Author: Rob

I’m Saving a Fortune By Eating In

~ Rob

The money you spend on takeaways, fast food and dining out mounts up. You can also shell out a lot of money for work dinners, breakfast and drinking from coffee shops.

I know it’s easier and more convenient to go out for a meal or order a takeaway but it’s far cheaper and quicker to cook at home. You can make the same meals at home for pennies compared to the price of expensive restaurants and retail snack shops.

Half the time we claim to be too busy, when in fact we are too lazy to cook our own food. The result is often spending money we could and should save. Calculate how much you spend on fast food and dining out each month? What is the total for the year?

Over paying for food, drink and bottled water will zap the money in your wallet. I’ve become a bit of a chef so I get family and friends together for a meal. During the summer it’s barbeques and as colder nights draw in its curries, chilli and stews.

Getting good wholesome food on the table doesn’t have to cost the Earth. I’m loving Lidl, Aldi, Wilkinsons and you can make great savings on groceries and household items by taking the time to shop around.

While there is nothing wrong with eating out once in a while, you can make the same things at home that you buy at overpriced food outlets. In the end paying for convenience really costs us a fortune.

You Can’t Plan For Every Expense

~ Rob

I have a budget that is working towards paying off my debt which is great………however I’ve been invited to a wedding of a friend I’ve known for 10+ years. This is an expense to me and my budget didn’t plan for, naughty budget.

When an unexpected expense happens and you haven’t planned for it, or other people or organisations are good at spending your money for you is when you’ll lose track of your costs.

I’ve worked out the costs and with the wedding presents, travel, hotel booking and beer consumption the cost will be around £350.

If I choose not to go and say “no” to seeing his marriage it will be sad and I’ll need to think of a really good excuse like I’m on holiday in Africa, I’m in hospital for a sex change operation or I plan on being dead that weekend.

I’ll also be a bit of an arsehole by declining to witness him getting hitched because my budget says “NO WAY”. Sure that £350 quid would be nice to pay into my debt but I’m not a cheap stake, I don’t intend to miss his and his soon to be wife’s big day, her body is sweet and seeing her in a tight wedding dress would be a nice sight. However I digress.

There is a time and a place to be frugal and a time and place to spend money, am his friend not a tight jerk, therefore I’ll be there for this big day despite the unexpected costs. Along your debt journey you need to factor in some fun, treats and celebration or you’ll go insane on your debt journey.

There have been times when I’ve had to say no due to the terrible state of my finances and I couldn’t afford it no matter how appealing a budget strip club is. You may feel forced to spend money on these unexpected events and you’ll need to learn to say no if you’re to succeed with your money management. Living in the moment isn’t always a smart choice. As for this wedding, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

While you can include expenses like birthdays, Christmas that happen every year when it comes to your budget the fact is you can’t plan or allocate for every unseen expense. Therefore it’s important you plan for unexpected costs. I suggest you budget for surprise expenses by adding a entry in your budget for them. It will also avoid turning to using your credit card to pay for stuff like this.

I suppose I could use my some of my emergency fund to pay for it. C’mon on surely getting married is classed as an emergency.

Dam, I just realised he’ll want a stag do too. That’s another £100+ gone, maybe I’ll tell him that I’m dead after all. Dead people save a lot of money.

New Accurate Budget

~ Rob

The new budget format now includes my income from my day job and the savings plan. I’ve also included my month websites income figures which vary from month to month.

If the website figures stabilise and increase I may consider quitting my job.

Entertainment is now back in line with the budget, it has gone overboard the last few budgets so I need to be more frugal and cut back in that area.

Saving for the Future

~ Rob

Now my debts are back under control and I’m making a steady income it’s time to look at my saving goals in the short and long term. If I can pay debt back quickly then surely I can save money just as quick.

Here are My Saving Targets:

Regular Saving: Save £250 per month in a Savings Account.

Emergency Fund: £6,000 – Just in case of any financial emergencies to give me some breathing room. I call this my Kitty and I will put any extra leftovers in each month. People change, change jobs, lose jobs, circumstances and situation change so my Kitty will be money to fall back on just in case.

Travel Savings: £3,500 – Set aside for holidays and seeing the world with my girlfriend.

House Deposit: £25,000 – This is the big one. Buying land in nice areas is expensive so a large deposit will be needed to get a foot on the property ladder. I’ve been renting for several years since my student days. I love the property but it lacks something, I have come to the conclusion I want a place that I can own. The problem with renting is it always feels insecure and temporary. You can’t add your own personality to the property or breathe any life into the rooms because of the rules of the tenancy agreement.

Retirement/Pension Fund: At least 20% of monthly income.

Your saving potential will depend on your monthly expenses, outstanding debt and the amount of income you bring in each month. Could you live off less? Do you actually need all the money you earn each month? If you can live off less you can save more money.

These are big saving goals I’ve set for us. I thing the first saving goal should always be an emergency fund. It’s important to have a cushion of money to fall back on, just in case. Saving for the future and life’s little setbacks is vital, so build up your kitty.

The aim is to save around 20-30% of my income but it will depend on how the business side of things go. Getting into the habit of saving will provide for your future.

New Budget

~ Rob

Yes you guessed it. It’s new Budget Time. Yes I know the budget screenshot is missing because it had some errors in it. Let us pretend it all went well. I warned you I suck at budgets. My slide line incomes seem to have hidden that the budget was out on the columns. I suck at using Excel too :-). Luckily all the stats in my left box are accurate and correct.

I’ve had a great few months, all my debts are paid apart from my student loan which has £40,110.44 still owing, the last bit of my 2nd credit card and £3,500 to Mum and Dad. They have no idea what a mess I was in financially. I want to surprise then by paying them back the whole amount in cash.

Now that I’ve nearly paid off my credit card and the car loan is gone I feel I can tell my family what I’ve been up to in the last eighteen months or so. I still have my credit card but the balance will soon be £0 and I’ll use the card to track expenses and pay it off in full each month.

I have undergone an incredible change over the last year. This simple life and frugal living is the way forward. Life seems much easier, as my debt goes down I’m starting to feel “free”.

I’ve outgrown overspending and feel ready to settle down. My budgeting isn’t perfect or tracks every single penny. Nothing is concrete but I can work with it and keep on track.

I’m happy to have made a start. Try it yourself and see what feels right and see what comes next. My next targets are to finally start saving. So that’s the plan for the next 12 months.