I used to do with with our mortgage and over a 5 year period it dropped the mortgage by several thousands so definitely worthwhile.

honeybee1234

@Spendless @joedenise

I do have the remnants of an emergency fund; however it wasn't enough to cover the fridge freezer. A few months ago it was at £1k, but with dipping into it for various things, and when the budget went over of a month, it has dwindled. Such a shame that's the case just when I could have done with it, but hey ho, it's done.

Starting next month's budget is on the list for today, so I'll see where I am with everything. I find it hard to prioritise as there's so much I want to fund via pots and to put back into the emergency fund. I guess it's a case of accepting that firstly, building pots up takes time and patience, and that sometimes things will crop up that I haven't had time yet to account for, and that's okay because progress is being made.

Onwards and upwards!

Blackcats

I agree with an emergency fund and my little tweak to the concept is just my way of rationalising to myself "what are my likely emergencies?"

So for me household appliances breaking are emergencies but they are also foreseeable. If, for example, I had a much loved, regularly used 25 year old iron then when it stops working that will be a problem but I can predict that will happen at some stage. So I have a repair/replace pot which I build up so I am prepared for breakdowns. That way, there is no inner debate about whether it's an actual emergency, I can just turn to the pot and repair or replace the item. Please don't worry that I do actually have a much loved, well used iron - it is in fact the opposite as it's an appliance that gets as little use as is politely possible 🤣

Likewise I have a pet&human health and wellbeing pot - this is designed to cover emergency dentists, vets, broken glasses etc. as well as routine appointments. A new prescription for glasses is likely to happen and needs to be prepared for with regular small savings whereas broken glasses need replacing asap.

And I also have my car fund which covers tax, insurance etc but I also build up a buffer for things like new tyres because replacing tyres is predictable eventually rather than a surprise emergency (if potholes can be avoided 🤦‍♀️)

overall I now have more than £1000 across these categories but in my head it's much clearer what I mean by emergency. If absolutely needed I would borrow money from one pot if I had to.

I enjoy reading how you are navigating your new relationship with money and you should be really pleased with your ongoing progress.

Spendless

When you dipped in and out of the emergency fund were these for emergencies?

honeybee1234

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82074092#Comment_82074092

This is all really interesting! Can relate about the iron 😁 I have gotten to the logic you've explained in my own thinking... The trouble is I'm not far enough in to have prioritised my appliances pot. Maybe I should have? It makes sense. I don't have much in my dentist and opticians pot either, which I would want to. It's genuinely really hard to know whether to put a majority chunk in just two or three pots for a few months until they're built up, or put a bit in everything, but they all build up more slowly. I've opted for the former, thus here I am with nothing in my appliances fund!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82074213#Comment_82074213

Noooo why are you making me have to look?! 😂 OK. I lent eldest DD £150 as a holding deposit on her new flat. We have an agreement set out for her to pay me back. Then £300 was to cover a Universal Credit shortfall - this was a genuine mistake on my part as I'd worked out some dates and amounts incorrectly. Then the other withdrawals are grocery budget shortfalls at the end of the month, and when I've had shortfalls in other areas, such as when I was paying for DS's Ubers.

The grocery shortfall looks to be alleviated, at least from this month, by increasing my grocery budget. Shortfalls for the kids hasn't been a problem the last month either due to ex getting a car, and building up the kids' sinking fund.

ellenvan

Rome wasn't built in a day , as they say!

You are perfecting things, seeing what works for you. A lot better than when you started!

Well done and keep going, adjusting as and when things change.

Spendless

Its because I was wondering if a run of bad luck had the emergencies all occurring within a short period of time or whether you were under estimating how much you needed in 'everyday' pots. Sounds like its been a combination of both, but its good youve got plans in place to rectify.

warby68

You can only do so much with your income but runs of bad luck with multiple calls on the pots are probably not likely to happen all the time. Most of the time a good few of your pots can stay intact for a while. What I'm trying to say is that, if push comes to shove and you have to look at your pots on a combined basis, now that you've started the savings habit it is far more likely there will be enough overall for whichever one or two of those pots do get a call on them in a particular month. Not a guarantee of course, but you have to cut yourself some mental slack on how much you really can save overall.

honeybee1234

@ellenvan @Spendless @warby68 I was actually a bit worried there about coming back to read any responses, as I thought I was going to get some tough love there! I have been underestimating my everyday pot amounts needed for sure. Denial I think, because I knew it'd affect the amount left for other pots and slow my progress. But what I've actually done there is set myself up to have the monthly "damn, I've run out here so I'll need to borrow from there and there.

I'll tell you what though - it's amazing to have money left in the groceries pot. Around 90.00 which just hasn't happened for… I don't know how long actually. One weekly shop left and I won't spend that much, even with the boys being around more now it's summer and them be here this weekend. I've been shopping around to see what works - Farmfoods was a 'no' for a regular shop but me and OH both agreed it's worth stopping by for some of the offers now and again. We both really enjoyed the Sainsbury's online shop, I got a £1 delivery slot and picked up some great offers. My usual is Lidl which I really like, but for the last week I'm thinking of trying Tesco for delivery, or Iceland with a Lidl backup.

Yesterday I was working on the August budget. My gas and electricity bill has gone up from 123.00 to 134.00 which I think must be because we run aircon units when it's super hot. I am being super careful about where we're using electricity so hopefully can get that down again.

I did get analysis paralysis AGAIN over how to divide up my surplus for the pots so I haven't finished the budget just yet. Priorities are clothing (small amount), kids, activities (so the boys can get out over the holidays) and the birthday pot as it's depleted from a run of birthdays. I'll finish that in a bit.

I'm on dog walking duty today so going out shortly! The earlier the better so it's nice and quiet. Then take DS2 for a haircut - this is quite an easy journey for me as it's a route over quiet roads that I know, and the barbers is at a local precinct with loads of parking. Then finish the budget, mow the lawn and various other bits.

Anyway, have a good day if you're reading!

Spendless

Ive got so many similarities (despite a different household set up). I have £100 left in my food pot and its such a nice round number to have with 1 weeks shopping left to get, I borrowed from other pots too (ones Im unlikely to spend all/anything from) and stretched the budget last night by buying the coop 2 pizzas and 4 drinks (got diet coke not beer this time since WC is over!) for £5 (membership price) cos the deal ends today or maybe yesterday.

I even bailed my daughter out too, but that was with £10 towards cleaning products as the kitchen in her houseshare is getting various buglife in it - and with 5 weeks left of the tenancy I dont want the deposit lost (and dont trust the landlord not to withhold) as itll be needed for the next place.

Re the birthday pot. Do you know how many birthdays it needs to cater for? I mean are your younger kids still at the 'been invited to classmates party' so youve got no way of knowing or are they 'set' the same way mine are with fixed people you buy for? I started my pot only this year but the first 6 months of the year (and especially the first 3) are top heavy with birthdays/occassions and the last 6 not so. I just have to accept they get depleted in the first half. At the end of the year after Xmas Ill be able to make the judgement call over whether it worked or if I underestimated how much needed putting away each month.

Enjoy your busy day.