The 'Save 12k in 2013' Thread!

Saving_NOW

nicedream wrote: »

Happy Easter everybody!

March update from me:

After I thought I wouldn't be able to save very much this month as I had booked a holiday (and went on it!), my parents very kindly gave me £500 as a gift. So that gave a kick start to my month and then I ended up having the best month so far! I saved £956.45 by:

Salary £30.57
Second job £285
Halifax reward £5
First Direct welcome £125
Ebay £5.51
Interest 34p (second month of ever getting interest - I always used to pay the banks (much more than that, sadly!))
Cashback £5.03
Mum and Dad £500

I'm always very interested to see how people save their sums each month - please do share!

I've had to carry over a few expenses on my holiday to this month so I think April will be a tough month but I will try my hardest As you will see from the above sums, every little helps.

Spreadsheet updated

My breakdown was
£100 Ebay
£90 Bonus
£760 Income saved.

Total £950 :j
Much better than I was hoping especially as my DH is going away for 8 days abroad.

We pay ourselves pocket money and I have the urge to spend spend spend but I could add mine to the savings..... but would I then feel deprived?? Do you guys pay yourself pocket money? Spend or Save?

Sorry for all the questions :rotfl:

Wentthedaywell?

Saving_NOW wrote: »

We pay ourselves pocket money and I have the urge to spend spend spend but I could add mine to the savings..... but would I then feel deprived?? Do you guys pay yourself pocket money? Spend or Save?

As well as my "proper" saving reported here, I have various amounts put away every month including pension, car, house, dentist, holiday, money to cover my interest free credit card (which is earning interest till I have to pay it!) and treats.

The treat pot is only £50 a month, but if I let it roll over a few months it's a nice little sum and I let myself spend it however I want without feeling guilty. It's currently a negative amount though as I bought a new ipad.

Tiglath

I plot my fixed outgoings including projected savings each month on my spreadsheet, and the 'available' cash in my current account is the food budget for the month, plus a hundred or so extra for incidentals. What's left the day before payday is swept as extra into savings so I start each month with a clean slate.

InsertWittyName

Saving_NOW wrote: »

We pay ourselves pocket money and I have the urge to spend spend spend but I could add mine to the savings..... but would I then feel deprived?? Do you guys pay yourself pocket money? Spend or Save?

Sorry for all the questions :rotfl:

You need to do both for satiety, otherwise you'll feel deprived.

I go by the old rule of covering the bills, saving some and spending some.

The ratios for each change (well, except for covering the bills :mad:) dependant on the goal. When I was paying my debt down the spending was minimal and the saving was non-existent, but now I'm saving for a house deposit the saving has massively increased but I've also allowed us a decent amount to spent too.

It's all about finding the right balance between what you spend and what you save.

nat21luv

When I want something then I can justify it by making the money to buy it. I'm after some mac foundation for £40 so have stuff on eBay to cover it

snowgo

Hope everyones having an enjoyable Easter. :easter:

I've just caught up on reading the end of month posts and it's wonderful to see all the savings amounts declared.

I've had another great month and I'm declaring £1305 saved in March. My car service and breakdown renewals were a lot less than I expected, but must admit that I did splurge on some expensive (for me at any rate) new clothes. I anticipate that my savings will be a lot less in months to come as I need to do some more repairs on my house & garage, and I'm hoping to have a holiday in June.

Wentthedaywell Great idea of a 'treat pot'. Sounds like it is an ideal way of counter-acting feelings of missing out or deprivation that could potentially upset long-term saving plans.

Nat21luv Thanks for another good 'treat' strategy - setting yourself the challenge of raising money from ebay sales to fund things you want. I will definitely try this one. It's probably what I should have done to fund the clothes I bought this month.

Twiggy. Well done on giving up smoking!

ajdj

nat21luv wrote: »

When I want something then I can justify it by making the money to buy it. I'm after some mac foundation for £40 so have stuff on eBay to cover it

This is what I do too, but also like the fact it prevents impulse buying. There's quite a few things I've thought I've wanted and by the time I've accumulated the cash I've talked myself out of it. Treats tend to be things that I really have a need for these days.

I've declared £750 for March, made up of £250 into the regular saver and £500 into Fidelity S&S ISA. I'm still yet to pay into 12/13 Cash ISA but have £1,500 in my current account to pay across, this will go towards Aprils figures now

DP1985

Hello Everyone,

Been quite bad at updating compared to last year - been very busy at work. Worked my way through several pages of updates and it's good to hear everyone's stories.

I've had a couple of decent months, mainly because I've been so busy so haven't had a chance to spend my savings lol!

Didn't post at the end of Feb, so declaring £2,964 for that month and £3,142 for March. Cumulative 2013 figure is now £8,662. Will update the front sheet.

Happy Easter everyone!

Scottish_Lassie

Hi everyone,
Well done on the super saving that's been going on!
I'm declaring £436.72 for March split as

Interest £267.85
Wages £168.87

Which gives me a grand total of £1,392.36 YTD, not too bad, the 2nd half of the year will be giving me some bigger amounts so I can reach my £10k target! Still confident I'm going to get there!

Am off to update my signature and the front page :T

BritAbroad

Wentthedaywell? wrote: »

Blimey Brit, insurance is incredibly expensive there! I've just done my house and contents for £100.

I'd do what you are considering - wildfire protection, then put the rest away so that's it's there for saving or dipping into if an emergency requires it. Do you have the 3-6 months of income saved away for emergencies/redundancies? That is the recommended rule of thumb amount that we are each supposed to have, that can be accessed quickly.

Too true - America is insanely expensive for some things. I was shocked when I realised how much it cost! I think my house and contents insurance in the UK was about £120!

We don't have 3-6 months in ready cash, unfortunately - I'd started saving it last year but it got wiped out because we both needed dental treatment. We do have a reasonable amount in shares which we can access relatively quickly though (quickly enough that we can pay something on a CC in an emergency then clear it with the share proceeds). Not perfect, but better than nothing. But I would like to build some savings in cash as well.