Countdown to Freedom

lulabelle1

Hi Tilly, hope all is well

decided to take some of your advice..... you recommended that I open a savings accounts for clothing. We are 2 adults and 2 children. Any suggestions what would be a reasonable amount to assign for clothes each month. Impossible to look at my past spending as a guide as Ive always spent too much.

I already have savings accounts for Cars (200 per month), Christmas (75 per month), Birthdays (50 per month) Holiday (nothing at the moment as I've already put in 1,000 which will pay for our week in cornwall that i have booked). Can you think of anything else that it would be worthwhile having accounts for??

Thanks in advance, L

Hope you don't mind me asking but I've subscribed to your thread and we have a lot of similar thoughts and ideas on things, so thought you would be a good person to seek advice from!!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi L, that's a difficult question answer. From my own experience I have found that buying in the sales for the kids, and buying better makes, means they wear them and then I do big bundles of clothes and eBay. Doing this with better makes has meant the resale value works out more - well that's my experience. I tend to buy Ben Sherman and Ted Baker for our DS and Gap for DD. Without fail this has worked for me. I then augment these good pieces with MrT, MrA, Mr S bits and bobs, but the good names pull the eBay buyers. In terms of amount in £, that also depends on where they are with growth spurts. Twice this year I have had to rekit DS with jeans but DS has not grown really for over a year.

You are in a good place as it is s close to Xmas and all the real sales will be on shortly. For me and my DH, well that's a different story - he mainly works from home and only wears a suit once a week so no real expense for him. I do tend to buy shirts in the sale for him though. I, unusually for women, have very few clothes. I had to be dressed up for work for so many years that now, although working full time, my role is not client facing, so I tend to wear trousers and shirts. Again buying a couple of expensive pieces but only in the sale. I only buy classics and then use junk jewellery, scarves etc to change the look. Sorry, didn't mean to have a clothing chat, but I found that when I started to cut back spending, it resulted in me wanting to streamline my wardrobe. I used to wear 20%, now most things get worn over the course of two weeks. Opening the wardrobe and choosing now is a pleasure.

Anyway, I save £50 per month for four of us and our DD also visits charity shops if we pass through a 'good' location, and is turning into a really savvy shopper. We do only buy in the sales, and the knock on benefit of this is, if the shops I like aren't having a sale I simply don't go shopping - can't spend if I am not in the shops.

Good luck Tilly

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

One last thing L, I see that you have paid for your holiday but don't stop saving, carry on with your standard amount, whatever it is, as that way you will be ahead of the game when needing to book something next year etc.

Good luck

Pursey

Tilly, just been reading your thread and I wanted to wish you luck. I am getting some really great ideas from here and other diaries so thank you.

lulabelle1

Thanks Tilly....
Lots of savings accounts have now been opened and will transfer money each month. Will update my diary with the details.
Thanks for the fab tips with clothes.
Since DS2 is our final child, it definitely makes sense to start eBaying clothes, so will look to make a start at the weekend.
Thanks so much, L xxx

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

On the spending more wisely front, one tip I picked up from this site is to pay my council tax by credit card. The card gets cleared by DD each month but we earn cash back. It all helps.

Good luck to all
Tilly

wynnvegas

Thanks Tilly,

I had no idea you could pay council tax by credit card! Danke!!

Cheers,

Billy

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Bitte schon x

sweetdaisy

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

On the spending more wisely front, one tip I picked up from this site is to pay my council tax by credit card. The card gets cleared by DD each month but we earn cash back. It all helps.

Good luck to all
Tilly

I didn't know you could do this! Apart from bills and direct debits I make all purchases using my Credit Card, so that I can collect more supermarket loyalty points.

I will look into this .

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

I have been missing in action a fair bit over the last few days, due to a very close relative passing away. The funeral took place over the last day or so and it was truly a memorable occasion and a real celebration of their life.

This has made us want, more than ever, to accelerate the clearing of the mortgage. We have things to do, friends to meet up with, new friends to meet in the future - we wish every one of you on this journey all the best for changing their futures, in whichever way works, for whatever outcome you are seeking.

Any tips I have, I will post and I will continue to search the site for more suggestons, hopefully between is, we can retain our cash, and make sure we are all managing our finances wisely.

Best wishes, Tilly