How to fall in love with saving money

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  • cathybird
    cathybird Posts: 13,163
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    I want to fall in love with saving money too!! :)

    After clearing my debts I am now looking at saving for a house deposit
    & a general emergency fund. I have a default on my credit file from 2010 (only one) which will drop off in June 2016.... so this is my target date as I know I probably wont be able to get a mortgage with it on there.

    I have about £400 spare pcm after all my outgoings. I want to save around £12,000. I just hope I can be strict enough not to spend it (I've always had a problem with money burning a hole in my pocket)

    Hi mardiemare! :) welcome to my savings diary :) Now you mention it, I think I actually have fallen in love with saving!! :j:j:j I never expected that. ...

    £400 to spare per month is pretty good. Have you thought of taking part in the "Save £12,000 in 2014" challenge? ... Not that you have to save that much this year obviously, everyone sets their own goal, but I'm sure it would not be too late to join - it is still only January, after all. But please feel free to hang round here with us too! We're all spurring each other on to see how much we can save. :) :A

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  • cathybird
    cathybird Posts: 13,163
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    Lomcevak wrote: »
    I've had one for almost 12 months now and it's been good, almost all of my non-ISA cash is in there at the moment. Don't know if the 3% will last in this low-interest world, must cost them a lot, but it's nice while it lasts. The 123 credit card is good too if you spend enough on the cashback categories to outweigh the annual charge.

    I'm still bogged down in pensions, understand more than I did two days ago but still none the wiser on what to do. Will get there in the end, but charges are all very complicated :(

    Yes, I also suspect the 3% may not last, Lomcevak, but there will surely be another bank along with another good rate that we can take advantage of when Santander does give up on it.

    I'm confused by pensions myself, though I think I've sorted out the asset allocations on my company pension the way I want (for now, anyway), and have also started building up the S&S Isa, so really it's a matter now of whether I want an extra pension on top of the company pension and whether that should consist of extra payments to the company pension or whether I should set up my own. But I feel I've made progress, very much due to the help I've had on MSE :) I feel I owe everyone a round of drinks at the very least, but alas, none of you are here :) Maybe one day. :beer:

    The charges are complicated - no two ways about it - but you are right - you will get there in the end - with a bit of luck, we all will. :)

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  • cathybird
    cathybird Posts: 13,163
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    mark88man wrote: »
    Lomcevak - it all came simpler when I realised there was one question you had to answer for pensions. Namely are you more worried about

    a. dying before you have spent all your money
    b. spending all your money before you have died!!


    Probably there is a second question - do you want to structure your retirement so that

    a. you can retire as soon as possible
    b. you work a full life and retire on as much as possible



    when it comes to investment and at late 30s all you really need to do is focus on growing (and not shrinking) that pot. to do this reading on investment strategies eg growth, income, high yield, fixed income asset allocation is really helpful and ultimately rewarding. I found the motley fool forums useful alongside MSE - http://boards.fool.co.uk/investors-roundtable-5007.aspx especially Investment Strategies sub board


    there are many others eg monevator.com

    Re question one, mark88man, everyone does one or the other, alas - if only there was an app that could tell you to the last second what time/money you had left.

    I don't have kids to leave any money to, though I would like to leave whatever is left over to charity, I think, but I'm not too concerned if I spend most of it during my retirement. It's a fine art though - what if I take up marathon running in my 90s and live to 107? ... Re the secondquestion, I'd definitely prefer to retire sooner rather than later - to me time is a lot more precious than money. But whether I'll manage that remains to be seen :o. Sorry, I know you asked Lomcevak these questions rather than me, but these issues have been going through my mind, so I found myself mulling over how I would answer.

    Thanks for the Motley Fool link, I will go over there and have a look myself - sounds very useful. :)

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  • mark55man
    mark55man Posts: 7,905
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    * duplicate *
    I think I saw you in an ice cream parlour
    Drinking milk shakes, cold and long
    Smiling and waving and looking so fine
  • cathybird wrote: »
    Hi mardiemare! Now you mention it, I think I actually have fallen in love with saving!! :j:j:j I never expected that. ...

    Have you thought of taking part in the "Save £12,000 in 2014" challenge?

    I might have a look at that challenge.
    It's such a satisfying feeling watching the balance of my savings accounts rise. :T

    I've got a few different pots I'm saving for:

    £250 per month towards House Deposit
    £100 per Month for Fun/Holidays Fund
    £30 Car maintenance fund (to help pay for services/MOT's and tax etc) So I'm not struggling to find the money.
    £50 per month into Premium bonds
    Member #179 -The 'Save 12k in 2014' Challenge £1740/£5000
  • organic_wanabe
    organic_wanabe Posts: 808 Forumite
    edited 12 January 2014 at 11:46PM
    cathybird, I totally agree with you saying "I'd definitely prefer to retire sooner rather than later - to me time is a lot more precious than money.".

    I retired at the end of 2000 aged 44, albeit on medical grounds. I was very fortunate because I was in a Final Salary Pension scheme and was granted 40 years service due to having 3 brain haemorrhages (but luckily no lasting damage apart from high blood pressure and a brain that certainly couldn't do my previous job - no concentration, have to avoid stress, etc.). However, the decision was not an easy one at the time because, although I qualified for full pension, it was still only half my salary and my DH and I had a son who was 8 at the time and we had school fees to pay etc. Fortunately our mortgage had been paid off due to 12 years of saving before we had our son. My pension provider, quite rightly, stipulated that I would lose my pension if I undertook paid employment. My mother had died, from a brain haemorrhage, when she was 48 and I was 7 (a late baby!).

    I have never regretted my decision even although our income was reduced. I have enjoyed having time that I otherwise might not have had. More importantly, I was around when my DS left school in 2010, started University, graduated, embarked on his career, and when he moved into his first flat (albeit rented due to London prices).

    Needless to say I have stressed to my DS, and anyone else who listens, how important it is to have the basics in place as you never know what the future holds. I give thanks for my savings, pension plan, and the fact that DH and I have ensured that our income always exceeded our outgoings. The only thing that I didn't have in place was 'Critical Illness' cover. However, DS has 'Critical Illness' at the age of 21 (through his employer and it doesn't cost him much) along with a pension into which his employer pays 13% and he pays 7%, and he has a good savings pot.

    It is great to read through the 'Savings & Investments' threads and to see that so many people are preparing for the future. I really wish you all well. Well done you on reaching your monthly target this early in the month but keep going there is still another 2 weeks to go before we get to February!

    By the way I think the Santander 123 account is great - even better when you charge certain direct debits to it. On our joint account we get monthly interest of around £40 and D/D Cashback of around £12. Well worth having even with the £2 fee. We also have the 123 Credit Card which is good when we are topping up our Oyster card when in London. (DH and I have a total of 3 123 accounts -one joint and 1 in each name.)
  • cathybird
    cathybird Posts: 13,163
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    mark88man wrote: »
    * duplicate *

    mark88man, I have the feeling that I should know why you posted this but I don't :( Am I being dim? ...

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  • frist let me thank you on this great topic and the saving money and the investment some thing it is really important bu the question is how we will find the right filed to save our money so the key elemnt here is select a good filed to invest your money and keep progressing to be able to get high
    profit
  • cathybird
    cathybird Posts: 13,163
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    I might have a look at that challenge.
    It's such a satisfying feeling watching the balance of my savings accounts rise. :T

    I've got a few different pots I'm saving for:

    £250 per month towards House Deposit
    £100 per Month for Fun/Holidays Fund
    £30 Car maintenance fund (to help pay for services/MOT's and tax etc) So I'm not struggling to find the money.
    £50 per month into Premium bonds

    Yes, it is satisfying watching the balance rise. :beer: Mardiemare, yay us!! :T

    I think I should probably have different pots that I save into too, for the expensive months, and also so I know what budget I've got when I travel - I tend not to think in those terms, though haven't made travel a priority for the past few years. Also I have been thinking I should set up a spreadsheet so I can see the whole thing at a glance . :)

    I've gone in the 2014 challenge and am hoping to save £12,000 this year, which before I started this savings diary last October I would have said was an utterly impossible amount. Now I can see it's doable. Which is exciting :)

    2021 D: 93 2020 D: 96 2022 D: 15
  • cathybird
    cathybird Posts: 13,163
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    organic wanabe, thanks :) My own mother died in her late 50s quite suddenly of cancer and just as she and my dad were preparing for their first big trip overseas from Australia and I've always had in the back of my mind that there are just no guarantees. It's much, much better to have an extra few years of liberty to do the things you want to do than slave away at your job and then die before you can enjoy any benefits from your retirement.

    You sound as though you went through quite a tough time but also as though you have a very resilient attitude towards it. I hope you're in good health now? ... Also, you've actually given me a nudge, I wonder if I should have critical illness cover? ... I have been thinking it might be prudent to have something along those lines.

    There are two weeks to go until February and I may well be able to squirrel away some more but if so I can always use it to give my February savings a kick start though :A

    2021 D: 93 2020 D: 96 2022 D: 15
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