Learning to drive.....Learning to save....

rockdoll

Right, I'm 18 and I have a full time job and i live at home, and I earn between £230 - £320 a week ( but most of the time, £230 ) and after tax ect ect I mostly get £830 a month.

Basically. I can't save money. I'm hopeless. The most i've saved is £200 and that lasted a month. To spend.

I want to learn how to drive and i'll be starting from scratch. But I also want to save for christmas, family birthdays, a wedding and a weekend down london (It sounds a lot now its been written down! )


I need help to save my money.
Any help.

I had an insentive savers account but that didn't work.

I'm good at paying my ''Debt'' ( Board money, phone bill, lottery money ) and making my wages last me the month but very rarely have money left over by the time pay day comes around.


If you guys have any advice, I'd realllllly appricate it!

Thank you

xxxx

katholicos

You are the same age as my daughter and she recently passed her test. We are a low income family and she is hoping to go to Uni soon but will probably remain at home, or share her time between here and her grandparents. She used the EMA she got each week from attending college, to pay for her lessons and she was strict with herself not buying anything uneccesssary during the whole time. It was the only way she could do it because i am her only living parent and i have a disability which means that at present time at least, i am unable to work. (I don't clain disability benefits though - if things deteriate etc then i will perhaps have to) and therefore could not provide any financial assistance to her.

Anyway, what i'm saying it that there was no money from any where else and she only got £30 a week EMA and within a year , probably about 8 months actually, she had passed her test. However, you have to be committed to learning to drive or you will be handing over your cash for a very long time. On the money you have coming in, and i don't think you wrote how much you contribute towards your living costs at home, your goal should certainly achievable.

Remember, driving is a life skill which will afford you lifestyle choices and opportunities and independence and although it seems like a lot of money to spend on learning something new, it is more than worth it.

rockdoll

Firstly, Well done to your daughter!!! None of my friends could of done that at college! Kudos to her!!! And i hope she has a good, safe time at uni

Well, when i get paid, First thing I do is pay back any money i owe ( Which is none this month.... so far! **Payday on the 27th!** )

£68 Lotto ( I'm in a lot of syndicates )
£120-£150 board money ( depends if I'm home a lot, eat the food, ect or if i cadge a load of lifts from my dad )
Phone bill ( This month its £16, but i'm looking to upgrade to a better deal )
£10-£16 a week bus travel

So thats an ''Average'' month more or less. however, I was down an extra few hundred last pay day due to VERY BAD LUCK! so at the moment I have...£40 to last me till payday... yey ''/ Anyway. those above are things that I have to pay ( Even the lotto, i don't want to give that up )

so on average about £250 goes right away.
sooo yeah. thats what I pay out.

Westywoodpecker

I have an 18 yr old son & his wage & out goings are very similar to yours, apart from the lotto. I know you said you don't want to give it up, but you were asking about saving. That is an awful lot to spend on just dreaming you will win. It will pay for at least three driving lessons for a start.

My son's borrowed books & takes his theory tomorrow (though he's yet to have a driving lesson). I've taken him on a disused park & ride & taught him the basics of driving to cut down on lessons, is your dad able to do the same?

If my son wants to save he gives me some money as he knows I won't hand it back at the end of the month as it's already hit his savings account :rotfl:

Good luck

CurrentWorker

Get rid of the lottery, That would be one choice to save. Lessons are only 20-25 quid these days. You could get a lesson per week if you actually saved.

Gigervamp

I agree with the other posters about the lottery. You are, in effect, throwing that money in the bin. Sure, spend a couple of quid a week if you really want to keep doing it, but £68 is excessive.

Bitsy_Beans

rockdoll wrote: »

£68 Lotto ( I'm in a lot of syndicates )

HOW MUCH?!!!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek:

OK now that I have climbed down off the ceiling you say you don't want to give up the Lotto but how about cutting that expense to just a third of the £68. You are wasting a great deal of money on something that quite frankly doesn't have great odds. You'd do better saving that money, even if you blew it on clothes to wear it's better value for money.

You say you can't save. Do you know what pushes you to go spending? Boredom? Retail "therapy" (although I find shopping tedious it's the least theraputic thing you can do IMO )
Do you use your debit card for most purchases so don't see the money being spent? Can you try leaving your cash cards at home to avoid temptation?
Before you buy anything try asking yourself - do I NEED it or do I just WANT it - the two are very different things. If you need it can you make it yourself or find it somewhere cheaper eg second hand, ebay etc.

Actually at 18 earning circa £800 a month you're doing well. My first job was £5K a year and netted around £400 a month :eek:

minerva_windsong

I agree with everyone who said about giving up the lotto - if you really can't, then a couple of quid a week is better than £68 a month. The money you'd save would probably pay for most of your driving lessons.

Also, can you buy any kind of weekly or monthly bus ticket which might help you save money?

coraline_2

Like the others have said you can definitely cut down on the lotto - as an incentive, if you save £50 a month of that money and only spend £15-ish on the syndicates, which is still a lot, you would have £600 saved by the end of a year, which is a good way towards a first car! Could you maybe print off a picture of the car you want, and its price, and stick it on your wall as an encouragement to save?

The only way I've found of sticking to my savings targets is to be very very strict with transferring money, even if its only a little bit, just after payday, to a separate savings account where you can watch it build up, which then acts as an encouragement to save more (to hit the round numbers!). Savings are to be 'paid' just like other bills - you'll quickly get used to it! You could even set up a standing order.

Good luck!

CupOfChai

As you're good at paying out straight away for the things you have to pay for, add to that list a regular direct debit/standing order into a savings account which you don't touch except to pay for the things you are saving for. I do this in order to save, if the set amount leaves my account a day or two after my pay goes in then it MUST be saved, I cannot spend it instead as it is no longer in my account to be spent.

You can open regular saving accounts with the usual banks that are set up this way, and that don't come with a card or anything like that so you aren't easily tempted to dip in. You choose the amount (usually within a certain range) that you want to be transferred, looking at your incoming and outgoings I'd say perhaps start with £100 or £200 a month?

calleyw

I would say to anyone who is learning to drive.

If you can't afford a min of 5 driving lessons (£125) a month for life you can't afford to run car. That does not include buying the car.

I spend approx £90 a month on fuel and that is just going to work and pottering around.

All the best.

Yours

Calley