Intrigued - how much do you feel you're giving up

SparkleBlack

Thanks StuartGMC and uzubairu. That's the great thing about these boards - everyone is really supportive and helpful

Mr SB and I recently got married so up until then, we were OP-ing and saving for the wedding, so there was no room for pocket money! That was meant to change after the wedding but we had a bit of a disaster on the honeymoon which wasn't covered by the insurance and so we'll be paying off the resulting visa bill for the next few months. So there still hasn't been any pocket money!

But I think this needs to change. As Stuart says, you have to enjoy the journey. So I've looked at the budget and from next month, Mr SB and I will be having a bit of pocket money to play with (Mr SB is thrilled by this) . The OPs will take a corresponding hit, but I think this is worth it as hopefully it'll sort out the "missing out" feeling!

uzubairu

SparkleBlack wrote: »

So I've looked at the budget and from next month, Mr SB and I will be having a bit of pocket money to play with (Mr SB is thrilled by this) . The OPs will take a corresponding hit, but I think this is worth it as hopefully it'll sort out the "missing out" feeling!

It's certainly worth it, so go for it and you won't look back with regret.

StuartGMC

SB
I failed to say that my spreadsheet has a "pub" allowance on it for me
It's a nominal £50 per month to account for an average 2.5 nights a month there, not a lot but it all rolls into the total budget. I don't monitor this precisely but it's a gesture to try to capture known spends in the spreadsheet (real spends are tracked for other things and provide monthly and weekly averages).

setmefree2

homeaway wrote: »

We stayed in a fab hotel but we found a local supermarket and bought water and snacks for the kids to eat during the day while we were out on the beach/sightseeing. In the evening we would try and eat out and find lots of cheap places to eat well, but i suppose we could have had a picnic in the room to save even more. Breakfast was included in the price so we made sure that everybody ate enough. Hotels make a lot of money on their drinks. I do know that some people take portable kettles and make pot noodles in the bedroom but that is not for me... I am sure others have some great ideas.

We do most of this too...

We buy duty free alcohol in the airport - wine, spirits, etc. That way we can have a drink in our room or on the balcony. Also a few snacks. Hotels which include breakfast are a great money saver. Once there - suss out the local supermarkets for alcohol, soft drinks, snacks for kids etc. Many hotels will give you quite a few bottles of free water everyday & fruit. If you find there is nothing around - just use the hotel shop, whilst it might be a little dear it will still be cheaper than getting drinks from room service or the bar. Eat "out of the hotel" in the evening as much as possible.

Most hotel rooms have tea and coffee making facilities but you can always take a little extra coffe, tea and dried milk with you...

Save up for free flights using BA miles, Air miles or any other scheme. Join the hotel chains loyalty schemes and you'll quite quickly receive discounts...

If you have kids - go to countries like the US and Caribbean that charge per room (rather than per person) and also provide rooms that 4 can occupy. Many of the big hotel chains, like Hilton, have rooms that 4 can occupy even in Europe.

Think carefully before hiring a car. Would it be cheaper to just get a cab for the odd day trip?

Check out whether the hotel has a coutesy bus or car to and from the airport? This will save you quite a bit of money in taxi fares.

Use Trip Advisor. Someone might have left some money saving tips and tips about which local restaurants are good. Google maps is good too for seeing what's around the hotel. Is it miles away from anywhere or are shops nearby?

The hotel we stayed in last summer had a free bar every night!

....we do spend quite a bit of money on our holidays but we still try to make them as MSE as possible.

GreenNinja

violetblue wrote: »

Totally agree with all the above - I don't feel that I'm missing out on anything at all, because my mindset has completely changed. Whereas before I used to get pleasure from going shopping and coming home with lots of bags full of new clothes etc, now I get just as much pleasure from squirrelling away a bit more money into my overpayment fund.

It amazes me every month how much I have managed to overpay/save - what on earth did I used to spend it all on?!

If there is something I really want, I will either save up for it or use points/vouchers to make it as cheap as possible (or free!) - this in itself has become a bit of a hobby!!

Also I don't have kids, so there are fewer people trying to spend my money for me!

I do exactly the same as violet blue!

Have managed to get loads of M&S vouchers this year and have used these and money made from selling bits and bobs on ebay to buy any new clothes, so my actual spend on clothes and shoes and stuff has been very low so far this year. I get a huge kick out of doing this, much more fun than just going out and spending then feeling guilty!... and poor. LOL

cake21

splatt30 wrote: »

So my question is....What are you missing out on to overpay so much?
Is it holidays, meals out, clothes etc etc. And do you think it's worth it? Do you feel your missing out?

I'm embarrassed to admit that most of my overpayments come from taking packed lunches to work and not buying loads of junk food and magazines from the supermarket on the way home each day. Believe it or not I was easily spending £15-£20 EACH DAY :eek:

Now I get much more satisfaction making overpayments :j. My friends & family think I'm quite sad :rotfl:

SparkleBlack wrote: »

So I guess that's what I feel I'm missing out on - the freedom to spend if I want to.
....
Anyone else felt like this or am I a minority of 1 on this thread?!
SB

SB, I do spend if I want to In fact since I've cut out the rubbish from my spending, I've been able to afford a holiday which I didn't think I could afford before :cool:

ailuro2

We miss out on smoking..... but since stopping smoking 9 years ago we've never had so many holidays and have paid off almost all of our mortgae, and raised our DD and paid childcare fees etc.

I really don't know what we're missing out on being MFW... we've been to Canada twice, States once, various trips to Europe and around the UK, have bought a nearly new car twice, DH goes to the pub when he wants, DD and I both do martial arts which can be costly....



Yes, we're 'careful' with money in that I don't clothes shop until the clothes are so bad I absolutely HAVE to buy some new ones:o but we eat well, go out for dinner, do things that 'ordinary' fok do....

We only earn 'average' wages, so it's not like we're raking it in....

I firmly believe most people will manage on a bit less money if they have to, and we started by putting away an extra £50 a month. Once we found we didn't notice it anymore we ADDED another £50 a month till we found our overpayments were £200 a month...without really trying. We still add money inbetween too, if there's a bit extra left over.

We're currently saving for our Florida trip this Christmas so it's not the burning issue at the moment, we just keep on keepin' on and know we'll be mortgage free some day soon!:D

SparkleBlack

ailuro2 wrote: »

I firmly believe most people will manage on a bit less money if they have to, and we started by putting away an extra £50 a month. Once we found we didn't notice it anymore we ADDED another £50 a month till we found our overpayments were £200 a month...without really trying. We still add money inbetween too, if there's a bit extra left over.

When we got our mortgage, Mr SB and I stuck a finger in the air to decide on how long we wanted our mortgage to last and then worked out the OPs required to make it happen! In hindsight it wasn't the most practical way to do it as we had no idea of the rest of our budget, which ended up being quite tight.

Your approach seems good because you can adjust to each OP increase so you don't notice the difference. I think I'll try this approach with the budget next month. It's still quite tight, but maybe I should reduce the amount I was trying to save towards the holiday or something and then once we get used to that budget, I can increase the amount. Thanks for this idea - it's not something I'd thought of and I can really see it working for me

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

Technically our overpayments don't start till next month but lots of MSE'ing to get the house and mortgage never mind starting overpayments! Take today as a fine example:

Walk in the forest in the morning, very quiet before anyone else arrived, sun was already out in force. As relaxing for us as a weekend break.

Using £5 off £30 spend voucher and vouchers earnt as a consumer pulse member plus recording these purchases on consumer pulse afterwards... I was paid 60p and got a top, skirt, bag and necklace/earring set for free.

This evening, mystery shopping Pizza job - free and paid a small amount to do it

Later, voucher used for free Blockbuster DVD rental.


Does it sound like we're missing out?

splatt30

Thank-you all for your posts.
I think hubby and I are doing so many of these things but instead of overpaying I put lots of money it the savings account (nearly half of my take home every month). They offset the mortgage so in a way we are overpaying.

However, we are going to try to knock £15 off our groceries every week. That should leave £60 at the end of the month in the account. If it's there I will put it off the mortgage and then up the mortgage standing order by £50 for subsequent months, little steps!!!!

Plus I've just searched home insurance sites and found we are massively overypaying, so will actually shop around this year when it's up for renew and pay the difference off the mortgage. More small steps!