How much can you save?

EagerLearner

Great thread - I lag behind most of you sadly!

Mr EL and I first met in 2001 and our first two years was spent dating and then saving to go travelling. We got the lump sum together and went off to Thailand for 4 months - he proposed to me! - and we came back, with another saving goal - a wedding! The wedding took place in August 2004 and we then spent a few months without saving. In 2005 we started again and the next goal was a deposit for a place, which is the current goal - we are quite focused when we have a set goal to achieve (in the meantime we have been *bad* and also booked Xmas & New Year in Thailand - we leave this Saturday the 16th - the idea is it has 'saved' us £500 on Xmas pressies/Xmas food/ food shopping...)

Current savings:

Our Bradford & Bingley ISA - £5,011
My TESSA from before we met - National Counties - £2,340 (I think)
My ICICI account - £933 (saved in the last 6 months)

I joined the 'Make Money From Nothing Challenge' on the DFW board and have made lots, this means my spending money for Thailand came from that, rather than taking out of my ICICI account.

Monthly Goals for both of us next year:

- Always meal plan - put any shopping savings made into ISA until it maxes
- Always use vouchers etc - put any savings made into ISA until it maxes
- Use Pigsback and Quidco as much as possible for free vouchers and cashback - sell the vouchers on ebay for pure cash and save this also
- Continue saving for Mr EL as he finds it hard - so far have saved over £500 on his behalf into an ISA. he had to withdraw £300 for upcoming Thailand trip but at least has some left, which he is ever so proud of and we will build on that amount in the new year.

In the end, we may not use the money for a deposit in a UK property at all - we may escape too... We are both half Brit and know there are ways to avoid rain & cold! It's finding the right place and having the right career though...

slowlyfading

I've just seen this thread, is it okay is I join? I'm second year university student and want to try and save enough money so I can buy a car (a quite decent one) when I graduate, WITHOUT getting a loan. I've got a Mini ISA with HSBC which you can put £3000 a year into. So I'll join in with this thread if that's okay.
nicola x

jamtart6

hi all - i just posted on DFW and aske dif there were any challenges for savers (as opposed for getting out of debt) and was directed to this thread....

I am a keen money saver - but also love a challenge....can I join in too? :money:

babes21

Welcome girls :T

slowlyfading

okay, so I'm trying to work out how I can save on everyday things like food etc, do you lot have some tips? I know its nearly christmas, so that's gonna make it harder!

save-a-lot

Hi

Try http://www.fixtureferrets.co.uk/ - it has all the top supermarkets deals listed on there, so all the bogofs etc

jamtart6

The thing I will be saving for in 2007 is this house!!

My OH has £13k of debt - car and student loan...he is on low wages.

I have no debt and on low wages but hardly any expenditure...so I can save much more than he can...but he wants to do it equally for the house...so its quite frustrating to be honest!

I might start "The Furniture Fund" so we will have some money to furnish a house, when we hopefully move in by 2009....then the wedding fund...and the baby.....

does it ever stop!? heehee! Isn't it fun when you have saved for something though.... makes you really appreciate it!!

save-a-lot

Hi

Try https://www.mysupermarket.co.uk - you can shop on their site and as you shop it compares the basket price between Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Ocado (Waitrose) and it displays who is cheapest for the shopping you have done. You then checkout via the cheapest provider and the respective store will then deliver the goods.

Not tried it myself, but will do soon

save-a-lot

jamtart6 wrote:

The thing I will be saving for in 2007 is this house!!

My OH has £13k of debt - car and student loan...he is on low wages.

I have no debt and on low wages but hardly any expenditure...so I can save much more than he can...but he wants to do it equally for the house...so its quite frustrating to be honest!

I might start "The Furniture Fund" so we will have some money to furnish a house, when we hopefully move in by 2009....then the wedding fund...and the baby.....

does it ever stop!? heehee! Isn't it fun when you have saved for something though.... makes you really appreciate it!!

If you want to move forward mutually, would it be a good idea to "invest" into your OH debt? for example if he is paying a high rate on his borrowings then it would make sense to clear that first then both of you save. It might seem unfair that you help to pay off your OH debt, but in the long run, you will both be better off in the future.

save-a-lot

slowlyfading wrote:

okay, so I'm trying to work out how I can save on everyday things like food etc, do you lot have some tips? I know its nearly christmas, so that's gonna make it harder!

Your post made me think of a calculator I know of, it is just a bit of fun really, but it shows how much you can save over a lifetime, or to your pensionable age if you buy a cheaper non-brand product. At the weekend my brother used this calculator to work out the saving he makes because he runs his car on LPG, so he entered the petrol price and LPG price and it worked out he saved a fortune.

The calculator is shopping basket calculator

it then can work out, if you saved your savings made how much it would be worth based on the interest rate you enter.