OS money management?

oldtractor

If I have heard right it seems that from April 4% of DH wages will go into a pension scheme and his employers will also contribute [a new government thing]. We also need to get some savings for a rainy day. It all seems very pre the welfare state to me,so very OS. Prices are going up,theres no overtime at his works anymore and take home pay is less. Things will be very tight. Does anyone have any hints or tips about how to save? What did granny and grandad do?I all ready do lots of penny -pinching things. Bit of a pointless post,but dont know where else to look for advice.

milliemonster

One thing to remember though old tractor is the 4% will not be of his net wage (so his take home pay won't be 4% less than what he brings home now), pension contributions are deducted before his salary is taxed so the net effect on his income won't be as bad as you expect.

anguk

What my Grandma did was have lots of little pots or envelopes to put money in, so one for rent, one for coal, one for electric etc etc. My Grandad would come home every week with his wage packet and the money was divided up straight away into those little pots. Savings were always classed as an essential weekly expense and a small amount of money would be paid into the post office account every week by my Grandma. Anything left over from the wages was for food.

I'm going to start classing savings as essential, until now I've always paid the bills and bought food and if there was anything left at the end of the month it would be saved, I'm now going to pay the bills and put a set amount into a savings account and anything left will be spent on food. The older I get the more I realise how important savings are, I'm sick of having an unexpected expense come up and not having the money to cover it.

[Deleted User]

I opened a smile current account plus a smile savings account and I chose smile because it enables easy online banking. I used the savings account as my `float` and I also bought microsoft money (cheap on ebay) and the old versions are the best. I transferred all transactions (from statements) over the previous 5-6 months onto money and also all the bills as potential bills with payment dates etc so there were no nasty surprises in store. I made sure that there was always enough in the current account to cover direct debit payments as and when they occurred.

I took cash out only once a month and divided it into weekly sums and anything left at the end of the week was a bonus. Dh and I had a little pocket money each

I set up a real savings account, one with no minimum deposit, like northern rock and I linked it to my bank account and I drip fed little amounts in there. That was my `no touch` account and our safety net

oldtractor

Some good ideas here. I didnt realise it would be out of gross pay. The pots, or virtual pots are a great idea which I already do guess I'll just have to penny pinch even more during 2012.

Spendless

In Jan this year, I suddently remembered that my parents who also had savings even sparse ones during the time when they were fetching me and sis up always put money away in a savings account each week (days of weekly wages). At the time I was also being paid weekly (agency temping) so I started to do the same. I dipped in twice once in the summer for a hol and at Christmas however I still had over £1k left this month.

Merry_Wanderer

I have a budget, and use the virtual pots, and my income is very small and just covers our rent, bills and food. (and I mean the bare minimum of bills, we have no car, no mobile phone, no sky, etc). I work from home, and we rarely go out unless it is a walk or visiting, so this is managable as there aren't really any extras. My thing I swear by is paying all my bills on time as a priority, anything else is not a neccessity for me, and it means we're never worried or in debt even if we're stood in rags lol

My OH works agency, and usually only gets work 'here and there', and so I have made it so we can live on my earnings, and anything he earns is a bonus (which can be used for clothes, or bus fares, etc). So again, minimal stress. Pooling our money and letting the good one at managing it be in charge helps (which is me)

Even though every penny seems accounted for, I still skim of £10 or so from the shopping bill etc to stash away 'just in case'. Same as £2 coins in a jar, you'd be surprised how much can collect for savings that way. With this system, I have plans to have an ISA for next years from the money saved this way, and what OH earns. I know whatever is transferred in there won't be touched. We've no kids, so things are easier in that respect, however our yearly household income is around £12k, so we're not financially well off but still manage a bit of savings. I enjoy counting my piles of pound coins (like gold coins), 100 of them makes me feel very rich!

Aarons_mummy

Budget for anything and everything and make sure you stick to it. This is the only way I find I can have enough for the basics, the luxuries, the big expenses (ie christmas, car repairs etc) and also have enough for any unexpected problems. The problem I have is I would rather do anything than dip into my savings! Bit of a problem lol.

Apart from that this website is a god send, when you want to buy something enter a competition or send off for a freebie. I have had tons of stuff through since I started, may be all samples and little bits but it all helps and distracts your mind from spending your hard earned cash.

Apart from that, bargain hunt and don't part with the cash until you are completely satisfied. It may take some getting used too but once you're in the swing of it it'll be second nature to you

DebtFree2012

I would be lost without my budget. It has adapted over a year and is now being reviewed for 2012. Everything is budgetted for, even "luxury" items and I have an emergency fund which is only £20 a month but is alot more than I had pre my LBM. I'm teaching my daughter from an early age to respect money and make sure you have a bit behind you, as I never have. I'm saving for them by putting them in premium bonds, I know there's no interest but it's harder to get at than online accounts and at least I know they get what I've put in at least.

All payments, be it to my debt or to savings pots are treat the same. That way I know the emergency fund for example doesn't get overlooked as sod's law, the month it does, I would have needed it.

Interesting thread - thank you.

meritaten

my granny and grandad would say - never borrow on credit! save for what you want - then ask for discount for cash!
always ask 'Do I NEED this - or just want it? buy what you need and wants can be put on your christmas list.
look after the pennies (have a penny jar - in one year spare pennies and those 'found' pennies can net as much as £30!)
a silver jar is much more lucrative and just as easy to maintain! Last years silver jar netted me the amazing amount of £82 and it had been 'raided' a number of times when I was short of change for bus fare!

adelight

Anyone else think there could be some sort of sticky thread with some initial easy steps for people to take to be more OS? There are so many similar threads being created and I imagine loads more will be made in the next few weeks with the new year and price rises.