Well, I got paid! First month & paycheck in the new job and it is £200 = $400 more than I anticipated. I am over the moon! The new budget is as follows:
- Rent £950
- Council Tax £75
- Water £30 (this really makes me cross as I use about £6 worth of water a month, but it is a standard charge and they will not charge based on what you use – talk about a lack of incentive to help the environment…grr!)
- Electricity £30 (currently estimated as I have not had my bill yet)
- Telephone/Internet £25
- Mobile Telephone £30 (I will not be renewing this in September)
- TV license £12
- Free Spends £60 (to include newspapers, gifts, eating out, any new clothes)
- Credit Card £100 (working to get my £2000 balance down to 0!)
- Giving £20 (£18 world vision child sponsorship, £2 Christian Aid) This will be increasing soon
- Storage costs £48
- Oyster monthly bus pass £50
- Food £100
- Health and beauty £70 (I have a heath condition for which 1 round of acupuncture and reflexology a month make a significant difference – so while I balk at spending this each month, I feel it is a necessity)
Total New Monthly Budget: £1600
Total New Job Take home: £2100
This means each month I have £500 to save. Yes, I live on such a tight budget so that I can save £500 a month. Until I get to my 6 month saving mark, all of this is allocated here. Once this happens, I will begin to start paying off my credit card asap and change the budget so that I can reflect this. I will also then begin paying money back into the holiday account.
In my previous jobs, from 2003-2008 I was averaging a take home pay of £1500 – £1600 a month. Yes my rent was cheaper as I wasn’t in London, but actually my spending was higher – my car costs with petrol were running me at about £120 a month, my food bill was double as there was limited choice. So I’m amazed against all odds that London has been very good for the budget, a significantly higher wage, cheaper travel costs and cheaper food costs as well as all those free exhibits!
I’ve done significant downshifting, which I’ll blog about in another post. But for today, I’m simply happy at how far I’ve come and how taking a risk and moving to London coupled with eating healthier organically sourced local food and major frugal cutbacks is meaning I have gone from saving £50 a month to £500!
Well done! You’ve come a long way.
Is it worth using some of your monthly saving to pay off the credict card debt quicker? Even if you used half of it – £250 per month then your credit card would be cleared in only 8 months.
Just a thought! Keep it up.
Thanks for the idea Sandie, maybe once I have 3 months emergency income saved I should look @ doing your suggestion! As a single with 1 income I think I need at least 3/4 months behind me but you’re right the sooner it is paid off the better!
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I guess you live in a flat, since you say that you can’t have a water meter. Watch out on the electricity, my gas bill was estimated, but with all the price increases, I ended up with a whopping £280 charge when I switched supplier recently.
Yes I do plonkee. I’m terrified of receiving the electricity bill!! My goodness £280 is horrendous, poor you!
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ouch yes – high rent. but really good to see actual figures. very refreshing to see that. I am on this journey too. slightly differently but then we are all different people with our different dreams and values. but essentially I have been reading the blogs and studying and reading finance blogs etc. its very hard for me right now as I have virtually NO income at all. My husband is earning and I am caring for our son. I have managed to get him onto the ‘Budgie Game’ and this is good. but I cannot presently manage any of our money at all. which really irritates me. My present goal is to get him to pay all his money into the joint account so that I can sort out paying off his debts and also savings. I have set our mortgage repayments so that we are paying some of it off each month which is great. and I am still saving every time I do earn a bit of cash. about 20% goes into my isa. oh hey ho. I should do my own blog soon and join in. its great for goal setting and aiming for things I think. I love to write it all down. but ‘putting it out there’ makes it even more real