Cheery's buttling diary: tea in one hand, plant pot in the other, running shoes on

A few comments about where I'm willing to cut and where I'm lucky enough to be in a position to say 'no, I'm not letting that go'

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Council tax............................. 99 - this is over 12 months
Electricity............................. 35 - gas and electric are paid together. We're on a 100% green electricity tariff (which I want to keep) and very happy with supplier - have the option to adjust DD whenever I like (and have slowly been adjusting down) - but any surplus with them gains 3% interest so currently got about £350 in credit
Gas..................................... 40 - we do have an absolutely ancient boiler (older than me..) which is not hugely efficient, and currently won't do hot water without having the heating on... we also both work at home a lot so in winter heating is on for a LOT of hours - likely won't change any time soon.
Water rates............................. 51.4
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 17.5 - this is both of us on GiffGaff
TV Licence.............................. 12
Internet Services....................... 25 - we're with Zen and extremely happy with customer service/provision/policies - won't be changing this
Groceries etc. ......................... 50 - this can definitely be cut - this is me buying food at work because I haven't made lunch in advance, or picking up tea at the supermarket cos we can't be bothered cooking Main food shopping paid for by Mr Cheery (not in this budget)
Clothing................................ 10 - obviously I don't spend this every month, just averages out. Most clothes come from charity shops
Petrol/diesel........................... 50 - this includes weekends away, trips to see family etc - could possibly cut as neither of us use it for work! Plenty of trips we could probably walk on, or at least be more efficient with planning
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 26 - includes home start RAC cover
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30 - this *is* a guess - we've spent a grand total of £22 in the 10 months since using YNAB but MOT is due in a couple of weeks so I'll have a better idea then
Other travel............................ 200 - my commute to a different city twice a week. (Actually, I've just checked it properly and while I allow £200 over time it's averaged at £150 a month allowing for holidays etc). Booking in advance saves approx £1.25 a day - not prepared for the inconvenience for that. I've biked a lot this year to and from the station at each end which has saved roughly £40 a month on bus fares. Probably do this less in the winter...
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 32 - actual costs for both of us this year - various fillings etc and a crown for Mr Cheery at the end of last month. Hopefully not every year! My prescriptions are free after having thyroid removed :money:
Buildings insurance..................... 6 - yep, this is right - got full buildings and contents for £120 last year so hoping for the same again...
Contents insurance...................... 6
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 35
Haircuts................................ 5 - to be honest I hadn't counted this separately but I know I only pay £10 a time and certainly don't have it done any more than every couple of months, if that :rotfl:
Entertainment........................... 65 - this is our joint 'treats budget' which pays for cafe trips, pub with pals (rare), takeaways... I allocate £50 but the figures say we've spent an average of £65 - oops. This could be cut, although there are other things I'd rather cut first!We both love a cafe trip but Mr Cheery really doesn't like spending money so this was my way of making sure we got out together occasionally!
Holiday................................. 150 - one big holiday and a few weekends away. Weekends tend to be pretty cheap but main holiday tends to be two weeks in a cottage in UK which can end up rather expensive... especially if you book last minute in July/August like we did this year... :eek:
Emergency fund.......................... 150 - this is what we've been spending on house repairs and maintenance now we're getting ready to move. We're not adding to actual emergency fund at the minute (stands at £1000, which I'm happy with, in separate account to Patchwork Fund). So far we've managed to deal with minor emergencies with just this £150 a month, and haven't needed to break into main stash.
My personal spends...................... 200 - er... so this is where the main savings can be made... It appears an average of £13 of this is what I've called 'unnecessary food' - mostly chocolate bars at train stations... £27 is tea and cake with pals in cafes (not with Mr Cheery). Could Do Better.... :eek:
Self employed national insurance........ 14 - this is for Mr Cheery, although they're now collecting it all in one go, but we're still putting it aside each month
Web hosting............................. 15 - Mr Cheery's, not really sure what it is for...
Course fees............................. 29.5 - my permaculture diploma - just runs til next July
Union................................... 21 - mine - hoping never to need their services!
Total monthly expenses.................. 1401.4

That's interesting about the water rates KC. Nope, we don't both have deep baths every day (partly because hot water requires the heating to be on even in the summer!!). We probably average maybe 1-2 baths a week between us but they are usually pretty full, lounging in baths Probably only do clothes washing once a week, if that :rotfl: And I usually shower pretty much every day.

Will investigate...

That's interesting too, thanks chocforever! :j I suppose we've been reluctant to feel pressured to not use so much water (which really we should be anyway ) but the amount we actually *do* use probably isn't that much in comparison to others.

Am I right in thinking that once you've got one, you can't swap back? Or can you swap back within a year, but if you sell the house the new people can't ever swap back?

Probably best check the water people website

Lovely day today - made a picnic and drove out to one of the peak district off road cycling trails on an old railway line :j :j LOvely, lovely, just cycling along, not worrying about cars (although worrying rather a lot about unbalanced wobbly small children on bicycles! :rotfl: ) Had a picnic on a little secluded grassy area and sat there for ages.

Then we cycled in the other direction into Bakewell and had a mooch around (but didn't buy anything), then bimbled home.

No idea how far we cycled - probably about 10 miles in total. But we didn't spend anything at all! :j :j :j

Evening chums :hello:

Yawnity yawn yawn today. Certainly felt like autumn today - my hands were FREEZING cycling down the hill to work this morning for the first time - best dig out my woolly gloves! And work has actually seen fit to put the heating on! I didn't realise til the afternoon so was sat shivering in my Emergency Cardigan until someone else told me :rotfl:

Counting today as a NSD :j :j Not that I'm actually counting NSDs :rotfl: But I'm counting it as a success that I didn't buy any chocolate at the train station :j :j

Evening to myself, so have got a couple of priorities...

* finish preparation for (non-work) workshop I'm running next week and email to pal
* make arrangements to meet various people at the event I'm going to next week - I'm meant to be interviewing them and I think I'd rather do it over the phone, but they've all suggested doing it while we're there - I just have no idea how to arrange to meet, at separate times, four different people who I've never met before, in a place we don't know, when none of us will have phones or know which workshops we want to go to in advance. Pah! But I've put it off for too long and need to do it tonight!

* changes to job application form :j Had seven people look at it and give me suggestions so going to spend a bit of time making them :j Got to send it before I go on Thursday - eek!

* if there's time I might go back to my PhD references and spend half an hour sorting them out

* and if there's time after that - a nice hot soak in the tub :j :j