Savings for the Boy & Me

savingwannabe · 9 July 2018 at 7:25PM

Dave Ramsay calls this sinking funds (each account for a different purpose) they are supposed to be v motivating.

Well done you. Im going to see if I can find your diary.

Chandelier. · 9 July 2018 at 8:11PM

It is motivating for me and much easier to see what I'm budgeting for. Sometimes when theres money left over in an account I'll either move it to a savings account or just let it build up incase I need more one month then another.

Chandelier. · 10 July 2018 at 1:52PM

Afternoon!

So I've had a great day so far. I woke up early and met my friend as we decided we would take her dog for a walk along the sanddunes local to us. In the end we ended up doing an eight mile walk barefoot across the beach. I haven't been this relaxed in a while and it was nice to get out in the cool open air with the sun shining down on us. It's been much cooler today.

I've decided I'm going to walk to school to pick the boy up and have a nice stroll back where we can catch up and talk about his day. I may even take him to the park for a while.

I have decided that I'm going to cut back on car journeys and walk where possible. This will save on my petrol and also help increase my fitness! I really need to get back into the gym too. That's another priority on my to do list as with all these recent breaks, I've put on about half a stone. I need to get back into the game.

I've took some meatballs out of the freezer to defrost and I'm going to make spaghetti meatballs for tea for us all tonight, packed out with vegetables! Last night I invited my uncle round who recently lost his wife and I cooked him chicken in a chicken and mushroom sauce with mash potato and vegetables. I do quite enjoy cooking but I have to be in the mood for it or else I'm useless. I'm trying to use up the stores we have in our freezer so we are able to start defrosting them one by one and be able to keep track of what we've got. I'm doing a rough meal plan and have decided I'm going to start doing the weekly food shop to stick to a budget. There is only three of us now as our lodger is currently away for a period of time due to ill health. Whatever leftovers we have will go straight into the freezer for quick meals in the future.

I'm going to try and limit my entertainment fund this month to make way for further savings. I budget £200 a month for this but don't always use the full amount so I need to work out an average. This covers any meals out/trips/days out etc and is yet another area that I can be flexible upon each month.

I need to pay for the boy's childcare so will do that in a minute.

I also need to collect the final sums for expenses that went on my credit card for both recent hen dos. I'll be relieved when that's all done and out the way. I'll be planning a third for the end of September that all our family can attend but that shouldn't be too expensive!

Chandelier. · 10 July 2018 at 2:11PM

I thought I'd write down what I pay into my accounts each month so you can see my budgets.

1) Main bank account.!(£300 per month. All my bills/direct debits come out of here).
2) 5% Interest account.!(I pay £300 a month to here, due to mature in January).
3) HTB Isa.!(I save £200 a month into here).
4) 0.5% Interest account.!(Will be various and used for any other savings).
5) Extra curricular fund for the boy. (£300 per month).
6) Petrol fund.!(£80 per month).
7) Car fund.!(£125 per month).
8) Childcare fund. (£70 per month).
9) Wedding Fund. (£125 per month until October to cover all areas).
10) Union fees fund.!(£15 per month).
11) Birthday fund.!(£35 per month).
12) Christmas fund.!(£55 per month).
13) Emergency fund. (£100 per month).
14) Entertainment fund.!(£200 per month).
15) Mablethorpe Fund. (All budgeted for).
16) Cornwall fund.!(All budgeted for).
17) Caribbean cruise fund.!(£100 per month plus extras).
18) Other fund.!(Fund I use to round up the pennies).
19) Income fund.!(All my income goes into this for the month, ready for next months budget).
20) Food budget. (£80 per month. Myself and my mum shop alternate weeks).

Chandelier. · 10 July 2018 at 2:17PM

That's my budget up above until October where I will then reevaluate all payments and be able to reduce some/allocate savings to elsewhere. I'll probably reduce the amount of accounts I currently have or rename them for other things!

My plans for next year holiday wise is to go travelling around Europe for 3 weeks with the boy and hopefully a trip to New York later on in the year with my best friend. I shall set up budgets for these once all other holidays are over!

I'm loving being all organised, budget savvy and saving money where possible.

I shall still be saving money each month to fund our further house purchase but I'll just allow my HTB isa to fill up as it has been doing. Once I hit the 10k mark I'll start looking. I'm going to get a rough idea at some point of how much I can potentially borrow as a single person on one income.

Chandelier. · 10 July 2018 at 2:30PM

So I've also wrote up a budget for the rest of expenses for my sisters wedding. I haven't actual expenses but I'm putting enough aside to cover all areas.

Wedding Budget

- Hair/Makeup:!£100.00. (It will more then likely be less then this but we will see).
- Shoes:!£50.00. (I'm hoping just to buy a pair of flats so should come under budget).
- Hotel:!£140.00. (Another cost I'm unsure of. I'm paying one night, my mum the other as we are sharing a family room).
- Drinks:!£40.00. (I'll stuck to soft drinks but this will cover more then enough for the boy and me plus a drink for the bride and groom).
- Gift:!£50.00. (I was hoping to give more but the wedding has cost me enough already so I'm sure they'll understand).

Total:!£380.00.

So for the next three months I'll be putting away roughly £125 a month to cover all this or until I reach the target.

Expensive times!

Chandelier. · 11 July 2018 at 10:54AM

So I've been thinking about some of my budgets/savings.

I currently have been paying £55 per month into the Christmas fund to cover all costs/expenses. By December, I should have approximately £660 saved up.

It's only five months off and I'm determined to be prepared again this year. However I've also decided it's going to be less about the presents and more to do with the time we spend together and the memories that can be made.

So I've come up with a budget of whom I am to buy for and how much I'll aim to spend on them.

Christmas 2018 Budget.

- The Boy: £150.00
- Mum: £60.00
- Sister/Brother in law: £30.00
- Brother/Sister in law: £20.00
- Nephew: £15.00
- Niece: £15.00
- My Boss: £15.00
- Boys Dad/Partner: £15.00
- Boys Grandparents: £15.00
- Boys Teacher: £10.00
- Godson: £15.00
- Friend: £10.00
- Secret Santa: £10.00
- Other: £20.00

Total: £400.00

I aim to stick within this budget but I'm aware how much costs can escalate. I think for some of the people, I'm going to do more personal stuff for i.e. the boys dad/partner and grandparents and for my own family. I have a few ideas up my sleeve but will be open to new ones!

Christmas can just be so expensive and is very commercialised. I want it to be less about the presents and more about the time we spend together. I'll be looking out for good deals over the next few months with many things.

Chandelier. · 13 July 2018 at 10:13AM

Morning!

I've been thinking a lot about the boys birthday.

The theme is camping/festival and the plan is for the boys to camp out in the garden and have a BBQ. However I'm aware this is weather dependent and I'll have a backup plan in place. I'm doing a lot of things myself.

Originally I had a budget set for it to cover all areas but I've revised this now and I'm starting to get myself organised with things. The costs may seem expensive but for a few things, things can be reused again i.e. the tent I've bought. I've decided not to include the tent in the birthday budget and will find the funds from elsewhere in my many bank accounts :rotfl:.

Instead of party bags, I've seen an idea of buying those jam jar type of cups and filling them with sweets. I expect this to be much enjoyed by three/four active boys and if plans are changed they can have them on the night whilst watching a movie.

I'm keeping track of all spends so far and will continue to do so. The budget so far is as follows;

---

The Boys Birthday Budget

- Food: £30.00. (This will be for either BBQ food or party type food/snacks for three/four hungry boys. I'll also use this to cover costs of any other food type items).

- Activities: £75.00. (I may take the boys out the next day dependent on what time they are picked up so have added this in, just in case. It will either be something like a trampoline place, bowling/cinema etc. I'm also going to buy some water guns/water balloons and other garden games if the weather holds out).

- Invites/Decs: £15.00. (I just need to buy some balloons now for this category and those jam jar type of cups).

- Cake: £10.00. (I'll just buy a store bought cake as there is no point of having one hand made as they are so expensive and most of the time alot of it can be wasted).

- Presents: £50.00. (I think I'll just give the boy money then I can take him shopping and he can choose what to buy/save some).

Total Budgeted: £180.00.

---

I'm quite excited for this even if our original plans change! I like planning and organising things like this and the most important part is that the boy is happy and enjoys himself. That's all I want and for him to be able to look back and remember the great lengths I went to, to ensure he had a good birthday!

savingwannabe · 13 July 2018 at 10:43AM

This sounds like a lovely well thought out birthday party. I am sure that your son will really appreciate it.

Chandelier. · 14 July 2018 at 8:17PM

Savingwannabe, he is so looking forward to it so I'm hoping the weather holds out. Fingers crossed.

Well the tent I originally bought turned out to be far too big for the garden so I went and bought something much smaller which I found half price in the sale and was reduced from £39.99 to £19.99 so although I had an extra spend, I actually saved some money. This has now been erected in the garden and the boy is much impressed. I'll use the other tent to go on camping trips in the future so not all is wasted.

I also bought some new things for our BBQ which is yet to be built. I bought a cover to protect it and then some gas for when we do come to use it. This has been quite a big expense but my mum is paying half towards it which I'm grateful for. I'm hoping we can get a few BBQs in over the next couple of months with family and friends.

The boy and I then went for a stroll along the promenade and had a picnic by the beach which was lovely. He's then been to his cousins birthday party which was at a local climbing place and had great fun. I bet all of this had tired him out and he will sleep well tonight. He's currently playing football in the back and will be coming in shortly.

He has his ice skating lesson in the morning so we need to be up early for that.

All in all it's been a good day and my mood seems to have perked up. It's been dipping lately and I'm trying my best to muddle through as much as possible. I'm currently off work and trying to find ways to keep myself busy and I have a few ideas.

Anyhow, there is nothing much else to say. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. I need to rack up some NSDs and save money elsewhere this month.

Savings for the Boy & Me

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