Trying to do everything all at once!

jvr · 21 February 2018 at 3:12PM

Forgot to add ... your SOA had both your incomes but only £200 but you are saying it will be £100 from OH £150 from you?

And def get those debts on 0% are you a member of martins credit club as will give you a very good idea of what you will be accepted for.

enthusiasticsaver · 21 February 2018 at 3:17PM

Good that you have a house renovations pot and yes that could double as an emergency fund. Aim for £1000 initially. After May I think it would be sensible to put a hold on the long haul holidays until the debt is a bit lower. On the plus side though you have savings for the holiday and flights are already paid for.

I think this is the point you can really make a difference to your future finances. Weddings and babies are expensive. Start saving for this and look for cheaper holidays while paying down the debt. Saving for things is the way to go rather than automatically sticking it on finance or a card. 0% is good but you are still having to make the monthly payments which affects your disposable income.

Good luck.

You would need a money transfer card to transfer the overdraft and I think if your credit rating is good it would be worth doing that for your credit card and overdraft. You would only need a limit of around £2k so hopefully that is doable. That would save you on interest and bank charges.

Then remove the overdraft limit down to a very low buffer in case of forgotten direct debits etc and don't use the old credit card. I would hesitate to say close it as the general advice is keep the oldest, use it regularly and pay off in full each month to maintain a good credit history.

LiveLifeFull · 21 February 2018 at 3:19PM

jvr wrote: »

Forgot to add ... your SOA had both your incomes but only £200 but you are saying it will be £100 from OH £150 from you?

And def get those debts on 0% are you a member of martins credit club as will give you a very good idea of what you will be accepted for.

I've just edited the SOA to reflect the £250. It is much more realistic than £200. I am a member yes, will have to have a look tonight and see what is on offer for me.

I understand what you mean about the emergency fund. Sometimes I think, don't be stupid, just save for one in case anything happens, but the other side of me is saying "The money is just sitting there, where as it could be paying off debts". I do think we will save one though, its the more mature options for us, as if our boiler does go, we would be screwed.

enthusiasticsaver · 21 February 2018 at 3:23PM

We did the Harry Potter tour last year for my DDs 30th. The shop is great but why not just encourage your OH to go for one thing rather than going wild? Material things are all very good but in three or four years time will it still be used? I agree with jvr on that. My DD is treating me to a spa session/lunch for Mother's Day and my birthday combined. Afternoon tea is also great or a nice bunch of flowers. I am sure your mum will appreciate you thinking of her and spending time rather than spend more than you can afford. I know I would.

LiveLifeFull · 22 February 2018 at 11:04AM

Had an awful day yesterday. My granddad was taken to hospital, which is very scary, so I was at my nan's yesterday evening with my family. I got hardly anything done, understandably. So I've ended up buying lunch again at work due to lack of preparedness. But I don't care right now, I just hope he's okay.

Good news though - its pay day tomorrow. So I'll be off out tomorrow evening to do my low budget food shop at good old Ald! and sending things to various pots. Wild, wild Friday night!

I also considered everyone's comments yesterday about mothers day and my boyfriends birthday. I have decided I will spend approx. £30 on my mum instead, and we will spend the day together, she will still appreciate it, and at the moment, she's just going to need me around seeing as her dad is in hospital.
I've also planned not to spend the £160 on my partner for his birthday. We are, instead, going to go out for a meal, probably Nandos, as we both get student discount (I work for a university, and him the NHS) and then only buy him one thing in the Harry Potter shop. The rest is going into an emergency fund, which we are going to build upon every month. My boyfriend had his car MOT yesterday, and while it passed everything, they told him they don't think his clutch is going to last very long, so that is going to need replacing soon. So, with £200 in savings already for "house renovations/emergency fund" plus, whatever is left over from the £160, there should be a big chunk to put towards that.

TO-DO LIST
- Keep on top of work DONE ISH
- Investigate my pension NOT DONE
- Make lunch for tomorrow DONE
- Make dinner from stores DONE
- Do meal plan for Friday/Saturday/Sunday NOT DONE
- Another load of washing (never ending) DONE
- Clean Kitchen/Bathroom/Livingroom DONE
- Double check budget for next month DONE

Hope everyone is having a good day! I've got that "Its almost Friday feeling"

Onebrokelady · 22 February 2018 at 11:12AM

Just popped in to say hi,I’m also new to this so wontt offer advice just wanted to say good luck and I hope your Grandad recovers soon,I know what you mean about unexpected events messing up your plans though,my dad was taken into hospital the day before yesterday so my planned meals went out the window and I ended up with Dominoes :eek:

jvr · 22 February 2018 at 11:45AM

I'm so sorry about your granddad I really hope he makes a swift recovery. Of course you had to buy lunch and I would never feel bad under those circumstances.
Fab planning with mothers day and birthdays... you are learning and accepting change a lot quicker than I did.. I think I managed the first year of my diary to be in denial and not really take any advice haha

LiveLifeFull · 22 February 2018 at 12:37PM

You will need to bare with me.. I have thought about this everyday for years. But this is the dream I will work my hardest to achieve and make come true.

2018 - Debt free and save £1000.00 for holiday to Florida
2019 - Save another £5000 for holiday to Florida and £3000 towards wedding
2020 - Save Save Save for wedding
2021 - Get married and save for house deposit of new house.
2022 - Rent out current house and move into new house. Try for a baby. Save up for maternity.
2023 and Onwards: Overpay on mortgages, £100 per month into childs savings, and £150 a month into retirement fund which we will use to buy a campervan.

Basically, our plan is, to work our butts off over the next few years, and then we can reap the benefits later on in life. We really want to see the world, and if we had met each other sooner, we would have gone traveling together, but now we are smack bang in the middle of our careers, it would be foolish to leave now. In around 5 years time, we want to have two houses, living in one and renting the other. By the time is comes to retirement, we should hopefully be mortgage free on both, where we will sell one, and live off the rent from the other as we travel the world.

Regarding Florida - me and my OH are big, big kids. We want to see Florida on our own, and have an amazing time together, before we eventually, one day, hopefully, take our children with us.

I know "Life" happens, but everybody has a plan, and this is ours. We work bloody hard, and hopefully, if nothing bad happens, we can get there eventually! :T

LiveLifeFull · 23 February 2018 at 11:38AM

ITS PAYDAY! :j

I'm really proud of myself. Even though I've only paid minimum payments on my debt this month, I've listened to everyone's advice, and instead of spending loads of money on my OHs birthday, or starting a house renovations fund.. I've now started an emergency fund which stands at £370.02 :T

Small it may be.. it will at least cover the expense of a new clutch, which has the potential to go soon on my OHs car. So that's something! It feels quite good to have that money there. If only it was £4000, I'd feel secure enough if the boiler went :rotfl: Baby Steps.

Also.. another victory.. I BOUGHT MY OWN LUNCH TO WORK!! I am actually determined to keep this up. Not only will it save money, but it will stop us having so much food waste at home, and save my waistline a little.

I'm going to the cinema tonight, we are going to the singalong version of The Greatest Showman. I've already seen the movie, and we loved it that much, we are going again. We actually pay £17.95 per month for unlimited passes. We ALWAYS go to the cinema. I know people will tell us its an expense we can save on, but we honestly save more money with it. It stops us going out to other places where we would spend a fortune.

TO - DO LIST
- Menu plan for the next few days DONE
- Food shopping in Ald! DONE
- See the Greatest Showman and sing my little heart out DONE
- Clean kitchen/bathroom/living room DONE
- Keep on top of work DONE
- Make sure bank account is all as it should be DONE
- One load of washing DONE
- Research Pension NOT DONE

Happy Friday people!

LiveLifeFull · 23 February 2018 at 3:25PM

I have a question.

I am unsure what the best option would be for me. When we get out 1% pay rise, and when I go up an increment at work, I want to save the extra £20/30 I will get. However, I am not sure if it would be better to either stick it in a savings accounts with the highest interest I can get, or to increase my monthly payments to my work pension.

I'm kind of leaning towards a savings account, because if anything happens, that money can become available to me in an emergency, but then the down side of that is, that money can become available to me in an emergency. At least in my work pension, it cant be touched.

Hmmm, I will need to think on this.

Trying to do everything all at once!

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free