Hi there!

[jamethiel]

Hello, actyourwagers! I'm jame, your friendly mod. Sorry I've been so absent of late, my life kind of exploded a couple of months ago and it took me a while to adjust.

Just a quick modly note before I ramble on: it's great to see so many new people here! There are a couple of people who I haven't approved yet, largely because their journals have no userinfor/public posts, and haven't got an approved email so I can't send them a message. If I haven't approved your membership yet, could you please comment to this post stating you've read the rules (check the comm userinfo) and you'll abide by them? Thanks.

So. Thank god for parents. My parents really helped me when I had to move in a hurry. Now I'm all settled in my new place. I can afford the rent but obviously I would have about twice as much if I got a flatmate.

However, there are lots of ways where living with a flatmate is just not as cheap. Living by myself, I will put on a cardigan and wear gloves and a hat rather than put the heater on. I also turn everything off at the powerpoint--the only appliance in my house that runs constantly is the fridge. No "standby" mode for me! Lights go off if I'm not in the room.

However, if I get a flatmate, I know from experience that it takes a bit of retraining yourself to turn things off. And it may be that they won't be willing to do that. Also, I'm REALLY enjoying having my space. Everything's clean! And neat! I can control what I eat without driving other people crazy! I have budgeted for gas/water/electricity/the internet, and we'll see if things happen.

I've got a post in the works about food costs and waste. I'll think about that a little more though.

I have a little bit still on my credit card, but I have about twice that amount in savings. In addition to that, I've got a separate account just for my computer and that doesn't get touched. The thing that makes me happy is I've got almost $300 in there--10% of the way towards my goal!

I haven't quite got the hang of expenses yet. The first round of bills hasn't really come. I'll feel better in a couple of months time, but right now I just give myself an allowance for food and take that out in cash. That's my weekly money. Everything else gets transferred to my online, high interest account and I transfer it back as I need it.

I've been thinking about my goals. As you know, I'm a big believer in goal-setting. Concrete goals allow you to make concrete plans. For those who've just joined, short term is in the next 2-3 months, medium term is up to a year, and long term is longer than that
Short term: Pay off credit card to avoid interest charges (done by Monday)
Medium term: Save up enough for a new computer (On track! I've got the direct debit transferring money to a specific account every fortnight when I get paid. And I just don't touch that account)
Save enough to get the start of a cash/term deposit ladder: I would say three months time, but I may allow a little while to get used to bills, so maybe 4/5 months?
Long term: Trip to Hong Kong
Bespoke Suits
House deposit

So, how are you going? What are your goals?

Comments

[jenett]

Previous goal:
Pay off all of my consumer debt (which I did in May, just before losing the job.) Good timing, me! Divorce was not kind to my finances: I took the debt to avoid having to deal with the ex not paying it, to the tune of about 25K. Ugh.

Current goal: pay my bills while unemployed.

(I can manage them on unemployment *except* for health insurance, where the full $450 payment for me kicks in next month. Fortunately, my mother's helping me out with that one. And if I don't find a job by the end of October in my field, I'll be aiming at temping. For folks wanting perspective: that sum is 3/4 of what it costs me in rent for a very small studio-sized apartment.)

Short term stuff:
- Get really solid on tracking my budget and expenses. (I'm using a program called YNAB (You Need A Budget), which has both a desktop and iPod app version: so far, every entry this month is fully up to date, yay me.)

- Get job (which may involve a move, which will throw all sorts of new variables into the budget) One of the things I like about YNAB is it's fairly easy to play with practice future budgets and erase them while I'm trying to figure out what kind of salary would be my absolute minimum in Other Location.

Longer term:
- I still have a student loan out there (currently in deferment due to the unemployment). I'd like to start paying that down much more aggressively now the consumer debt is out of my way.

- Save up for a car down payment and a few months of car payment in advance. (My current car is 10.5, and while it's okay now, clearly needs replacing sometime sooner than later to be reliable in northern climate conditions.)

- I want to save up between 3 and 6 months of expenses after that for emergency savings. (I'm single, no kids, so still trying to decide where in that I want to fall.)

- And then I'd like to look at saving up money for a house down payment, though depending on where I end up, that might be a long time coming. We'll see.

[jamethiel]

Ugh, sympathies on the divorce. When my partner and I split up, there were just... so many things that I ended up paying for myself just to GET OUT, OMG. It took me three years to get out of debt from that.

Your plans sound great! Keep us updated on how they go!

[jenett]

Mine was a bit longer - we got divorced in 2005, so we're coming up on five years, and I was repaying the debt for 4.5.

Being done, though = truly priceless. (And not having to rely on him not affecting my own credit, equally good.)