Time for Change...

JackAllSavings · 14 February 2017 at 4:15PM

Hello all, long time lurcher first time poster. I have decided its time for a change; It is time to start saving money for mine and my girlfriends future. I'm 24 and currently work as a Commercial Analyst on £22k a year (Fancy name not so fancy pay check) and my girlfriend is currently studying Psychology at Uni so money in isn't fantastic, however my Girlfriend has savings and has done for a long time, granted its from saving her student loan but she is very good with money. Me on the other hand not so good, I take home around £1,300 a month but only manage to save £200 of that into a Help to Buy ISA (Thanks to MSE). A heavy amount does go to bills but living at home still does reduce what they could be. Anyway enough rambling... I have set myself some goals which I hope everyone can see in my signature that I want to achieve ideally by the end of 2018 and I am hoping by keeping track of everything here it will help me keep motivated and stop spending. Thanks for reading and thanks in advance to anyone who helps during this long process.:j

Jack

JackAllSavings · 14 February 2017 at 5:17PM

Here is my SOA, Not done 100% accurately but close as it is going to get.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1300
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 200
Rent.................................... 140
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 17
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Help to Buy ISA......................... 200
Total monthly expenses.................. 917

Assets
Cash.................................... 800
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 8800

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0<
Car Finance....................8000.....(200)......13.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 8000......-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Tesco's Credit Card............200.......50........7
Barclaycard....................800.......150.......0
Accounting Course..............1800......75........0
Total unsecured debts..........2800......275.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,300
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 917
Available for debt repayments........... 383
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 275
Amount left after debt repayments....... 108
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 8,800
Total HP & Secured debt................. -8,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,800
Net Assets.............................. -2,000
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i]

savingwannabe · 14 February 2017 at 7:02PM

hello welcome. happy saving.

JackAllSavings · 14 February 2017 at 10:37PM

Thanks savingwannabe

Maiden_Mum · 15 February 2017 at 10:29AM

Hi Jack.
You don't seem to have a huge amount left over every month for saving but I did notice that once you have paid off that Tesco credit card you will have an extra £50 a month so I think I would concentrate on that first.
Good luck, I will follow your progress!

JackAllSavings · 15 February 2017 at 11:56AM

Hi Maiden Mum, Very true think maybe a new job will soon need to be a priority as to boost my income a little. With a new job and my credit cards all paid off by June '17 I should be on my way to saving £400-500 a month. I still need to cut back on meals out etc. which is where the majority of my "left over" money goes. Thanks for following!

JackAllSavings · 15 February 2017 at 12:34PM

Spent £3 on lunch today as I forgot my lunchbox, think I should just leave my wallet at home when I come to work, the van is too tempting sometimes. Normally very good at bringing in a luncbox but soon get into the "Treat yourself" spiral!

Football Saturday and going out with the lads after so there's another £50-60 down the drain, off to the cost Sunday too for a late valentines trip shouldn't be too pricey.

My main problem seems to be the weekends, I spend literally nothing apart from weekly petrol throughout the week and then weekend comes and my money just runs away from me.

savingwannabe · 15 February 2017 at 1:16PM

Hello again, don't worry about forgetting lunch it was a one off. I used to spend a tenner a day on lunch and now I save it. I don't drive 'cos I cant.lol. But your car is expensive. Can you downgrade for a cheaper one? Don't worry if you can't.

I find weekends a nightmare as that's when I spend money too. In the old days I don't think people went out for weekends maybe you could go out for just one drink and no more. I think it is worse for men with the peer pressure.

Skint_yet_Again · 15 February 2017 at 3:09PM

Hi JackAllSavings well done on posting your SOA and well done on saving.

From what you've said about going out though I think your entertainment budget is a bit optimistic at £100 a month

Have you used vouchers for meals out ? I've just convinced my DS age 21 to start using them as you can save a lot and he's realised it doesn't impact on his "street cred" lol cos his mates are saving money off the bill too.

I notice you haven't budgeted anything for MOT or service costs which can be a fair chunk. If you are going to be able to save maybe put a bit aside each month towards the car as they always seem to need some maintenance each year !

Also nothing for Christmas / birthdays ? Maybe do the same and put some away monthly.

Good luck on getting a new job, more income coming in always helps

JackAllSavings · 15 February 2017 at 4:14PM

savingwannabe wrote: »

Hello again, don't worry about forgetting lunch it was a one off. I used to spend a tenner a day on lunch and now I save it. I don't drive 'cos I cant.lol. But your car is expensive. Can you downgrade for a cheaper one? Don't worry if you can't.

I find weekends a nightmare as that's when I spend money too. In the old days I don't think people went out for weekends maybe you could go out for just one drink and no more. I think it is worse for men with the peer pressure.

I used to spend £5 a day on the van easily maybe even more, saved a lot through bringing lunch from home. My car is expensive and maybe a bit too much for what I need it for which is getting to work and seeing my girlfriend which is only a 5 minute trip. I have a VW Scirocco and I love the car but have been thinking about getting rid of it and buying something a little less "Mad" but its going to be hard to let go plus I got the £10k loan out for it nearly 2 years ago so I will still have to pay the majority back as the car depreciates (Minus what I sell it for obviously). I also need to replace the Shocks on it which will set me back around £450, this would have to be done before I sell it.

Haha funnily enough its not the being out with the lads that I spend my money as I hardly go out, its being with my girlfriend i.e. meals out, takeaways, etc.etc.

JackAllSavings · 15 February 2017 at 4:19PM

Skint_yet_Again wrote: »

Hi JackAllSavings well done on posting your SOA and well done on saving.

From what you've said about going out though I think your entertainment budget is a bit optimistic at £100 a month

Have you used vouchers for meals out ? I've just convinced my DS age 21 to start using them as you can save a lot and he's realised it doesn't impact on his "street cred" lol cos his mates are saving money off the bill too.

I notice you haven't budgeted anything for MOT or service costs which can be a fair chunk. If you are going to be able to save maybe put a bit aside each month towards the car as they always seem to need some maintenance each year !

Also nothing for Christmas / birthdays ? Maybe do the same and put some away monthly.

Good luck on getting a new job, more income coming in always helps

Hi Skint Yet Again,

I think you're right which means I have even less to put away that I originally thought!:(

I do use vouchers occasionally but this is mainly because my girlfriend finds them as she is much better with budgeting and saving money than I am. I am a big time impulse buyer and I often pay for meals out because I feel I should do being the one who works.

The only things needed on my car is the rear shocks (£450) and 3 new tyres (£150-200) I have a friend that looks at my car regularly and I get it serviced yearly which I should probably budget for. But seen as like we said I have less than I thought to put away its very tough. Plus I am really trying to concentrate on getting the money for my deposit ASAP and I seem to forget about these sort of things.

thanks for the luck I am going to need it!

Time for Change...

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