Extra money saving

jm28cardiff

Have done the usual things, cut down my NTL package, switched to cheaper mobile phone, my gas and electric are 19 each a month (DD) so not sure its worth switching. Just remortgaged fixed rate 2 years. Trying to cut down on food spending and other stuff (books, DVD's). Am considering 2 more saving ideas-

Haircuts - I spend about £7 every six weeks to get my head shaved. Clippers cost about £20 in Argos, so I could do this myself (seems like a no brainer).

Transport - Spend £42 a month on a bus pass. I'm thinking of walking to work and back each day (takes about an hour each way). On the one hand, thats a giant hassle, especially if its raining, but on the other hand, I am 3-4 stone overweight, so could kill 2 birds with one stone...or could just try it out for a month or two.

Would you spend an hour walking to work? Suppose I could cycle, but there are issues with this (getting to work and being all sweaty, if its wet getting water/mud sprayed up your back from the rear wheel, getting killed by all the bad drivers who think they can intimidate cyclists etc!)

MonstersMummy

the haircut is a fab idea. I do my 2 boys hair with clippers as and when they need doing and cos they just have it on lowest setting all over it takes 5 mins, they look like thugs but it suits them!!! Its very easy to do yourself.

As with the bus pass. Walking is a much better idea if you can get organised enough to leave that much earlier. When I worked I decided to cycle in one day as was fed up of buses being late...forgot it was all up hill and was too exhausted to do anything when I got there!!! Didn't do it again!

skintas_2

yeah i cut my own hair or get a friend to do it, i buy hair dye from 99p shop the one im gonna use this week is nearly £10.00 in tesco. my partner does his own hair and my sons. only about once a year they go barbers for a treat if they want it styled this is £4 each........

mh1923

Are you willing to add two hours to your day? An hour there and an hour back? I had to work for a month in another office which is an hour's drive away, and it was amazing how tired I was at the end of the day, and what an awful state the house was by the end of that month. And that was with me driving, not walking! If it saved you £42 a month, but ended up with you buying take away food because you were too tired to cook, you would end up worse off.

jm28cardiff

Well, I have flexible working, but I aim to do 8-4. My alarm goes off at 6am, I never get up, tend to leave the house at 7.30 ish and get the bus, arrive at 8 ish. If I was disciplined enough to actually get up at 6, and leave the house at 7, that hour in the morning walking to work wouldnt impact on my day too much. I have an hour for lunch normally, could have half an hour some days and leave earlier...

As for going home....I have gym membership (which I am cancelling as I hardly go) and have an excercise bike in my flat...if I tried to think of the walk home as my daily excercise, then maybe I could convince myself to do it. Getting the bus takes 30+ minutes as it is, as I travel home on the main road out of Cardiff. When I get home, I dont really do anything significant, so if I got home a little later it might not be too big a deal. As for cooking, I am Mr Microwave, so that wont change! I'm just thinking out loud really, I suppose if you cut things to the bone, you might react the other way and spend even more, but that bus pass is £500 a year...

mh1923

Hmm... well if you are already spending an hour a day getting two and from work, then it won't be so bad for you. My regular 'commute' is a ten minute walk, so the one hour drive was a shock to the system!

jm28cardiff

Think I'm going to walk to town (perhaps tmw) and time it to see how it goes.

roswell

as your fitnes levels increase the time will be shorter, also dont walk the way you would drive get a look at a local map and see if theres any short cuts you can make think like a bird not a car.

abbecer

I think both are brill ideas. It will be good for your health,wealth and the environment. I would just mentally commit to it for one month and then seehow you go. It would eat into your personal time a little but no more than having to change go to the gym etc.

Good luck with it. For extra motivation why not post your monthly save and monthly weight loss. Keep us all posted.

Rebecca x

Lydia.42

Hi
I agree with abbecer. I do my OH's hair with clippers every 4 weeks or so, and i think we only paid £9.99 for the clippers. Look about, as there are some cheaper ones out there.

With regard to the walking. When i left uni, i walked an hour either way to work and everyone asked why as the bus was easier. I stuck with it, and not only did i lose weight, and save the penneis, but i really enjoyed it. You start to see the walk not as a chore, but as time to wake up, think through the day you have ahead of you, and then time to unwind after work.

Find a good route if you can, maybe listened to music on the way if you want. If you start off thinking it's going to be wasting your time, and a real hassle then it's hard to change that mind-set.

Make sure you have a comfy pair of trainers (i used to leave work shoes in my desk draw so i didn't have to carry them each day). Also wear a comfy top, and take work shirt/top in a ruck-sack - that way you can have a quick wash if you do get sweaty. Obviously this will also get better as you get fitter too.

Unfortunately i have a 2 hour drive to the office (each way - 4 in total), no way of walking/cycling at all - hence the weight struggle again (and the fact i eat to much :rotfl: ). I would love to be able to go back to walking to work. Make the most of it now, and by the time summer comes you will be fit and enjoy the warmer days (and not sweating and puffing away in the heat).

Piggybags

I agree haircuts can be such a waste of money! I decided to go the opposite route to hair clippers and let my hair grow (I am a girl though!). 6 months on I have mid length curly hair but more importantly have saved over 150 pounds by not going to the hairdressers..