Atrixa's Saving Diaries

savingwannabe · 8 October 2017 at 7:27PM

I don't know enough about them (as too old) but it's good to discuss all of this.

atrixa · 27 October 2017 at 5:32PM

I've put in another £142.85 into my emergency fund this month, bringing the total to £231.66. Almost halfway full!

atrixa · 24 November 2017 at 8:21PM

I get paid soon, so I've done my budget for the next period and due to Christmas, I haven't been able to budget any savings in. However, on the bright side I won't need to dip into what I've already saved and I won't need to get into any debt!

savingwannabe · 26 November 2017 at 10:51AM

Well done on emergency fund Atrixa please keep up the good work. I'm the same as you don't worry I am not saving much this month as it will be used for Christmas. I hope you are having a good weekend.

atrixa · 20 December 2017 at 11:08AM

Thanks savingwannabe! I did manage to put away a few quid in the end. I had an unexpected windfall of about £50 and I didn't spend too much of it.

I got paid early this month so my savings now look like this:

Emergency fund: £313.58
Sinking fund for holidays/trips: £74.72

I ended up getting a great deal on train tickets and theatre tickets down to London in Jan. I can thank ML for the tip off on the Mastercard theatre sale! I'll try to be as frugal as possible when I'm down there. On my last trip to London I came in very under budget, which was unexpected.

Merry Christmas MSE-ers!

atrixa · 28 January 2018 at 5:08PM

Came in under budget again for my weekend in London, taking advantage of restaurant offers and not buying bottles of drinks etc. Quite pleased with that. Not a huge amount added to my savings as I needed to replace my boots:

Emergency fund: £338.58
Holiday sinking fund: £30

savingwannabe · 28 January 2018 at 7:52PM

Well done on spending under budget. That fab.
I like the sinking funds idea. I do look at Dave Ramsey sometimes. V inspiring.

pinknsparkly · 29 January 2018 at 12:19AM

I love it when I manage to sneak in under budget

Feels so great, even if it's by pennies!! This may be a silly question, but what are "sinking funds"? I've not heard that term before!

atrixa · 3 February 2018 at 2:36PM

Sinking funds are (as far as I know) a Dave Ramsey thing as savingwannabe mentions. It's basically money put aside for a specific purpose, like a new car, a holiday or house repairs. It makes sure that you don't need to use credit if you know that a cost is coming up. A lot of people have Christmas sinking funds (but just might not call them that), which I think is a great idea.

Dave Ramsey has 'baby steps' you can follow for your financial security, but I find some of them to be quite US-centric and don't make as much sense over here. He's great for inspiration, though.

atrixa · 27 February 2018 at 9:48AM

Another month, another payday. Savings now look like this:
Holiday Fund £50
Emergency Fund £445.74

I should make my £500 goal next month

Some good news, I got promoted at work months ago and they've finally sorted out the pay rise, so I'm now a bit better off each month. I also raised my pensions contributions to 5%, which is matched by my employer. Work has annoyed me a great deal with the way they've worked out the pay rises though (a few of us got promoted at the same time). At least it's given me a kick up the bum to see what other jobs are around. At the moment it looks like not much, but I'll keep an eye out and try to stay positive in the meantime.

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Atrixa's Saving Diaries

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