Is anyone starting from scratch??? 8 July 2012 at 12:55PM edited 21 December 2012 at 3:32PM in How much have you saved? 326 replies 87K views

Brokeattheminute

Total now up to 888/6000.Paid my o/h the other £165 i owed her as my share of the Christmas presents so thats why my total is so low.Want to get it over £1000 by the end of next month, my car tax is up at the end of March and its my dd birthday on the 30th of March so it is quite an expensive month for me!

samehat

I started from scratch in December - I didn't think I could save money and my seasoned saver o/h didn't believe it either but now I'm even encouraging him to be a better saver!

I don't just enjoy saving more than spending, the idea of spending even 10p that is not necessary makes me feel ill! And only after a month and a half of saving! Well I suppose I've been trying a bit longer than that but I had to pay back some money before December so couldn't save.

My mother is now (very kindly) downright refusing to take back the money I owe her so that's a big bonus to the savings! Although she wants me to use it for a holiday and if I do that then it wont be used for savings after all :eek:

Good luck with the goals everyone; it's wonderful to read threads like these :j

davenport151

Hi there everyone.
Just a quick update ahead of next weeks payday.
Unexpected expenses this month. A special train tour has been booked for my son & I to go on. We had to jump at the chance for this one. Though in this case I managed to put the amount back that I had used from savings.
Unfortunately the other one was pet expenses. My girl of 17 years had to be pts on Monday.. I will miss her.

luckynumber13

So sorry to hear the sad news, nothing worse x

davenport151

I owed a fair amount to savings this month. Not quiet the way to do things is it? Mind you i'm surprised my funds are not lower. Though in the case of one amount I have it in cash so will use this instead of taking any out of my account.
However I have managed to comfortably put this amount back. I also intend to have a low spend month as MOT/service is looming.

Had a few hours extra this month so I put that aside in the Extras account! This has really worked as I can clearly see what 'extras' are going in each month and am less inclined to dip into it. This consists of money saved in vouchers or offers, money made on surveys etc.

Hope it's going well for everyone else!

Brokeattheminute

Had the same problems as you Davenport.Washing machine gave up on us the other nt.It was 8yrs old so owed us nothing.Got a new 1 at £329 so this had to come out of the savings:mad:Savings now down to 559/6000.

davenport151

Right! I think i've got this sussed.
Adjusted my totals to reflect this - though I think I made an error in adding up at payday.

My extras account runs monthly. (as before; wages over contract amount, money saved with vouchers etc). Once the month is up I transfer this to savings OR use for extras around the home (former diy money).

This way if I am using cash for home improvements i'm using 'extras', not dipping into savings. So bit by bit I can do things that need doing around the house. If it doesn't get used then its transferred to the big pot!

Looking back at post #43, I think I had already figured this out but had somehow lost my way! Thats why its useful to jot it all down and look on here to renew willpower and be inspired.

blue_mango

Well done, davenport151, keep saving

davenport151

Hey blue_mango I remember seeing you here before. I hope things are well with you. I like your stats. Thats a good idea saving a pound a day. All these little ways that can make a big difference. Finding things that work for us. Possibly I should try that for a Christmas fund.

blue_mango

davenport151 wrote: »

Hey blue_mango I remember seeing you here before. I hope things are well with you. I like your stats. Thats a good idea saving a pound a day. All these little ways that can make a big difference. Finding things that work for us. Possibly I should try that for a Christmas fund.

I guess I'm fine.......I'm better off than some people in debt but am too pessimistic to be happy!:D

I tried to think of what I would need in the future and start saving money for it now...but it's so tempting to spend it for something else! It's quite possible that once I reach all those little goals, I will add a few hundreds and hand it all to a plastic surgeon. I will do it anyway, it just would be wiser to wait a year and a half, but who knows...