no debt, no savings, no assets, just blah. HALP!

[Deleted User]

lessavyfav wrote: »

Help and tips are appreciated but judgement, really don't need that

I'm not judging. I'm simply pointing out how much you are spending on none essentials.

However you look at it, you are spending £6,300 per year on haircuts and entertainment, and are surprised you have no savings.

You asked for opinions/advice, and I gave mine.

It's no skin off my nose, if you ignore it.

lessavyfav

there was no advice, just 'so you spend that much on rent?! :eek:"

That's cool, I'm not upset, just don't think there's a point in just saying stuff if it's not constructive :cool:

Today was a bit tough as I had my friend visiting from Australia and had to go out for dinner with her. I didn't drink and we shared small meals so it wasn't too expensive but blew the £10 a day budget thing! Will hopefully have a few NSDs over the next few days though! Weekend is definitely going to be low key as I'm completely spent after the NYE I had. Bike rides and tv show catch ups!

lessavyfav

another day..brought as much ingredients from home as I could for lunch, just had to buy a can of tuna and some crunchy bread, of which I only used half of each. That was £3.60 (erm was a gourmet shop but i am quite particular with tuna), but I figure it's only £1.80 for today and I will use the rest tomorrow along with no extra cost.

Did a big grocery shop that came to £32 (including meat) and I know I am definitely missing a few items - will be going to the farmer's markets for fresh veg on Saturday which should hopefully be less than a fiver. Although it's a bit more than I wanted to spend,I definitely have a fair bit to get me through for the next couple of weeks, along with spare toilet paper, tissues, etc.

This is harder than I thought! I feel like I spent more on groceries than I normally do. Rather than buying biscuits and chocolate, I just bought some things to bake, most stuff I have in my cupboard already but I had to buy butter and desiccated coconut for the slices I like to make. I guess it's far more economical looking at how much I can make, but

It's also a friend's birthday tomorrow so I need to bring some cheese and a bottle of cheap wine (have this sorted, we have a local that sells excellent wine for £5 if you bring your own bottle to fill), won't be going out for dinner at least!

This weekend I'm staying in to bake and make some yummy ottolenghi meals: asparagus mimosa and chickpea, tomato and bread soup which I can hopefully bring with me to work throughout the week - yum!

mrscoward

Hey, I feel your pain! I live in zone 2 and pay £700/ month rent (£634 is cheap for zone 2 London) which I think is not bad.

I earn a tiny bit more than you but spend a bit more too. At the peak of my spending it was easily £500 or more each month on entertainment, plus a £200 one off expense on clothes/hair/makeup.

Here's the reality: if you don't stop spending, you can't save. I have the same issue as you. I want to go out with my friends, buy nice clothes, drink nice wine, wear good makeup, use hair salon shampoo. I can afford to. But I am sick of having no money saved at all. I have started a diary on the DFW diaries board - come join me! Trust me, the only way you will stop spending is by:
(1) prioritising SAVING above nice things; and
(2) starting a daily spending diary (I use a spreadsheet).

Good luck!

ITYIYBMAB

heartbreak_star wrote: »

check online banking once per day. Round down to the nearest £ into a savings account

HBS x

So simple it's genius! :T

laineesurvey

I was in exactly the same position as you a few months ago- I live in a nice area borderline zone 2/3 in SW London. Living in London means you need to socialise more to make friends and have a good time. a few suggestions on how I've saved £2k in a few months:

- Go out when it's 241 cocktails- a lot of bars do this until 8pm on the weekends and weeknights. Go for drinks on a Thursday night perhaps and stay in at the weekend, or do free things like walks along Embankment or visit musuems.

-Get the girls over for a girly night in once a month, ask everyone to bring some food with them- or get a dominos- 241 deal etc. Glass of wine in a bar- £5-6, bottle of wine (3-4 glassed) in sainsburys £5- sorted!

- Get a Tastecard as previously suggested if you really have to eat out, it costs £30 for the year, I made my value back after 2 weeks and 1 meal out. We will only go to restaurants that accept this.

-I didn't get contents insurance (you need a special one when sharing with flatmates), we got robbed 2 weeks after we moved into our flat, lost my laptop and camera. My flatmates had a lot more taken. I couldn't afford to replace the stuff for 6 months. Now I always have it.

-Move to a slightly cheaper area nearby- I moved from Balham to Streatham last year- yes a bit more out of the way, but I saved about £70 on rent each month, got a massive en suite room as well. I've moved back to Balham recently as moved in with OH and we got a bargain for a 1 bed!

- Get rid of all your excess belongings on ebay- I do like designer things as well and have made £400 in the last 2 months alone selling things. In the last 2 years, probably over £1000. Honestly ask yourself do you wear it and still like it. Sold Louboutins, Mulberry's, high st clothing etc, even found my vintage polly pockets at home, anything sells

-Sign up for cashback websites like quidco and topcashback- compare them to see who has the best deals for what you want. we do it for absolutely everything!

-Go to charity shops in areas like Chelsea and you can pick up amazing stuff! I have, I've sold stuff on ebay and you can a but of profit if you're savvy enough

- I had highlighted hair and was sickened having to pay out £140 the last time so I home dyed it brown (it had a green tinge a few weeks afterwards like you mentioned, just threw more dye in), I got to the hairdressers every 3 months- so it will cost about £40 a go instead to stay with my existing place.

-If you really need to have it cut, have it cut every 2 months instead- go to the Supercuts website and find your nearest location- they are very cheap, don't offer you lovely cups of teas and biscuits like other salons but does the job- even do colour packages. Or sign up with a new salon, they give price reductions for newbies. Seen some of the groupon deals and the salons have been given horrendous reviews but you could be lucky!

- Try and haggle your phone contract if possible- I did this, got a new phone, they doubled all my allowances and reduced my price by a few quid. If you have an iphone, you can't really haggle as they don't have the margins but if you switch to a samsung they can.

- Make a food plan for the week- we spend around £40 for 2 people for the week, write down all the meals you'll have and but only what you need

Could go on all day about the cuts I've made, message me if you want more details!

heartbreak_star

ITYIYBMAB wrote: »

So simple it's genius! :T

Thankyou I did that last year and saved enough to buy my OH's big Christmas pressie - it does mount up

HBS x

lessavyfav

laineesurvey wrote: »

I was in exactly the same position as you a few months ago- I live in a nice area borderline zone 2/3 in SW London. Living in London means you need to socialise more to make friends and have a good time. a few suggestions on how I've saved £2k in a few months:

- Go out when it's 241 cocktails- a lot of bars do this until 8pm on the weekends and weeknights. Go for drinks on a Thursday night perhaps and stay in at the weekend, or do free things like walks along Embankment or visit musuems.

-Get the girls over for a girly night in once a month, ask everyone to bring some food with them- or get a dominos- 241 deal etc. Glass of wine in a bar- £5-6, bottle of wine (3-4 glassed) in sainsburys £5- sorted!

- Get a Tastecard as previously suggested if you really have to eat out, it costs £30 for the year, I made my value back after 2 weeks and 1 meal out. We will only go to restaurants that accept this.

-I didn't get contents insurance (you need a special one when sharing with flatmates), we got robbed 2 weeks after we moved into our flat, lost my laptop and camera. My flatmates had a lot more taken. I couldn't afford to replace the stuff for 6 months. Now I always have it.

-Move to a slightly cheaper area nearby- I moved from Balham to Streatham last year- yes a bit more out of the way, but I saved about £70 on rent each month, got a massive en suite room as well. I've moved back to Balham recently as moved in with OH and we got a bargain for a 1 bed!

- Get rid of all your excess belongings on ebay- I do like designer things as well and have made £400 in the last 2 months alone selling things. In the last 2 years, probably over £1000. Honestly ask yourself do you wear it and still like it. Sold Louboutins, Mulberry's, high st clothing etc, even found my vintage polly pockets at home, anything sells

-Sign up for cashback websites like quidco and topcashback- compare them to see who has the best deals for what you want. we do it for absolutely everything!

-Go to charity shops in areas like Chelsea and you can pick up amazing stuff! I have, I've sold stuff on ebay and you can a but of profit if you're savvy enough

- I had highlighted hair and was sickened having to pay out £140 the last time so I home dyed it brown (it had a green tinge a few weeks afterwards like you mentioned, just threw more dye in), I got to the hairdressers every 3 months- so it will cost about £40 a go instead to stay with my existing place.

-If you really need to have it cut, have it cut every 2 months instead- go to the Supercuts website and find your nearest location- they are very cheap, don't offer you lovely cups of teas and biscuits like other salons but does the job- even do colour packages. Or sign up with a new salon, they give price reductions for newbies. Seen some of the groupon deals and the salons have been given horrendous reviews but you could be lucky!

- Try and haggle your phone contract if possible- I did this, got a new phone, they doubled all my allowances and reduced my price by a few quid. If you have an iphone, you can't really haggle as they don't have the margins but if you switch to a samsung they can.

- Make a food plan for the week- we spend around £40 for 2 people for the week, write down all the meals you'll have and but only what you need

Could go on all day about the cuts I've made, message me if you want more details!

wow, you've saved a lot in a short space of time - that's amazing! thanks for all your tips, i know i'll be implementing a few of them, starting with the girly night once a month. the good thing is, my friends are all sick of spending so much money in december that everyone is up for more low key stuff. suits me fine!

lessavyfav

Not a great weekend so far...the guy that lives above our flat accidentally kicked a pipe which had water exploding everywhere, including through my bedroom wall, narrowly missing my clothing (i guess this is what contents insurance is for!!). It was lucky I was in bedroom on Friday night as I moved my clothing rack, otherwise a lot of my clothes may have been ruined. The following day, our shower tap just stopped working, so there's another pain in the bum - I just want out of this flat! Things are getting from bad to worse and I'm just taking this as a sign to get out of here ASAP.

I've also been very ill with the flu, had to go out and get some cold and flu tablets, extra tissues, nasal stick..spent almost £20 at superdrug for this stuff as well as shampoo and conditioner that I really needed.

Not exactly sticking with my £10 a day budget but being sick means I've spent less than usual at least - no expensive restaurant dinners or pub visits. I need to get a lot more strict on myself, that's for sure. I feel like I'll be better this week though as I have stocked up the fridge/pantry and my housemate's boyfriend left us a whole lot of food as he's gone to barcelona - bonus!

No plans this week, so again I am going to lay low on the social front. I'll be bringing in lunch from home all week, trying to get a little bit more exciting rather than my usual tuna/sweetcorn/rice combo that I do!

lessavyfav

i meant to update this a lot more often but it's funny how feeling guilty and avoidance correlate with spending :P

i haven't done terribly though. so far im on track to saving £275 this month, so long as this friday i don't get out of control (friend's boyfriend's birthday and i am allocating myself £20). this weekend i plan on laying low and maybe grabbing a coffee and some delicious sourdough as a treat. all this is factored in though.

so we'll see! i have gone ahead and worked out expenses for next pay, including £200 as part of spending money for my ski trip in march (will put aside another £150 from march's pay), as well as getting my hair cut - it's awful and dry and has no shape so this is one treat i'm doing for myself. my plan is to save £300 next month with an aim of 4 NSDs. it'll be a bit tight but is doable and feb is a shorter month, at least

i was invited to late lunch at the hawksmoor in feb and agreed to it initially but i've just cancelled as i know this is an expense i just have to give up as much as i'd love the treat.

i am looking at a flat this week that is a street away from me and from the photos looks just lovely. the rent incl bills is £735 which is not far off what i was paying but i'd be living with 4 other people instead of two. but two bathrooms and a nice kitchen might just tempt me - i guess ill find out when i meet the potential housemates, they may not even pick me!! if it all DOES happen, this means i'll have to give 4 weeks notice to my flatmates and rental agency, hope to god ill find someone to take my bedroom, and try not to die of stress

in fact, that's given me the idea that i should attempt some ebaying this weekend in case i need the money later in feb..it will definitely come in handy!!

hope everyone is doing well..i didn't realise this would be so hard. i'm counting my lucky stars that i DON'T have any debt..onwards and upwards (i hope)