I need to start saving money again?

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  • Jlawson118
    Jlawson118 Posts: 1,132 Forumite
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    Startup1985 wrote: »
    Hi, I would be interested in seeing your channel. I'm a fellow content creator :)

    Sure thing, it's youtube.com/jlawson118 :) I haven't done much content on there for a while, my capture card broke and my computer isn't powerful enough to play many PC games these days. I also don't talk on my videos but my stats are going up and up so I must be doing something right :)
  • Jlawson118
    Jlawson118 Posts: 1,132 Forumite
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    atush wrote: »
    So what about the rest of what I wrote? Finding someone to pick up along the way- they give you the bus fare?

    And the savings tips?

    Dont be selective in your reading.

    The only suggestion and question I didn't respond to is the one about working extra hours, and I do plan to get extra hours if I can, but the job is only a Christmas temp job anyway, and just before Christmas I'll probably be up to my eyes in university work anyway so I'll have to see at the time
  • steampowered
    steampowered Posts: 6,176 Forumite
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    To be honest I don't think you should worry about saving while you are university. There is no need to be saving a third of your income as a student. Worry about saving and pension contributions once you have a full time job.

    The key is to make sure that you are not lumping yourself with expensive credit card debt. It will be very difficult to get yourself out of a vicious debt circle if you over spend on cards. In your position I would lose the credit cards.

    If you do want to instil savings discipline, set up a separate savings account. Create a direct debit which moves a fixed sum from your current account to your savings account every payday. That way you won't have access to the money in your current account, so you are much less likely to spend it.
    They're reward cards so I'm rounding money up to the nearest pound to get the points, when before, I used to go cheaper to save more change.
    This is a really bad idea. Don't let the fact you have a reward card affect your spending patterns. The return on rewards credit cards is usually something like 0.5%. So even if you spend just 1p extra because you are using a reward card, you are losing out.

    Needless to say, if you don't pay your card at the end of the month and you end up paying interest, that will cost way more than any rewards you get.
  • Jlawson118
    Jlawson118 Posts: 1,132 Forumite
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    steampowered wrote: »
    To be honest I don't think you should worry about saving while you are university. There is no need to be saving a third of your income as a student. Worry about saving and pension contributions once you have a full time job.

    The key is to make sure that you are not lumping yourself with expensive credit card debt. It will be very difficult to get yourself out of a vicious debt circle if you over spend on cards. In your position I would lose the credit cards.

    If you do want to instil savings discipline, set up a separate savings account. Create a direct debit which moves a fixed sum from your current account to your savings account every payday. That way you won't have access to the money in your current account, so you are much less likely to spend it.


    This is a really bad idea. Don't let the fact you have a reward card affect your spending patterns. The return on rewards credit cards is usually something like 0.5%. So even if you spend just 1p extra because you are using a reward card, you are losing out.

    Needless to say, if you don't pay your card at the end of the month and you end up paying interest, that will cost way more than any rewards you get.

    I've seen a lot about regular savers a lot lately, so I think I might consider it. The only thing that puts me off about them though is the fact that it's stuck there for a year, and I like to feel that I have a backup somewhere if I need to borrow money from my savings. But if I get a stable income shortly, then I'll certainly set that up like you said
  • steampowered
    steampowered Posts: 6,176 Forumite
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    Jlawson118 wrote: »
    I've seen a lot about regular savers a lot lately, so I think I might consider it. The only thing that puts me off about them though is the fact that it's stuck there for a year, and I like to feel that I have a backup somewhere if I need to borrow money from my savings. But if I get a stable income shortly, then I'll certainly set that up like you said
    It doesn't have to be a regular savings account, you could direct debt into an ordinary instant access savings account (although the interest rate will be pretty dire).
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,463 Forumite
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    By my reckoning, your job and grant is worth just shy of £800 a month.

    You can't really afford to be running a car on this little money, atush made an excellent suggestion along the lines of running a lift share arrangement with someone to help subsidise the cost, worth exploring this.

    Get rid of the credit cards, too, they're poison for students (I wasn't very good at self control at that age, took me 8 years to undo the damage!) If you have minimal expenses, a job and a grant, you shouldn't need to pay for things on the never never.
  • Eco_Miser
    Eco_Miser Posts: 4,708 Forumite
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    Jlawson118 wrote: »
    I've seen a lot about regular savers a lot lately, so I think I might consider it. The only thing that puts me off about them though is the fact that it's stuck there for a year,
    At least two Regular Savers (TSB & Nationwide) allow unlimited withdrawals, Some of the Building Society offerings allow one penalty-free withdrawal. Always check the exact T&Cs for the account.
    Eco Miser
    Saving money for well over half a century
  • Westie983
    Westie983 Posts: 5,213 Ambassador
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    Eco_Miser wrote: »
    At least two Regular Savers (TSB & Nationwide) allow unlimited withdrawals, Some of the Building Society offerings allow one penalty-free withdrawal. Always check the exact T&Cs for the account.

    and Lloyds, either the club regular saver or the standard one.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Banking & Borrowing, and Reduce Debt & Boost Income boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySaving Expert.
    Save 12k in 2023 #58 Total (£4500.00) £2500.00/£5000 = 50.00%
    Sealed Pot Challenge ~17 #24 Total (£55.00) £0.00/£500 = 0.00%
    Xmas 2023 £1 a Day #13 Total (£85.00) £344.00/£365 = 94.24%
    Virtual Sealed Pot #1 Total (£500) £550.00/£500 = 110.00%
    £2 Savers Club 2023 #17 Total (£25.00) £45/£300 = 15.00%
    The 365 1p Challenge 2023 #7 Total £656.19/£667.95 = 98.23%
    Total £4095.19/£7332.95 = 55.84%
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