Okay here is my first financial blog.. I love that other people can read these blogs.. and I love to talk about money. Its my fav. subject. Even though I don't worship money in any way.... it is the most interesting non religious topic I can think of discussing. I've always loved going through numbers as a child and had my mother on a budget by the age of 8 years old.

Okay ..

The income = £60,000 yrly
take away = £ 5,400 yrly medical fees

The actual income totals £54,600

Now lets tax that..
we get £5,250 tax free
then we are taxed 22% until 21,000.
after that it goes up to 40% tax till £100,000 and then 50% thereafter.
Plus 8% for national health insurance which is mandatory.

to save time I just use the paye tax calculator (which is free)

Wage Summary
Per Year Per Month Per Week
Gross Pay 54,600.00 4,550.00 1,050.00
Tax free 5,035.00 419.58 96.83
Allowances
Total 49,565.00 4,130.42 953.17
taxable
Tax paid 13,574.00 1,131.17 261.04
National
Insurance 3,345.16 278.76 64.33
Total
Deductions 16,919.16 1,409.93 325.37
Net Wage £37,680.84 £3,140.07 724.63

That is of course if they tax our medical fees properly.

So we are living with £3,140 a month.

We have 9k in the bank.
The budget...
yrly payments of £200 to medical fees for hubby)175 * 2 car road tax = £350
MOT (which is obligatory to have every year in the UK) it checks to see how the car is working and whether safe on the road. £350 for hubbis car and £200 for my car. Which includes a full service.
Car insurance of £400 a year for the two of us.
That works out to £1,500 in yrly expenses.
we would save £525 a year if I don't buy a car. (which would be impossible).

Monthly budget without a mortgage.
£90 for council taxes
£35 for broadband and telephone (cheapest we could find) but worth it since I had a telephone with the minimun line rental and just for calling plumbers ectr.. my bill would be £35 easy. This plan includes unlimited calling to landlines anywhere in the country.
£200 for my hubbies petrol to work
£300 for groceries
£60 for electricity
£30 for gas
£25 for water
£100 for diapers and formula..
£50 for odd and ends (things I forgot)

TOTAL = 3,140 - £890 = £2,250.
Is it me or does that seem like a lot when you don't have a mortgage. It really pisses me off that my husband doesn't get any tax credits for the children like people on lesser incomes in this country. I have a friend who gets £800 to cover her bills and her husband takes home 1,200 a month. And his job isn't professional like my hubbies.. nor does it require him to travel or visit skitso patients in their homes.


My goals are to spend as less as possible on that £300 food budget.. I hope to bring it down to £200.
To try and save money on gas.. bringing it down to £150 a month.
And get the baby off formula as soon as possible..
It will be helpful when my daughter is finally potty trained.. I know I can do it.. !! Its just my first time.

So thats £2,250 * 12 = 27,000
- 1,500 in yearly expenses.. and i'll add £1,000 for anything unexpected.

Potential savings of £24,500 after a year..

However we have some upcoming expenses.. very very shortly...

1.) buying a car for me £2,000-4k
2.) buying a house £136,000- 200,000
3.) fix up this house and rent it. +300
4.) by hayaat hooked on phonics.
5.) take an arabic class with my husband

We need to buy a house in order to avoid private school fees. The cheapest we could possibly find in the catchment area is £136,000. which would leave me with a payment of £660 a month with an islamic mortgage for 30 years. It would only be a 2 bedroom duplex house without a garage.. and the houses are rising really quickly around here.. so we need to buy fast. I am worried whether we will be able to move up to a 4 bedroom if the prices go any higher.. which is why I am thinking of going for the 200k house... Selling my house i live in now is not an option because I put it on the market a few months ago and the prices have already risen by 5k .. and they are selling within 2 weeks. Hence it makes sense to struggle with a mortgage for a year or two until the prices top out.. Plus they are doing a lot of redevelopment in my city and I am hoping the council doesn't botch things up..

We don't invest in any stocks or mutual funds.. so these really are the only ways we can invest..

Other short term goals..
become registered as a childminder..
volunteer with the school
become a teachers assistant.
put hayaat in horseriding lessons.. ballet.. gymnastics and tots tennis
Start going to the gym for myself

Total cost of the above = £200 a month..
Hopefully I can cover some of the costs by cleaning houses or childminding.

Long term goals..
Buy a bigger house/flat in dubai £70k
Start or fund a business when the children start school full time £100k
Go back to school to become a teacher £priceless but will cost £5k
Try to get my husband to work harder so we can save more money..
Go to a muslim country to learn arabic.
Eventually live in a muslim country and study under the scholars.. and move the children into islamic schools ..
Date this needs to be accomplished.. 2013.

Main priorities.. is to learn about my religion.. learn arabic... and how to recite the quran. And to keep our family happy.. Money comes and goes.. but happiness is harder to come by.