to save as much money and keep my life as organized as possible

EC12345

Hi Becky. Great to hear from you. I hope that Karrie will post soon.

Firstly - good news on your freezer - a low shopping budget for two months - I wish!! This is one thing I am failing miserably on. I always have such good intentions when I enter the supermarket - to be fair our shopping bill isn't that much - but I would love to cut down. However I really think that this is because the price of food has been going up. I always seem to overspend probably between £6 to £10 every week so I know it is not loads but I would love to cut down.

Sweden is lovely isn't it. We went a couple of years ago - we just went to Stockholm for the weekend but it was fab. It was really, really hot the weekend that we were there. We had a great time.

As you may remember my new target is to save £500 by the end of December - I am off the starting blocks with £20. Only a small amount I know but it is a start. I did a tiny bit of overtime at work last month which I will get at the end of September so at the end of September I am going to try and save between £150 to £200 - it's going to be tight but I am determined to do it! Did you manage to save your £350 - that is so much money - well done. How is your toiletry challenge going by the way - how much do you think is in your pot??

Regarding your £110 to put aside for bills - do you have a water meter? There is only me and my husband in the house and we changed to a water meter last year - never really thought to do it before. It saved us £11 a month so quite a bit over the year - we then had a letter from the water people the other month saying that our bill is going down a further £21 per month - this is fab isn't it. We don't really use a lot of water - we have showers in the morning, then washing up, flushing the toilet and of course the washing machine - however because there are only two of us - we use this a couple of times in the week and then a bit more at the weekend. It is so lovely here today, my washing is drying outside - saving the tuble dryer. In fact I am going to do another wash this afternoon, make a shepherds pie and apple/pear crumble for pudding (with free pears and apples that my mum gave me) and then have an early night.

I am only at work four days this week - have got Friday off and then I have a pedicure booked on Saturday with my sister - so lots to look forward to.

Love to everyone EC x

Becky_2

Hi Emma

Hope you had a nice day off on Friday and that you enjoyed your pedicure. How was your shepherds pie and your apple/pie crumble. Well done for starting to save towards your £500 target and for already setting aside £20. It would be great if you could save £150-£200 next month, then you are nearly half way there.

My target for this month is to save £100, since I spent £200 on furniture a couple of days ago. My OH and I was thinking of moving house since he found our current home a bit too small but now we have re-considered and decided to stay where we are since the rent is quite low. Then we can save more towards out deposit on a house. So, instead we are now buying furniture in order to create some space in the house. We bought a large cabinett and side board for the dining room. It was only second hand but the furniture is really nice.

Yes, we have a water meter as well and it's brilliant to have. Like yourself we don't use that much water and we have started to wash our hair in the gym to save even more water. Our 6 monthly bill is due at the end of this month and it will be interesting to see how much money we have saved since we paid it last time now when we don't wash our hair at home. In August/September I have done lots of washing to prepare for the winter, i.e washing blankets etc.

I find it really hard at the moment to get back into my routine after our holiday in August. I find it hard to accept that soon autumn will be here. This autumn I want to spend some time de-clutter the house to make it look a bit tidier and a bit more welcoming.

I have a bit over £50 in my tin from using up my toiletries. I am planning on spending it soon on a 2 hour beauty treatment and I cannot wait. I now have so much more space in my bathroom cabinett. How are you getting on with your toiletry challenge?

Good luck with saving money and hope to hear from you soon.

Rebecca
x

EC12345

Hi Becky, great to hear from you. You do sound really organised this month. Good news on the furniture - it doesn't matter if it is second hand - I bet it is lovely and looks fab.

Unfortunately I have saved nowhere near the £150 - £200 this month. We are off to Tenerife on Sunday for a week in the sun. Although we are all inclusive, we still like to take spending money so instead of using £200 from our joint savings, me and husband are each using £100 from our wages - so that is where the first £100 has gone. I really don't mind though as it keeps our joints savings a bit healthier. The other £50 - £100 has gone on .... shoes and trousers. They had a great sale in Debenhams and Barratts and have treated myself to a couple of pairs of shoes. I found some online discount codes for 20%off and free delivery and of course the cashback sites. So this month I have only managed to save £30 - in fact I have just written the cheque and am going to post it tomorrow. Next month will be just as bad as my parking ticket expires for work and that is £150 for the year :eek: Oh well I am going to stick at it and maybe try and save in November/December.

Winter/autumn is coming for sure. We have just been outside and it is freezing. This year though I am going to try not to put the heating on until 1 November - besides we are only here for three weeks out of this month anyway.

£50 is brilliant for the pot - I tell you it soon adds up. What beauty treatment are you planning on having. My pedicure last week was lovely - so relaxing. My toiletry challenge is going okay. I still have quite a bit left but haven't bought anything for ages (apart from shampoo and conditioner which I always use head and shoulders) but shower gel, bubble bath, body cream - I am still using from my box.

I cannot believe it is Monday again tomorrow but only a week to go before I am off again.

Take care and hope to hear from you.

E x

savingwannabe

I think it is ok to allow yourself to have some time off during the holidays Emma. I am also falling behind. I have spent a lot of money this month but next month i must increase my direct debit to include an extra £150 that i will save towards my summer holidays. Some belt tightening is in order i think!!! I could certainly stop buying so many teas at work. I could ration myself to one or two a day and continue to take sandwiches which is a fantastic way to save money.

Becky well done on furniture. I am going to wait until the Xmas sales and then i will look at furniture. The builders are still here but they will be finished soon. The house is so dusty and i get a bit upset as there is still plaster dust everywhere. Nevermind, all is well otherwise and i hope you are all well too.

givememoney

Where's Karrie who started this thread?

Becky_2

Hi Emma & Kit

Hope you are both well. How was your holiday Emma? Teneriffe is lovely and yes I agree it's better to use money from your current wage then withdrawing from your savings account. Emma, have you still managed not to put the heating on? We have had the heating on a few times this autumn already.

Kit, how is the building work going? Good luck with saving money towards new furniture. If you have a British Heart Foundation furniture shop near you, don't forget to have a look in there. That's where we bought ours and you get really good quality furniture for the price you are paying. Our sideboard and cabinett are both solid wood and our kitchen now looks so much less cluttered.

Yesterday I had my beauty treatment that I have been saving up for during my toiletry challenge. I had a 2 hour treatment with full body massage with hot stones, body brushing and body exfoliation and a facial cleanse. I felt so lovely yesterday. I had £55 in my pot and the treatment was £72 but I paid using credit card so hopefully when it is time to pay and I have another £10 in my pot.

Our gas bill came this week and we had a nice surprise, only £1.11 to pay since we were overcharged last time. Our gas usage is also lower now compared to last year but the electricity is slightly up. We have learnt that we should always do our own meter reading when we receive a bill.

Good luck with this challenge. I am off now to wash my hair and do the ironing. It's lovely drying wheather here today.

Hopefully soon we will be hearing from Karrie.

Becky
x

savingwannabe

Hi Becky, i have been tutoring all afternoon to bring in money to save for a trip abroad or buy new furniture. I am hoping this will help a bit. I have been tutoring now for two weeks and so far i have made a bit. OOOOH gosh. How long has it been since i had a facial treatment in a salon? I have lost count. Sounds lovely. I have never been to a health farm and one day i would like to.

I have put the heating on as it has been cold quite a few times. The builders are still here. I cannot wait till the scaffolding goes down. Fingers crossed it is soon.

Emma Tenerife, fab. Tell us everything. It has been 3 years since i travelled abroad as i have been saving for the house for ages.

Hope you are all well and staying happy. You always cheer me up. KitXXXX

Needhelpsaving

Hi,

Can't believe I haven't posted since April!!!! Savings still poor, but have put money into the mortagage and have saved about £1700 in interest.

Got a new job and have been doing a lot of overtime lately, as we are having the sitchen done and it is costing a bomb! Next year will be the saving year I think, once the kitchen is out of the way. We are going to try living off one salary for a few months to pay down the mortgage and get some savings together.

Hope you are all doing ok and saving lots.

Laura x

savingwannabe

Wow Laura, how money saving are you and how long has it been???? Well done on the new kitchen. I would love one of those but it will take too long!!! Hope the new job is going well. Well done on your mortgage pledge. Wow, this thread is really achieving so much. Great. Really inspiring.

Needhelpsaving

Thanks. How are you guys all doing? I really need to do some reading on this thread to catch up.