2018 Benbenandme's Next Battle

So, my SOA:

Income:

Wages £1208
Child Benefit £82
Tax Credits £290
CSA £360

Total = £1940

Outgoings:

Mortgage £346 (fixed for 5 years)
Council Tax £149 (should be lower in April, was higher as paid over 8 months)
Life Insurance £29
Home Insurance £15
Water £35
Gas/Electric £76
Car tax £12
Car Insurance £25
Car Maintenance £30(put in savings account)
Mobile £21 (out of contract in Feb so will be reducing to SIM only)
Sky £55 (phone, broadband and tv)
TV licence £12
Union £9
Spotify £10
Gift fund £50
Car Fund £50 (put in savings account)
Household Fund £100 (put in savings account)
Petrol £100
Food £250
Payment towards repaying brothers loan £350
Ds train club £4
Haircuts £12

TOTAL: £1740

Remaining £200 per month for day to day spends

My next post will explain my targets for the 12 months ahead ...

So, 2018 .....

I am still jiggling some bits about, but by the end of 2017 the state of play should be as follows:

Mortgage - £73, 102 / £75,000

Brothers Loan - £9,500 / £30,000

I have 12 months to work on these figures, I have planned and mind-mapped lots over the last few days and I think I have a pretty clear plan of action;

I aim to knock £500 a month off my brothers loan, £350 of this comes straight from my wages, the other £150 has to be 'found'. I have already got a structure in place for where this will come from, so £6,000 in total over the year is broken down as follows:

£350 x 12 = £4200 from wages
£250 from bank switch offer (due January)
£130 from another bank switch offer (due Jan/Feb)
£82 child benefit payment (13 payments over 12 months)
£290 tax credit payment (13 payments over 12 months)
£200 ebay
£500 surveys
£200 Swagbucks
£120 Job Spotter
£28 other ...

I have been earning from online surveys etc for years, this is an achievable target for this. Likewise, Swagbucks is a dull but reliable source of pennies. Currently I have been redeeming my points for Amazon vouchers then using this to buy gifts and transferring the money from my gift fund. I will see how it goes, I may continue this or I may just cash out to paypal from Swagbucks.

Job Spotter is a fab app I have been using for a couple of months, another east way to add in some more £££'s here and there.

So, so far it all seems quite straight forward, however, as always, things don't ever go to plan quite like that. There are other bits and pieces that may bring in some more money here and there, this will go into a 2018 fund which will be used for any unexpected costs as there is very little leeway in my monthly budget, so for example school uniform costs in the summer. If there is a surplus at the end of the year (unlikely) this will then be chucked into the pot towards my brothers loan.

We do have some nice days out to look forward to already in the new year, and we also have a holiday booked for the summer, a rare event for us. We are going on a cruise, I am stupidly excited about this, I have managed to save almost all of the cost of it and will dip into my household savings pot to find the last £80 so I can get this finished before the new year begins

So, two days to get everything straight and in place ready for the new year to begin. That means moving money between accounts, checking all my survey accounts, reading lots more on here to find every little way possible to make those extra pennies Please stick around!!