Trying to Save

Just checked bank balance and car payment is out and I have £25.00 left. I can pay my Christmas savings and get some petrol if need be.

It's meant to be spring and it's snowing! I really shouldn't be surprised. If it keeps up I'm not taking the car to work tomorrow, I'll either get the bus or walk. I'm hoping it won't land, it's been raining a lot over the past few days.

Next month is going to be busy. It's my friend's birthday and my mum's. Luckily I already have part of my mum's present in. We're going out for a meal for both of these birthdays. I'm going to take the car to both so that should save us some money. My cousin is also due her baby. I already have a card in from us so just need to get a present.

By May I will have paid MIL the money i owe her, thankfully. I hate owing money. That money can then go towards my credit card which needs cleared and savings.

Going to apply for tax credits for me and hubby next month. This should help Hubby pay back his debt and me save. I don't know how much we will get but anything will help.

Today has been a No Spend Day

Last month I tracked all of my outgoings. I haven't managed to do the same this month...

So how's March so far? I get paid every four weeks so I've got two weeks till payday. I'm just waiting for my first car payment to come out.

I put some money into savings this month (£20) However I haven't put anything to my Christmas savings this month - it's £15 a month. I really should have just put that money towards Christmas but I wanted to get a start on my emergency fund.

I'm going to cancel a web browsing pack that I have on my phone, I never use it so it's a waste of money.

This will be my first month with my car payment and car insurance coming out. I keep on checking my bank balance, I'm a bit worried actually. I worked extra last week but won't get the money till next month's pay.

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.

For the first time ever, I wrote down all of my spending for the month. In the future I might just track every four weeks when I get paid. Anyway this is what it looked like:

anniversary meal: 40.00
capital one: 62.79
MIL: 260.00
washing machine: 20.00
Littlewoods: 60.00
car deposit: 100.00
monthly ticket: 63.00
Love Film: 14.99
ASDA: 69.27
misc: 21.52
hair: 40.00

Christmas savings: 30.00

I think March will be tough because it will be the first month that I'm paying for the car and insurance. Road tax is 150.00 for six months which is due in June so I'm going to put money aside for that.

I found a car yesterday that I liked so I put down a deposit. It's a used car which is what I wanted. Now I'm just trying to find car insurance so I can collect it this week.

I've just been looking at used cars online. There's a Ford Ka for £700 which unfortuantely I can't afford. The seller was less than ten miles away too. I really want a car.

It was my first day back at work yesterday after my twelve days off. I found out that the store has massively underspent on wages for the past few days. Apparently while I was off they were sending people home to cut back on wages. Glad I missed that.

There's a sale at work. I had a look at a few things when I finished but didn't buy anything. I'm really pleased with myself, I'm usually a sucker for sales.

It was payday yesterday. This morning I wrote down how much I had spent, and I suppose it wasn't too bad.

I gave MIL £100 towards the money I owe her (£270 to go till she is out of the way)

Cleared credit card balance.

Paid £60 to catalogue.
New balance: £459.86

Paid £20 to washing machine.I really should have paid more though.

The only problem is that I didn't put anything into savings.

Today I'm meeting my friend for coffee. I'm back at work tomorrow.

I got hubby up for work this morning and when he left I couldn't get back to sleep. I kept on thinking about the debt that he owes his mum(3k) and the money I owe her. I've been keeping track of my spending since the start of this month, I'm planning on keeping it up.

Although Hubby owes MIL 3k total some of the debts are smaller. I told him a while ago - when we found out exactly how much - that he should clear the smaller ones first. If anything it would make me feel better knowing that I had achieved something if I did that. Ideally while Hubby clears his debt I'll be clearing mine, which isn't that much actually. However since we don't have our own place yet I think we should at least use this time to get rid of debts before we do.

Speaking of homes, I'm going to the post office soon to send an application form to another housing association since our council was no help (we have the minimum points)

My current debt:

catalogue: 511.86 (interest free)
washing machine: 250 (roughly)
credit card: 62.79 (will clear this month)
MIL: 370

Total: 1194.65

That's the first time I've totalled it up, didn't realise it was that much.

Yesterday we went to Tony Roma's for our anniversary meal. It was nice. Spent £40.00.

Today's spending:

Costa £2.35
Wetherspoons (lunch) £5.00
Asda £4.07
Card Factory £1.18
Superdrug £2.22

Total over past two days = £54.82

I'm going to keep track of my spending. I get paid every four weeks so will post a total every four weeks. I get paid next week so will keep on writing everything down to see where my money's going.

which means we will probably spend a lot. We have a voucher for a restaurant which we've never been to - so will cost us to get taxis to and from there - so we're just going to use that another time and go somewhere else.

I've had two NSDs in a row but it will end today. Tomorrow I'm meeting my friend for lunch, I havent seen her since the wedding so it's worth it to catch up with her.

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.

My mum bought me lunch today.

I bought hubby's valentine's card (£1.99)

Total spending today: £1.99

I just signed up for Love Film's two week trial. Hubby picked 5 games and I picked 5 DVDs. It will stop me from wanting to buy DVDs that I haven't seen and will stop hubby from wanting to buy games. I got £10 cashback for signing up.

I was just reading Gamecock's Mind over Money blog and one quote has really stuck with me:

"How you spend your money today effects the life you will live tomorrow."

It's time to come up with specific goals for 2010. I'm serious, I want me and my husband to have our own place (even if it is rented).

I need to cut back on spending.

I need to pay off any debt I have (hubby too)

I need to SAVE otherwise we will be here forever and that's crazy.

OK I've been reading blogs and it seems as though everyone has an Emergency Fund. Hubby and I don't, however we are trying to save for a house - I don't know if we will manage to get on the property ladder straight away but the money saved will help when we finally get a house (even if we do rent).

I'd like to get a used car too. I passed my test nearly a year ago and due to the wedding I haven't been able to get one.

So, I'm wondering, is it even possible for us to do that?

I've joined a cashback website. My balance just now is £8.27 so not a lot. Once I get to £25 money will go into my bank account. I have a feeling this is going to take ages, I really shold have joined before Christmas since I done most of my shopping online.

Today should be a No Spend Day I'm hoping to have money left over before I get paid since I have done for the past few months. My hairdresser hasn't gotten in touch with me to arrange an appointment so I might not have to pay for that.

It's just over two weeks until and I get paid. I'm getting my hair cut and highlighted next week (hopefully) and me and hubby are going out for a meal to celebrate our anniversary. I take a monthly bus ticket to work and I bring my own lunch so I really shouldn't spend a lot. I'm off for the next few days so hopefully they will be No Spend Days.

I've forgotten how to edit author info, how do i do it?

It's been over 2 years since I last wrote in this blog It's really bad I know. Well I've decided that I need to get some savings behind me again since our wedding used up all of my savings. We are currently living with hubby's mum and brother.

I have the cheek to write that when I am a member of a saving website, but it's true. Although me and my fiance have decided that we're not going to get married until 2009 I want to start saving now. I have tried to put some money away but I don't think it's enough. Also, I don't want to be the one that saves all of the money and pays for everything. We're hoping to book something next year and then we'll have plenty of time to pay it up. I did have some money put aside but my mum needed it so I gave it to her, so now I only have a pathetic £20 to put towards a wedding.

I haven't written in here for months! I should be ashamed of myself. I need to start getting in the habit again though...my boyfriend proposed on Friday and we're getting married in a couple of years. I can't wait!!!

I decided I better update my blog. I'm ashamed to admit it but my savings have not gone to plan. I ended up taking out the loan for the graduate endowment because realistically there was no way I could save the full amount.

My boyfriend and I just celebrated our 4 year anniversary this month. We have finally started to take a proper look at houses, since we're planning on moving out at some point this year. We found a website which lets us look at different houses, all we have to do is include what we want in the search criteria. I was very impressed. I thought we would just be looking through newspapers. So, what do we want?

- A two-bedroom house
- I don't want to live in a flat
- gas central heating
- parking space (I'm hoping to pass my driving test this year)

The average rent for a 2 bedroom house seems to be £500, which I cannot afford right now as I am still waiting on starting this other job. I've done a lot of phoning but still I haven't started, they need to find something for me. I'm waiting on a local primary school getting in touch. (I could have started at another place last week but I was doing overtime at the supermarket, we had a visit.)

We are hoping to move out later on in the year i.e. August/September, just to give us a chance to put some money aside.

This month I am spending a lot, but I'm hoping to save some money too. This month I am spending money on:

bills
meeting my friend for dinner today
anniversary meal with my boyfriend
driving lessons
night out for my birthday

The friend I am meeting today is going to Australia for a year in a couple of months, so I don't mind spending money for that. I haven't seen her since October.

I don't need to go out for my birthday or anniversary but I want too.

My blog anniversary was on 14th January. I've been keeping this blog for just over a year