A question about : Ready to start moving up in the world! My Diary :)
Hi All,
I’ve found a lot of inspiration on the diaries on here and finally decided to do one myself. I’ve always been sensible with money but recently I’m not proud of myself and my spending habits. 
I changed jobs and moved 150 miles from my home-county in July, this came bearing heavy costs for me. To start with I borrowed Ј2550 from my grandmother for the deposit, check-in fee, Ј504 rent up-front in order to avoid paying Ј90 to have a guarantor (this was knocked off my monthly rent so made sense rather than pay an additional Ј90) and the admin fee.
I’ve never had to pay such high rent before (Ј733 a month for a pokey flat). I am coming from Ј284 a month rent so this has been a big shocker for me.
I also had never lived in an unfurnished place before so had the cost of furniture to consider. I was very frugal and found pieces in charity shops, facebook selling pages or gumtree for Ј20 or less and sanded and painted them (to the compliments of all my guests, so I’m really pleased) I managed to find a free sofa and hired a rug doctor (halved cost with my mum so she could use it on her carpets) to get it clean and it’s brilliant! However when I moved I still had to buy a wardrobe from IKEA that is less than stable so will need replacing soon and little bits and bobs like a rug for the living room, a coffee table etc.
When I arrived in my new home I had paid off my CC, which I had used for odd purchases now and again but primarily to pay for my car. It’s a 0% interest card that runs until next January but since moving in I’ve had so many things build up that I’ve re-built the debt back up to Ј750. Thankfully, I immediately paid back my student overdraft when I started working last year so I don’t have any overdraft to consider like many of my graduate friends but may as well now because I have this debt! I now own my car outright and insurance is coming up for renewal!
I freelance in addition to my monthly salary to supplement my income but I need to get out of the habit of paying off my credit card in full and then building it back up again. Ideally I want to pay back this Ј750 and then close it so I can focus solely upon re-paying my grandmother the money she kindly let me borrow. She has told me she doesn’t want me to go without in order to pay her back but I cannot STAND debt so want it shifted ASAP. I hate it!! It weighs so heavy on my mind! Plus as the money she lent me includes a deposit the quicker I pay it back the quicker my money held in deposit will be money I can use towards a mortgage as that’s my ultimate goal.
My biggest issue is homeware at the moment. My flat feels so bare and not at all homey so I’m struggling to resist buying things. I’ve drawn up a list of things I *NEED* for my flat to function. 
I suffer greatly with a blood condition which makes me feel very tired and lethargic at times, I’m struggling now I live alone to find motivation to get up and go! I get home, do the dishes, put the laundry in or hoover and then I’m ready to sleep or veg out! Thankfully I have the ability to go home on my lunch breaks and usually potter about then so I’m planning on using this time in a sensible fashion and making all the phone-calls I need to etc. in that time. It also means I don’t buy my lunch every day but instead have things like leftovers from the night before or something from the cupboard.
SOA to follow! 
I’m excited to start my journey!
Best answers:
- Income:
Ј1454 PM Annual Salary
Ј??? Freelance (Entirely dependent on which jobs accept my proposals)
Definite Outgoings:
Bills:
Rent - Ј733
Council Tax - Ј89.10
TalkTalk Internet & Landline (unused) - Ј29.10
Vodafone Bill - Ј33.71
Electricity & Gas (Yet to find out! Not had a bill yet)
Water - Ј14 pm (On average)
Estimated Outgoings:
Petrol - Ј60pm
Food - Ј120pm
Eating Out/Trips Back Home - Ј100pm
Goals:
CC Ј200 PM
Family Debt Ј42 pm Direct Debit
Family Debt Ј100 Freelance wages
Ј1520 Per Month TOTAL
-Ј66 from salary (not including freelance) - So last night I decided to use up ingredients I had in my fridge/pantry and made around 19 American-style pancakes, using a smidge of self-raising flour, 2 eggs, oats and one carton of rice milk for my dairy intolerance. I froze them in portions of 3 (and had one with honey to celebrate) and will defrost them for breakfast at work, starting early meant the work sandwich van started to become my best friend and that has been encouraging me to take out cash to have in my purse ready for the unhealthy snacks.
I'm supposed to be going out to Wagamamas with the OH and his best friend tomorrow but I'm going to suggest we go somewhere else that we can utilise my tastecard and some vouchers to combat costs as I don't have much in my account and payday is still 15 days away. We're having a night in tonight and I'm making lasagne using ingredients I've got in the freezer, fridge and cupboard. It's important to stop buying excessively and use up what I have first..... I'm a sucker for 3 for Ј10 deals on meat! - Hello Sauce!
Was attracted to your diary after reading through as we seem to be in very similar circumstances, and on exactly the same wage.
Your outgoings per month seem quite hefty in comparison to mine. But let's break it down see if I can't offer any help.
Now your rent jumped up hugely, so did mine but not as much as yours, I can only assume that you now live in the London area or something? With price like that. That or you are definitely living alone in a 1 bed studio flat to have to pay that much. (Btw yeah the getting setup fees in a new place are atrocious, you need so much dosh on hand to pay rent up front, fees, deposit etc, nightmare)
If so, then I would implore you to consider sharing with at least one other person in the same property or if not possible another one? There's lots of sites like SpareRoom to help you find people to share with. It's really not that bad, right now myself I live with 6 or 7 other people in a three storey house, and whilst its not something I prefer I keep to myself and the people are all decent anyway. It's worth it if it means reducing that rent, which is such a killer for many of us (like me), do whatever you can to bring it down and you will have more money for everything else!
Right so you say your TalkTalk is unused? Does that mean you can try cancelling it and save yourself some bucks?
With the estimated outgoings, me personally I don't bother doing that as it always fluctuates or is lower depending on how successful you've been in that month money saving!
So for me, after the 'definite outgoings' I would say you have a budget of Ј555.09 left (there's probably more coming off this for definite, which you might want to add into that category).
Then I'd do something like divide it by the average weeks in a calendar month, which is somewhere around 4.5, and you end up with approx Ј123 per week.
With that amount I then budget for the week according to that number, from monday to sunday, I cannot spend anymore than that amount, and you tend to make good choices this way, it works for me anyway. If you do go over, then you take the over amount out of next weeks budget, so you become more scrupulous the next week for having treated yourself too much the previous. Balancing it out.
This works for me, you might have a better solution. - Hi Joe,
Thanks for your response!
Quote: - So yesterday I went out to Wagamama's for dinner with 2 friends. We all had a decent sized meal and I used a voucher I had, which brought the cost down to Ј10. Aside from that I haven't spent a penny this week on anything! Really pleased as every day before I was nipping to the local shop or using the sandwich van at work. Though I must admit bringing in healthy food has left my stomach rumbling on more than one occasion, need to learn to make and pack bigger portions.
My plan for meals out etc. is to start utilising my TasteCard that I get for free with my bank account, there are so many 2 for 1 offers and it has just sat in my purse unloved... If I'm going out with friends I may as well reduce my cost!! - Joe Jester!!! That app you suggested is incredible and has saved me so much time, now I can just take the totals for my categories like clothes, entertainment etc. and add them to my spreadsheet.
This weekend I spent nothing as I did a 13 mile walk for charity and then stayed home recovering yesterday.
Car insurance is up for renewal next month so I've been hunting around for the cheapest deal. So far it's Ј423 for the year :'[ the money I've saved to pay off my family debt is going on it which is disappointing but I've listed loads of stuff on eBay that is selling well and I have 2 very expensive pieces of furniture to sell so I'm hoping to re-coup about Ј400 in total, so far I'm completely on track for that I've also found a Ј75 cashback deal, but you can never count on that until the money comes in.. so hopefully I won't be too badly out of pocket :']
I've decided to set up a savings goal because I want to go to NYC next summer to visit my friend... No hotel expense and he will feed me but I've gotta save hard for flights and spending so I'm sending money to an account I don't have access to (Set-up with my parents having access and not me) and pretending it doesn't exist. Let's see how much I can save in 6 months! I convert my tesco clubcard points in to airmiles (I only now use clubcard for fuel as I shop at Lidl or Aldi) and so far have 15,000. I won't use them this time round but I plan on keep building them up for the future. - So I had great success on eB4y yesterday, I sold an Oleg compare the m33rkat for Ј32 + Ј4 postage… of which I will keep around Ј25 after fees, I immediately spent this but on Xmas presents… In a bid to beat the Christmas push on my ever emptying purse I like to try and buy presents staggered and early and on deals. Yesterday I got my mum's present for Ј17.99 down from Ј32.99 and I got 8.7% cashback, got my Nan's gift for Ј15.99 down from Ј25.99 and bought my nieces Ј20 present entirely on boots points because I always save up my points for xmas on my boots card. I know that sounds cheap but she is only 2 years old and gets a nice present that I wouldn't be able to buy with cash. My sister's present was bought in the January sales for Ј15 (down from Ј45!!! :0 ) and I'm making my brother-in-law a big basket with all the fun and new tassimo flavours that I'm currently buying gradually on eBay to a total of Ј15. So far I've managed to score 3 packs of pods for Ј5 It's a gift both he and my sister will be able to utilise and he really loves his coffee machine.
I photographed lots of new eB4y items last night ready to list to battle the car insurance, the cheapest quote I got was Ј429 so I'm hunting now to see where will offer the best cashback for that company. Who knows, if it's quiet at work today I might be able to get some things listed on the sly during my lunch break and free up my evening to do the dreadful task of emptying out my shed to photograph the furniture that is currently wrapped in about 6 dust sheets at the back. It's going on gumtree but was really expensive initially, it's all solid wood so I'm hoping to make a decent amount on it.
I make a list every year for xmas in a spreadsheet to keep track of what I've bought and for whom and the cost….. Will convert it to a googledoc and share with you all ASAP! - Exactly! For my nieces it's a bit different as Xmas is that magical exciting Santa time! We all pitch in and help buy their stocking fillers to make things a bit easier for my sister as her and my brother-in-law work tirelessly and it helps them out a bit, usually xmas dinner would be at our parents but the last 2 years she's done it at hers so we all pitch in to help out
I usually just buy little bits and bobs at Xmas as my family know my financial situation and would be cross if I bankrupt myself for them.
Little update! Just bought my insurance for Ј429, one less thing to stay awake at night worrying about.. Got Ј32 cashback currently appearing in my account for it, put Ј61 from my freelance work towards it and the rest was covered by the savings that I had initially put away to pay back family members but they agreed they'd rather I buy the insurance and start saving again for their money. - Hi Joe,
I only owe one member of family but it's a substantial sum of money (Ј2550 from moving) and she doesn't use online banking or anything of the sort. I have a bank account with a different bank to my everyday banking and I have a direct debit set up once a month to pay back Ј42 which I would have paid in my rent but instead paid Ј504 up front to avoid having a guarantor, I then transfer a percentage of my freelance wages and my salary each month.
She doesn't want dribs and drabs, she wants the whole lot and wants me to keep it in an account accruing interest and to be there in case of emergencies (such as my car insurance).. She lent the money on a long-term basis but I just absolutely hate debt so am trying to get it paid back ASAP (it also means the deposit her loan paid for will become mine for when I am ready to move home) does that make sense? Haha... I hate debt. >:[ - I get what you're saying completely but as I said before she doesn't want Ј50 here and there.
It's going to take me more than 12 months to pay it back as I have prioritised my CC, which is 0% until January. The point of me paying it back over a longer period of time is so it is there in case I need it and I do not go without, like paying for my car insurance.. otherwise my car would be registered off road next month and I would have no way of getting to work aside from a 2hr bike ride :P..
She doesn't want me to go without. It's actually my inheritance :P she's got no use for the money and is 'comfortable' to say the least so I don't have the added pressure of knowing she is desperate for the cash.
It's supposed to be in case of emergency money as well as 'pay back that debt' money. I'll be paying her in Ј1000 instalments.. so the first Ј1000 will be sent when I have saved Ј1500 so I still have that Ј500 just in case of an emergency and then she can have the next Ј1000 when there is Ј1500 in the account again.
I know it might not make sense to others but it makes perfect sense to the situation... - Haha Joe, already read that article! Pretty much following that tbh! My CC is my main focus now... smashing through the debt.. paid off Ј200 this week and my insurance was out of my bank account so that's one less thing to have to pay off. Feeling so positive. I'm currently writing the descriptions for my eBay items ready to list them tonight.... some of them should rake in Ј50+ so that's a bonus!!
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