My savings diary

A question about : My savings diary

Hello,

Well I've been saving for the deposit on my first home and have been posting along with many others on the We're saving for a deposit thread admittedly intermittenly, but I do keep up to date reading it: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...89675&page=120

I've decided to now keep a log of my progress all in one place to keep track of everything and keep me motivated.

I am currently a full-time student and work part-time, since becoming a student again my savings progress has slowed right down, but thankfully still ticking over in the right direction - I will hopefully have a full-time job come Sept 2011 or soon afterwards and then I will be better placed to save more (otherwise I will see my deposit savings moving in the opposite direction!)

I hope to have a deposit and all other expenses/costs together somewhere around 2014/15, but this will depend on many factors mainly location and job (but as I start to make progress I will be able to set more accurate goals and targets)

What I need to save for (still need to work out more accurately how much I will need for each, and focusing on the house deposit for now. I think I will need about Ј50,000)
- house deposit
- house buying and moving expenses
- emergency savings

Savings to go Ј31,089
But only Ј1,089 until my first target is met! (aim to have this by Sept)

Savings to go including interest free O/D Ј32,340
But only Ј2,340 until my first target is met! (aim to have this by Sept)

D9

Currently managing to save between Ј300 and Ј450 per month.

(If this thread would be better placed somewhere else then please move it?!)

Best answers:

• Right, this is my SOA and I think it is fairly accurate. And for now, I am happy with it.
  Household Information
  Number of adults in household........... 2
  Number of cars owned.................... 0 - My OH does have a car but he pays for this from his personal income rather than household income , so not included here
  Monthly Income Details
  Monthly income after tax................ 1100 This is all my income
  Partners monthly income after tax....... 625 This in my OH's contribution to household bills
  Other income............................ 0 - I occasionally earn extra, but not often enough to consider it regular income (when it arrives it goes straight in to savings)
  Total monthly income.................... 1725
  Monthly Expense Details
  Rent.................................... 550
  Council tax............................. 104.76 - this includes the 25% discount for me being a full-time student, and we pay over 10 (as it suits us)
  Electricity and Gas..................................... 49
  Water rates............................. 45 - This is high, we are on a meter, but can't figure out why it's so high: currently trying to monitor our usage
  Telephone (land line)................... 11.5 - This is home phone and internet together for Ј23 pm, it's inclusive of free national and international calls
  Mobile phone............................ 10 - This is a SIM only contract with calls and texts included, and I barely use it - considering PAYG, but really don't want to change my number
  TV Licence.............................. 12.37
  Internet Services....................... 11.5 - as above
  Groceries etc. ......................... 125 - This is for all meals (BLD) - we always take packed lunches, we batch cook and meal plan
  Clothing................................ 15 - To be honest I rarely spend this
  Petrol/diesel........................... 30 - This is my contribution to the running of the car - I use it for practicing driving etc
  Road tax................................ 0 - OH pays this and the following, as his car
  Car Insurance........................... 0
  Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
  Car parking............................. 0
  Other travel............................ 60 This is for bus fares to/from Uni. everyday, over the winter months this is what I pay for a monthly ticket, but now it's summer I usually walk or cycle, but budget for it as I do still occasionally take the bus if running late or it's raining (what doesn't get spent goes into savings)
  Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 13 - this covers the dentist, and the occasional prescription
  Pet insurance/vet bills................. 50 - we are self-insuring our two Moggies and this goes into an account just for them, flea prevention and worming tablets currently come from this, the rest gets saved - once we have a decent amount saved up to cover an emergency if one crop up then we will reduce (not had them long)
  Contents insurance...................... 15 - includes contents and accidental damage to LL property
  Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25 - I buy these as and when I see good deals on things and keep them
  Haircuts................................ 15
  Entertainment........................... 45 - This covers Ј10 a week for coffees or other personal spends and minimum Love Film subscription (which we do use, but may cancel over the summer)
  Holiday................................. 25 - Mostly used for visiting family
  Emergency fund.......................... 15
  Driving lessons......................... 80 - Need this, test booked for July (so hopefully this expense will be gone then), but should be beneficial for when I start to look for full-time jobs
  Gym..........................................21.50 - I use it a few times a week so I'll keep it, but I can cancel with a month's notice if I stop using it
  Total monthly expenses.................. 1328.63
  Monthly Budget Summary
  Total monthly income.................... 1,725
  Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,327.63
  Available for debt repayments........... 396.37 - Ј300 of this goes to a regular saver, the remainder stays in my current account until the end of the month then gets transferred to savings (occasionally spend from it if there's something I really want to see in the theatre/cinema/concerts/gigs/etc etc, or visiting friends out of town, or any other things like this, that are non-essential and not budgeted for elsewhere)
  Amount left after debt repayments....... 396.37
  The only debt I have is my student OD for Ј1200, it's interest free, and will remain interest free 2 years after graduation - so happy to ignore this for now (could cover it in full if bank demanded it back though)
  Not listed my savings accounts etc at the moment as I am currently re-shuffling them at the moment to get the best (although still not great) interest rates from them - will list when completed
• Il follow with interest...sooner soa is up sooner you get going!
• Hi Rictus, thanks for the interest.
  SOA is up, but to be honest I don't think it can be paired down any further - I think I have got the balance right at the moment between saving and having a life. As it's going to be at least another 3 or 4 years of saving, I don't want my SOA to be unsustainably tight. If it were a shorter term goal I would cut back further to boost savings, but for the moment I am in no hurry - just so long as I keep moving in the right direction I will be happy. And for now I am going to be concentrating on the little things to boost my savings.
  Goals for the next week (or two):
  *review savings accounts and ensure that they are earning the best interest rates available
  *keep up to date with surveys
  *have a good clear out and make a pile of things to amazon/e-bay/gumtree (pile is made, descriptions written, photos taken etc for e-bay - will keep until there's a free listing day though. DVD's and books are on Amazon though, and a couple of things I still need to get ready for Gumtree - just waiting for OH to help with moving them for photos)
  D9
• Well, I intend on always making packed lunches - which I generally do most of the time anyway, but every now and again I get a bit lazy with this, especially when I am very busy, which at the moment is often. So if I get ahead with the preperation at weekends it should mean little effort is needed through the week.
  For this week I have made a batch of H/M soup and it's ready in portions in the freezer. I also have bread rolls from tesco which were reduced to 30p for four (and I bought three packs - 2 in the freezer and one in the fridge). So that's this weeks lunches sorted.
  It's the small things at the moment - and I think the soup probably cost around 20p a portion to make - I would have made more, but there's very little space left in the freezer at the moment (but that's good and means I won't need to visit any of the supermarkets for a good while).
• Thanks for your reminders, i should keep a savings diary, maybe it can help me save more.
• Well after an expensive month I am pleased I have been able to save anything. Paid today, so the targets are sitting at:
  Savings to go including interest free O/D Ј31,954
  But only Ј1,954 until my first target is met! (aim to have this by Sept)
• Well, after a payout from Quidco, and monthly interest added to savings my numbers are:
  Total to go: Ј31,855
  But only Ј1,855 before my first target! (Sept)
  The small things I've done this week to save the pennies are:
  *Turn the thermostat down on the hot water boiler (from 60 to 50 - it's made no noticable difference when showering/bathing or doing the washing up) -
  *Taken packed lunches to the office everyday
  *Filled in surveys - and I've ordered a Ј10 Tesco through the rewards
  *Had a proper clear out of CD's, DVD's and books - all in the process of being listed on amazon, about half way there
  June is the month that we get out utilities bill (gas/electric) and if it's still in credit (should be) then will claim this back
• Hello Domino9 i will be subscribing to your diary. good luck with saving towards your target goal
  Sylvia
• Well, I had a good June!
  Well great news, not only are we still in credit with the gas and electric provider, this is more than I thought. This month they are taking no payment and they are instead giving us an automated refund! Yeay! Also G & E combined DD will then be reduced from Ј75 (I knew this would be too much, but I think they estimated it on the usage of previous occupants of the property!!) to Ј49 combined (not sure the split, but I am sure that it will be more than enough to cover out usage). (need to update this in my SOA properly, kind of edited it, but need to do this properly, amd make sure totals are all accurate)
  I have been really good with the packed lunches, so no bought lunches had by me in June (except one, which was planned and wsa for a birthday at work - but I don't ming, once in a while is fine by me - everyone deserves a treat!)
  Also kept up to date with surveys online!! (just need to update my signature on that one still!)
  Running totals are:
  Total to go: Ј30,855
  But only Ј855 before my first target! (Sept)
  Hopefully I should make it!
  D9
• Hi Domino,
  Just read your thread after you thanked a post of mine on the saving for a deposit thread......I will be watching in interest (have subscribed to your thread) and you've inspired me to start a savings thread of my own
• Well, althogh I've not been very pro-active with my deposit saving the we while, I am still on target for my September target.
  I've been too busy to do too much money making, but I've also been too busy too do much money spending - so it seems to have balanced out well, and I've transfered some more over from my current account to savings.
  Running totals to go:
  Ј30,600
  But only Ј600 to go before Sept!
• Doing well Domino!! Im sure you will get there..even before Sept.
• Maybe I'll follow all the advice here. I'm a bad money spender. I want to save money.
• Well I've been paid, so made a monthly transfer over to savings - I'll update again later on in August, as I think that I should be able to save a few more pennies than I have so far, but I'll wait until a little later in the month before I do that to be on the safe side.
  Running totals to go:
  Ј30,300
  But only Ј300 to go before Sept!
• Well things have not been going that well on the savings front. Have had a very poorly cat (who we'd recently decided to self-insure!!), so savings have taken a hit with the vet bills (well worth it though).
  Running totals:
  Ј30747
  But (only?) Ј747 before September target!!
• Well I'm still expecting another bit to add to the pot this month (from expenses claimed back), and will add this on when the cheque comes through (hopefully within the week):
  But so far this month, my running totals are:
  Ј30690
  But (only?) Ј690 before September target!!
  I am hoping that I can still achieve my Sept. target, so the next month will be a very tight one if I hope to even come close. Although I still have one more pay to go, so it's not a complete loss yet!
  D9
• hi,
  i'm new too your thread and maybe you've made some changes now but i think that your mobile can be slashed and you can keep your number. I'm on three and pay 5.32 a month, have also seen deals on the forum. So look out. Also think that 125 is high for 2 people. Check out grocery challenge thread. I'm also saving and know it is tough especially now.
• My running totals are:
  Ј30574
  But Ј574 before September target!!
  I still have my pay at the end of september to make up the last wee bit of my target, and I think I can do it if there are no surprise expenses.
• I'm going to follow this with interest so that when I get my debts down I can start saving - you'll be my inspiration