What do you save on to be MF?

zekepes

I have just finished my first month of recording where ALL of our money goes - right down to the pennies. My head is now in a spin!

I cannot say that it is truly reflective on an average month as DH gets his annual bonus in July so we definately spend more on some things (as well as putting aside some for a new bathroom and paying a nice chunk off the mortgage).

We are lucky as we are able to make overpayments just because we have been naturally living on less than we earn but I just know that we are wasting money, too, as usually we don't spend much on clothes, hair cuts and holidays (I would like to spend a bit more on clothes and appearance but holidays we have actively not bothered with as our son has just turned 4 and we would rather do day trips/weekends until he is a bit older) yet we still seem to get through what I consider to be way too much.

We spent £2300 in July (usually it is more like £1800) on what I call discretionary things (no fixed bills, mortgage, savings, regular donations) - so things like groceries, household stuff, going out, gifts etc.

I just feel so clueless!

So, my question is how much do you spend on discretionary things each month and where have you been cutting back in your bid to be MF?

Rebob

Our income is only £1000 pm and the mortgage is £350 to start with and we run a car. I do not do a budget really but have always made sure there is alway £1000 in the current account at all times and othwise it is really the way you approach things that make a difference ie. When we went to Pleasure Island the other week we drove using bio diesel, paid in using tesco cc deal tokens and took a packed lunch. We spent £15 the whole day including an ice cream each and a game of crazy golf. We only spent so much as DS took his girlfriend!!!

When going out for the day we always take some drinks at the minimum as these are really overpriced.
Find deals or offers for making days out more affordable.
To reduce the grocery bill visit the Old Style board for advice.
Gifts need not always need to be expensive as most people appreciate gifts which have had more thought and time put into them.

HTH

shirlgirl2004

We too were spending way too much and TBH we didn't have a clue how much we were spending or on what. For the first 2 months we cut right back to spending almost nothing but the essentials. It gave us an idea on what had to go out as oppossed to what we were spending. Now we have relaxed a little but also are more careful by driving more carefully to conserve diesel, taking drinks & picnic when we go out, not buying things that we don't genuinely need etc. If it can wait we don't need it.

We're still on a learning curve but the important thing is we have become more aware of what we're spending. We are still having treats though and I refuse to cut back so we miss out on things whilst the LOs are young so will still spend £350 on giving DD the birhtday party she'd like.

StrawberryJam_2

Enjoy life when you are young!

waste could be regarded as enjoying your life. You can afford overpayments thousands cant!

just a balanced point of view!

ailuro2

We make a point of trying not to throw money away when we can avoid it, so change suppliers for insurance, change bank accounts etc. and I do Quidco.com to get a litte extra kickback on those 'luxury' purchases. We get shopping delivered from Tesco as it stops impulse buying and there's usually a voucher to be had to cover the delivery costs. And the clubcard vouchers pay for a nice little stay in a Marriott.:beer: Every little helps!


We don't spend much on clothes, but tend to buy decent quality when I do so they last along time. M&S sale is a good source for this.:D
DH has a shaver for his hair (grudged paying £5 for half a head of hair when he cuts it for free every week himself! )

We have a 9yo DD and don't cut back on activities and equipment for her where sporting hobbies are involved, but do prefer to go to £2.50 kids club cinema rather than pay over £10 for a new release.



But...we have a big £5K+ holiday every three years or so, with cheaper ones in between, those are our big treats, but we have a wonderful time, and have photos to remind us of the holiday.

Everything is paid for up front, so no cost for credit/car loans etc.

F550

StrawberryJam wrote: »

Enjoy life when you are young!

waste could be regarded as enjoying your life. You can afford overpayments thousands cant!

just a balanced point of view!

....good point...

zekepes

Thanks for all your replies

We are definately getting more into the groove of cost vs enjoyment when deciding on a purchase. Only recently has the 'no brainer' of taking packed lunches for trips away etc and not visitng the local spar every day for expensive basics with add on of extra stuff (and calories!) we really don't need hit home! I dread to think of the money that we have wasted over the years doing things that give less enjoyment than the cheaper options :rolleyes:

We have never been on a 'big holiday' (well DH has before he met me) and that is the thing we will treat ourselves with when we are MF....just need to get there first!

DH was told by the doctor last week to cut his alcohol intake in half, immediately. To give him credit - he has. I am sure that will save us at least £100/month, if not more.

It will be interesting to see how August compares to July. I picked up some good tips on the old style board and they saved us some money (and time!) this month. I hope to add to the 'portfolio' this month.

I really think it is going to take me several months to learn the craft of money saving properly. Thanks for you tips and observations

ailuro2

zekepes wrote: »

DH was told by the doctor last week to cut his alcohol intake in half, immediately. To give him credit - he has. I am sure that will save us at least £100/month, if not more.

That's scary! I hope he's alright..

I rarely drink, but DH goes to the pub about once a week, though. Rarely drinks at home. Neither of us smoke, which made a HUGE impact on our ability to do nice things. People I know think nothing of starting a £10 bottle of wine while cooking dinner, or having 6 or 7 pints in the pub several times a week. That's alien to me these days, yet once upon a time we'd not think anything of it.:beer:

angelavdavis

When overpaying my mortgage, I did the following:

1) Tried to limit any purchases and used cashback credit card, quidco and pigsback when I did purchase any items to get the benefits.
2) Meal planned and home cooked until I could get my grocery bill to £170 per month (for two of us) and that included wine and beer.
3) Limited going out to twice a month
4) Shopped around for everything including insurances, bank account offers, etc and used quidco where possible for cashback
5) Used clubcard vouchers for treats like magazine subscriptions, presents, etc. We actually had a weekend in London almost all paid for by clubcard/hotel points.
6) Put your money in the best interest earning receptical. For example, my mortgage rate was lower than I could earn in a savings account, so I saved some of my money elsewhere while this was the case.
7) Earned extra money by joining AQA (Any Questions Asked) so when I had some spare time, I could earn a few pennies here and there - it soon mounted up.

I found using the overpayment calculator really inspiring and kept me focused - working out if I could get the outgoings down by say £500 per month and pay that instead off the mortgage and seeing the term reduce....

I didn't do all these things at the same time though. The main thing to do is not persecute yourself if you have to spend some of your overpayment. Its about getting balance.

zekepes

ailuro2 wrote: »

That's scary! I hope he's alright..

I rarely drink, but DH goes to the pub about once a week, though. Rarely drinks at home. Neither of us smoke, which made a HUGE impact on our ability to do nice things. People I know think nothing of starting a £10 bottle of wine while cooking dinner, or having 6 or 7 pints in the pub several times a week. That's alien to me these days, yet once upon a time we'd not think anything of it.:beer:

He will be - I hope, thank you. High blood pressure, cholesterol etc - not a massive surprise on 60 units a week. He is doing really well cutting down. He used to drink every night - maybe 2-3 pints in the pub (pre dinner) followed by 1-3 cans at home. To make it worse we were getting into wine in the evening, too, and I was definately putting on weight with it! I hope this is going to have a massive difference on his mood and family life as well as his health and finances!

Last month we spent something like £165 down the pub and £120 on alcohol for the home, so £285 in total.

zekepes

angelavdavis wrote: »

When overpaying my mortgage, I did the following:

1) Tried to limit any purchases and used cashback credit card, quidco and pigsback when I did purchase any items to get the benefits.
2) Meal planned and home cooked until I could get my grocery bill to £170 per month (for two of us) and that included wine and beer.
3) Limited going out to twice a month
4) Shopped around for everything including insurances, bank account offers, etc and used quidco where possible for cashback
5) Used clubcard vouchers for treats like magazine subscriptions, presents, etc. We actually had a weekend in London almost all paid for by clubcard/hotel points.
6) Put your money in the best interest earning receptical. For example, my mortgage rate was lower than I could earn in a savings account, so I saved some of my money elsewhere while this was the case.
7) Earned extra money by joining AQA (Any Questions Asked) so when I had some spare time, I could earn a few pennies here and there - it soon mounted up.

I found using the overpayment calculator really inspiring and kept me focused - working out if I could get the outgoings down by say £500 per month and pay that instead off the mortgage and seeing the term reduce....

I didn't do all these things at the same time though. The main thing to do is not persecute yourself if you have to spend some of your overpayment. Its about getting balance.

Thank you! That is really useful.

I joined the grocery challenge last month and spent £400, my aim this month is £350 and I plan to keep challenging myself until I find the right level. On that note, I really must do some planning today - which is my BIG downfall.

I will go and look up Quidco and Any questions asked!