Month 1 – Finances
Below are the necessary tasks to keep me on budget
-
Set up a savings plan
-
Check and enter all daily expenses – no matter what
-
Plan a budget and stick to it
-
Balance my accounts at the end of the month
-
Use up and maintain what we already have
This will be a lean month for spending to help recover from the Christmas period and the heavier spending last month – here are my ideas to help build up my financial reserves and spend as little as possible this month. They are in no particular order and the 1-31 does not correspond to the dates in January rather I will do them as time allows but I will do one each day.
Capturing money
Take any returns to shops for a refund. Just John Lewis to do nowPay in any cheques / Christmas moniesBag up loose change and take to the bankUpdate Savings chart with interest payments and diary in the end of any fixed dealsApply for an new ISA with a good rate of interest and consolidate the two that are now on a low rate.Look for money off coupons online- Use any vouchers and reward points against shopping / gifts that I need to purchase Ongoing process
Research online for any better energy dealsResearch car and house insurance for a better dealUse up all food in cupboards and freezer – buy as few groceries as possibleMove appointments such as Hair cutting on a weekApply for Cashback Plus from my bankBalance all my accounts and run 2013 reportsIdentify areas of high spendingIdentify any old accounts that need to be closedRun a passive income report for 2013- Type up a menu plan for the whole of January using up Cupboard and freezer contents
- Check electricity usage daily for a month with the monitor
- Gather together any items to sell Have made a start on this one
- Set up an Ebay and/or Amazon account
- Take photos of items to sell and upload
- Begin putting ideas down for crafting an easy to make birthday card
- Make enough cards for 6 months
- Make a list of any birthday gifts I will need for the next 6 months
- Make a plan of how to save on lunches at work
- Make a maintenance plan so that all the appliances I own are kept in good working order – including the car – clean and maintain one appliance each week I have started this
- Look through the numerous packets of seeds I have with a view to growing plants rather than buying – this can extend to taking cuttings
Research energy prices and new dealsReview housekeeping budget- *
- *
The last few tasks I will be adding as I go along as there will be new tasks arising over the month and possibly from the tasks already listed – because as they say one thing leads to another.
As well as tracking and managing my finances I aim to give the office space a thorough going over. No drawer or cupboard or file will be left unturned
Space clearing
Empty desk drawers and only put back anything that is usedGo through the files and remove outdated items for shreddingGo through receipts and shred any not required- Fix and underdesk wire basket for those awful trailing wires
Check out the systems we have in place for dealing with our finances and look for better ways of doing them
You can read about my progress here – click on the links
where the journey takes me 
Wow! I love this…..you’ve got me thinking if I should make a list too!
LikeLike
Making the list was the easy part – doing it may be a little trickier!
LikeLike