Savings for the Boy & Me

savingwannabe · 15 July 2018 at 9:56AM

The weather is going to be gorgeous till at least next weekend and maybe even then.

It sounds like he will have a lovely summer. Hooray.

Chandelier. · 15 July 2018 at 10:13AM

Morning,

I'm just going through my budget for our Caribbean cruise and have broke it down into different categories.

Flights: £500.00. (I've upped the budget for this one as I'm not quite sure the exact prices but we've already put down a deposit).
Airport Transfer: £50.00. (I've worked out roughly what this should cost as the taxi will be split between five of us).
Hotel: £100.00. (An overnight stay in a hotel in Miami. I'll pay for one night, my mum will pay for the other so we are even).
Food/Drinks: £350.00. (We have to buy drink packages onboard so this should more then cover that. I'll choose a package that suits me and the boy can have whatever. I'm not getting him a seperate one as it would just bump up the costs and wouldn't be cost effective).
Excursions: £800.00. (We will be doing quite a few so I have set aside a good amount. I'll have a shop around with all the excursions to see what is what and whether they are worth it).
School fine: £60.00. (I'll get fined for taking him out of school so I have included this here).
Clothing: £200.00. (I'm going to aim to lose some weight so I fit into what clothes I have and I don't plan on buying much for the boy apart from essentials. I'm hoping to stay within this budget but if it goes over, I'm okay with that).
Other: £300.00. (This is for anything extra and allows me some wiggle room within the other budgets).

Total: £2360.00

I've got over half saved so far and any other savings over the next few months will go towards this and any leftovers from other budgets. I also have my 0% card which I can possibly use for some things such as excursions etc and anything I spend on it I'll pay back monthly. I won't treat it as a debt as such as I'll already have the money set aside in an account. This can also help towards building a solid credit history.

Chandelier. · 15 July 2018 at 10:44AM

Once all my upcoming holidays/special occasions/other expenses are over, I've been thinking of other things I can do/save for. I want to make sure every penny has a purpose each month and then I'm not tempted to overspend or use money elsewhere. I'll just rename the accounts I have.

In regards to travelling next year I'll be saving for the following:-

- Amsterdam Fund: £50 per month. (I'm hoping to go for a weekend or midweek break to here with a friend maybe mid next year. I will source out cheap flights and basic accomodation so it does not end up too expensive).

- Europe Fund: £200 per month. (By the time the summer comes around I'll have roughly £2000 saved for this. I'll book flights/travel and accomodation seperately and will look out for the best deals possible. This should also hopefully account for days out and include the costs of food. The boys grandparents may join us for part of it as the plan was to visit Disneyland Paris but we will see. Whatever happens I'm sure it will be good. I just need to request and put in for holiday leave at work as this will have to be approved. We are looking at around three weeks in total, maybe slightly over).

- New York Fund: £100 per month. (By the time we look to go next year, I'll have roughly £1400 saved
Myself and my friend will source out the best flight/accomodation deals and will most likely stick to a budget there. We mainly want to go sightseeing and aren't really interested in the shopping aspect).

I have also decided I want to decorate my bedroom in the upcoming months so I'm going to start a fund for that. I'm not sure how much I'll put into this but I'll do it bit by bit. I'm not starting anything just yet as I need to sort my bedroom out first and declutter.

Chandelier. · 19 July 2018 at 7:38AM

Morning!

We've been up bright and early as the boy was due to have an ice skating session which for some reason did not materialise so he just did some practicing instead.

I'm going to get the last few bits of shopping done ready for his party. The weather looks like it's set for rain which I'm gutted about but the sleepover will go ahead as planned and I can always create a den for them inside to sleep under.

So I just need to buy food items in and will get a selection of different things such as snacks etc and a birthday cake. Then there is just the funds for the activity for them all the following days. I need to figure out an action plan of what to do as a back up if it really does rain! I'm gutted about the weather forecast.

Chandelier. · 19 July 2018 at 8:04AM

I've compiled a budget that will happen from October onwards.

Bills.

- Rent: £200.00.
- Phone: £23.00.
- Gym: £22.50.
- Union: £16.40.
- Denplan: £11.99.
- Prescription: £10.40.
- Spotify: £9.99.
- Phone Insurance: £7.99.

Total: £302.27 per month.

Savings.

- HTB Isa: £200.00 per month.
- 5% Account: £300.00 per month.
- Amsterdam: £50.00 per month.
- Europe: £200.00 per month.
- New York: £100.00 per month.

Total: £850.00 per month.

Budgets

- Extra Curricular: £350.00 per month.
- Petrol: £80.00 per month.
- Car: £100.00 per month.
- Food shopping: £80.00 per month.
- Childcare: £50.00 per month.
- Registration fees: £15.00 per month.
- Birthdays: £30.00 per month.
- Christmas: £50.00 per month.
- Entertainment: £150.00 per month.
- Emergency Fund: £50.00 per month.

Total: £955.00 per month.

Overall outgoings per month; £2107.27.

Every penny has its place. I will have wiggle room in many budget areas.

savingwannabe · 19 July 2018 at 9:21AM

Hello, I hope it doesn't rain for the party. Well done on posting your budget. I am gobsmacked that your food bill is so low. £80 is brilliant how do you do it? I spend between £100 and £120 and there is only one of me. Good luck at party.

System · 19 July 2018 at 9:53AM

Chandelier. wrote: »

I've compiled a budget that will happen from October onwards.

Bills.

- Rent: £200.00.
- Phone: £23.00.
- Gym: £22.50.
- Union: £16.40.
- Denplan: £11.99.
- Prescription: £10.40.
- Spotify: £9.99.
- Phone Insurance: £7.99.

Total: £302.27 per month.

Savings.

- HTB Isa: £200.00 per month.
- 5% Account: £300.00 per month.
- Amsterdam: £50.00 per month.
- Europe: £200.00 per month.
- New York: £100.00 per month.

Total: £850.00 per month.

Budgets

- Extra Curricular: £350.00 per month.
- Petrol: £80.00 per month.
- Car: £100.00 per month.
- Food shopping: £80.00 per month.
- Childcare: £50.00 per month.
- Registration fees: £15.00 per month.
- Birthdays: £30.00 per month.
- Christmas: £50.00 per month.
- Entertainment: £150.00 per month.
- Emergency Fund: £50.00 per month.

Total: £955.00 per month.

Overall outgoings per month; £2107.27.

Every penny has its place. I will have wiggle room in many budget areas.

Good budget

Chandelier. · 20 July 2018 at 5:50AM

Saving, I pay half towards the food costs and so does my mum so the budget is £160 a month (for three of us and sometimes a lodger) so it works out at £80 per person, per month. I've taken on the roll of food shopping and keep to a budget each month.

Yesterday ended up very spendy due to a number of reasons. I'm going to wipe the rest of this month off and just focus on the upcoming months now. I need to return the first tent we bought. I've ended up buying yet another one as due to one of sons friends texting last minute saying he will now come, the three man tent definitely wouldn't have been big enough so I bought another four man tent which is an air one and much easier to put up. So once I return the original four man tent that will be £89.99 back in my pocket.

I have lost count of final figures of what I've spent for the boy's birthday but it definitely has come under budget for everything.

Chandelier. · 20 July 2018 at 6:32AM

Morning.

So today is the day the boy breaks up from school and is having his camping style sleep over.

I've dug out all my receipts and finalised all the budget areas. I've gone slightly over budget in one area but I actually don't mind because I spent less in others. I also spent quite a bit in the food area but that's because I've really stocked up on numerous drinks to cover the children's requirements but will have plenty left over to use over the upcoming six week holidays.

So here we go..

---

The Boys Birthday Budget/Finalised spends.

- Food: £26.54/£30.00. (This includes all food items, plenty of drinks, snacks and sweets to fill up the Mason jars as a "party bag").

- Activities: £92.18/£75.00. (I've bought numerous garden games and then we have the cost of the day out tomorrow. I've obviously gone over the budget here but I've planned lots of different activities and bought things for these such as water guns/balloons for a water fight, slime ball sets to make up their own slime, an archery set to play against each other and a few other games. Things like the archery set, water guns and other garden games will also get reused over the course of then summer so I'm not too fussed. The following days activity is at a climbing centre and costs £11.95 per child. I'll take my own drinks and snacks for the kids).

- Invites/Decs: £13.08/£15.00. (I have everything I need now decoration wise. I'll be putting them up today!).

- Cake: £7.29/£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/£50.00. (I will give this to the boy on his actual birthday which is in August).

Total Budgeted: £180.00.
Total Spent: £189.09
Overspent by: £8.09

---

So overall I dont think I've done too bad considering! I just hope the boy has a fantastic day and the weather holds out. Right at this moment its blue skies but we all know how quickly that can change and the forecast does say rain. Fingers crossed

!!

Chandelier. · 20 July 2018 at 8:10AM

Argh rain is forecast from 11am onwards, I'm so gutted. Hopefully the boys wont mind activity in the rain as its still pretty mild. I'll probably do all that of them still and then calm them down with a movie and popcorn. We have a very busy weekend ahead of us.

Today is obviously the boys birthday camping sleepover. Then tomorrow we are off to the climbing place followed by a BBQ at the boys friends house and another BBQ at my aunts which we will attend later on in the day. Then on Sunday the boy has ice skating. I still need to sort out some more lessons for him, I just haven't had the time and ice time has been reduced.

All will work out in the end though. My mental health isn't brilliant at the moment and I had a setback on Tuesday but I'm getting there. They said I could possibly have needed some respite/hospital admission to try and sort myself out but I refused. I think its given me a bit of a kick up the bum. I'll be planning my return to work for hopefully the beginning/middle of August. I need to get some more routine and structure back into my life and I don't want to be off too long as this could be detrimental to me or a further set back.

Anyway I hope everyone has a good weekend and I'll sure update at some point of what has happened and our wee adventures!

Savings for the Boy & Me

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