The 'Save £12k in 2012' thread!

Catslovelycats

lealeav I love juggling my numbers too.
I am constantly looking at all my balances on my ipod and online!

MummyMummy_2

i am so totally embracing freezing! usually i'd have the heating on aaall day long and it'd cost atleast £20 a week but i've been trying to save money (and recived a gorgeous fleecey throw as a christmas present from an aunty! which i took as being 'a sign' haha ) so haven't had the heating on at all (actually i tell a lie i had it on yesterday for around 3hours) and instead have been hiding under the fleecey blanky with the kids haha which i'm guessing will save us money. i'm going to guess it'll save us atleast £100 between now and march (When i'm assuming we'd not have the heating on as much anyway due to weather improving?) the only thing that lets us down gas wise is that the shower uses gas to heat the water. but me and my youngest son spend most of our time at my nans which includes showering there so that should help. i dunno what my oldest son and other half will end up using showering haha but considering how little my other half showers we might do alright LOL

we've also done a 'big shop' just before christmas (it did come to over £200, but we bought stuff we wouldn't usually buy such as presents/cards/gift bags, goosefat, turkey, stuffing, foil trays etc etc which obviously soon all add up!) so we haven't been eating take aways (usually we'd eat take aways more than eating in which ends up costing us around £20 a time and is no doubt the reason why i have about 50st in weight to lose!) so i'm crossing my fingers that we are saving money doing that and also hoping that it's helping us health wise too.

i've put aside the (literally) 1000 books that i need to get rid of so that i can do it when the new year comes to add to the total amount saved. what doesn't get sold will go to the charity shop. i've also put some stuff away that can be ebayed. but i'm not going to list them until around march as i'm assuming that people wont have much money in jan/feb so no point in putting them on ebay etc? so hopefully doing that will help declutter my house too.

my other half is also going to cancel off our virgin tv which he was told by the customer service advisor would save us £12 a month. i know it's only £12 but we don't watch the tele now that we have love film on xbox.

i've been through our out goings etc. and if we don't spend anything other than what we need to (basic outgoings like rent and bills etc) we can put around £300 a month away... which would be great if my other half was willing to do it, but he's totally set against saving anything as he doesn't wanna spend his year having nothing/going nowhere and thinks i'm quite stupid for even suggesting we save money, let alone putting it into practise. so it'll be a case of putting anything left after he's spent whatever he wants to spend.

i have also been noseying in boxes that have been in storage and i was pleasantly surprised to find that there were quite alot of smellies stocked up so that might help our out goings this year as we wont need to buy much (if any) shower gel/shampoo/conditioner/deoderant etc.

i've also changed some stuff around in my business in the hope that i can appeal to clients who don't have much disposable income but would like to treat themselves. i know it doesn't make sense to work more for less but right now i'm not working at all and to be honest i'd much rather be earning something than earning nothing what so ever! by offering a cheaper alternative with a lower price to reflect this i will still be earning more than min wage so it's not as if i'm working for nothing/at a loss. not sure if i'm making a rod for my own back here or not but i guess only time will tell.

i've also been toying with the idea of doing something like bodyshop at home (Which i could do at home when i am not able to do my 'proper job' due to having no childcare available) to make some extra money... but i am so undecided about that as the feedback others are giving seems so 50/50 between people loving it and struggling to make it work and get going with it. have also thought about cleaning jobs, but wouldn't know where to start in regards to insurance and cleaning products etc etc?

i took the advice on here that another poster (can't remember what their name is and i can't find their post!) gave me when i mentioned being confused about saving options and read the article provided but ended up more confused than when i started so settled on opening a lloyds tsb isa as it was offered on my bank when i logged in the other day (which again i took as 'a sign') so put £180 in there to start it off (obviously this £180 wont be included in my savings total as it was before the start date but any interest it makes will be included towards the over all total ). if i manage to fill the isa up though i'm not quite sure what to use for saving then as i read you can only have one isa open at a time (though i could have read that wrong!) so will have to muddle my way through more articles and hope for the best!

i really do feel quite embarrassed for myself reading back over the changes i want to make/have made (like sitting freezing for the sake of saving £20!!) as they're only going to contribute like £500 max, which is nothing compared to the 12k target. thank god i am annoymous on here haha

how is everybody else getting on? have you decided what cut backs (if any) you are going to make? or are you looking at ways of bringing extra income in instead of reducing what you have going out? if so, what have you thought of? have you sorted out where you will be saving your money? if so, what have you decided on/put in place?

waria.

I would like to join in for this challenge.

Aiming to save £10,000 for 2012

kandfs_mam

I am ridiculously excited about this challenge. I have just been through our finances and set up new tabs on my spreadsheet for 2012; Last year I started by having a tab for each month that stated what every penny was spent on but I gave up after 5 months - it was v useful though and certainly focussed the mind!
I have just gone through my cupboards and have come up with the following:
* 6 months+ supply of toiletries
* 4 months+ supply of washing powder, fabric conditioner, dishwasher tablets and cleaning products
* 1 months supply of nappies
* 2 months supply of baby wipes

I need to stop wandering up and down every ailse in Tesco looking for "bargains" and try to concentrate on buying only what I need.

Roll on 00.01 on 1st Jan 2012!

kandfs_mam

MummyMummy wrote: »

how is everybody else getting on? have you decided what cut backs (if any) you are going to make? or are you looking at ways of bringing extra income in instead of reducing what you have going out? if so, what have you thought of? have you sorted out where you will be saving your money? if so, what have you decided on/put in place?

I'm going to try to cut back on needless spending ("cos its a bargain!"), waste less food, and ebay all my excess stuff in March/April. I will be transferring half of the left over money in my current account to my mortgage account for overpayments, and the other half into a high interest savings account - I like to be able to do internet banking so I can fiddle about with amounts between the various accounts!

Good luck!

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

Welcome to newbies

I am going to make a money box out of an old plastic jar and have it as a bit of a 'sealed pot' for the year to top up my savings.

Also I have a habit of rounding things up to the nearest pound when calculating my budget so that to will get swept into the savings.

Today I used 2 coupons in the supermarket so have put that money into my savings pot, its only 80p but it can add up. I discovered that British gas homecare have upped the monthly bill so rang them up and they gave me £30 in nectar points onto my card so have swept that into the savings too!

Come new years eve I will freeze my 'save as much as you can challenge' and start fresh on this one and keep the two separate as per the rules (no cheating!)

Good luck everyone

girlatplay

LealeaV wrote: »

Am I the only sad one that loves to jig n juggle my figures? I feel like I am some sort of weird, geeky, obsessive figure cruncher!?!?!?! :o

I spend hours on my spreadsheet, sometimes just looking at how beautiful it is

[Deleted User]

Mummy Mummy Quote: really do feel quite embarrassed for myself reading back over the changes i want to make/have made (like sitting freezing for the sake of saving £20!!) as they're only going to contribute like £500 max, which is nothing compared to the 12k target. thank god i am annoymous on here haha

Don't feel embarassed. As they say..'every little helps'. It may also help to have a hot water bottle under that blanket to keep warm. At least then you only boil the kettle once and have the heat for hours. Well done on all your efforts. Allie x

moomi

I'd love to join this challenge, can't get anywhere near £12,000 but we are no on decent wages & kids both at school now so main expenses are child are for 2 kids over holidays , mortgage & e usual monthly bills. I hope t start putting £2 coins away from 1st jan, so thats a start. I'll try to get into the habit of putting any "spare" money from things that haven't cost quite as much away instead of thinking, ooh there's money for a Chinese! My mortgage deal comes to end in september & hoping we can really notice a difference after this changes. We have an ifa at work thatas free to use (probably commission based like) bu will approach for advice nearer the time. Where on here would I ask about where is best to put money & what to doabout remortgaging to keep fees as low as poss? All Advice is greatly appreciated thank y everyone.

moomi

Would anyone be able or willing to post a spreadsheet (edited as necessary) to give me an idea of how I could use one?