Some help please....
lacoste1985_2
Posts: 182 Forumite
Hi
I've never posted my SOA on this site before so here goes.....just wondering if any of you can suggest how I can reduce some of my outgoings even more so that I can begin to start saving properly. i've just recently paid off a £2000 loan early (£1555) to be precise so now I'm left with no savings or contingency funds for anything. Anyway here goes, this is monthly:
Rent (to parents) = £130
Phone bill = £35
Trolley at work = £15
Hair colouring/Beauty = £35
Train fare = £10
Petrol = £65
Specsavers (contact lenses) = £13
Toiletries from Boots = £10 (normally bulk buy stuff when its on offer bi monthly)
Car tax = £10 (put away for when tax renewal comes round)
Car insurance = £40 (at a rough guess how much I should be saving before next renewal comes round)
AA membership = £2 a month (on dads policy)
Birthday fund = £10 p/person depending on how many birthdays I have in one month - sometimes up to 4!!!
Socialising - £100 a month (this is made up of eating out, takeaways, cinema trips, drinks in bar in work...dont really go out clubbing unless I go with OH)
Clothes / new things fund = could be £20 on a good month.....but £60 on a bad month...depends how I feel!:o
I'm currently trying to save between £500 - £600 a month.
Any help on how I could lower my outgoings even by a couple of pounds every month would be great....
Lacoste :T
I've never posted my SOA on this site before so here goes.....just wondering if any of you can suggest how I can reduce some of my outgoings even more so that I can begin to start saving properly. i've just recently paid off a £2000 loan early (£1555) to be precise so now I'm left with no savings or contingency funds for anything. Anyway here goes, this is monthly:
Rent (to parents) = £130
Phone bill = £35
Trolley at work = £15
Hair colouring/Beauty = £35
Train fare = £10
Petrol = £65
Specsavers (contact lenses) = £13
Toiletries from Boots = £10 (normally bulk buy stuff when its on offer bi monthly)
Car tax = £10 (put away for when tax renewal comes round)
Car insurance = £40 (at a rough guess how much I should be saving before next renewal comes round)
AA membership = £2 a month (on dads policy)
Birthday fund = £10 p/person depending on how many birthdays I have in one month - sometimes up to 4!!!
Socialising - £100 a month (this is made up of eating out, takeaways, cinema trips, drinks in bar in work...dont really go out clubbing unless I go with OH)
Clothes / new things fund = could be £20 on a good month.....but £60 on a bad month...depends how I feel!:o
I'm currently trying to save between £500 - £600 a month.
Any help on how I could lower my outgoings even by a couple of pounds every month would be great....
Lacoste :T
0
Comments
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Hi Lacoste
Lots of ways I think for you to save money, it really depends on how badly you want to do it and how much willpower you have! Are you looking to save for a mortgage or something nice?
I would personally:
Reduce the phone tarriff to most basic package - I'm guessing this is for a mobile?
Stop spending money on the trolley at work - take snacks/drinks into work
Shop around for insurance quotes - use the tips on MSE
Review how much you spend on birthdays - either buy a small token gift or hunt for bargains
The clothing, socialising and beauty budgets can all be slashed by again, hunting for bargains, having treatments at local beauty colleges or model nights etc
Hope this helps.Its nice to be important but more important to be nice!0 -
hair /beauty - do you have a college near by that might be looking for people to have treatment by students - cheaper than normal salonssmile --- it makes people wonder what you are up to.... :cool:0
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Hi and welcome
Re the birthday presents - have you joined Pigsback? There is a great thread on the Freebies forum and the first 2 posts explain all you need to know. You can build up "Piggy points" which can be exchanged for vouchers (CD WOW, Boots, Arcadia, John Lewis, Boots), all of which are excellent either as presents or to pay for presents.
How do you pay for essentials such as petrol? If you have a credit card is it one that gives you cash back or some other form of reward such as M&S vouchers? Of course it must be paid off in full at the end of each month but again this is a way of gaining some extra cash or help towards expenditure. I'm guessing you already have a Boots Advantage card; if you buy your petrol at Tesco, Morrisons or Sainsburys you can build up loyalty points at no cost to yourself.
And my final recommendation would be to start a spending diary so that you know exactly where your money goes - nothing like seeing in black and white how much you spend on magazines (to use an example close to home) to change your spending habits.0 -
robnye wrote:hair /beauty - do you have a college near by that might be looking for people to have treatment by students - cheaper than normal salons
i already go to the cheapest salon in town, go every 8 weeks for colour, normally half a head of foils to save money (and my hair!)....never fancied letting a student do my hair incase they mess it up. I have heard of other people going thou!
It takes my hairdresser up to an hr and half to put foils in if i have a whole head done - ive got the brown / blonde stripe effect going on so it takes a while due to 2 colours!!
1/2 head foils is £45 and full head is £65 - I also have a senior stylist do my hair so the prices are slightly more expensive per treatment. She did used to be just a stylist but got promoted and it wasnt until I went there one time and was charged an extra £5 to normal that I found out she'd been promoted.
I dont want to embarrass her and ask to have a stylist do my hair as she might take offence and shes never messed my colour up once. Plus id only be saving about £5 - 6 every time i went....is it really worth it?0 -
im sure if you look online you will be able to get your contact lenses cheaper try this firm http://www.visiondirect.co.uk
and if you go through quidco you get 20% back :jproper prior planning prevents p!$$ poor performance!Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat moneyquote from an american indian.0
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