I admit it: I haven't tracked my finances properly this month. Normally I write down spending on the same day in my notebook but I just haven't. I do know that I will have £50 left over this month but it looks as though I'll have to get a new tyre. I've had to pump my tyre up a few times within the last couple of weeks.

We've been quite busy - party last Saturday and a Wedding the week before that. That'll be me for a while though.

Hubby has spoken to MIL about what he owes her - she disagreed with what he was saying... until he showed her his notebook that he uses to keep track of what he's paid to her. She wanted to keep his notebook. Sorry, no. She copied down the last few payments into her book. By the way, he's at £600 now.

I need to get a filling next month. £45

My mum offered to give me money to put money into savings. I declined and told her to open up her own savings account instead (she doesn't have one)

I got some overtime at work, not as much as last month, but it's still something.

It doesn't look like I'm going to achieve my goals this month. Next month I'll probably just make one goal.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about my goals for this year. Based on advice, I've decided it's best to change them. Here are my new goals:

[] £500 to moving out fund (£296 to go)

My original goal of £800 incuded hubby's contribution; this one is based only on my contribution.

[] Reduce CC1 by £70

Balance as of 7th May: £807.59

[] Reduce CC2 by £50

Balance as of 7/5: 2032.98

I know this CC has a huge balance and I have a lower goal amount for it. However, I've been checking previous statements and my balance has only been lowering by as little as £4 monthly!

[] EF to £50 (£50 to go)

[] Car Fund to £50 (£50 to go)

[] Save for a cash-only Christmas

I've decided that my goals for the year are unrealistic. I don't know why I made so many when I haven't made a dent in any of them. I know I won't clear 2k worth of CC debt which is on CC2. It's too late into the year to change my goals, I just better get working on them. I really better get started on the car maintenance fund and EF. If I'd had them in the first place I wouldn't have had to put over £700 on CC1.

Goals for this month are to start car maintenance fund and EF.

I don't usually leave it this long between updates. Oops.

Not that much to report to be honest. I set myself a budget of £10 for snacks etc for my packed lunch. I have just over £2 left and that has to last me until we get paid again (two weeks on Friday).

I worked seven and a half hours extra at the start of the month. I'm working on Saturday (5 hours extra). Hubby's working too so I thought I might as well make some money out of it. Plus, it get's me out of the house.

I'm going to phone the housing association on Thursday. I meant to do it last week but I didn't have the house to myself. People have been telling me that we need to let them know that we're still here; we still want a house.

I completed all of my March goals. However, I did end up taking money out of savings. I suppose it's better than using my credit card. At least I can replace the money and benefit from it in the future.

I've been trying to think of realistic goals for April. For April my goals are:
[]get overtime
[]pack 100%

It's Mothers Day on Sunday. I redeemed my rewards from my catalogue (£23.13) and ordered my mum a bunch of flowers and chocolates. It only cost me £1.87.

It's my mum's Birthday this month. I just need to buy her card, I've already got her presents in. We're treating my mum to a takeway on her birthday so will need money for that.

Is it just me or is this year going in really quickly? I'm writing about March goals, where did the time go?

Anyway, my goals for March are:

1) read a book
2) don't use credit card
3) pack 100%
4) leftover to savings

February goals worked out okay. I managed to add extra to savings and I packed everything. The only thing I didn't do was start a car fund.

My goals for next month are pretty simple:

[]Any extra to savings
[]Pack 100%
[]Some of bonus to start car fund

I'm expecting a bonus at work. I don't know how much it will be, but I'm going to use it to start my car fund.

I only got paid 2 days ago and already Im thinking of ways to save money. DH thinks I'm like this all the time anyway but these past few days I've been constantly thinking about my outgoings for the next four weeks. So, what are my reasons? Well my MOT is due next month. I really DO NOT want to put any of it on the CC, I want to pay for it with cash. I just got rid of one credit card, I don't want to add to the remaining one any more (I put my tyre on it) I'm thinking worst case scenario that work will need done since it is an old car. Aargh! If I had money saved for car maintenance I wouldn't have this problem!

Anyway so do I still have to pay within these next four weeks?

- petrol
- phone bill
- car payment
- car insurance
- dental plan
- Christmas savings
- auto savings transfer
- fix leak in alloy wheel (has to be done before MOT)

The only good thing about not using my car for almost four weeks is that I didn't have to get petrol as soon as I got paid.

I'm expecting my car insurance to go up next month because of the accident.

For the next 26 days I will pack everything I need for work. Before I can do this though I'll need to buy a few things to take to work, mostly things to snack on since that's my downfall. HH has motivated me to do this I enjoyed the feeling before when I did the lunch challenge and realised how much money I'd saved.

I don't have any pub nights planned so that's good - we were out last night anyway, but hubby treated me.

OK, that's my plan. Hope I succeed!

My goals this month are to add to savings and to get my budget card so I can start saving for road tax.

I've changed my goals for this year slightly, made them more specific. "Increase regular savings" is now "Add £800 to savings" and "start car maintenance fund" is now "£200 car maintenance fund". This way I have something to aim for.

One of my goals is to increase my regular savings. This is my plan:

1. save £25 4 weekly
2. DH will save £18 4 weekly

We get paid thirteen times a year. So we should end up saving £559. I will add any extra money that I have. I haven't cancelled my £5 auto savings. I checked my bank account and I can't set up a transfer for every four weeks, so I will just have to transfer the money over on payday.

As for Christmas, I will pay £10 each payday towards vouchers until October (through a woman at my work this time) I'm also going to start a Christmas savings card.

The car maintenance fund will probably start off small.

Happy New Year everyone!!

Originally I had a long list of what I wanted to achieve in 2011. However, after taking a look at my list, I deided to narrow it down to these goals:

1) Clear credit card 1
2) Clear credit card 2
3) Increase regular savings
4) Start car maintenance fund
5) Save for a cash-only Christmas

I think goals 1 and 5 will be the easiest to complete. Goals 2 and 3 will be the most challenging, I think. Once CC1 is gone, the money will be put to CC2.

I want to increase my regular savings to either £25 monthly or every 4 weeks when I get paid. I know £25 isn't a lot but it's better than the £5 auto-savings I currently have set up.

As for the car maintenance fund, well that will start after I have dealt with my current car problems.

December goals:
- get and complete budget card application form
- hand in completed application form
- finish cash-only Christmas shopping

I need to write down exactly what I have to buy. If I ever get my vouchers that is. I forgot about my two small (second) cousins so will have to get them a little something too. They're both under 2 and I never see their mum but I am getting their cousin a gift so I have to get them something too.

Ok, here's a rough draft of my 2011 goals:
[] Save for road tax with budget card
[] Apply for a loan
[] (if accepted) use loan to pay off DH's CC debt
[] Increase regular savings
[] Save for a cash-only Christmas
[] Clear credit card 1
[] Clear credit card 2
[] Clear catalogue
[] Start car maintenance fund
[] MOVE OUT

Wow that's more than I thought. I don't know how next year will go so they may change.

I've overspent on hubby's xmas presents. We agreed on a £50 budget. I've spent £70.47. It doesn't include a dvd he asked for though but that was only £8.

Still waiting on xmas vouchers. Gave MIL the rest of hubby's money tonight. Next year I will save half with a woman I work with and half with MIL. I haven't got much more xmas shopping to get so i don't even know if I will spend them all.

Got £20 GC from work. Had to add £3.85 to it. Bought cousin's birthday present, hubby's socks and BIL's dvd.

Working extra this week.

Found out about a budget card that the Post Office does. Going to get an application form and use the card to save for road tax next year (£150)

I wish we had our own place. It's getting to me living here. That's obviously one of my goals for next year, although sometimes I feel as though it will never happen.

I paid the last of my washing machine debt yesterday. I'm so pleased it's gone.

Still waiting on xmas high street vouchers.

My xmas night out is paid for. Just need to put money aside for the actual night. £30-£40 Going to wear the dress I wore to the wedding i went to last month, just change my accessories.

Ordered a few xmas presents from Avon. It wasn't part of my budget but I just thought I would get them. £25.50

Since my last post, I've cheered up.DH persuaded me to go out on Saturday night with him and his friends.

We went to the hotel on Sunday. It was a nice room. We only spent money on food and dink. We went to a nearby pub for dinner neither one of us enjoyed our meal. We would have saved money if we'd gone to ASDA and bought some food, but I thought it would be nice to go out for something to eat.

We got back from my friend's yesterday. We might not stay again, DH's allergies were bad, even though he took tablets. Apart from that it was a good night, we had pizza and drinks.

October should be a quiet month. Apart from my friend's wedding, we really don't have other plans. My goals are to get overtime at work, pack 100% and to have money left over. It should be easy to get overtime, we have stocktake this month. Also the week after the wedding two people in my department will be on holiday so I should be able to get overtime.

My goals for August were to:

[X] Track my spending 100%
[X] Track DH's spending
[/] Pack 100% at work
[X] Add to savings

I managed 3 out of 4 so it's not too bad. The only thing that let me down is buying food at work a couple of times. Therefore, this month I am packing 100%. It will save me money and hopefully mean I'll have more money left before we get paid again. I bought a few things today I can take to work with me, spent £2.89.

There's a few things I need to do this month, and they all cost money:

1. buy my friend a wedding present (could wait till next month but that will be a few weeks before the wedding then, I want to try and get it in soon)
2. pay off rest of tribute night: £25.90
3. buy wrapping paper and cards for birthdays this month. £5 estimate
4. add to xmas savings £15

I'm going to track all of our spending this month. I think it's a good habit to get into.

I've decided to make some firm plans for this month. Or should I say goals? Here they are:

1. Track my spending 100%
2. Track DH's spending
3. Pack 100% at work
4. Add to savings

Well July is off to a good start. I worked four hours this morning and managed to pick up an extra shift next week.

I think I will continue the Lunch Challenge this month. I will have the same goal as before: 16 days packingf 100%. I'll keep the rules the same too:

- pack everything for breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack
-no additional spending

I think the June Lunch Challenge made me conscious of how I'm spending my money at work. Also, the no-spend week really controlled my spending.

It's payday tomorrow. My bank account is now fully switched over, just need to close my old account. Tomorrow's pay should go into my new bank account.

I noticed today that I'm spending more money by renewing my road tax every six months rather than every 12 months. I'm going to aim to saved £150 by December so it can be used to pay it off in full.

I should have made a few appointment last month but I've been slacking. I'll need to get them sorted soon, hopefully today. Actually, that's what I'll do.

This weekend should be spendless since I haven't got anything planned. However, I'm not back at work until Monday so I might end up doing something.

I bought something at work today (a roll at breakfast) I don't feel bad though because I exceeded my goal of 16 days, only by one day though but I'm still pleased.

I'm working early tomorrow, 6am start, it's extra money though.

Getting my hair cut tomorrow, it's well overdue.

I noticed people are posting how they're getting on with their goals for this year. So how am I getting on?

-Start an Emergency Fund: it's started, just not a lot in it

- Pay MIL the rest of the money I owe her: done in May 2010

- Clear washing machine debt - have been making payments every month, in fact I need to order more payment slips

- Clear catalogue: been paying more than the minimum and I've managed to reduce my bill but it's not clear yet

- Get a used car - done in March

- Pay for Christmas with cash only: been putting £15 away every month towards high street vouchers

I'm not much further forward than I was a few months ago. And I have managed to add on some credit card debt (DH is helping to pay it off too though, it's not all mine)

One of my goals should have been for me and DH to get our own place. It is one of my goals, I just haven't written it on my sidebar. We really want to have our own place by November. We just need our own space. Honestly we are doing terrible saving and I hate to admit it. I have a savings blog, I should be doing better!! It just really annoys me. We didn't want to be here this long.

Sorry for the rant. If you managed to get this far, thanks for taking the time to read.

Packed 100% today so that is another day to add to my challenge.

I watched the new Harry Potter trailer, I can't wait until it's out. I have to wait until November to see it.

Speaking of movies, I'm hoping to go and see Eclipse soon.

and I've met my Lunch Challenge goal of 16 days! Woohoo!!

Bought yoghurts and ice lollies after work (and milk for MIL) Only spent £3 (MIL reimbursed the milk)

DH is still at work so I've got some time to myself before I go and get him later.

Packed everything today. One more day to go and I've reached my goal. I'd like to challenge myself for July too.

Another NSD today.

Came home from work to find mail from my bank. I can now check my bank details online and transfer money from my current account to my savings. This could be a good and bad thing (easy to put money in, easy to take out...)

DH and I spoke and we're going to have to try and rent somewhere. Private let is expensive though but we may be entitled to some sort of housing benefit since we are in low-paid jobs. It'd be fantastic to have our own space, I wouldn't mind struggling at first, it will be worth it.

I don't know if I will accomplish all of this but this is what I would like to achieve:

1. pack breakfast, lunch and snacks at work for 16 days
2. track spending
3. add to savings (it's been a while)

I have finally paid back MIL, which means another goal for this year has been met. I've forgotten how to edit it though, so my list of goals hasn't been updated yet.

I paid two bills online before 7 this morning - then I went back to sleep. I really only woke up to check my bank balance.

Hubby and I haven't done much today, been lazing about. He has a night out tomorrow, I'll be home probably watching a dvd with a glass of wine.

So what's coming up this month?

1) Meal at friend's house
2) My cousin's birthday
3) Cinema with my mum to see Sex and the City 2

I think that's all, hopefully I won't be spending too much this month (well I'm going to limit my spending)

Have a good day!

I've noticed everyone is adding updates since the first quarter of the year is over. Here's mine:

*Get a used car - got one

*Emergency fund is sitting at a measly £20. Goal is £500. I've got a lot to do towards this.

*Pay back MIL - this will be done by May

*Clear washing machine debt - have been paying back every month but it's not clear

*Clear catalogue - have been paying more than the minimum but it's not cleared.

All in all, I'm not doing well. I will try harder this quarter.

I've been thinking about my savings, I was planning on trying to save three months salary. However, I'm going to start with a smaller goal of 500 pounds. I've added a ticker to my sidebar to track my progress.

1) Start an Emergency Fund (aiming for 3 months)
2) Pay MIL the rest of the money I owe her
3) Clear washing machine debt

There's only three goals here but I think it's going to be hard. I saved up last year for the wedding but generally I was paying for stuff for the wedding as I went along. I don't earn a lot so saving 3 months pay will be difficult (I really shouldnt say that though...)

First things first, I'll need to work out what three months pay is.

I've just realised I said saving will be difficult cos I don't earn a lot. I need to stop thinking like that.

After my holiday I will:

- focus more on my challenge
- look for another job
- add to my other savings account

I went to the doctors today and got my malaria tablets, I don't have to start taking them yet. They only cost a couple of pounds; I had my prepayment certificate to use for the other vaccinations which I'm getting next week.

Put more money towards challenge
Put money into ISA - this time I definetly will even if it's only £10
Pay rest of holiday (£106)

I will be into my overdraft again, I know I will. Maybe my aim for July should be to stay in the black? As long as there's overtime at work I should be fine.

I'm considering looking for a second job. I only work 15 hours per week. I might look into that soon, well after the holiday.

I've decided to try and turn my £1 into £2000 by April 2007. Assuming I graduate in July I will have to pay £2000 Graduate Endowment. I've read up on it and I can either take out a loan or pay the amount in full. I'd rather pay the money in full than take out a loan especially since I've managed 4 years without taking out a loan. I told my mum that I'm going to try and save up for it and she thinks that I'm trying to save up for too much (I also want money saved for when I move out next year but my OH will help with that)

I'll need to do a lot of overtime and increase my contract hours after I'm back from my holiday in September.