£15,000 to 0

Treadingonplaymobil · 24 April 2018 at 5:57AM

House saving is so tricky (and boring). The only thing I'd say is that you'll never be in a better position to do it. But equally, of course, you'll never be in a better position to see the world! As long as you're aware of your budget and money isn't getting mindlessly spent without something good to show for it, then it's all about finding a balance I suppose. I have to confess that we had to completely stop taking holidays apart from UK camping ones in order to make saving for a house happen (one of perhaps three sensible grown up decisions I've ever taken :rotfl: ), but I wasn't on a great salary.

Silver_Queen · 24 April 2018 at 3:48PM

I think I'm due an entire budget overhaul to be honest. It'll also be good for me to keep track of what banks I want to switch to, how to sort out my finances in regards to that, etc.

OH and I have decided to do a big holiday next year to celebrate me qualifying and also a big birthday of mine. This means - gulp - no holidays for an entire year (shock horror!) and saving for the big holiday will be the best motivator for me, so hopefully there'll be no more spur of the moment spends that don't give me any joy. Sounding a bit marie kondo here but if that's what it takes...

Each month I will take home £1644. I'm rounding it down to £1640. Out of that, there's £400 rent + £250 debt repayment + £20 phone bill + £155 commuting costs = £825 fixed spends. That gives me £815 left per month and out of this I have to pay for groceries, iCloud subscription, any clothes, travel outside of London zones 1-4, socialising and any household bits and pieces that I buy. This doesn't take into consideration the £150 minimum per month that my OH is giving me because that's debt repayment and will go into my savings.

I'm going to try to split it like this:

15% groceries = £122.25
5% miscellaneous (includes iCloud and household stuff) = £40.75
30% socialising and travelling outside of London = £244.50
10% personal care - clothes, shoes, make up, toiletries = £81.50
20% house saving = £163
5% annual costs stuff (such as travelcard) = £40.75
15% holiday saving = £122.25

I'm going to start doing a spending diary again :eek: to make sure I stay in my very generous budget constraints.

I'm due to switch from two accounts in July and October respectively so I'll be keeping an eye out. Any extra money I make from surveys or account switches etc will also be proportioned out as above.

:A

Silver_Queen · 25 April 2018 at 5:29PM

Hmmmph. Payday today but I've been paid over £200 less than expected. I had a quick chat with accounts and it turns out they might have forgotten to add in my pay rise. Annoying because I've already been given a payslip which shows the right amount of pay so it seems like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

Never mind.

This weekend will be busy, I'm going back and forth to various places to see my friends. I'm looking forward to it though!

lonelyrat · 26 April 2018 at 11:11AM

I like the way you're going to be budgeting, I think it's a solid idea to split it up percentage- wise. I think I'll follow your lead when I'm debt free as will need a budget rehaul... At the moment my spending is very much:

income -regular dd/s - debt payments - spend what's left willy nilly (likely on food) = 0.

Hmm not ideal about the missing £200. Will they likely add it to next months wage for you? If so that could be nice, in a very roundabout way!

Have a good time with your friends this weekend

Silver_Queen · 26 April 2018 at 11:29AM

Fortunately they've now paid me the difference, yay!

Just a case of sorting out my accounts now so that I can split the percentages as above...I can't take credit for the idea as it was wholly stolen from TOPM!

My spending is mostly like yours too so I'm trying to take control of it and be sensible....not that I'm saying you're not sensible but you know what I mean:rotfl:

Silver_Queen · 26 April 2018 at 4:36PM

Just realised my response to you earlier sounded a bit rude lonelyrat...sorry! I didn't mean to be rude :eek: that's what I get for sneakily posting whilst at work.

Just came here to grumble about onepoll...I've been on £39.95 for ages!

onedaysomeday · 26 April 2018 at 4:51PM

Just read through your diary & subbing

lonelyrat · 26 April 2018 at 5:10PM

Haha! I don't think you sounded rude so don't worry about it! I definitely would benefit from categorising my spends more so think I'll employ the same tactic when I have some more cash to categorise :rotfl:

Glad they sorted it out and paid you

Silver_Queen · 26 April 2018 at 5:34PM

onedaysomeday wrote: »

Just read through your diary & subbing

:eek: That's brave of you! I wouldn't bother if I were you, it's a lot of changing my mind, moaning and being wishy washy :rotfl:

Silver_Queen · 27 April 2018 at 5:50PM

In the spirit of my new budget plan, here's my percentages this month. It's quite significantly less than it would usually be in a different month because I put Norway on a CC and it's due to be paid this month. I also paid for everything and my OH will be paying me back. Lightbulb definitely flickering. Oops.

I currently have £315 in my account after rent, debt repayment, phone bill and monthly travel. I should get around £300 from OH once he gets paid on Monday as part-payment of his debt to me but I'll add that in as and when.

15% groceries = currently at a measly £47.25! Theoretically doable thanks to the enormous amounts of food that we have in the house and the fact that this will technically be 50% of the pot (my sister will contribute the other 50%). Also will increase once I get money from OH. If not, I will rob the socialising pot.
5% miscellaneous (includes iCloud and household stuff) = £15.75
30% socialising and travelling outside of London = £94.50 - this will be the first to suffer if I can't afford food this month.
10% personal care - clothes, shoes, make up, toiletries = £31.50 - I don't anticipate spending this much this month as I spent about £200 on clothes, shoes and make up last month.
20% house saving = £63
5% annual costs stuff (such as travelcard) = £15.75
15% holiday saving = £47.25

Should finally receive £40 from onepoll this month....only 5p to go....

Also haven't taken into consideration any money I'll get from my parents as a birthday gift. I'm seeing them this weekend. I think I'll get about £30-£50 but can't be sure...plus it feels a bit rude to budget a gift before getting the gift!

£15,000 to 0

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free