As 2011 draws to a close and I think about what I would like 2012 to look like my mind has been over Christmas – in a rather un-Christian way – pondering money. It seems to be a human dilemma to constantly feel like we don’t have enough money, even though we live with riches our grandparents could not possibly have imagined in their youth. Certainly my grandfather, who was born in 1898 into a family that struggled to make ends meet, must have marvelled at the comforts of modern life at the end of his days. I live on the border of the higher rate of income tax but I still feel like I have to be extremely careful every month. There is no Manna from Heaven to pay for the bloody gas and electricity.
2011 has been, to steal a friend’s phrase a “year of the cutback”. I set myself an extremely tough target to reduce the burden of debt from my spreadsheet. Remarkably, I haven’t missed it by much. Contemplating my calculator at lunchtime another target suddenly appears in reach. If I carried on being a tight bastard for another year then by the end of 2012 I could have a nice round number in my bank account.
But, stealing another friend’s phrase, isn’t this all rather a case of “numbers on a screen”? I sometimes fear that by concentrating so hard on being sensible I will wake up one day with a decent bank balance regretting that I have not enjoyed myself very much. It could be even worse: I might have chipped away at the mortgage, be feeling financially more confident and independent and then get hit by a proverbial bus. It could be even worse: I might financially bore myself to an early grave.
I was doing some back of the envelope calculations and worked out that I could give myself enough pocket money each month to do the sorts of things I like doing, but then realised that I hadn’t included a holiday in 2012. A year without a holiday? Rubbish! Another year with my ancient laptop? I’ll be lucky. Then I remembered the plan is already off course because a fat bill from my freeholder is due thanks to some electrical work which is to start any minute. And what if my income changes for whatever reason? Would I feel dependent on having a lodger when, quite honestly, I would rather have the place to myself? And with no space in the budget for home improvements I might be living on my own in a miserable slum before the year is out. And all these issues built on the very flimsy premise that we all get through the year without a major financial or economic apocalypse.
No.
No.
No.
The plan for 2012: to have no plan for 2012.
Happy New Year!
This is the injustice of it all. You work hard. You’ve done everything right. You’re on the verge of 40% tax and single with no other commitment than a mortgage (you’d probably be paying higher in rent if you hadn’t bought your place anyway)
If a person like your good self is barely breaking even then what hope for the average earner with a family ?
Between us 55k came in last year and … 53k went out ! The remainder got spent on Christmas, clothes and a few fripperies – no saving.
We USwitch, we shop at Lidl, we don’t go abroad or eat out … we keep our mortgage and debts low, we don’t have Sky, smoke or go to the pub much – how the hell does the average household survive ?
Eurostar advertised driving jobs at £57k pa recently. (I used to drive for them as you know and I doubt I’d have a problem getting back in) I weighed it up and I worked out that I couldn’t afford to apply.
To live within commuting range of London Paddington I’d be talking about quadrupling my mortgage to live in a similar house and lowering my quality of life and that of my family.
I sometimes fear that by concentrating so hard on being sensible I will wake up one day with a decent bank balance regretting that I have not enjoyed myself very much.
That’s the eternal dilemma isn’t it? I’ve been doing exactly the same thing. OK, if I quit the roll-ups, (which I need to anyway), start having homemade egg sandwiches for lunch, stop drinking midweek (even the traditional Thursday night bottle of plonk) and don’t buy any designer clothes this year (what – no flashy shirts???) I could probably stash £400 a month away somewhere (in the spread betting account or the ISA?) and try to hoover up some cheap blue chips to hold for the long term.
A year without a holiday? Rubbish! Another year with my ancient laptop?
OMG – you are just a shorter version of me! My old man, bless him, has just sorted my laptop after it’s been kaput for 2 months. I didn’t trust the computer forensics guy at work with it – he’s got some of that software that can download every file you’ve ever deleted, every email you’ve ever sent and every website you’ve ever visited!
As for the holiday, I’ve 10 days leave to use by April and quite fancy a week in Tenerife. Then again, maybe I should buy some shares or whack it in the spread betting account? I’ll turn 32 this year and still never have visited Asia. Maybe I should just pile up some cash and do that end of March/April when I can grab a few weeks off spanning both leave years. Argghhhhh!
Hopefully I’ll get the Aberdeen job and have an extra £400 a month to play with. But I’m also minded to start some new blogs too, take what I’ve learned over the years and have a serious crack at getting the hit counter up by going mainstream under a new pseudonym on consumer affairs.
I’ll uncork one of those bottles of wine my brother got me for Xmas later and mull it all over!
I was very ahead of my time, the ‘year of the cutback’ was before the credit crunch even started!
Me, I’m off to Vietnam for a holiday next year (hopefully).
“I sometimes fear that by concentrating so hard on being sensible I will wake up one day with a decent bank balance regretting that I have not enjoyed myself very much.”
Something to always bear in mind: You can’t take it with you.
I blame MS Excel, Blues! When I started off on my own, it was so easy to put numbers in columns based on expectations, only to have them altered downwards almost immediately!
Another door opened, and changed everything yet again and so on, until we’re on tenterhooks now with an expectation which could, just could, change everything positively.
So the last thing I’m doing for our business plan in January, is a bloody spreadsheet. I’ll do that if we get some money in for a change…
EK, I’m not really complaining. I have a lot of the material things I want. Despite my austere 2011 I still managed to upgrade to an iPhone and go to Japan on holiday. It’s hardly poverty.
SL haha, worryingly similar maybe! You don’t want to hand your laptop over to the forensics chap. A friend of mine felt the need to take the whole hard drive out of his computer before sending it off to get it fixed. I dread to think what he must have had on it!
Richard, can’t interest you in South America?
Julia, damned straight!
Well actually I think you SHOULD be complaining, Blue. If there’s anyone who has a right to it’s you.
You’re Born Naked and when you check out you’re be just the same ………. what goes on in between is totally your choice. I’m not into having material things but like the comfort of having a nest egg …… old working class family made good makes me like that.
I just wish Mrs Stressed was better with her money. That share I tipped you is in The Mail today .. It’s a sign lol
“You’ll” – Forgive lack of awareness there !!!!!
In my life I’ve been both profligate and frugal to pretty much the same result. We all seem to be at the mercy of forces beyond our control at the moment so I suppose both saving and enjoying ones self seems in order…squaring the circle yet again.