My second-to-LAST wannabe diary

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  • t2rry
    t2rry Posts: 1,033 Forumite
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    Rachfarn wrote: »
    We are a family of 4, 5 in the holidays and my food budget is £300 a month. if you split the calculations into separate categories it will be much easier to see where its going.
    Things like days out, prescriptions etc are in different pots. I also meal plan and keep a list of what is actually in the house as so many times i was buying when i had plenty in purely because i was in the habit of shopping every week.

    Thanks Rachfarn,

    After seeing that we’re actually spending so little of that £700 on food, I’m definitely going to start separating out those categories. So I’m thinking:

    £350 food
    £100 petrol
    £150 general spending

    If I can stick to this, it would save us £150 per month without being so strict as to feel like hermits, and it means I have a fund there for the inevitable things that crop up
    Debt Free I FFEF I Building Savings I 2024 Plan:
    1. Slush/Tax Fund £2,050/£5,000
    2. Additional Pension Contributions £3,300/£5,000
    3. Regular Savings £2,720/£15,000


    #47 Save £20k in 2024 - £8,070/£20,000 (40%)
  • Rachfarn
    Rachfarn Posts: 13 Forumite
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    My first month i set the budget at £300 and spent £430 lol
    Its a learning game that takes a while to bed in. I have a spreadsheet and i put every penny on it. the first month i was on it everyday checking it, now i do it every few days as the spending habits are there and i know if im going over or not.
    You have to feel like you are still living. if i throw every penny at the debt and cant do anything nice the resentment sets in and then i will quit and get back to where we were.
  • t2rry
    t2rry Posts: 1,033 Forumite
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    That's totally where I am these days, we have a very young family and we don't really do much in terms of going out etc. and so i don't want us to live in a way that we will regret not doing things within reason.

    I have had my trusty spreadsheet now for i think about 6 years, and I never get bored of it!!! I can't ever see myself not looking at it every day. In fact I don't understand how people manage their money without one!! I certainly didn't before it existed!!

    Whilst I do that every day, coming on here I am always going to be waiting for the next day I can pay something off something, which realistically is only twice per month; payday and when the main CC bill arrives! I'm currently waiting for the latter to pay a chunk off, and then that'll be it again until the next payday! This is why we have to live a little too, else I'm just living for the months to pass and with two little ones, that's just not right!
    Debt Free I FFEF I Building Savings I 2024 Plan:
    1. Slush/Tax Fund £2,050/£5,000
    2. Additional Pension Contributions £3,300/£5,000
    3. Regular Savings £2,720/£15,000


    #47 Save £20k in 2024 - £8,070/£20,000 (40%)
  • savingholmes
    savingholmes Posts: 27,373 Forumite
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    Good luck with your journey
    Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality by mid 2030
    1) MFW Nov 21 £201,999 with 237 payments to go - now £184,341 Equity 26.26%
    2) Spend on handyman & external building works & new patio door £12.3K
    3) CC £4.9K on 0% spends card but offset by £34.1K savings (part EF, part future home improvement)
    4) Mortgage neutral by June 2030 AVC £9.6K/£127.5K AVC target 7.5% value at 15/4
    5) FI Age 60 annual income target £13.7/30K 45.7%
  • t2rry
    t2rry Posts: 1,033 Forumite
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    savingholmes wrote: »
    Good luck with your journey



    Thank you!!!!
    Debt Free I FFEF I Building Savings I 2024 Plan:
    1. Slush/Tax Fund £2,050/£5,000
    2. Additional Pension Contributions £3,300/£5,000
    3. Regular Savings £2,720/£15,000


    #47 Save £20k in 2024 - £8,070/£20,000 (40%)
  • t2rry
    t2rry Posts: 1,033 Forumite
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    Popping by for a little signature update. Plodding on in the right direction, that's £674.63 off this month (so far)


    More is possible, there is money set aside for next month's childcare fees that is the minimum I should need to cover the bill. Hopefully it will come in below my estimate, and I can chuck a little more into the debt busting pile
    Debt Free I FFEF I Building Savings I 2024 Plan:
    1. Slush/Tax Fund £2,050/£5,000
    2. Additional Pension Contributions £3,300/£5,000
    3. Regular Savings £2,720/£15,000


    #47 Save £20k in 2024 - £8,070/£20,000 (40%)
  • joedenise
    joedenise Posts: 16,560 Forumite
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    A couple of things others haven't mentioned stick out to me:

    Mobile phones are very high. Are you in contract? If not could you go sim only. DH & I have 2 sim contracts with unlimited minutes & texts and 4 gig of data for £10 a month.

    Bank account fee of £20. This again seems high. Do you use all the benefits it offers or would it be better to move to another bank with no fee or a lower one if you use the benefits?

    Denise
  • t2rry
    t2rry Posts: 1,033 Forumite
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    joedenise wrote: »
    A couple of things others haven't mentioned stick out to me:

    Mobile phones are very high. Are you in contract? If not could you go sim only. DH & I have 2 sim contracts with unlimited minutes & texts and 4 gig of data for £10 a month.

    Bank account fee of £20. This again seems high. Do you use all the benefits it offers or would it be better to move to another bank with no fee or a lower one if you use the benefits?

    Denise

    Thanks Joedenise, really good to have someone question things and make me think about them, in answer:

    Mobile phones are actually £53, not £63, that was a typo, but yes one is in contract so is £45 per month, the other is a sim only deal at £8 per month. I think the one contract is up in March, so we’ll definitely get that down to a minimum then.

    The bank account fee I have sat at worked out recently to see if we would be better on individual deals but we’re not. The things we actually ‘use’ are the mobile phone insurance (we’ve both claimed before), the multi-year travel insurance and the roadside cover. Those individually would be much higher. We also do get about £6-£7 cashback per month with this account, which we’d otherwise lose, so when it’s only £13-£14 net cost, I think it’s pretty good.

    Always good to work through these things though & reevaluate.
    Debt Free I FFEF I Building Savings I 2024 Plan:
    1. Slush/Tax Fund £2,050/£5,000
    2. Additional Pension Contributions £3,300/£5,000
    3. Regular Savings £2,720/£15,000


    #47 Save £20k in 2024 - £8,070/£20,000 (40%)
  • joedenise
    joedenise Posts: 16,560 Forumite
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    Nationwide Flexplus account has all those benefits for £13 a month and also pays interest on £2,500 in the account which amounts to about £6 a month so net £7ish for the benefits. Worth looking into perhaps?

    Denise
  • t2rry
    t2rry Posts: 1,033 Forumite
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    joedenise wrote: »
    Nationwide Flexplus account has all those benefits for £13 a month and also pays interest on £2,500 in the account which amounts to about £6 a month so net £7ish for the benefits. Worth looking into perhaps?

    Denise

    Thank you so much! I am *definitely* going to look into this!
    Debt Free I FFEF I Building Savings I 2024 Plan:
    1. Slush/Tax Fund £2,050/£5,000
    2. Additional Pension Contributions £3,300/£5,000
    3. Regular Savings £2,720/£15,000


    #47 Save £20k in 2024 - £8,070/£20,000 (40%)
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