A little home to call my own

First of the month off to a good start.

Money transferred into SIPP and Forresters Friendly Tax Exempt account:) Interest paid on my Nationwide account £3.47:j and added in the £15 petrol money I was given last night for driving a friend to work and back for the week:T Which is £15 towards the £25 extra I am looking to add on top of the £625 payment to the house fund each month:T

Payday tomorrow (fortnightly pay) so I should get my payslip through via email tonight and then I can update my work pension totals:)

Tilly tidied 22p this morning too:D

Day off today, so heading into town to the office to fill out holiday form for April, and to do a few other errands. Going out for lunch with BF today, and am hoping to fit a little nap in this afternoon if I can:D

Tesco delivery due this evening between 5-6pm, that should see us sorted for the majority of the next weeks food, there may need to be a couple of top up shops, but won't be spending unless necessary :rotfl:

JD x

Payday:D

£75 sent across to other savings and a couple of FC payments in this morning too, pushing my house fund total up a tiny bit (can't wait to get the percentage to 2.5% instead of 2.48% (another £10 should get me there :rotfl:)

Interest on my current account in this morning £2.55 :j and checked payslip and updated my pension totals:T

Still planning stuff to do during half term which is my week off. Currently have arranged a takeaway and wine evening with my best friend at her house on the friday, dog grooming and haircuts for DS1 and myself on the monday, valentines meal out with BF on the wednesday , and out for a drink with another friend on the thursday:D Hoping to add in a cinema trip, lots of cheap dog walks, plus visit some family. Looks like being a pretty hectic week off, but I barely see anyone while I am working as any spare time is taken up with house, kids and sleeping :rotfl:

Up too early this morning (4am) :eek: so will be fit for nothing but bed when I get home from work tonight at 8pm . Currently have this weekend off, but that could yet change if some shifts come in:)

JD x

Pennystretcher - Thanks for your suggestion, I will have a think about it, but I am pretty tight to the wire as it is and I think I have a good balance of spending v saving. YNAB is my best friend:D

My savings percentage for January was 57.21% of my total income for the month. I don't have a TV, TV licence or Sky, just a Netflix subscription for one device at 5.99 per month. My dual fuel bill for a 4 bed house with 5 people in it is £60 per month. I spent £16 on clothes in 2017, and £14 on 'going out', although I did spend around £1000 on holidays last year (2 city breaks Vienna and France plus numerous camping trips, too many to count:D) You gotta have some luxuries :rotfl: Plus I would rather spend on experiences than stuff any day of the week:) I think if I was to cut back those kinds of things, life would not feel as enjoyable. I am happy to save a little slower while enjoying life a little more:D

I am totally pooped after todays 12 hour shift, but it went by quite quickly. I shall enjoy my weekend relaxing:) I did manage to pick up another 24 hours for next week at the home I was at today, so very pleased about that:T

Right, going to make a cuppa, then I am heading to bed:D

JD x

Oh and today was a NSD:D

Thanks Indebted It's taken a lot of time to build up to that kind of percentage.

I like to average over 40% for the year, some months are better than others depending on larger expense months (ie car insurance - paid in full, MOT, servicing, and birthday/christmas) I no longer save monthly for these things as I have my budget pretty fine tuned, I know what months cost me more (as above) so try and fit in paying towards holidays in the cheaper months. I also try and do a store cupboard challenge on the higher months, to balance out the higher spends if I can:) It all averages out in the end.

Last year I part-exed, my campervan for a motorhome (which is also my car), so put £1000 towards that and some extra spends on habitation check, new cooker, paint and flooring (she is an old girl 28 this year). The campervan was getting a little too small for my lot now which made it a bigger effort to get away, however as soon as I bought the new one we got away nearly every other weekend! Cost only really around £20 per night and we take all our own food, so very cheap breaks away:D I made all the new curtains for the van and am currently making new dinette cushions, all at very low expense as I am doing it all myself:)

Next weekend away booked for weekend before Easter, I can't wait:D