Extra Day!!

No Spend days: 32

I have been so busy rearranging my plans for the year that I haven't had time to do any updates on anything. Today is "leap day" that day that comes once every four years so I have an extra day to quickly up date my blog, no excuses!

I haven't completed my budget for the month and know I am over budget but haven't done too bad (I hope). February was quite a simple month not like March which includes my trip to Venice, Italy. A holiday I am really looking forward too as I haven't had a holiday since last summer, when I went up to the north of England to walk Hadrian's Wall.

The final budget for the month will have to be worked out later and my goals for March are as follows:

• Saving £300 and £800

• Expenses £250 ( this has been rounded up)

• Flexiloan £260 (yes some debit is back again)
  

Having told everyone that I would be home for my cousins wedding in August for a few weeks I have had to call my Mums and tell her that I will probably not be home this year at all. (Always hate doing that)
So instead of flying home to New Zealand in August I will be flying to China in June and will spend a month there doing a TEFL course (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). As I am dyslexic this is going to be a great challenge and so I am swotting up on my grammar like crazy.

February Budget

19 daysI start this month with a short fall from last month of £43.42 - not a great start for the year. So I am hoping that this will make me a little more wary with regards to my spending.
My budget is pretty straightforward:

• Expenses £250
• Savings £850
• Sundry £500
• Spending £120

Simples! but after tax my income for this month is only £1,600 and as I have a short fall from last month of £43.42 it means I have less than no spending for the month. I really don't want to reduce my savings. (The sundry £500 is a one off payment) I don't want to use my emergency fund but I will have to for February. As I am having a holiday in March I don't think I will be able top up my Emergency fund until April at the earliest. Not good but better than being in debt.

The tax year ends on the 5th April and I would like to fully fund my ISA by then but will be short by £840. Should I use my Emergency fund to do this, as it will leave me with no safety net for a month or two. What do you think? Would that be good or bad?

The End of the Beginning

18 days

January is over and wow it sure went quick!

How did I do, well my goals for January were as follows:

1. Pay 1st payment for 2011/12 tax year in full.
2. Save £300 in my regular saving account (RSA).
3. Save £500 in my ISA.
4. Keep to my expenses budget of £200 (ie. don't overspend on my phone or Internet usage)
5. No food purchases unless out with friends. (This for my wast line as much as for my finances)

Of the above I have completed the first four items but have missed out badly on the last however a surprise bonus of £50 meant that I was able to take a friend for lunch and also give towards a birthday gift. So that saved my spending budget from going way out of control.

Hope you had a good month to start the year!

January Budge Coffee and Weight

17 days
January is almost over and I have done very badly this month with regards to not spending and keeping away from coffee shops. I have four days left before the month ends and my spending budget is already just under £30 over budget. I need to spend more time in the gym so I can avoid the shops and work on the weight loss.With regards to the 10 Pound Challenge I am not having any great success so far with the weight loss and I have even gained 2 pounds since my start weight of 10st 7lb, so I am not happy about that. Still weird or what - this morning I tried on a skirt I brought awhile back that was a tad too small and it fitted me perfectly? I have increased my cardio workout at the gym and wonder if this is just a bit of a glitch because of that.

Still onward and downward (well weight wise) lets see how into goes as we start February....
How are you doing with the 10 Pound Challenge?

10 Pound Challenge

No spending Days: 7

After working out at the gym for a hour and then walking all over Barnes I stopped in at Boots (the chemist) on the way home for the start numbers I need for the 10 pound challenge. (Big roll of the drums here..) My current weight is 10st 7lb (67.1kg). So that is the starting point for me and I wish everyone else who have taken up the challenge all the very best.

I have been sort of following Tim Ferriss' Four Hour Body diet which is like the Atkins diet but with beans. Now that the Christmas season is done and all the seasonal treats are no longer on display at the shops, I am hoping to be back on track with my eating in no time.

Doing the challenge? What diet are you using?

First Challenge for 2012

I have taken up my first Challenge for the year and will be working on my waist line for the next 12 weeks. Lose 10 pounds in 12 weeks - sounds like a plan.I dropped a jean size towards the end of last year and would like to get my weight into the middle range of my ideal body weight for my BMI, which is 7st 9lb (48.5kg) to 10st 4lb (65.6kg). The very idea of weighing only 7st 9lb is crazy - I'd probably be way too emaciated or dead and think 9st would be much healthier goal to aim for.
If you're in the UK you know that we are now the fattest country in the EU, so it is passed time to loss the pounds.
Go on sign up and lets get slimming - just think if your jogging past the shops then you will not have the time to stop and spend.

2012 Plans and Dreams

No spend days: 6

Everybody seems to be doing Carla's No-Spend challenge for January I thought about participating too but as I have a very set budget for January and my spending money for the month is £155.85 my current account balance left over from last year. So 100% of my income for January is all budgeted for and there is no room for saving anything extra.

January is Tax payment month for the year ending 2011-2012, so that is my biggest expense for the month. It's due by the 31st and I will transfer the payment on Friday 28th therefore gaining as much interest on the money as I can get.

I am continuing my saving plans from last year and so will be aiming to save £500 a month into my Freedom Fund and £300 into my Building Fund. My Freedom Fund is an ISA and I am planning to fully fund it by the end of the Tax Year in April. I may have to use my Emergency Fund to do this but feel it is all for a good cause. I can save up to £5,340 tax free for the tax year of 2011-12 and then this amount goes up to £5,640 for 2012-13.

I am planning several trips overseas this year and have already paid for the first trip which is to Venice in March. I have promised to attend a cousin wedding in New Zealand in August and would really like to visit both Kenya and Uganda maybe in December?. And then I have been looking at city breaks to Moscow too. Oh there is so much world to visit isn't there!

Do you have any major trips planned for 2012? Where are you off to??

Goals for 2012

It's 2012 a new year with all new possibilities, new goals and new opportunities

I have been working on my new budget for the year. First I have my big income tax bill to pay at the end of January and then it's going to be a bit tight for the first few months because of a trip I have planned a trip to Venice with three of my godkids in March.

I will have to start leaving my debit card at home or leaving my purse at home when ever I go down the road to the high street. Online is also a big temptation for me especially when it comes to books and music. I have spent way too much on the iTunes site last year and so will have to really be careful this year not to repeat that. My next purchase will be for my birthday in April and not before!!

Hope you've sorted your budget and wish you every success in reaching your goals for 2012.

Planning the New Year

Hope you all had a great Hanukkah/Christmas!
Now that the festivities are done, it's time to sit down and see what damage it has all done to our finances.
For me - so much for not doing Christmas, I have spent way more that I thought I would on my Godkids and even sent some pressies back home for my younger brothers family. And of cause something for my Mums too.
My biggest thrill this year was a text from my Dad wishing me "Happy Christmas" - haven't seen him since 2000 and last contact I had with him at Christmas was when I was 9 years old.

But back to my finances I will end the month with £500 less in my savings than I had planned for December. So not a good end to the year.
Christmas and New Year are good for me as I get double time and so this will greatly help with my expenses for January, which includes the first payment of my income tax for 20011/12. As I have very little in the way of expenses to worry about next year is now all about saving and paying in cash for all my spending. I am planning some trips in March and in August, possibly even a trip to Africa in May. The African trip is purely vanity - I just want to see my sponsor kids again. It would be better to just send them the monies I would have to pay for my flight and accommodation but I would really love to see them. May is the end of the rainy season and is said to be cheaper at that time. Will see how well I keep to my budget between now and March.
The plan for the next month is as follows:

1. Pay 1st payment for 2011/12 tax year in full.
2. Save £300 in my regular saving account.
3. Save £500 in my ISA.
4. Keep to my expenses budget of £200 (ie. don't overspend on my phone or Internet usage)
5. No food purchases unless out with friends. (This for my wast line as much as for my finances)

Wishing you all a very happy New Year!
(this one is a big one for the UK)

And like the pub landlord said - "it's going to be a little bit shit"!

Now that it's December I can eat mince pies with a clear conscious!

It's offically the silly season and as it is December I feel able to start shopping for Christmas not that that will be a lot of shopping for me. As I tell all my friends and family - "I don't do Christmas or birthday". That way I never forget a birthday and no one is disappointed at Christmas time. But am so very glad that I did purchase a Heston Blumenthal's Christmas pudding last month as they have sold out 'again' at Waitrose.
According to The Telegraph.........

"That is because Northern Foods, the supplier, has bought up the complete supply of Valencian cured oranges – the crucial ingredient – and no more existed. It takes seven weeks to cure a Valencian candied orange, meaning that after this short production run no more were possible until after Christmas."

The pudding was for a friend who now resides in New York and so is lacking in the basics for a good English Christmas but I really should have gotten him two of them.