The 'Save 12k in 2013' Thread!

SortingElfout

Scottish_Lassie wrote: »

Yeah I'm starting to make more and more stuff from scratch nowadays, the only thing it costs is time, so as long as I've got time I try and make as much stuff as I can at the weekends so I have a freezer full of food for the week, thanks for the burger tips nat21luv sounds lovely!

I made our own pork and apple burgers yesterday - from a Weight Watchers recipe - and made enough to take to work tomorrow for us both. They were really nice. I'm excited to be learning to cook again It used to be just Spag Bol, roast or steak!

Hopefully I'll also find time tonight for Butternut Squash soup and Roast Beef. I try to make every meal stretch over lunches for us both *polishes halo*... The real challenge is remembering to take them out of the fridge in the morning.

In terms of Savings vs Investments, I'm (my husband and I keep our finances apart from the house seperate - more from habit than anything else, it'll change if/when we have kids or one of us loses income etc.) saving because I want a stash of cash on hand in a crisis! My £9,000 goal would cover half our mortgage and bills for a year plus a little extra for if the boiler goes down etc. etc. Having that to hand will make me feel safer - although one day I would love to be able to invest as well.

JellyBox

Is it too late to join in? I'd like to try and save £2500 this year. I am not sure how doable this is - on paper, it all works out fine, but given that I've intended to save all of 2012 and managed nothing. Hoping a more structured approach will help. I'll save whatever is left at the end of this month and then begin putting away £150 (initially, hoping to put this up to £200) from next month, will supplement this with savings from my current expenditure and selling on ebay etc.

ajdj

Well I'm a week into my new job. The upside of this involving overnight stays is that I can expense back my meal and fuel costs (although I'm obviously needing the cash to cover the initial cost, I know I will get it back).

I will get paid next week, but as it is not a full month will continue my 'experiment' of budgeting.

After allowing for bills my initial plan was to live off £475/month. £400 of this for groceries and £75 to cover any other things (clothes, hair cuts, days out etc). This is harder than I thought, I'm £20 over on other spends due to needing some new clothes for work. I have £65 (technically you could say £45 due to my other overspend!) left for next weeks food shop which will see us to the end of the month. Our usual weekly grocery bill is ~£80/week for 2 adults and 2 cats.

We always shop with a list, don't waste food and only buy fresh meat, fish, fruit and veg and make everything from scratch. My OH is a keen runner and gets through so much salad and fruit it's unreal! I will see how the spend looks at the end of the month but may need to increase the budget slightly!

On the savings side- I'm really chuffed with myself to have £500 stashed away (particularly as I was unemployed last month), I will have a balance in my current account before pay day of around £300 but we have decided to book a holiday and this will cover my half!

I really like the idea of 'pay yourself first', I'm definitely going to try and adopt this. The hardest bit is knowing how much of a cushion to leave in the current account, I cannot live by budgeting down to the last penny! What do others do???

Kerfuffle

ajdj wrote: »

I really like the idea of 'pay yourself first', I'm definitely going to try and adopt this. The hardest bit is knowing how much of a cushion to leave in the current account, I cannot live by budgeting down to the last penny! What do others do???

I pay myself first also. Last year I was trying to pay down debts with the money left over and I didn't get very far, this year I'm doing it the other way round and priortizing debts and savings first and then living on the remainder. Everything is budgeted for (hopefully ) and the cash is put into jars for throughout the month, and I leave $50.00 in my current account for 'just in case', everything else is allocated to debt or savings. I'm still in the first month and soon expecting to make a second transfer of money across to my savings account.:T

Canucksfan - I've read the Rich Dad Poor Dad book too, and found it very thought provoking, I've not read the Wealthy Barber yet though, although very nearly bought it ( oh the irony ), it's not in my local library, would you recommend it enough to part with hard earned cash?

ajdj

Thanks, I have 2 current accounts. One which all my income goes into and bills come out of. The other one is a basic account that I have previously used for Internet purchases.

I think on payday I will pay myself first in 2 ways. Firstly by paying into my regular savers (the minimum I have committed to saving). I will then transfer the monthly spending budget into the basic account and use that for spends. I will not touch the remaining money in my main account (unless emergency spends crop up) and will then pay myself a monthly bonus into savings at the end of the month. The monthly bonus will depend on how successful I have been at reining the spending in!

Canucksfan

:wave::wave:Hiya Bexim!
Hey Kerfuffle! People talk about these books as if they contain a Willie Wonka Golden Ticket or that within the pages you will the secret to eliminating debt and generating wealth. Well The Barber is now quite an old book and the sequel ( The WB Returns) harked back a lot to the original (Anyone seen The Hangover 2 will get what mean !)
The only Personal Finance book I have ever bought is one by Gail Vaz Oxlade-the no-nonsense bossy tone really helped me when I struggled to pay down debt last year. I mostly read these books to try and keep myself motivated and to keep it a priority iykwim??? x

wilf55

Hi all
sorry to say havent saved a bean so far on this challenge however have paid most of the bills to the end of the month and so the rest of my money is my own plenty of food in will just need to do a minimalistic shop and house is tidy which when its not drains my motivation

whilst not being able to save any cash i have got £250 amazon gift card £30 next and £20 House of frazer which i will put towards clothes presents etc

my ds also plays golf to a high standard and at age 16 it is me that funds it but i have also secured money to fund this so my money is effectively my own now

i have also helped my oh to have his pension paid early on the grounds of ill health he has had an occ health appt but we are awaiting the final yey or ney! that would go in the pot

i have decided that i would like to save for a family holiday to the states next christmas ...killing 2 birds with one stone! no xmas pressies either! but will see how it goes dd2 and dd3 will go along with this but need to speak to dd1 and ds(who doesnt really get a say!)

wilf55

oh i have also wrote letters to bank regarding a small amount of charges to see if they will refund
and also helping a friend of family member to fill in form for £10 so when i do that will also go in the pot

wondering whether to set up an account with local credit union....its harder to get at my savings then only open mon and thurs but undecided on that one any advice or opinions welcomes

yesterday did and m & s shop...had a £5 off voucher and only look at reduced or special offers and got £49.86 of food for £28.04 £5 of mince from butcher made pasta dish shep pie x2 and lasagne froze some and eaten some

2012Saver

Hi everyone

I have been checking a couple of times a week and enjoying reading everyone's updates!

I have managed to save the following this month:

£125 leftover Xmas money which I decided to save instead of spend
£5 Halifax reward
£25 Paypal payment from Swagbucks
£42.04 earnings from Ciao
£5.18 which was leftover in my current account

Giving me a total of £202.22 so far. I am eagerly awaiting pay day when I will be saving £850 of my wage.

Keep up the good work everyone!

2012Saver

nikki2804

I've moved some money into my savings account but I wont count it just now as OH has a meeting at work on Thursday with a view to dismissing him so I may need to spend some of it.

Went through a cashback site for my car insurance and got £26.26, well I will when it tracks.

Need to figure out some other ways to raise some cash.