A Budgeteer's Adventure

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  • lippy1923
    lippy1923 Posts: 1,374
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
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    I managed to get my employer to fund my next level course. I am still waiting for the materials to arrive and then I will be in study mode like you :) Starting next month and I'm strangely excited about it lol. Wish I could do mine in a few weeks but I have 5 exams to pass so it takes a year!
    Good luck with yours.


    I too have been thinking of how I plan to pay off my CC debts. All on 0% luckily but need to be gone by the end of this year. I need to make a plan and stick to it.


    Regarding the regular posting, it doesn't matter if you only really post once a month or so as long as you stick with it. Doesn't even have to be money saving related, just a diary to keep you coming back and keep your goals in sight. I look forward to your next update ;)
    Total Mortgage OP £61,000
    Outstanding Mortgage £27,971
    Emergency Fund £62,100
    I AM NOW MORTGAGE NEUTRAL!!!! <<Sep-20>>

  • CharlieKat
    CharlieKat Posts: 112 Forumite
    *slips in quietly* :whistle:

    *dusts off diary*

    Hi all

    Glad I found this diary again! Long time no post and thank you to all posters and to lippy for your last post.

    The short story is, I was really busy with work and study, went on holiday which was wonderful and then the company closed and I've been out of work since. I've been looking and applying for work. But, I wanted to come back on here as, admittedly, I've been a bit of a hermit. I've been really upset about everything and not wanted to go anywhere :o The finances have taken a hit and some interest free credit has needed to be used as well as I'm only entitled to JSA.

    Anyway, I need to pick myself up and get on with things!

    I've been upset about the mortgage / house / not being able to meet bills and, not being able to meet targets I'd set. Today, I've plotted out, as best I can, the original 5 year target. This was only ever roughly done as I am capped on overpayments at 10% and that is paid in as soon as possible - last year the last payment went in just before I was made redundant but that was a few months before the end of year 1 of my mortgage. Hope I'm making sense.

    Even if I was working there would be a shortfall on paying the mortgage off in the next 4 years unless I had some good pay rises / overtime opportunities etc.

    The plan then, is to start to try and get the money in. I'm going to list some things I have on the bay of e. But as I'm quite a fan of kondoing there isn't too much around! Putting my positive head on - this should encourage me to achieve the hitherto unknown dizzy heights of minimalism :D

    I'm also going to try and stop the money going out. Freezer inventory awaits - followed up with a meal plan for the month ;)

    My sig also needs updating.

    Thank you if you're reading and I commit to being around a lot more - even just writing on here today has made me feel a bit better about things :money::)
    Food Shop March £85.55 Petrol March £45.78 Socialising March £60.65 on 5 adventures
    Overdraft 04/02/2019: [STRIKE]£1500[/STRIKE] /£
    Mortgage: [STRIKE]£140,000[/STRIKE] £57,565.14
    Annual Target £6845 Currently At £
  • Kittenkirst
    Kittenkirst Posts: 2,563
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    Hi & welcome back!

    Really sorry to hear about your job; it definitely puts a squeeze on the finances. But, don't beat yourself up over the 5 year plan; you've overpaid already and that will have helped reduce your term/interest etc in the long run.

    Focus on the things you can control for now like your kondoing and good budgeting :D

    As you like different recipes have you tried looking at Jack Monroes site and also £1 meals on Instagram are great for inspiration.i regularly loop back to the meal planning threads on this forum as a reminder and to get us out of a rut!
    First home- Oct’16 until June’21: £170.995- Overpayments made £13,784 (25% extra!).
    New forever home- Sep’21 £309,449 @ 2.05%. Plan to clear it before 30 years!!!!!!
  • CharlieKat
    CharlieKat Posts: 112 Forumite
    Hi Kittenkirst

    Thank you - I hadn't thought of looking on those sites but have added them onto my list of things to do :D
    Food Shop March £85.55 Petrol March £45.78 Socialising March £60.65 on 5 adventures
    Overdraft 04/02/2019: [STRIKE]£1500[/STRIKE] /£
    Mortgage: [STRIKE]£140,000[/STRIKE] £57,565.14
    Annual Target £6845 Currently At £
  • CharlieKat
    CharlieKat Posts: 112 Forumite
    A quick update before I get back to it.

    I've done half of the freezer inventory, listed some items on the bay of e, re-organised part of my wardrobe and lifted out a few things to sell (hopefully) and a few things to give away - I don't love them and they won't sell unless at a carboot and I don't have enough stuff to make it worthwhile as the fees are, I think, £12 a car and I'd be lucky to fill a binbag of things to sell :undecided

    I'm doing bits of each task rather than doing everything in one go as I've been a bit down of late and have been struggling concentrating. Hopefully, chunking things down into smaller, achievable tasks will help me with building up my focus and concentration again as well as making the task seem less daunting / overwhelming :o

    I've just remembered we've 2 weekends away booked next month :eek: One we've saved up for all year, we won't have enough to cover the cost entirely (we normally both save a set amount each to cover say the room and 1 meal and then make up the difference from our savings) there hasn't been the chance to adjust for anything extra towards this. The other weekend we just need to pay for train tickets £30 total I think, drinks, entry fee for 1 of the days out £20 I think and lunch - I've already paid for the rest so accommodation, breakfast, evening meal have all already been paid for and there's no refunds so we'd lose more by cancelling.

    On that note I'd best list some more things on the bay :cool:

    Oh, and looking around the diaries I'd really like to open a s&s 1sa - if anyone has any info that'd be a big help. I know I've no real funds currently but we could manage a bit for this just to get us started and then we could build it up when i'm back working again :)
    Food Shop March £85.55 Petrol March £45.78 Socialising March £60.65 on 5 adventures
    Overdraft 04/02/2019: [STRIKE]£1500[/STRIKE] /£
    Mortgage: [STRIKE]£140,000[/STRIKE] £57,565.14
    Annual Target £6845 Currently At £
  • CharlieKat
    CharlieKat Posts: 112 Forumite
    I'm allowing myself breaks of popping on here between jobs :D

    I've finished organising the part of the wardrobe I was doing - of course i still have the rest to do but it will be a job well done when it's finished and if anything else can be sold / given away it will create more space and make things easier. I don't *think* I have lots of clothes but do, as I suspect many people do, have clothing for different occasions. So I've got my sportswear, summer wear including shorts and bikinis - so not really suitable in winter :rotfl: work wardrobe which is formal and not really something I'd wear for any other occasion other than going to work - I'll revise this category to make sure I'm happy with everything and will bear in mind I may need to revise it again depending on the job I get next; casual wear for daytime not in work and evening wear which is a bit more dressy than anything i'd wear to work - and coats and jackets which I tend to keep for years. This year I intend to wear the more expensive of these more often :cool:
    All these categories will be gone through again with trying on and discarding as necessary.

    I've done the 3rd part of the freezer inventory and 1 last part to go. Then it's meal planning from this list for the month.

    Tea is in the oven - not from the freezer I might add just using up some potatoes although there are still some left. A few more bits listed on the bay of e too. With quite a few more still to do but the pictures seem very slow going loading on today.

    Finally found where to update sig - not sure i'll find it again though :rotfl: So I've updated the mortgage as of today. Payments are the 1st of each month, and, even if I had the funds, I've reached this years 10% cap. I still need to update credit card and the target and will do that later. Card in sig was paid off but have done some balance transfers to free up interest free funds at the mo so no small targets now.

    I'll also have a read of some more diaries on here as they're really motivating.
    Food Shop March £85.55 Petrol March £45.78 Socialising March £60.65 on 5 adventures
    Overdraft 04/02/2019: [STRIKE]£1500[/STRIKE] /£
    Mortgage: [STRIKE]£140,000[/STRIKE] £57,565.14
    Annual Target £6845 Currently At £
  • What a great diary title. Following with interest.
  • CharlieKat
    CharlieKat Posts: 112 Forumite
    Thank you smallholdingsister :) i'll find your diary for a read too :D
    Food Shop March £85.55 Petrol March £45.78 Socialising March £60.65 on 5 adventures
    Overdraft 04/02/2019: [STRIKE]£1500[/STRIKE] /£
    Mortgage: [STRIKE]£140,000[/STRIKE] £57,565.14
    Annual Target £6845 Currently At £
  • CharlieKat
    CharlieKat Posts: 112 Forumite
    I feel i'm getting a bit more on track which means getting a bit more back to feeling like me - although I've a ways to go before i'm the whirlwind of activity I used to be :rotfl: This house will be clean and tidy again - it's just going to take longer than it used to at the moment & that's ok too.

    I've at least 10 more items to list on the bay but the lights gone now so a job for tomorrow / Monday. One of my items has already sold and I immediately paid it off the target card - I missed a payment on this when everything was happening with out of work / no income etc :( so I need it closed asap. I have another 0% purchase card I can use for next month's trips if I need to so that makes sense and it felt good being able to pay an extra payment too :D sig has been updated :D

    Freezer inventory completed and meals planned to month end but they'll probably need shuffling on the dates as I've not got my boyfriend's work diary.

    So a few things I'd planned to do today have been achieved :T

    Fun things lined up for next week. I think we'll go on a good walk tomorrow to start getting me going out again and getting me a bit more active - I can tie this in with picking up some beans for the sausage casserole I'm going to make ready for an easy tea on Monday if it's needed :cool:

    I've a couple of Zumba classes booked in which I love going to but haven't been able to face it recently :o The classes are part of my gym membership as it's actually cheaper to join than PAYG - especially for me as I usually average a minimum of 7 classes a week - 4 dance based ones and at least 3 yoga ones as I need to uncoil a bit :rotfl: I did research the membership v cost of classes before I joined and I can pause the membership in a few weeks if I've still not found work - i'll need to decide at the time I think as, when I go again this week i'm sure it will boost my confidence which is much needed at the mo

    I'm taking mum to choose some plants for her garden but it'll be nice to look at the nursery and garden centre so I've an idea for things to put in ours when income allows ;)

    I'm going to start a new piece of writing :D - very excited about this one

    Cooking on Monday will be a fun thing too as I do love cooking :)

    I'm going to persevere with the book i'm reading - i'm not loving it just now but it maybe needs another chapter or so and I do love reading :)

    So, to balance the fun stuff I'll be:
    Clean utility - Monday -it's a small room so a good deep clean shouldn't take more than 2 hours with a couple of breaks. By deep clean I mean all cupboards emptied, shelves cleaned etc.

    list remaining items on the bay of e.

    Sort next section of wardrobe out - I've done 2 sections today so 3 to go :cool:

    Don't want to overwhelm myself so that'll do for now. Job searches and applications are every day (if there's any to apply for) so I won't keep relisting this - it's a given priority - the rest is to boost me up a bit and I don't want to keep listing the amount of applications I've done as it is disheartening and I'm trying to get a bit more positive :o

    have a good weekend all :D
    Food Shop March £85.55 Petrol March £45.78 Socialising March £60.65 on 5 adventures
    Overdraft 04/02/2019: [STRIKE]£1500[/STRIKE] /£
    Mortgage: [STRIKE]£140,000[/STRIKE] £57,565.14
    Annual Target £6845 Currently At £
  • Kittenkirst
    Kittenkirst Posts: 2,563
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    You're doing great with all your sorting & organizing!
    Well done on the quick EBay sale too :D
    First home- Oct’16 until June’21: £170.995- Overpayments made £13,784 (25% extra!).
    New forever home- Sep’21 £309,449 @ 2.05%. Plan to clear it before 30 years!!!!!!
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