How much can you save?

thriftylass

elj2287 I agree with LucyTheDwarf. First make a budget, like income minus rent, bills or whatever you give your parents. Then set an amount for food and household spends (essentials) and money for other things (clothes, books, treats, night outs etc.). Whatever you have left in your calculation put into a savings account the day you get paid i.e. pay youself first. That way that money is save/"out of reach" and over time you'll find ways to make do with the money you budgeted for.
For instance, I budget 150 for food and house hold, 150 for other, I have 84 pounds bills (phone, electricity etc) and 500 towards mortgage, council tax and insurance. The rest i save in an ISA and a direct saver (once the ISA is full, also easily accessible in case I need to go over budget).
Over time you'll get the bug and try to reduce your outgoings even further without compromising your life style. You'll get addicted to budgeting and making spreadsheets in no time.
If you're not sure where your money goes a good way to start is to keep a spending diary for a few weeks (it's eye opening, I started that way) and take it everywhere you go so you can write it down before you forget.

JimLad

Hello all,

Long time reader first time poster!

I have just finished university and am currently in my first job. I am currently living with my parents, and i of course want to get out as soon as possible! I really dont want to rent so i am hoping to stay with them for a few years whilst i save up a deposit.

I have a student loan of around £12k but i understand that saving is better than paying this off?

I currently have £5000 in savings and my target is £20,000. I hope to be able to save around £500 per month after paying board and lodging etc.

So can i join your merry gang?

LucyTheDwarf

Great advice about the spending diary - even now I have a little notepad with me at all times!

I go about my budget the opposite way to you, thriftylass. I start with an estimate of my income across the year, and deduct what I think I'm capable of saving, plus an extra amount I'd like to save. Then I work out what I can afford to spend based on what's left. I find that by doing it that way I'm stricter with myself - if I tackled it spending first, I'd just be too lenient on myself and put £500 in my food column!!!

Still, it's a life changing decision to make a budget and be dedicated to it! I wouldn't go back if you paid me. (Well, depends on how much.....)

LucyTheDwarf

Jimlad - a pleasure to welcome you to our merry gang!

Generally, it's better to save than to pay off student loan, as the interest on it is at inflation - so it's not growing over time, but nor is it shrinking. Of course, these are uncertain times - if you can't get a savings account that pays higher than inflation after tax then it'd seem sensible in the short term to pay off the debt... but I suppose we all remain hopeful that the days of high interest savings are not over, and that inflation will fall back to 2% soon! Personally, I'd not pay it off any faster than I needed to. I think long term you'll win.

Have you maxed your ISA allowance for this year btw?

JimLad

LucyTheDwarf wrote: »

Have you maxed your ISA allowance for this year btw?

Not yet! i applied for the 6% one at abbey a week before interest rates got cut and i never heard from them. I guess i will have to apply again to the new cut rate ones

elj2287

thriftylass wrote: »

elj2287 I agree with LucyTheDwarf. First make a budget, like income minus rent, bills or whatever you give your parents. Then set an amount for food and household spends (essentials) and money for other things (clothes, books, treats, night outs etc.). Whatever you have left in your calculation put into a savings account the day you get paid i.e. pay youself first. That way that money is save/"out of reach" and over time you'll find ways to make do with the money you budgeted for.
For instance, I budget 150 for food and house hold, 150 for other, I have 84 pounds bills (phone, electricity etc) and 500 towards mortgage, council tax and insurance. The rest i save in an ISA and a direct saver (once the ISA is full, also easily accessible in case I need to go over budget).
Over time you'll get the bug and try to reduce your outgoings even further without compromising your life style. You'll get addicted to budgeting and making spreadsheets in no time.
If you're not sure where your money goes a good way to start is to keep a spending diary for a few weeks (it's eye opening, I started that way) and take it everywhere you go so you can write it down before you forget.

Wow thanks everyone! I have made my own (which I must sadly admit, I am quite proud of!!) budget sheet. It has all my fixed and varied/predicted outgoings, and I can see if I stick to the budget (which can sometimes be a little hard) where I can be in 6 months etc. I've got my mini paper spending diary (2009) so will be taking that everywhere I go. Each payday I withdraw my monthly allowance and my petrol money, rather than using my debit card for transactions, as I am reluctant to give people my hard earned cash which I find is also a good demotivator for spending.

I will join the 4k a year forum as that sounds very good.

As I live with my parents, in theory it should be easy to save so I will try and make the most of this. I guess while I have time between now and moving out I can sort through old junk and see if it is worth ebaying to add to the pot!

I'll keep you posted on how I'm getting on and if I have one of those days where I'm feeling weak I will be posting for demotivation lol.:p

Thanks again everyone!! xxx

Rose_Crow

Welcome to the new peeps :wave:

I have a good motivation to save. My boyfriend and I live 50 miles apart so I only get to see him at weekends (except tonight - we're going to see Quantum of Solice), that's as much motivation as I need and am saving like mad for a deposit.

I'm terrible with cash, I realised that I was withdrawing x amount of cash per week, but I couldn't keep track of where it was going - lunches etc. I've banned myself from cash now (unless necessary) and use my debit card to pay for everything including work lunch (which I am being strict with myself, only about 90p a day). Everything that goes through my debit card ends up on MS Money so I will keep up with where it goes

Good luck everyone - *rubs hands together with glee looking at the house prices at the mo*

slowlyfading

thriftylass wrote: »

:wave:slowlyfading, good to see a familiar face, I think I've seen jamiedodger over at the 4k challenge too

Sorry to lazy to go through all the pevious posts , what's the target you save for?

Me personally? My ISA is for a house deposit, but as I don't earn much per month at the moment, its slow going I need to start saving for a car, instead of borrowing my mum's all the time, but I've not got round to it yet! What are you going to save for? xx

thriftylass

slowlyfading wrote: »

Me personally? My ISA is for a house deposit, but as I don't earn much per month at the moment, its slow going I need to start saving for a car, instead of borrowing my mum's all the time, but I've not got round to it yet! What are you going to save for? xx

See post 2168

moneysavingwannabe

Hi everyone :j

Welcome newbies!

Just had to share...I have just paid off the 2nd of 3 credit cards :money:

So now only owe £5,600 unstead of £11,550!! Oh and have very little savings now but the debt is going down. I will be properly saving again soon

(Now just need to find a better ISA/ savings account to save in til April then pay ALL the debt off!!)