£5000 by hook or by crook

linz

Well done on your savings so far. Couple of tips I thought I could throw in -you may be aware of some of them already -

Do you use cashback sites when you shop online? They are good for getting your car insurance through. Also car breakdown cover if you have that. When it comes to the time to renew, cancel your breakdown cover and go with another one. Eg I flit between AA /RAC every year when they try and increase their price. I only have basic cover but with the £18-£20 cashback they offer it only costs me less than a tenner a year You could also check if you are on the cheapest provider for your utilities and if you aren't these sites are good for cashback when switching providers.

Shop in the evenings if you can, when the supermarkets reduce stuff. Buy the yellow stickered stuff and freeze it. Buy value/basics brand where you can.

Keep it up you're doing great

ILGPink

Thanks for the post Linz. I have heard of ppl using cashback sites but must admit never done so myself is it really worth it??? keep hearing of some ppl not getting anything from them in the end, kinda puts me off. having said that nothing vensured (sp?) nothing gained. Also can I ask linz what are daily clicks??

Well part of dial a phone money has comethru today so put that into savings today - will wait till fri 2update the savings total as im hoping we can add a bit more to it and give you a big reveal moment!!!!! lol

Still feel rather deflated today savings are coming along but again more bad news this time on the work front. Had hoped/planned to work P/T and they have now decided not to grant this and state I must return full time.:eek:
Spoke to other half about it and he also doesnt want me to go back fulltime and we both agree we want DD to have me home more than she would be with childcare provider. However his family feel I should work FT if that is what work want and in honesty made me feel like I was sponging off their son for even wanting to reduce my hours!!!. I never have and never would sponge off him; infact I have been the main bread winner for a long time and have NEVER even given it a thought previously as I believed it didnt matter who earned what. Plus this is HIS child also are we not in this together 4the good of DD?!!?

Sorry for going on a bit but just needed to vent as I can't really speak with OH about it as we would end up having an argument about the whole thing - eventhough he agrees I stay home.

Have contacted Union to see what if anything can be done so I guess I will have to just wait and see.

TTFNx

keelni

Oh hun I feel for you on the work front. I totally understand how you feel about wanting to be home with DD as much as possible. They grow up so fast and the time you have with them when they are young is so precious. I have always worked part time till I started the job I am in now, but as it's nights the children are asleep so we get the best of both worlds. I hope you can work something out that makes you all happy. I personally don't think it matters what his family think it's what's best your your family thats important.

On the savings front nothing more to add. (really must try harder)

ILGPink

thanks spoken to union guy who has arranged a meeting with managers to see if we can resolve this. Just feel so helpless as everything is out of my control not sleeping well as its playing on my mind also so feel exhausted.

With 2little ones and a teenager im not suprised you find it difficult to save! At the moment DD is so little she doesn't cost that much in clothes/food toys ect. I'm also extremly luck that my Sister in law has given us soooooooo much toys that we luckly havent had to buy anything like that!. Also managed to get a lot of clothes in carboot (all are Next ect and honestly like brand new at a fraction of the price!). Wouldn't be to hard on your self hun even small amounts add up to large amount over time xx

ILGPink

Well another day and no more savings but have realised that have managed 3 NSD this week so v.happy with that.

For anyone reading this sorry if my depressing moans have been a bit off putting I promise I'm back to my normal glass half full self again!!!!! :j

OH gets paid again 2mz so I will post our savings total then.

Must admit that I find the whole process of writing this down very theraputic (sp?) and actualy helps keep me focused on what it is we want. When I look at how much we have managed to save already it makes me feel that £5000 is an achievable amount and that we may get it done sooner rather than later.

I know I said no time frame but I have been thinking about it and I think prehaps we should have a deadline as such so that it again makes us focus more and hopefuly spur us on our little journey.

So if anyone is reading this let me know what you think shall we bite the bullet and set a deadline????????????

keelni

Good morning. Can't wait for the big reveal!!
Yes a deadline would be good I love a challenge.
I still haven't added to my savings but had some good news yesterday had electricity statement and we are £306 in credit so having that put back into the account and then will transfer it to the savings.

ILGPink

Dont you just love it when a plan comes together..... lol - I shall get my thinking cap on 2day and I will be back this evening with the BIG reveal and a deadline!!

Brill hun things like that are always a happy bonus and manage to make me feel slightly more happy as it's sooooo unusual that companys end up giving money back usualy they want more (well espec the utility's! ).

Have a good day spk later x

ILGPink

Right well as promised im back with the savings update!! so as of today savings now stand at...........

£1550.11 :j:j:j:j

So happy the auto cashback has really been the saving grace 2b honest but still feel very proud of our efforts so far .

Have also managed to put in another £30 to xmas savings so that now stands at £720!! another £80 and we will have our £800 saved :T:T.

Today however has unfortunatly not been a NSD went to the local wool shop and spent £4, not a massive amount I know but still. Have also sent an Aunty £15 to make a lovely aran chunky knit for my niece as an xmas pressi and to make a knitted dress for DD ready for winter. Not everyones cup of t I know but I just love seeing DD in her home knitted clothes. When I actualy think of the money someone spends on one off hand made knitware that have some fancy pants label and then look down their nose at a home knitted one it really does tickle me; at end of the day its the same thing without the label!!!!! lol

Did finish the day off in a good old MSE fashion tho with HM pizza. Was mmmmmmm lush and im absolutly stuffed now!. OH also came home with a little bottle of wine 'think we deserve this' was his words bless - its the small things like buying a bottle of wine out of his personal pocket money that really does make me appreciate him. That money is for us to spend on what we want. Only a small amount so the fact he thinks of something for the 2of us with it really does make me smile. Soppy I know.

Well I have been thinking about the deadline and how long is realistic. We are going to be more limited with savings so I have sat down and been doing all my sums (and re-checked!! lol) and I think that a goal of 15 months is achieveable if we really work hard at watching every penny and concerntrate all our efforts to THE goal.

So the deadline is set at Jan 2012:eek:

I know that to some this seems like a long time but I really dont want to set a date I know we can not achieve I want this to motivate us along and having to find on average £230 a month (on top of the usual £80 xmas money) is going to be hard 4reasons I have already explained .

So anyhelp advice support you can offer will be greatfuly recieved.

ILGPink

Howdy peps

Another MSE day. Didn't manage a NSD but only spent £10 and managed to get :-

3.5lb Lamb mince
16 framage frais for DD
6 different jars of herbs/spices
6 x large fresh farm eggs
Pot of Houmous.

Had HM Kebab 4. First time I've made it and OH said was nicer than the takeaway and would deffo want again :j. Won't argue with that soooooo much cheaper than the takeaway and loads easyer than I thought!

Find that I'm thinking more and more about where can I make cuts so we can keep stashing money in the savings. I'm very excited to get the savings done and dusted so we can then move onto the mortgage overpaying. I know that we have a very long journey ahead of us but I feel so much better just knowing that we are heading along the road and sooner or later we will reach our destination.

The more focused we become the more I find my self dreaming of what our future will be. We have soo much things we want but they all centre around moving to the village we both grew up in and being close to our friends and family. We love our home very much but when we bought this we always knew we were settling on the location and would need to seriously save and knock down the mortgage to ever stand a chance of getting the 'dream forever house'.

Well enough of my 'hopes nd dreams' for one night

Night night sleep tight xxx

keelni

WOW well done you. That's a huge chunk of the £5000 already.
The deadline sounds good. Do you mind if I join you?
My savings are pathetic. I was planning on putting at least £500 away this month but have managed nothing so far. Went into town yesterday as oh wanted to get me something for my birthday and ended up spending a small fortune.
I think if we did this challenge together it would be a great motivation for us. I would be happy to post my total every friday. What do you think?

On the mortgage front overpaying is a great idea. We originally had a mortgage of £26,000 when we bought the house 13 years ago and through overpaying we paid it off in ten years, it was such a good feeling to watch the balance going down every month and we were mortgage free by 28 which was such an acheivement.
We now have a mortgage of £21,500 and no savings.
I personally want to build up my savings first as we have always had savings so I hate the fact that at the mo we have nothing.

Do you mind me asking if the xmas savings are included in your total of £1550.11?