Which area do you focus more on?

floopnoodle

When you're trying to bust your debt which do you focus more on and why:

Saving as much as you can from your current income

or

Increasing your current income as much as possible

I was reading this thread today and it just seemed to make such a nice refreshing change, congrats to the poster Little Miss Uni-Debt. Sure there's lots of stuff like selling possessions and stuff you can only do once, but then there is also stuff you can do all the way through your debt-free mission.

I regularly read the 'What small thing will you do today' threads and they are always filled with the same stuff (no offence to the posters)

• Charge my phone at work saving me 0.00004p
• Buy a magazine with a 7p off coupon
• Drive 17 miles to get petrol that is 0.003p cheaper
• Walk 6 miles to work to save 70p bus fare

Doing this kind of stuff day-in, day-out must do your head in, bore you to tears and in the grand scheme of things save you naff all.

Surely it would be 10000x more entertaining and profitable to spend time on stuff that makes money, is enjoyable and could be nice sideline business, rather than trying to save tuppence at every opportunity.

What say you?

TeamNicholson

I agree. I have budgeted and scrimped and saved as much as possible (not to the extent of the above examples though) BUT have found MAKING money an easier task. For example, I made £80 Mystery shopping last week which is about 0.5% of my debt paid off!

I have to say I do admire those who are relentless in saving the pennies, but sometimes I just really cant be ars*d going the extra mile to save 3p.

billinghamfan

I have never really read the 'What small thing will you do today' bit as I get a little bored by it too but please tell me the driving x amount of miles to get petrol is a joke?

SinSTAR360

I'm concentrating more on reducing my spending rather than trying to earn more, although some extra cash would be nice!

I'm planning to start using eBay to clear out my loft, but want to sort out my budgeting skills (or lack of) before I start earning more money so I don't spend it on rubbish!

floopnoodle

billinghamfan wrote: »

I have never really read the 'What small thing will you do today' bit as I get a little bored by it too but please tell me the driving x amount of miles to get petrol is a joke?

All the figures are a bit tongue in cheek but that is how ridiculous some of them seem to me.

People do put 'go to the cheapest place for petrol' and even if it's 3 miles away it seems excessive to me.

If you save 2p a litre and the tank is 60L you still only save £1.20 on a whole tank, plus you are now driving round with a full tank which decreases MPG immensely. Surely putting quarter or half a tank at whichever supermarket you shop at gives better overall economy.

billinghamfan

Well I get a email telling where the cheapest petrol in my area is, I fill my tank up on payday (I know I use more fuel but it is easier to budget this way) it cost me 20p a mile in my car and I have a 60l tank. The cheapest petrol stations are 5 miles from my house and are only 1p cheaper per litre than the ones a mile from my house and I don't drive past them at any point so going there would cost me 40p after saving!!! Sorry it's the accountant in me!

MummyDrusilla

I find it a lot more morale boosting to increase my income than save a few pennies here and there. It's just nicer to my brain! Of course, I'm looking at what I'm spending and seeing if I can get it cheaper, but not if I have to make a special trip.

Also, I found the small DFW things I was doing day to day I did before I was debt busting so it was 2nd nature to me. Pointing that out on here didn't really do much to boost my enthusiasm to debt-bust and just took up precious time!!!! I wasn't saying anything that others weren't doing anyway so my contribution to the post wouldn't have helped others either!

floopnoodle

SinSTAR360 wrote: »

I'm concentrating more on reducing my spending rather than trying to earn more, although some extra cash would be nice!

That's the bit I don't understand.

I understand about the big savings, that save £xx - £xxx per month, but it's the little savings of a couple of quid a week, that take loads of effort or time.

Surely making an extra £100 a month is better, more enjoyable and means you can pay to get a bus to work instead of walking 3 miles in the rain or only eating stale bread sandwiches.

My personal feeling is more people would do better and stick to the plan for longer if they earned more and kept some of the luxuries, than cut out the luxuries.

wannabee_in_credit

Maybe some of us have to do the saving 70p here and there 'rubbish' because we work 50 hours a week and have 2 young children to look after. I'd love to up my income personally, but it's not always that straightforward unfortunately.

sugarcube84

I would lean towards upping my income however i have found this increasingly difficult i work full time 40 miles away from home, have a small child and my husbands has just set up his own business and is working 7 days a week while i'm do his books around work!!

So apart from putting things aside to ebay when i have a minute, getting cashback where possible and doing some surveys i find thats my limit time wise.So it does't make a massive difference to our income but every but helps. So for me it's a combination of keeping control of the budget and making extra money where possible.

floopnoodle

wannabee_in_credit wrote: »

Maybe some of us have to do the saving 70p here and there 'rubbish' because we work 50 hours a week and have 2 young children to look after. I'd love to up my income personally, but it's not always that straightforward unfortunately.

Fair enough, I understand some people have time restraints, a lot don't though.

I have seen people moaning they have to stay in on a Saturday night and read their 80p magazine as that's all they can afford. Surely their time could be better spent making money, rather than opting for the cheapest magazine on the shelf, the one they don't really like and seeing this as 'money-saving'.