How much can you save?

BeachCat

Hi everyone,

This is my thought for the day- although we all want to save money for our various long term goals, is it always worth 'going without' today in order to get there? I guess it's the whole 'living for the moment' idea vs planning for the future. But is it always worth having a lower quality of life now when you might get hit by a bus tomorrow and never get to enjoy that money you saved?

Although I have long term goals of buying a house and saving up to get married with my OH, I still want to be able to enjoy today and be able to e.g. eat out at restaurants and go on holiday as I believe I would regret not enjoying my 20s when I'm in my 30s (even if I do have the house, marriage and kids I want to save for!).

Basically, how do you find a balance?

All opinions/advice welcome!

tinkerbel

I find a balance by not comprimising on one thing (for me, petrol which I use to go and see my friends etc) but then when I go out, I'll drink less alcohol, or drink what's on offer etc, use a flyer to get into a club... and make savings like that. I also think that putting your savings in a good place is well worth it i.e. a good rate account (for me its all instant access, I don't know when I'll need it) and that kind of thing.
I don't feel like I miss out but not having things (i.e. takeaways) all the time makes them sooo much of a treat when I do have them!
Also I always make sure I look for discount codes/get student discount etc where possible and make my (seemingly small) amount of "fun money" go further!

BeachCat

Thanks tinkerbel not compromising on one thing is a really good idea- I guess that way you still feel like you're treating yourself and also you don't feel guilty everytime you do spend money on that one item!

I guess it's all about cutting out/ cutting down on areas that mean less to you.

Anyone else have other thoughts?

Absinthe_Fairy

It's a valid point BeachCat, I guess for me I'm lucky enough to be able to eat out, drink etc AND save for my future a little (but then I don't have any dependents or anything like that). For me, to justify going out for meals - for example - I'll eat very cheaply when I'm in the house, e.g. home-made pasta sauce with vegetables, no chocolate or other snacks in the fridge - and I'll make my own lunch for work. Therefore I feel justified in eating out at the weekend. I love reading, but I borrow most of my books from the library so it's free, and that means I can spend money on clothes/going out.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

tara747 wrote: »

OK... drum roll.... payday update from me.

I saved £1,540 in February wayhey! It would have been even more but I bought a couple of things that I changed my mind about, but haven't got around to returning them yet so still count them as Feb spends. They'll be counted out again when they're brought back in March lol.

So I am now up to £45,643 (off to edit my sig). Totally chuffed!!!!!!!! :beer:

Keep at it guys xoxoxo

crikey that is a nice pot! Are you saving for something in particular?

compound

Hi Guys,

I havent posted in a while. I think last time i posted i was going backwards on the savings journey because of major expenditures. However i did say after that month i should start to see my savings start to increase. I am currently at about £8800 atm. The target is £15,000 so i'm over half way there. I would like to get as close to £10,000 as i can by the end of next month! But lets see how that goes.

JoKay_2

Payday today! Sadly no surprises when I checked my bank account, my salary hasn't doubled without anyone telling me!

According to my spreadsheet, I can afford to save £1000 for our holiday, but I'm going to save £900 initially, just in case there any surprises as the month progresses..!

This doesn't impact on my £10k challenge, but of course anything we bring back from Florida will be put straight in the pot!

hostie1985

JoKay wrote: »

Payday today! Sadly no surprises when I checked my bank account, my salary hasn't doubled without anyone telling me!

According to my spreadsheet, I can afford to save £1000 for our holiday, but I'm going to save £900 initially, just in case there any surprises as the month progresses..!

This doesn't impact on my £10k challenge, but of course anything we bring back from Florida will be put straight in the pot!

Hi JoKay,

I've just saved £1100 this month thats going in the holiday pot - i'm going to florida in may - i'm so excited (i'm such a big kid)

so there is no money this month for deposit savings but i'm not bothered by it as i no i'm gonna have a great holiday!

Hostie

JoKay_2

hostie1985 wrote: »

Hi JoKay,

I've just saved £1100 this month thats going in the holiday pot - i'm going to florida in may - i'm so excited (i'm such a big kid)

so there is no money this month for deposit savings but i'm not bothered by it as i no i'm gonna have a great holiday!

Hostie

Well done Hostie - I'm off to Florida on 1st April! Have a great time!

tara747

BeachCat wrote: »

Hi everyone,

This is my thought for the day- although we all want to save money for our various long term goals, is it always worth 'going without' today in order to get there? I guess it's the whole 'living for the moment' idea vs planning for the future. But is it always worth having a lower quality of life now when you might get hit by a bus tomorrow and never get to enjoy that money you saved?

Although I have long term goals of buying a house and saving up to get married with my OH, I still want to be able to enjoy today and be able to e.g. eat out at restaurants and go on holiday as I believe I would regret not enjoying my 20s when I'm in my 30s (even if I do have the house, marriage and kids I want to save for!).

Basically, how do you find a balance?

All opinions/advice welcome!

Very good point. See my reply below.

Absinthe_Fairy wrote: »

It's a valid point BeachCat, I guess for me I'm lucky enough to be able to eat out, drink etc AND save for my future a little (but then I don't have any dependents or anything like that). For me, to justify going out for meals - for example - I'll eat very cheaply when I'm in the house, e.g. home-made pasta sauce with vegetables, no chocolate or other snacks in the fridge - and I'll make my own lunch for work. Therefore I feel justified in eating out at the weekend. I love reading, but I borrow most of my books from the library so it's free, and that means I can spend money on clothes/going out.

I'm similar, I earn a good salary and can afford to save without having to make any major sacrifices. I don't have any dependents either.

So how do I do it? I shop sensibly whilst still eating well, I cook from scratch, I bring my own lunch to work every day, I use MSE wherever I can to buy things for less or for free (including gifts - a last-minute gift can cost £££ so I keep a gift cupboard full of Grabbits ), I don't buy magazines or have takeaways (but then I'm not really into junk food), I walk or bike to work so no commuting costs, I have a really good mobile deal, I say NO to myself rather a lot in shops - in fact, I have got to the point where I will only buy something in a sale, a charity shop or on eBay! :rotfl: Unless it's something REALLY special which might not make it into the sale obviously. But that's rare! Most of the time I don't even allow myself to look at the full priced stock in shops. I have had some INCREDIBLE bargains from charity shops and am annoyed that I didn't discover them years ago.

Where I don't compromise is on having a good time. OH and I eat out fairly regularly. Luckily we love tapas as La Tasca always seems to have 50% offers, our local noodle/sushi places are very cheap, and even the swanky restaurants here have early bird menus which are fab value. I go to the cinema on half price days and am a member of my local independent cinema so tickets are cheaper. I socialise with my friends, which doesn't cost a lot - we're not Chinawhite types although we do love a dance and a cocktail!

And I love to travel, so holidays are non-negotiable. We've been all over - some places (e.g. Asia and Africa) are expensive to get to but sooo cheap when you're there. It's tricky now with flights increasing in price, but we are not willing to do without holidays and probably spend about £3-4,000 per year each on travelling. Money well spent imho. :T

So, in short, I choose to sacrifice 'things' rather than 'experiences'. I feel that this gives me a very good quality of life.

Desperate_Housewife wrote: »

crikey that is a nice pot! Are you saving for something in particular?

A house deposit.