My money diet

Edit: for 2017

So, first things first, a little bit about me!

My name is Laura, I'm 29, live with my fianc!, Tom (hence forth known as 'the boy') and I lightbulb switched on fairly recently!

I know it's not very MSE but we don't pool all our money together. Tom has recently been promoted (Feb 2017). Tom earns a little more than me, but at the moment we're not quite sure what the difference will be.

We have a joint account which covers bills, food shopping and this is where we are growing our emergency savings pot. We both but an equal share into the joint account, currently £850 each, we both contribute £100 each to savings account (for our wedding but this will increase substantially over this year).

I know where the problem is - I was looking at the sums in the joint account and realised that the extra £100 we were putting into the account (for the emergency fund) was being swallowed up by thoughtless spending - things we don't need like cushions and throws. We moved last year to our first home and my attempt of trying to make our home nice is resulting in all our money disappearing. We were trying to add an extra £100 into the account once a month but at the end of the month our outgoings outweighed what was coming in.

For example - some months have seen £1,410 going into the joint account and £1,495 went out. Part of this was down to a card payment to B and Q and £50 I withdrew to go out!!!!

This has to stop. We're not in a terrible state - we have a few joint debts (mortgage, 0% finance for sofa) and personal ones (both cars are on finance) and we are paying all our debts on time but we could be better at this!!! On a plus side I am overpaying on my credit card so that it's clear before 0% ends but I've got to put my foot down somewhere before it spirals out of control. (This is now paid off!!)

Our house is a bit of a fixer-upper which needs some work doing to it. Well, a lot of work doing to it but I have to prioritise this and plan/budget accordingly. One room a year is the plan (and we've spent about £2,300 on the living room dining room as it is and it's not finished yet (this included a plasterer and new radiators as well as paint plus the sofa). We can't get anything else on finance. We'll just have to save, cue this diary and our money diet!!!

2017 Plan

MBNA Card - this needs to be paid off before 16th February. Done!

Emergency Fund - Target of £1,000 (target of £750 until the wedding as extra money will be pumped into wedding fund).

2017 is all about saving money for the wedding. That is the main priority - we've moved our wedding forward to accommodate my grandad so it's inevitable some will be placed on a Credit Card, but the least amount the better!

NEW - Wedding fund plan

Dec 2016 - £200 into wedding account - Done
Jan 2017 - £200 into wedding account - Done
Feb 2017 - £300 into wedding account (extra 50 as credit card should have been paid off by then and Tom's pay rise will start Feb) - Done
March 2017 - £300 into wedding account Done
April 2017- £400 into wedding account (Emergency fund should be adequate at this point) - Done
May 2017 - £400 into wedding account - Done
June 2017 - £400 into wedding account
July 2017 - £470 into wedding account (sofa will have now been paid off so extra £70 into wedding fund)
August 2017 - £470 into wedding account
September 2017 - £470 into wedding account
October 2017 - £470 into wedding account

This will be tough - no mistaking it, but it will be worth it. Wedding will be 5th November 2017! Tom received a promotion this year so we'll need to see what difference that will make to his take-home pay. We'll find that out at the end of Feb.