Time to Save! Tips! :) Help me get my sofa!! 13 October 2010 at 2:44PM in How much have you saved? 6 replies 1.7K views

wilykit

Hi everyone,

At the moment I am paying off my loan, car, store cards and my credit card (about £500). I live with my partner and I wouldn't say we are short of cash - we have enough to live comfortably in our house and have money to spend each month - but there's never enough is there! :rotfl:

We are in need of a new sofa - mainly because we only have a 2 seater, but we also have 2 dogs who love the sofa just as much!

I have seen a corner sofa for £400 which to me is a good price and now I am desperate to get it but refuse to get it on finance or on the credit card!

So from today I AM going to save for this sofa (it is a big challenge when you have never saved before!)

So far I have £15 and lots of copper which I always put aside.

I was wondering if you had any tips or if there is anything that you sacrificed or compromised on just to save a few extra pounds?

I apologise if I have posted this in the wrong section, but I figured that as this section is about how much you have saved, there should be lots of advice

wilykit

Well considering this is a MONEY SAVING website I am slightly disappointed that nobody has replied despite lots of views. Pointless really.

Jacka87

one of my best savings plans involves a sealed jar that you pop all your coins into. I have one of the pot things that you can buy and its only got £2 coins in it. Its not full yet but will have a fair bit in it once it becomes full!

I also use old yogurt tubs (the big ones) in the same way but they arent sealed so I keep taking the money out but some superglue would solve that.

wilykit

Thank you

I have an old tin that I usually put my odd change in but like you I sometimes dip into them if short! I think I might put a hole in the lid and superglue it on! Sure I can use a tin opener to get into it when it's full (some time in the distant future!!).

I am currently getting rid of stuff on ebay and fixing Xboxs to try and make a bit of money!

xmum2threex

I've no tips as I am a useless spendaholic but just thought I would say good luck:j

Lesley_Gaye

Hi Wilykit

have you considered saving money by cutting your grocery bill?

the cheap family recipe site, tested on this board, will feed you for 80p a day.

If you normally spend £70 a week for the 2 of you, swapping say, three main meals a week for cfr ones, would save around £20 a week, which would give you £80+ a month, without earning any more cash. I have tested many of the recipes myself, and now use those, and others from the same site, regularly in my meal planner. The smoked salmon pasta from the Christmas Planner is to die for

here's the link for one of the three planners to show you what kind of thing is available http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/planner-option1-month1.html

Decluttering

I would suggest the following, it's working so far for me but it might not be for everyone...

- Work out how much you need to save and by when you'd ideally like to have it by so you can set yourself a deadline to work towards.

- Figure out how much a week you'd need to save to get to your target by your deadline

- Calculate how much would be a comfortable budget for your week and don't spend any more than that (I take my amount out in cash so that I can see exactly what I have left). Put any excess leftover cash at the end of the week towards it.

- Shop around for things you may have to buy while saving up and see if there is anything you can save on what you'd pay normally.

It seems a bit obvious but I find now that I like the challenge of spending only the amount I have set for myself and it's great to see what I have left over.

Good luck