What's your best saving tip?

Vaila

-dont buy magazines/books , instead read or borrow them from the library
-buy supermarket or value brand foods
-if your not veggie, dont eat meat a couple of days a week
-look out for discount codes and vouchers
-use boot,tesco,nectar points

gallygirl

GlasWolf wrote: »

Lots of good practical advice in this thread, but I agree with jamesd: your attitude to money is the most important thing of all. Like everyone else I allow myself the occasional little treat, but my personal pet peeve is similar to mostlycheerful: throwing away small amounts of money on stupid things. I despair at folk who come in to work every day with a starbucks coffee/tea, then go to the shops at lunchtime to buy sandwiches or salad (or a pie or pasty) and a bottle of water, and maybe a magazine to read while they're eating. That's £5 - £10 EVERY DAY just thrown away because they're "too busy" to make sandwiches at home and refill their water bottle. My individual daily food spend is probably less than their lunch budget.

So regarding this "money sense", well I don't know if this concept will work for anyone except me, but think of it this way: imagine I gave you £1 (which is pretty unlikely, but stick with me on this one ). Now say you don't spend it, and instead sagely put it in your savings account. The next time you look at your account balance, it will be £1 higher than it would have been had I not given you that £1. Obviously. But when you look at it again in a years' time, whatever your balance may be after all the incomings and outgoings, it will still be £1 higher. And it'll be the same in 5 years, 10 years... in fact, that £1 will now follow you around for the rest of your life!

Ok, so now imagine that tomorrow you're tempted by an impulse buy: say a magazine that you'll half-read then throw away, or a coffee that you don't really want but you have time to waste before your train arrives. This time, just remember: that £1.50 (or whatever) will be debited from your account balance; today, next year and for the rest of your life. Every time you look at your bank statement, it'll be £1.50 "short". Now imagine how much higher it would be had you not made all those daft purchases day after day. You'd be rich! Doh! Well it's never too late to start saving, so start now. Surely buying a house and food for your family is more important than a cup of coffee, or watching TV for 5 minutes instead of making a round of sandwiches for the next day's lunch? And if you're good at it, you'll very quickly find that you can buy yourself a little treat here and there and still make a profit on your overall balance. It's like free money!

The wisest financial advice ever, is "look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves". Or, if you're from my part of the world, "many a mickle maks a muckle".


This is genius! :T

Glaswolf, great post and the important thing is that a coffee or whatever then really IS a treat, to be savoured, rather than just something you do and don't even notice it.

sparrer wrote: »

If you have a goal (my last few were a garden shed, a breadmaker, a patio, and the next is a holiday to India) research it as much as you can, look for similar items, cut out a picture and stick in on the fridge door, imagine the item in place and how you'll use/enjoy it when you've really got it.

Personally my goal is to pay off the mortgage. I made myself a little house on excel and for every £1000 I pay off I block off a brick and put the date on it. So far I've gone up the steps ands done the 1st 3 courses of bricks. Will be going into a window on Friday :rotfl:.

I find it also helps to have your goal set out in several different ways. For example, my 'mortgage' is actually 3 mortgages - 1 residential & 2 BTL's. I also have an offset against 1. I keep note of all the separate balances so I can see when 1 drops below another thousand. That cell gets highlighted in green. If the balance increases or offset decreases (e.g. I need to move the mortgage payments out to different accounts) then that cell is in red. I try to keep reds to the minimum and get more greens - so I may find another £50 for example to stop a cell going red. It's all a game really but keeps motivation and interest up .

Oh, and buying mags is not always a bad thing - check out the offers where you may get £5 cashback for a £3 sub :T.

Primrose

gallygirl - I think your idea of your "little house" on Excel is a wonderful one, with cells being bricked out in blocks of £1000 as the mortgage gradually gets paid down. The "offset" part sounds a little more complicated for my limited Excel skills but I'm sure other people will get the idea, and having a visible moving target like this must be really motivating.

dickyback

don't buy stuff you don't need,
with money you don't have,
to impress people you don't like

StevieJ

shaven-monkey wrote: »

Don't buy magazines. Their sole purpose is to make you buy things and promote feelings of inadequacy and unhappiness because you don't have the latest great thing.

Don't buy newspapers. Their sole purpose is to sell you a political agenda, make you fear and hate and buy things.

Don't subscribe to TV channels. Their sole purpose is to waste your time, make you tense and cut you off from the real world.

Don't buy things on offer just because they're on offer. The offer is pretty much always a scam.

Don't buy fashionable clothes, buy things that will last more than an evening / month. Fashionable clothes are made in the same sweat shops as the resiliant clothes from cheaper materials because you're supposed to buy new fashion wear every season.

Learn how to do as much as possible Yourself. With a little reading you can learn to do almost anything, try it.

Don't take advice from random strangers on the internet. They're trying to sell some agenda or other.

Agreed, puts your whole post in perspective

shebrett

These ideas are great. I have heard about the spending diary before by never did try it, I always thought I knew what I spent my extra money on as I stick to my budget and cut down quite well I thought. However I noticed that it does seem to be a popular suggestion so gave it a try. 4 days into my spending diary so far and it turns out I knew nothing! I'm going to do it for this month as planned and then I think maybe my budget is in for an overhaul!

Thanks for the ongoing tips!

PS: house on excel idea is genius!

DiggerUK

shebrett, simple is always a good choice.
When you take on debt of any description, figure out the shortest route from taking on the debt, to getting rid of it. Stoozing being the only delaying mechanism.

gallygirl

shebrett wrote: »

PS: house on excel idea is genius!

Primrose

gallygirl - do post your little Excel House on the Wannabe Mortgage Free thread on here. It's such a great idea and I'm sure other people travelling the same journey as you would be inspired by it.

Jonbvn

Colincbayley wrote: »

Keep a book.

Right down every single penny you spend, and I mean everything, right down to a newspaper.

A true story.....

I worked with a guy who religiously tracked every penny he earnt and spent using a spreadsheet. He became so OCD with it that his wife became hugely disenchanted without any new clothes and never going out. Eventually she ran off with another guy. I understand that he had a nervous breakdown.:o

The moral of the story?
Save by all means, but make sure it does not rule your life!:cool: