Managing Finances

As part of getting the buy to let mortgage we had to show our expenses to the mortgage broker.  Even though I have said in a previous post we budget since our holiday in October we've taken our eye off the ball a bit.  Not that we have gone overdrawn but just not been as careful as usual.  We had a form to complete with all our monthly outgoings and it has just made us re-focus. I have started using our credit card for shopping and fuel as we get points which we can convert into vouchers for different things. I pay the balance off each month.

I have dug out a spreadsheet that I used years ago when we were first starting to save and will start to complete that again. It shows how much we spend on what, things like food, toiletries etc.  It also shows our balances which when you see it go up makes everything worthwhile.

Each Monday I am going to check our balances just to keep an eye on them.  I still menu plan and at the moment have a fully stocked freezer with a meat delivery I got just before Christmas.

I use more fuel than before as I work a lot further from home but am going to make a real effort to do errands while I am out. For example I drive past the gym on my way to and from work so rather than coming home then go back out take my gym clothes with me and call in on the way home.

We have opened a separate account for the new house so we can clearly the expenses and profit for it.

I think that for now all this will keep us on track.