Can I save 30k by Christmas 2009???

[Deleted User]

The following percentages are worked out against my net wage.

1. Debt repayment is 25%
2. My rent is inclusive of all household bills and is 23%
3. Savings are 18% (Once I've saved enough I'll use this to pay off my debt, hopefully very soon. Savings will then be 43%)
4. Petrol is 10.5%
5. Food is 10.5%
6. Going out is 6.6%
7. Other bills e.g. mobile phone, car tax etc. are 3.3% (I pay off car and contents insurance yearly)

Hopefully this will be helpful when trying to work out how much you can realistically save.

You could do a lot worse than locking yourself in a room for a morning, with coffee, and reading the following page:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/protect/money-help

musclesza

Fred_Bear wrote: »

Good luck with your saving, Musclesza. The figure that jumped out at me was £100 per month for telephones. How do you spend that much? Have you looked at Martin's telephone advice pages?

That is the estimated monthly amount - I dont want to spend more than that - we have 2x£30 p/m phones so we do spend a minimum of £60 on them.

It is an area where we could save more but the contracts have a while to run and to be honest the G-phone is probably the best communication/business tool I have ever had - and the OH also has one which she raves about and they were free on £30 p/m for us

Fred_Bear_2

Thanks for the explanation Musclesza. I don't have any business use so I'll stick with BT, Familymobile and 18185 for now!

musclesza

Got some good news yesterday - turns out the taxman owes me a bit of cash so the check is in the mail - 2nd class mail and should be with me in the next 2 weeks!!!

I am not sure how much it will be for but I am very excited to get some cash back for overpaying tax (when I was contracting)

musclesza

The taxman refunded me 860 quid and managed to get our rent reduced for the coming year by 10% - which I think is pretty decent, maybe it could have been more?

Looking forward to payday, it has all been a bit messy in the last couple of weeks and work has not been going well, but there is some potentially happy news in the pipeline.....

musclesza

Wow, it has been a crazy month - glad it has come to an end!!!

Saving is harder than I thought it would be!!! With the OH not paid in dec and only paid 2/3 in Jan it made things tough. We are through what could be the toughest month and the goal of 20 000 is fading into the distance, however it is a long year and anything close to the figure will be an amazing effort while still trying to live a little

That said we are trying a different approach this month and giving up certain things for lent

Sadly the debts have risen slightly, but so has the savings:

Debts are now: 3700
Savings are: 2495+1050 = 3545
Shares are (2161 invested) 2015
Total = 5560

Total saved 1860 thus 18140 to go in 10 pay checks so 1800 a month!!

Hopefully March being the shortest month will come and go pretty quickly and we will have money left over!!! Our rent comes down by 80 from April so that will help a helluva lot.

How is everyone else doing?

musclesza

The shares have taken a beating at the moment and are well down

A bit more saved up and paid off leaves us at:
Savings 3800
shares: 1950 (2160)
Debt = 3300

Total saved: 2450

Still a little low but managed to finally get all the month to month cc debt and bills up to speed so there should be more disposable income in the coming months....

Anyone else getting their head above water?

hyposmurf

I'm in a similar situation to, wanting to save up for a deposit of about £30k by next year.Im doing pretty well so far but its still a struggle to get there.Havent bought myself any treats in ages, not been out in months.Saving and being frugal has become a hobby of mine.:cheesy:
My funds that I have invested havent done too well like many others, when I count these I try to under estimate what I'll get from them when cashing in,as they could plummet further and not recover for a while.
Good luck with the saving

musclesza

hyposmurf wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation to, wanting to save up for a deposit of about £30k by next year.Im doing pretty well so far but its still a struggle to get there.Havent bought myself any treats in ages, not been out in months.Saving and being frugal has become a hobby of mine.:cheesy:
My funds that I have invested havent done too well like many others, when I count these I try to under estimate what I'll get from them when cashing in,as they could plummet further and not recover for a while.
Good luck with the saving

Just aiming at 20k at the moment and while I have been out and about its been a rather restrained move. In fact I havent been to a decent (if you call pricey place decent) place in a while.... Which is good as I was in the gym before 7am every morning last week and am hoping to cut down the pounds on my body as well!!!

The month has started off well so far, bar rent and travel I have spent about 4 quid so far... I am sure that will change and will need to do a food shop soon but its the best start so far!!!

musclesza

Currently have SAVED: £2523/£20 000
Just another 17 573 to go
Debt: 2100+1600 = 3700
Savings: 2700+1100 = 3800
Shares 2423