How much can you save?

clareevy_2

Wow, didn't expect replies so soon! This site is even better than I thought!

Anyway I've been thinking about where to start. When I buy my lunch I generally spend about £3 a day and this is spent on a sandwich and a packet of crisps. This is the habit I've got into over the last few months so as well as wasting money, I've also put some weight on! Starting from tomorrow I'm going to make my own lunches at home. Given that I was spending £15 a week on lunches, I will subtract the cost of ingredients that i buy for my home made lunch and see how much better off i am at the end of the week.
I'll keep you posted.

I'm also going to ask my OH to ring the Building Society tomorrow and enquire about using our savings to reduce our mortgage. I've spent enough time reading these forums, it's time that i took some action!!

PS Is there a thank you button that you can use to thank people for their responses??

clareevy_2

I've just discovered the thank you button!:j

Lokolo

Yeh you got it

Ok yeh just watch out for the trap that you h ave to pay fines or whatever if you repay mortgage too early.

To be fair, £3 isn't bad if you like to do it, but obviously loaf of bread is £1, cucumber, ham, tomatoes all less than a fiver so...

clareevy_2

Got up this morning and made some courgette soup (we have an allotment so the courgettes cost nothing). I was considering going to our rather yummy local bakers shop to buy a nice granary roll to go with my soup but have since decided that as there is a loaf of wholemeal bread in the cupboard I will take a couple of slices of that. Feeling quite pleased with myself but am aware that this is after all only day one and I mustn't get too giddy!!:j

I have also rung our mortgage company this morning who inform me that as our mortgage is split over two accounts we can over pay by £500 on each account every month without incurring a penalty. Me and the OH are now considering paying the mortgage off early. We have about 9 years left but i guess that if we seriously thought about it we could realistically pay it off in half that time. We're going to sit down together this evening and number crunch!! :eek:

I will post my 'dinner money saving' progress at the end of the week.

So glad that i finally joined the forum, I can't believe how motivating that step alone is!!

alohahawaii

clareevy wrote: »

crunch!! :eek:

I will post my 'dinner money saving' progress at the end of the week.

So glad that i finally joined the forum, I can't believe how motivating that step alone is!!

You'll get used to making your own lunch and it feels so great thinking how you've saved £3-£4 by not buy sandwiches at work, also you'll hate having to hand money over when you've forgotten to make lunch.
I never thought i could do it but i've been making my own lunch for a few months now and feel really proud of myself
i've also put on weight by being tempted to buy crisps and a sandwich. But found i dont need crisps when i make my own sandwich as I can fill it with lots of salad and bring fruit
good luck

Lennys_Shinpad

Thanks for the replies Wantosave. Glad you enjoyed my post. I haven't been through all the pages yet as my OH has been using the laptop to do her coursework on (she's studying for an OU degree). Once she's finished this module I'll spend a couple of evenings pouring over this thread, noting everything I can find and post my findings, which you will all have probably seen already - but I'll do it anyway!

September hasn't been the best month for us because of a few house bills and car insurance. I still managed to put another brick in the wall. Now the summer has ended (did it even start?) we should be able to get some money stashed away. The plan is to have cheap nights in, saving money by making the most of my new hobby - home-brewing.:beer: 40 pints for under a tenner!

Good luck to everyone on your savings quests!

Cheers,

Lenny.

save-a-lot

alohahawaii wrote: »

You'll get used to making your own lunch and it feels so great thinking how you've saved £3-£4 by not buy sandwiches at work, also you'll hate having to hand money over when you've forgotten to make lunch.
I never thought i could do it but i've been making my own lunch for a few months now and feel really proud of myself
i've also put on weight by being tempted to buy crisps and a sandwich. But found i dont need crisps when i make my own sandwich as I can fill it with lots of salad and bring fruit
good luck

Where I work we have just outsourced the catering services to Sodexo and they are the company behind Costa Coffee... so temptation is being waved in my face to buy rather nice, but over-priced coffee and muffins. So far I have resisted and used the free vends.. but, I must admit the temptation to indulge is hard to avoid as everyone around me does.

alohahawaii

save-a-lot wrote: »

Where I work we have just outsourced the catering services to Sodexo and they are the company behind Costa Coffee... so temptation is being waved in my face to buy rather nice, but over-priced coffee and muffins. So far I have resisted and used the free vends.. but, I must admit the temptation to indulge is hard to avoid as everyone around me does.

Ahh yes we have costa coffee here too, I prefer star bucks though. You could just stick to tea (being the cheapest?) and bring in your own muffins or yoghurt so you're not tempted.. or just don't go near the place

alohahawaii

Hi not sure if this is the right place to post this but I was wondering whats the best thing to do with remaining cash before pay day?

Some people keep whatever they have left in their bank account

But I lately (as this is the first time i've had money before pay day!) have been moving the exact amount I have left into my isa/savings

What would you suggest is the best thing to do?

I'd love to build up some money so i'm not left with pennies in my current account, but also worried I will just spend more cause there's more in there?

if there's anywhere on here you think might be useful for me. please let me know

thanks

purplevamp

alohahawaii wrote: »

Hi not sure if this is the right place to post this but I was wondering whats the best thing to do with remaining cash before pay day?

Some people keep whatever they have left in their bank account

But I lately (as this is the first time i've had money before pay day!) have been moving the exact amount I have left into my isa/savings

thanks

I know some banks have a 'sweeping' facility, whereby any leftover money before payday gets moved into another account. I'm not sure if it has to be with the same bank or if you can use another one. I know Abbey do it and am sure there are others. I think moving it yourself is just as good, so long as you do it