Rawr_'s Saving Diary

Alexland · 1 January 2018 at 3:09PM

rawr_ wrote: »

ZoeaI respect your opinion, but I however would like a family, hence the saving! And I also see owning a house as a good investment, as rent prices are continuing to soar (and I know this is the same for house prices), I believe getting onto the property ladder is a good thing for us. But not really an argument for here I think you'd agree.

Regardless of what happens to house prices owning a home is a good thing as it gives security as your children grow up and again when you enter retirement. Our experience was that my wife took 12 months maternity followed by only working part time. Those first 12 months were really very tough. I also reduced down to a 4 day week to help. So please don't underestimate how time consuming and damaging to your income having a child can be. I struggle to see how your husband can afford to go to uni while you are having children and starting a mortgage. It looks very optimistic but I wish you well.

Alex

rawr_ · 1 January 2018 at 4:46PM

Hi Alex thanks for your reply. I agree having a house is great security. I'm not underestimating the cost at all, hence why we haven't done it yet. I'm a big planner, and don't go into things lightly. I want to make sure we have a decent amount of money behind us before we even start trying to have a family. My husband will be part time working for quite a bit of his studying, it will only be when he has to do placements that we will be surviving on my income alone, and I have my mum for a few childcare days a week.

Kim_13 · 1 January 2018 at 6:29PM

george4064 wrote: »

Target doesn't have to 12k, you set your own target! I think it is called what it is because it has quite a nice ring to it!

Indeed. It looks as though it originated in 2012, so that may be where the title came from.

Both 12k and 6k are nice round targets as it means saving £1,000 or £500 per month.

Good luck with it rawr_.

Eco_Miser · 1 January 2018 at 8:30PM

Kim_13 wrote: »

Indeed. It looks as though it originated in 2012, so that may be where the title came from.

Indeed it did. 'Save 12k in 2012' had a very good ring to it.

rawr_ wrote: »

I'm aiming to have a lot of NSD (No spend days) and will keep track of how many I manage in a month.

Unless you have to spend on transport every working day, you should be able to get 20 or more NSDs in a month. Having said that, it's really the amount you spend over the month that counts, not how few days you manage to spend it in.

Zoea wrote: »

A large large chunk of the population of the UK don't even have a bank account. We're talking well over a million people. I have no idea how they manage to get by without a bank but they apparently do.

They may have Building Society, Credit Union or Post Office accounts for saving in, and do most of their transactions in cash, paying bills at the Post Office counter at extra expense

rawr_ · 2 January 2018 at 12:29PM

Eco_Miser wrote: »

Unless you have to spend on transport every working day, you should be able to get 20 or more NSDs in a month. Having said that, it's really the amount you spend over the month that counts, not how few days you manage to spend it in.

Haha easier said than done - hence the diary to help me a bit! I tend to spend in dribs and drabs when I suddenly realise I've run out of something, so better planning and more NSD's will help me I think. I commute by car so fill up every two weeks providing I don't go anywhere else.

I try and keep house bills/food shopping and my own personal spending i.e fuel for the car separate and coming out of separate accounts. This way I feel like I can sort it out a bit better in my head? Anyone else do this? I've read a lot about how 'your not in a proper marriage if you have separate accounts', but this is just what works for us, and not looking for a discussion on that.

I have a budget for food that comes out of our joint account, along with all the bills that I put money into when I get paid (DH would put money into this too, but he's currently putting it into the house fund what we would have been paying on rent + a bit more) and then the rest in my own account is used for my mobile contract, diesel and my parking pass. I should be able to save the rest but have been dwindling it away (along with Christmas gifts, had some repairs on my car the last few months, and had a horrible vet bill too!) and it just seems to disappear.

Eco_Miser · 2 January 2018 at 5:37PM

I buy food (and anything else) when I need it, but usually get fully re-stocked why I buy.
I use bank accounts to maximise the interest, and keep track of the purpose of the money on a spread-sheet (actually I don't even do that anymore, since I'm fortunate enough now to be able to afford what I want when I want it, without specific budgeting).
I'm not in any sort of marriage, but if I were, there would be his, hers, and ours accounts at all the banks where this earns more.

I also realise that not everybody can separate the purpose and location of their money like I do, so do whatever works best for you.

rawr_ · 2 January 2018 at 8:56PM

Thanks Eco Miser

you seem to be in a great position!

So I was aiming for some NSD's this week, but turns out my car parking pass for work doesn't kick in until Friday, so will be paying for parking until then annoyingly. We also needed some essentials from the supermarket so caved and went to Tesco. I also used some of my clubcard vouchers, so only spent £3.33! We've been running out of a lot over Christmas as have the in-laws staying with us, but they go back to Scotland tomorrow, so tomorrow night my aim is to do a stock list of the cupboards, fridge & freezer, and write my weeks meal plan and shopping list for Friday!

Friday is my shopping day as DH doesn't finish until 7pm on a Friday, and this way I'm not using up diesel to drive home and come back again to pick him up. We have one car and he's currently learning to drive.

Been full of cold today, came on all of a sudden so hoping I can shake it quick!

EDIT: Also forgot to mention that I cashed in some of my earning on my PA Survey account and put it straight into my savings - only £10.32 but it all add's up!

Fatbritabroad · 2 January 2018 at 10:48PM

rawr_ wrote: »

Haha easier said than done - hence the diary to help me a bit! I tend to spend in dribs and drabs when I suddenly realise I've run out of something, so better planning and more NSD's will help me I think. I commute by car so fill up every two weeks providing I don't go anywhere else.

I try and keep house bills/food shopping and my own personal spending i.e fuel for the car separate and coming out of separate accounts. This way I feel like I can sort it out a bit better in my head? Anyone else do this? I've read a lot about how 'your not in a proper marriage if you have separate accounts', but this is just what works for us, and not looking for a discussion on that.

I have a budget for food that comes out of our joint account, along with all the bills that I put money into when I get paid (DH would put money into this too, but he's currently putting it into the house fund what we would have been paying on rent + a bit more) and then the rest in my own account is used for my mobile contract, diesel and my parking pass. I should be able to save the rest but have been dwindling it away (along with Christmas gifts, had some repairs on my car the last few months, and had a horrible vet bill too!) and it just seems to disappear.

I use an app called Moneyhub. I've found it useful as you link it to all your main bank accounts and it tracks your spending. It's been very useful to me to we how much I am actually spending on items and take action where necessary

Alexland · 3 January 2018 at 12:19AM

Eco_Miser wrote: »

I buy food (and anything else) when I need it, but usually get fully re-stocked why I buy.

We buy the basics regularly but bulk buy certain products when they are on the right offer. We live near most of the main supermarkets and find each is better in different categories.

rawr_ wrote: »

We also needed some essentials from the supermarket so caved and went to Tesco. I also used some of my clubcard vouchers, so only spent £3.33!

Argh, don't redeem Tesco Clubcard at face value when they can be multiplied. I just redeemed some today to place a double-up order with Denby who have our range at half price in the January sale (so 4x value). Only had to pay the postage with real money and used new Amex card (£30 from TopCashBack) to get Nectar points. Doubling up £120 of Nectar points to £240 across various categories at Sainsbury's made a big contribution to Christmas costs.

To get this back on topic all these little initiatives help reduce our cost of living and enable us to invest more to meet our long term financial objectives.

Alex.

Eco_Miser · 3 January 2018 at 9:50AM

rawr_ wrote: »

Thanks Eco Miser you seem to be in a great position!

It's time in the market, as they say in the investment threads. Half a lifetime keeping costs down and squirreling away the surplus, then suddenly you realise it's worked, and you don't need to do that any more.

Eco_Miser wrote: »

I use bank accounts to maximise the interest, and keep track of the purpose of the money on a spread-sheet (actually I don't even do that anymore, since I'm fortunate enough now to be able to afford what I want when I want it, without specific budgeting).

To clarify that a bit, I do have a spreadsheet listing all the expected Direct Debits, Standing Orders, and debit card purchases/ATM withdrawals for each month, so I can be sure there will be money there to pay them. I just don't allocate savings to any specific purpose.

Rawr_'s Saving Diary

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