Afternoon Guys,


So paydays arrived, YNAB is up to date so just a case of keeping to the budget, for this month its as follows:


Share of rent £260.25 (week free due to easter)
New telephone for flat- £19.50 & washing basket £4
Car Tax £11.87
Council Tax £93
Mobile 1 -£12.50
Mobile 2 £14.99
Electric (save for quarterly bill)- £70
Gas (saving for quarterly bill) - £65
Amazon Prime £79
Groceries- £103.70 (bit low but have done 2 shops already so OH will pick up the slack/ contribute more to this.
Emergency Fund- £1666.67
Gifts- £30
Socialising/Fun fund- £116.64
Xmas Saving- £102
MOT- £60
Oyster Top Up - (£5) - for out of zones
Beauty- £10


Ive not given myself any clothing budget as I used the remainder of last months salary to buy a pair of trousers and shoes for work (£30). I really don't think I need anything.


I've transferred my emergency fund to an easy access account and will try to leave it there and not touch it. My Xmas Savings I've put £2 in my coin jar and sent the other £100 to purchase bonds- Ill cash them out at the end of the year, since I no longer play the lottery I may as well try and win something with them. Tempted to put my emergency fund in there but would take a few days to get the money paid into my account and that's not great in event of an actual emergency.


Only put £100 into Xmas Fund as the other £50 will go towards boosting fun money. I beefed up the Emergency fund too will try to aim for £1666.67 over the next 3 months to have it fully funded.


Not much has happened really this week, just been super busy at work. Im off over the Easter so that'll be nice- a "staycation", going to visit and catch up with friends, maybe a day trip with OH..oh and a afternoon tea and spa day booked (already paid for). Just realised I'm going to be petrol, left it out...darn it- will be taken from somewhere-there's always wiggle room (probably the gas).


Honestly really looking forward to some lie ins and time off to relax..cant wait. no sfd today as I need to get some pasta and a few other bits (milk, cheese, banana's)- have taken out £10 so will come from that, should help me to not to be tempted by anything else.


Made a batch of meatballs on Sunday, so will have that for tea, also have some left over roast chicken- assuming OH hasn't eaten it all, managed to do a quick stock take I think well be ok for meals until Sunday (shopping day).


Any Easter eggs for the children will be brought after Easter when the price drops down lol! Right back to work I go ... Have a wonderful day guys.


Sx

Afternoon guys,

Its been a little bit of a while...Ive been enjoying some time off work which has been lovely! I really needed it...not going away but a nice stay-cation of spa days, catching up with friends, lunches, cinema trips and spending time with family. Although I saved money by not going away as Ive done most years, Ive over spent on the social/fun money fund...by alot!! I also spent some money on the flat and shopping. Because of this I took £166.67 out of my emergency fund to cover trips out with friends. Ill adjust my figures. Thinking on it, I prob should have took it form the Christmas fund that the emergency fund.

I feel much better and more relaxed, ive spent more money than I should've done. Ive not gone into debt or anything like that but ive soaked up the money i put aside towards the quarterly bill payments, and then some. It tells me that not only was my will not as strong as I need it to be yet - I need to reign in spends, not buy so many rounds of drinks when im out, try to drink more non- alcohol drinks when out.
I spend way way to much on meals out on average about £20-£30 a day (thats just for me) so Im coming back to frugaldom...A MSE in training.

I did have a wonderful time with my friends though, I had missed that and (please dont judge) but it was nice to splurge a little.

Today is a tidy up day- washing ironing etc. OH has gone to see his pals so some me time, I probably wont see him till late tonight, my im home catching up on netflix documentaries in a bid to secure my first nsd of the month.

update of my budget so far-
Share of rent £260.25 (week free due to easter) Paid
New telephone for flat- £19.50 & washing basket £4 (plus kettle, tea towels, spice rack, dishwasher tabs, wicker baskets HB is a dangerous place! )
Car Tax £11.87
Council Tax £93
Mobile 1 -£12.50
Mobile 2 £14.99- paid
Electric (save for quarterly bill)- £70- spent in fun/dining out
Gas (saving for quarterly bill) - £65- spent in fun/dining out
Amazon Prime £79- Paid
Groceries- £103.70 (bit low but have done 2 shops already so OH will pick up the slack/ contribute more to this.- spent
Emergency Fund- £1666.67 £166.67 moved to grocery/slush fund so new balance £1500
Gifts- £30- £40 paid
Socialising/Fun fund- £116.64-spent
Xmas Saving- £102- saved in sep acc
MOT- £60- paid
Oyster Top Up - (£5) - for out of zones
Beauty- £10/£8 spent...

I need to get back to work- I don't spend money there ...off to get a cuppa and catch up on some diaries...happy Saturday guys x

Hi Shelbi,

Congratulations on being debt free!

Your diary reminds me of me, somewhat, Gawds help you!

I have also discovered Dave Ramsey. I don't know if you are aware but he has an app you can download onto your phone from which you can listen to/watch all his radio shows. I find it keeps me on track while listening to it on my phone while I'm making dinner. He does three hours worth every weekday so there will be plenty to listen to!

I've realised that going hard and fast, while very satisfying in the initial stages, is completely unsustainable on any sort of long-term basis. You appear to have reached the same conclusion.

For what it's worth, I think it's totally reasonable to have a blow out for a month once you have become debt-free as a reward for all your hard work. The only problem is if that continues every month following that as you will probably end up blasting through any savings and potentially getting yourself back to where you started.

As Dave says, if you have a big enough 'why' it will motivate you. What is yours? Buying a house? Wanting to be able to afford to have kids? Perhaps this is worth thinking about as now your initial goal (to become debt free) has elapsed, you may find yourself struggling if you do not have another one to replace it with.

Best of luck. I'm a part-time diary keeper as well. I don't know how some people find the time to update every day, but I'm envious of them!