New Challenge - Details

System

I bought 5 easter eggs, and paid for them all in Asda using coupons. However, i went and blew the savings on T shirts and shorts for myself in Matalan - i aint complaining though, i bought some shorts and 3 t shirts for £12. I had a £10 e voucher today, so i think i am still quids in.

My council tax has only gone up by £1 a month so i am pleased about that.

moggins

I've just altered my spreadsheet as the council tax has gone up by £3, the mortgage has gone up by £3 and the tv licence has gone up from £8.50 to over £10.

I'm just waiting for my car insurance renewal to come up and for my summer utility usage to balance out my winter debt and then I can change both of those and save even more.

DingDong_3

Inspired by this thread I have opened a savings account and I've also got an empty glass jar for surplus cash for emergencies.

My council tax has gone up £3 a month and rent £13 :mad: so I'm not too pleased but I'm hopefully getting a water meter fitted in the next week or two so at least my water bill should go down.

I'm a lot more aware of how I spend my money now thanks to everyone on here so even though my bills have gone up, I'll be saving elsewhere. I'm hoping a slow cooker will help cut down food bills. I still cant decide whether to get a 3.5 or 6.5 litre one though...

moggins

It really depends how many people you are feeding or if you plan to cook and freeze large quantities, I'm feeding five people but am stll having trouble filling the 6.5 to the minimum half full.

monkeylugs

Hello there,

Long term lurker here but I am very impressed at the thought of this challenge

Goals:

· Short term: Holiday spending money. We go away on 5th June. The holiday is all inclusive but I will still need some dosh to take with us.

· Long term: I have got £3400 on a Barclaycard at 5.9% for the life of the balance transfer, which has got to go!

· To try and spend a maximum of £220 per calendar month on grocery and nappy shopping.

· To try and save extra money that comes my way rather than spend it. So literally live off the money I get from my main job rather than spending money I get from mystery shopping and selling Avon.

· To hand over my debit and credit cards to my husband and try live off cash. I will put £20 in pound coins in my penny jar in case I need anything non-food related through the week – example bus fare, school demands, kid’s demanding money etc…

Council tax bill arrived and it’s only gone up by £1 per month,

I discovered water rates can be paid over 12 months and I had been paying over 10 so that’s inadvertently saved me £6 per month.

I don’t get paid for another week however and I have had to dip into my holiday savings money to live off, so my aim is to spend as little as possible over the next week and then start the challenge from 31st March.

Starting point: 35p in my penny-jar

mrsmab59

monkeylugs wrote:

I discovered water rates can be paid over 12 months and I had been paying over 10 so that’s inadvertently saved me £6 per month.

Hello and welcome Monkeylugs (great name ) Thanks for the info about the water rates, I pay mine over 8 months but so long as they don't charge extra to spread it over the year that's another way I can reduce my monthly outgoings.

moggins

I've just checked my water companies site and mine can only be paid over 8 months, they don't do a 12 month option

System

Moneylugs, i have just phoned my water company and they couldnt spread my payments over 12 months, but have spread my payments over 10 months - saving me £4.33 a month. I would much rather spread it over 10 rather than 8.

Moggins, get your water bill out and phone the customer service desk. It said nothing about how many payments i could opt for on my water boards website.

monkeylugs

I had no idea that mine could be paid over 12 months. When I had asked previously it was either 8 or 10, hence choosing 10. I had phoned up when I got my bill to ask if I could change the date of payment, and the guy on the phone asked me if I wanted to spread the cost over 12 months rather than 10, so I almost bit his hand off! This is Yorkshire Water, by the way, and a couple of days later I got my amended bill showing over 12 months so I know it's right.

Second bit of money-spinning I have done, despite being rejected three times in the past, I contacted Alliance & Leicester and went from an ordinary current account what pays no interest and charges 15% for overdraft rate, to a premier account paying 2% interest on credit balances and a 0% authorised overdraft, so hopefully they will soon have to start paying me interest instead of the other way around

Big_Nige

I've Just opened an Alliance & Leicester online saver account as recommended by Martin & my first PMS money is going in (£100) comprising £10 saved on jeans, £10 opening incentive from Ikea (spend £50 or more on a new chargecard application, £10 discount. card arrived today & is being cancelled) £5 bogof from Tesco, £22 from savings from Makro as opposed to Asda, Tesco etc. The rest is from the old pickled egg jar which I emptied & counted ... no trips to the "coinstar" machine at Asda for me. Great idea Queenie £100 I would have frittered away earning interest.