As promised, I’m documenting my progress following my big kick up the arse… This week I: Unlocked my online banking account Entered nearly 4 months worth of transaction data into YNAB Paid in both a cheque (which I’m notoriously lazy about) and some cash (which I’ve never done before, I just spend notes!) So, numbers […]
Category: Budgeting
In May 2012 I had my baby son and started maternity leave for the second time, knocking my family income down by over £800 per month. Surviving on Statutory Maternity Pay taught me to budget, and how to feed a family of four on only £20 a week. Nowadays I’m back to working, but still juggling the demands of two school-aged children against the reality of self-employed income.
Kick up the arse
I spent nearly an hour on the phone on Tuesday night with a friend of mine who’s asked to remain nameless (I don’t know why, maybe he thinks you’ll all call him up asking for financial advice too?) Following my comfort spending confession he’s given me a bit of a virtual kick up the arse […]
Mortgage Free: Bumps in the Road
One of the biggest barriers to me being mortgage free in 5 years is a bad habit I don’t tend to talk about too often: I’m a comfort spender. If I’m stressed, I spend money on anything and everything. The ironic thing about this unnecessary splurging is that it ultimately leads to me adding to […]
To be mortgage free: overpayments and stuff
Tomorrow marks a month since I secured a new mortgage on my home, giving me the funds I needed to complete “project £20k” thus buying Karl out and transferring the deeds to solely my name. In total: £97,617.23 — £77,617.23 to pay off the old mortgage and £20,000 for Karl. This week the first mortgage […]
Oh Bugger (Budgeting Fail)
I made a terrible, terrible mistake in June. I ignored my budget, forgot to check my online banking statements regularly, and made a big ‘luxury’ purchase (last minute half week “glamping” break) in the same month as a big necessary purchase (car tax). What with that, bills, childcare, mortgage, new shoes for Isabel etc my […]
Project £20k: Holy F***!
I recently mentioned on twitter that I had successfully secured my domain with a .uk TLD, taking my total up to some 43 domains. Domains are cheap — little more than a bottle of wine — why worry about owning a healthy collection, right? Except that therein lies a problem that I’ve clearly been ignoring […]
Starting Project £20k
After having a good moan about my financial / housing situation post-split from Karl, which ended on a jokey note about a project £15k, I thought well… actually, why don’t I start a new project? And why aim for £15,000 — that would mean I’d still need £5k from the bank — why not aim […]
For Sale: One Kidney
My housing status is basically an unstable mess. I have no idea where I will be living in 6 months time, and part of that is because Karl and I own an equal share of this house and one of us will have to buy the other out at some point (or sell up and […]
The truth about earning money from surveys
I’ve lost count of the amount of times someone has suggested to me that filling in surveys online are a great source of easy work at home income. Everyone seems to have a story about their great aunt’s on their dad’s side or cousin twice removed who makes hundreds of pounds a day filling in […]
New Job, New Budget
One of the first things I did this month after starting my new job was to set up a new bank account. It’s not that new work necessitates a change of banking details, I’m just slightly paranoid that my old details are splashed all over every invoice etc from self-employment. Plus, a better rate of […]