LL's September scrimping (Saving September)

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lancashire lass
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Re: LL's September scrimping

Post by lancashire lass »

As mentioned in my first post, I get paid on the 22nd of the month but historically most of my direct debits go out on the 1st week of the month (when I used to be paid on the last day of the month) September is an atypical month anyway as I usually have 3 weeks annual leave from August bank holiday weekend (potential to spend!!) and at the end of the month the MOT (+ service and repairs), road tax, car insurance and breakdown cover have to be paid. So taking all that into account, not easy to compare with the average monthly expenditure (and potential savings)

Well, I thought I had a very frugal 3 weeks off concentrating on tasks to do in and around the house or garden that didn't involve spending money. That meant not using the car very much and the tank full of petrol stretched to just over a month so that was a saving of £45. Unfortunately I had an unexpected bill to pay out last week that cost me £41 )de:

The new bank loan contract that offers 3 months before the 1st payment is due (1 January) means I have spare money that could be used to pay off the bigger car bills. I just want to wait a couple more days to make sure a payment doesn't go out this month but I'm fairly confident it should be alright and (in theory) I can then pay off the credit card in full (I didn't have enough cash in the bank to pay for the insurance and breakdown cover, plus I always use a credit card for purchases over the telephone or online - if something goes wrong it is easier to deal with than when money is unexpectedly taken out of the current account)

Comparing how much money is in the bank this time last month I'm actually down by £35 - but then I did pay the 12 months road tax of £145 with my debit card .... if it hadn't been for the big spend on the car in September, that would have actually been a saving of £110. Also I had taken a £20 cash back for a planned meal out (last night) and (confession time), I had also transferred £20 to a paypal account to pay for some purchases (seeds and fresh new garlic bulb varieties for the allotment for autumn planting) ... both of which I could not postpone for another time. So in theory the saving would have been £150 (and if we just quietly ignore what is owing for the credit card which will be paid off by the loan payment not going out LOL)

As paying off the shortfall on the endowment mortgage is the main goal, I also hope to reduce the second mortgage when the deal ends in February 2016 so saving the 2 loan payments that would have gone out will help towards that - next year my monthly mortgage payments should drop down by 2/3rds so a significant saving thereafter and just 6 years left on that to pay off (an opportunity to pay it off even earlier if I save that ... I don't want to jump too far ahead with plans as I know my 2002 car will probably need changing by then ...) Meanwhile in the short term, hopefully there will be no other extra purchases or bills to pay out so a chance to keep my scrimping measures going until Christmas for even more savings >fi<
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Richard
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Re: LL's September scrimping

Post by Richard »

Great points and thanks for a very concise Diary Lassie.

Richard )t' )t' )t'
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Mo
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Re: LL's September scrimping

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Glad it's working for you. (but don't go mad on the seeds - grow your own is meant to save :-D )
Be a little bit careful using credit card instead of debit. Sometimes there is an extra charge on things like insurance. I always ask.
And I nearly got caught out on the monthly payments for car insurance instead of a lump. I thought I always asked about that, but my renewal notice had an interest charge for the monthly payments. I looked back and saw that there wasn't a charge last year, which was the first time I'd done it monthly. So I looked back at my house insurance paperwork, which I'd changed to monthly. That said 'interest 0%' - so maybe they'll stick a charge on next year too, I'll have to look out.
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lancashire lass
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Re: LL's September scrimping

Post by lancashire lass »

Richard wrote:Great points and thanks for a very concise Diary Lassie.

Richard )t' )t' )t'


)t' thank you

Mo wrote:Be a little bit careful using credit card instead of debit.


Some things are chargeable when using a credit card especially online - road tax for one which is why I was "saving up" to pay for it from my current account. My insurance is not chargeable ...

Mo wrote:And I nearly got caught out on the monthly payments for car insurance instead of a lump


... yes, I used to find monthly payments convenient as it spread the cost out until I realised the % interest on top so stopped doing that. What I did is set up a standing order to put a regular amount into a savings account to pay for the annual car bills - unfortunately it just goes a bit awry when I realise I don't have enough money by the end of a month and have to dip into the savings :?

Mo wrote:(but don't go mad on the seeds - grow your own is meant to save )


I thought I was very restrained this year with my general seed purchases (which if you recall cost £0 {rofwl} ) but the chilli project was something else, and the garlic trials were interesting to see which do best on my plot (hence this time bulking up on some of the better ones and trying out a new one) I don't need to buy any more chilli seeds but most of my other seeds are now getting 4 years + so risk germination failure (such as the rye grass green manure I sowed in August which failed to grow) Talking of green manure, someone suggested buying bulk mustard seed from the "Asian" aisle in the supermarket which is much cheaper than from the usual spice ailse, and I got quite a lot more seed for the price than I would if via the seed suppliers. Unfortunately it is getting too late to sow them now as the weather is definitely getting chillier by the day (I'm tempted though to do a windowsill tray just to see)
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Re: LL's September scrimping

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I'm really impressed with the way you juggle everything. Just a thought, but I organised some DDs for my Mum, and she was always asked when she would like them to go out of her account. She was allowed to play around with the dates to manage her cashflow a bit more easily - I wonder of this might take some of the pressure off everything being due at the same time?
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Re: LL's September scrimping (Saving September)

Post by lancashire lass »

Freeranger wrote:I'm really impressed with the way you juggle everything. Just a thought, but I organised some DDs for my Mum, and she was always asked when she would like them to go out of her account. She was allowed to play around with the dates to manage her cashflow a bit more easily - I wonder of this might take some of the pressure off everything being due at the same time?


just seen this post Freeranger

I get paid monthly. The bills have to be paid (regardless when) so most go out on the same (ish) day for my convenience, and what's left in the account is supposedly all mine to spend until next pay day. So spreading out the dates would not benefit me.

Historically I was paid on the last day of the month so most of the direct debits went out on the 1st of the month when I knew money was in the account. The odd ones that don't fall on the 1st were the companies who specified dates that suited them (something to do with how accounting works and they don't like using the last day or first day of the month) - to be fair, these are within a few days of the 1st. The only payment that goes out later in the month is to do with the endowment mortgage (life assurance) which is linked to the day I signed the mortgage so has to go out on that day each month (I remember asking it to be changed but I could only change the mortgage (interest) payment to the 1st of the month because that goes to the mortgage lender) So I just make a point of ensuring the amount for the life assurance is in the account and spend no more (basically instead of saying "oh, I've got £100 to spend" when I check my bank balance online, I'll round up the payment due out and say "oh, I've got £60 to spend")

Since I started work in my current job, pay day is now on the 22nd of each month (unless it falls on a weekend or bank holiday then on the Friday) I have to confess that I had been expecting to try and get another job at my previous employer (they pay more for the same grade but it's a long story) so one of the reasons why I never bothered changing the date. Also, I've got used to being restrained in that period between pay day and 1st of month outgoings (not a bad thing) so to be honest, changing the pay out dates are not going to make much difference to how I manage my money.
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