My first ISA

ps_live

Hi there, just thought I'd post to announce "I'm officially a saver !!"

Yay me :rolleyes:

I know its small potato's to most, but I have just opened a Mini-Cash ISA with First Direct. My first deposit was a massive £100.

Currently I'm the sole wage earner in our house, we have two kids and not much money left at the end of the month ... BUT

I have to start somewhere, and after reading pages and pages of excellent advice on this site, I have decided to take the plunge, especially as its tax-free

In another 18 months or so my wife will be working again, as our youngest will hit full-time school. Then we can really start making plans for the future.

Sorry about this post, but I'm pretty chuffed :rotfl:

cheers

Pete

lipidicman

I'm happy that you're happy

Keep coming back for advice

Crown

Hi Pete,

Congratulations on your new Saving scheme. I started saving £100 a month exactly a year ago today and because I was on a low salary this was quite a lot to me.

It may sound strange but you eventually dont miss it. I had the bank set up a direct debit from my account each month as soon as a I was paid so I couldnt get my hands on it.

This was one of the best moves I have made and now with my initial deposit I have around £1500 in savings that a year ago I thought would have been impossible. Its also a nice feeling knowing that you have this cash tucked away in case of an emergency ect.

Good luck in the future

Regards

Crown

surfergirl_3

Ps-live


Well done, and welcome to the boards.

Cheers :beer:



Surfergirl

ps_live

Thanks Crown, thats just what I plan to do :j

I have £820 coming from selling some stuff on ebay in the next few days, and I'm seriously considering putting a large chunk of it into my ISA.

I earn a reasonable wage, it just "goes" as the month draws on. Once the housekeeping (£500) and bills (£900) are taken care of (separate accounts), I'm left with £250 a month as disposable income. By squeezing my own spending, I think I can put £100 a month into my ISA without feeling it too much. I guess its just practice, and like you say, after a while you don't even notice it.

cheers :beer:

Pete

ps_live

Thanks surfergirl,

Thats really friendly

Pete

lipidicman

The housekeeping is £500 on top of the bills? Can you squeeze these figures too - there is plenty of advice and help on this site! maybe you can boost those savings a little

ps_live

Well, the £500 is paid into my wifes account and we call it "housekeeping". She also gets about £100 a month in child allowance, so has £600/month to spend purely on shopping and clothing for her and the kids. There is going to be a little left over, but I'm happy enough to let her spend that on whatever she wants. She feels bad enough not earning for the last 5 years or so, so this is her little bit of independence. I don't ask her to account for it, as I don't want to appear as though I'm keeping tabs. I haven't starved yet

If you are married, I'm sure you'll understand :rolleyes:

cheers

Pete

Walletwatch

The best thing is to get your wife also hooked on to MSE ;-)

Paul_Varjak

Teach your kids to save money too!

cloud_dog

Have you looked at some of the other boards. For example the Telephone board. I signed up with 18866 a while ago and my latest bill from them was (something like) £3.87p for three months of phone calls. This has saved about £20pm.

I know this may sound blasaie but you always liveto your means (no matter what you earn) and you need to do what you have just started to do. It aint easy but after a while you just get used to it (as the previous poster pointed out).

cloud_dog