Saving for..?

Thank you thrifty-hayley Wow! I'm in awe that you can do £90 a month groceries! Took me some time to cut down to £100 but hey now I have no excuse to cut it further.

I forget that I am saving £200 every month at least and can get a little down when I see people having nice cars and houses and kids..

Well I spoke with someone on the Virgin forums, he said he has changed my contract back to what it originally was thought it hasn't updated on my account yet.. but soon as it does I'll be looking for a new deal and giving them notice! So that's another win for me. Before I started being more accountable for my money I would have just accepted it and let it come out my account.

Blonde moment today.. The office needed milk and I had a bunch of coppers in my purse that needed to go out. My petrol was down to 3 bars too, not sure how as I've barely used my car since I topped up 11 days ago but nonetheless, I'm going to be driving quite a bit the next few days and need the petrol to tide me over. Usually I wait until it's down to 2 bars then I top up £20. Generally it's £20 on payday, £20 two weeks later then a £15 buffer if I need more after that. I'll need the £15 extra for when my boyfriend comes in September as I'll need to pick him up and drop him off at the weekends. ANYWAY I got to the store and was 9p short in coppers for milk so I decided to use the coppers to buy rolls instead then planned to get milk at the petrol station when paying for the petrol.. Got back to work and realised I didn't have the milk! I couldn't go back to the office after having agreed to get the milk and the shop next door charges you on card payments under £5 and I didn't want to take £10 out the bank machine as having cash makes me actually spend more and I can't keep track. Luckily it was a nice day and I was able to walk down to a store that I could use card and not be charged for it - just felt a little embarassed using my car for such a small purchase, heh.

We keep saying we'll have a kitty in the office where we all put in £1 or so each a week to buy us all milk and any coffee or tea we need but we all kinda begrudge that as some people are office based and drink more coffee/tea, some of us only have one a day, some only drink tea and some don't have any at all, so it's a bit difficult to make it fair. We all sort of have our own tea/coffee and milk and sugar is generally bought by whoever notices it's running low!

So that's an extra £20 on petrol, £1 for milk (not counting the money for the rolls as it came from cash I found lying around when packing up for my move..) in my grocery budget. Still need to get milk for myself and I noticed a deal on one of my cashback apps which is two packets of crisps worth £3.25 for £1 and I'm a big crisp lover so I'm tempted to get that too. Only problem is this app needs to build up to £20 cashback before I can take it without a fee and it's only at around £5 right now... then again that extra £2.25 will bump it up and get me closer... right?!

Also, my managers last day is today. Though we all went out on Friday for a meal and drinks they've all used today as an excuse to go for another meal! I was tempted and could have used from the grocery + entertainment budget left over but checked the menu and I'm not paying £10 for a lunchtime meal. Yes if I hadn't already done it this month but that's far too much. So I'm saving there too.

Budget so far looks like this:

Entertainment: £57.80/£60
Shopping: £19.46/£25
Petrol: £40.83/£55

£6.55 from prolific now in savings.
£1.02 interest from my vantage account into savings.
I also have "Save the Change" where all transactions I make in my current account (minus DDs and SOs) get rounded up to the nearest £ and put into my savings.
Since payday (20th) I have saved £4.59 with the save the change.
So since payday savings are:
In: £15.54
Out: 390.37 for my clutch
Overall: -374.83

Help2Buy ISA: 6584.95
Emergency Fund: 1762.82

Still have some prolific pending and to come out though not really getting any anymore. Will also be cancelling Virgin Media (if they let me!) tomorrow and getting a new deal and hopefully some cashback. £1.50 grocery budget left and will probably need to get milk as making mac&cheese on Sunday. Still have £200 to go into my Help to Buy in the next week. Nothing much else to report, going to be a weekend of cancelling and cleaning.

Thank you savingswannabe. It's really quite warm here today!

I contacted V. Media but they said they would only accept a cancellation EXACTLY 30 days before. I couldn't give more notice which is annoying and he kept telling me I already have a good deal and he couldn't give me a lower price - I wasn't asking for one! It's such a hassle just to cancel.

Speaking of "haggling" - I have a keyboard up for sale at a bargain £10 and someone keeps messaging me trying to get it for £5. When I was selling my white goods, I had my oven up for £90 and it was great condition less than a year old but I kept get very pushy messages asking for it for less! I won't be letting anyone near my home (especially after my car incident) for less than £50 tbh I'll be delivering all my current goods up for sale. I live alone and I'm quite vulnerable and very petite and don't like the thought of someone coming into my home and trying to haggle me and making me uncomfortable. A friend of mine had her fridge freezer up for sale and arranged it with someone, when he got there he haggled her down and she felt she couldn't say no. Then he asked her to help put it into his tiny car! Fortunately for her she has a partner living with her. When I sold my white goods I was lucky to get a family who were moving into a new home and bought all the white goods I had up which was less stressful for all involved and they were a really lovely couple. When I bought my microwave I was invited in by the lovely couple selling it and they showed me how to use it and even carried it to my car for me and we had a nice chat. But for me personally I don't want strangers in my home. I wonder how other people feel about it.

Put another 7.50 to be cashed out from prolific. Started a £2 survey yesterday and only just timed out which was a bit annoying but got a £2.90 one today. I have in the past scoffed at people doing these coupons and survey things because I didn't think £10, £20, £50 was a lot in the grand scheme of things but these little surveys will pay for me to get a cinema ticket or pay towards my food or unexpected higher bills so it's worth it.

Today, other than cleaning, I fixed the headboard of my bed but not without snapping a little bit of wood first Honestly, when I wasn't struggling with money I probably would have used that as an excuse to go get a new one or pay someone to fix it but now I do all my DIY myself! Growing up I didn't have a father but my mum would get her brother in laws to fix everything so I never really learned anything and just assumed women couldn't do it but most of it is actually quite easy! Have I missed my calling in life?? I love the satisfaction of figuring something out and fixing it by myself!

Thanks very much for the advice MovingForward

Can see the book super cheap on amazon plus free delivery! I need quite a few things from Amazon so will add it to my last - will come in handy for both me and my student boyfriend!

Yeah the car frame has been damaged too and the rubber seal keeps falling down. I have a window though so I'm happy. Might need to be replaced when the winter comes to stop frost getting in. I don't think they were able to reach the lock and that's why it was just stuff in the passenger side that was stolen. Oh well, happy to have my car back so I can actually work. I use my car to get to and transport vulnerable people but that's not something people think about when they break in and get what they want!

Yeah I'm focusing on building up my savings to £3000 for a 3-and-a-bit months emergency fund then another account for everything else/spending. Currently I don't really have big goals in mind for the next few years so I'm not as organized about my saving. I have "Save the Change" with Bank of Scotland and that automatically saves penies for me but will have a think about that too.

Unfortunately all our YS foods are crappy, it's all expensive food reduced but still expensive.

Didn't realise a nectar card could be used on Ebay! Will keep that in mind as I do have one. Infact could probably get the book and other things from ebay and use my nectar card if it allows me.

Thanks for all advice really appreciate it.

Just need to clean out a cupboard and hoover and mop but that can wait until tomorrow. Just chilling now doing surveys and competitions. Been busy the past few weekends moving, leaving parties, hen do's. I never used to have a social life until my new job and whilst it can start to get expensive I'm grateful because I used to be really socially isolated and it's doing wonders for my confidence