How to fall in love with saving money

JoJoC

Hi Cathy,

How are you getting on? Your diary is certainly keeping me on the bandwagon!!

I worry that I'll get bored of it too, as I usually get an idea and am so enthusiastic then a few months later I've totally forgotten about it.

So far so good- I want this to be the thing that sticks!!

Nice quiet evening tonight after a busy few days. My little not is hyper and running around naked screaming BATH over and over again. He's only one so he's chuffed that he can say BATH for starters, and otherwise I've no idea why he's so hyper. Good luck to me at bedtime tonight!

cathybird

hi JoJoC, busy day but I'm good Very tired. Off to bed myself. Hope your little one went to bed quietly when the time came - sounds like he was enjoying himself, anyway See you tomorrow.

cathybird

Morning all. Grey morning out there. I hope everyone is well.

I was reading something last night about small luxuries being important in life and I reckon that's true. I think we all need little treats now and then, the problem is when they become constant. For me treats pretty much used to be my lifestyle I'm just wondering whether now I've embarked on this savings game whether I should sit down and have a think about what treats are okay and how often. I don't think I should play it by ear because I'll overindulge ... I'm struggling to stay off the books a bit though ... The trouble is every time I read a book it mentions three other books that also sound fascinating that I want to read right away. But I can't afford to constantly buy books. Long-term I have to work out a compromise.

I have sent in my citizenship application and am now nervously waiting to hear back. The website reckons it could take six months.

missjames

what is the best way to save? interest rates are so low there is no point saving in currency is there?

atush

JoJoC wrote: »

Hi Cathy,

How are you getting on? Your diary is certainly keeping me on the bandwagon!!

I worry that I'll get bored of it too, as I usually get an idea and am so enthusiastic then a few months later I've totally forgotten about it.

So far so good- I want this to be the thing that sticks!!

Nice quiet evening tonight after a busy few days. My little not is hyper and running around naked screaming BATH over and over again. He's only one so he's chuffed that he can say BATH for starters, and otherwise I've no idea why he's so hyper. Good luck to me at bedtime tonight!

There is one thing that can help if you feel you will be bored with saving, and that is to do it via DD.

Once you have enough cash saved thru your current saving to fund upcoming plans and for emergencies, setting up a DD to save in a S&S isa or investment trust plan is painless, you don't even think about it. The money isn't in your acct if you set of the DD for payday, so you don't get used to having it there. And t mounts and mounts and mounts over the years esp with income reinvested.

We started this when we had only 50 quid to spare each month, but less than 2 decades later the money in is the many tens of thousands.

atush

cathybird wrote: »

Morning all. Grey morning out there. I hope everyone is well.

I was reading something last night about small luxuries being important in life and I reckon that's true. I think we all need little treats now and then, the problem is when they become constant. For me treats pretty much used to be my lifestyle I'm just wondering whether now I've embarked on this savings game whether I should sit down and have a think about what treats are okay and how often. I don't think I should play it by ear because I'll overindulge ... I'm struggling to stay off the books a bit though ... The trouble is every time I read a book it mentions three other books that also sound fascinating that I want to read right away. But I can't afford to constantly buy books. Long-term I have to work out a compromise.

I have sent in my citizenship application and am now nervously waiting to hear back. The website reckons it could take six months.

What about setting up a monthly budget for treats however large or small. Then bank any left over separately so you can have a larger treat once in a while? If you have a set aside budget, you won't over step?

A treat for me can be a Sandwich from M&S or Subway on a friday, or a coctail on a holiday. a top (on sale). Shoes from TKmaxx. A book. Takeout- we hardly ever have it.

Lomcevak

atush wrote: »

What about setting up a monthly budget for treats however large or small. Then bank any left over separately so you can have a larger treat once in a while?

That's what we do - we budget £25 each every month as guilt-free money to spend on whatever we like, our household budget is in YNAB so it automatically rolls over if not spent. Mrs L is better at not spending hers, so tends to buy fewer, bigger things, I tend to spend mine on more, smaller things. But either way the cap keeps it under control without feeling that our budget stops us ever buying a 'treat'

cathybird

Budgeting for treats, that's a good idea. The thing is that I have had my nose to the grindstone with the savings thing since October and that has been exciting, and I've had good results, but I suspect I may not be able to sustain that minute attention to it long-term, so expanding it to include a limited amount on treats is a very very good notion. Thank you, atush and Lomcevak.

Re DDs, I have two set up for my Isa and I also have the share save plan at work, which I usually don't think about at all. What I would like to do is increase the DD over time but wanted to be reasonably cautious to start with.

JoJoC

That sounds good Lomcevak. What do you class as treats?

Eg my husband needed a new pair of work trousers a couple of weeks ago so went online and ordered some. This money wasn't budgeted for but I wouldn't class it as a treat either.

Either way, we had the money there as we don't budget strictly, but I was just wondering how you worked it?

JoJoC

Atush, I do have a DD set up for the basic amount that we're able to save but the rest of our savings depends entirely on husbands weekly wage (I get paid monthly) and what he gets extra in payment for homers and overtime at work. Also sometimes I have more money left over than anticipated and in that instance, I transfer the extra over to savings.

We're not in a position where we're able to start putting money into long term savings yet and I'd be reluctant to do that, because the opportunity to move house might come up sooner than we think and our money will be tied in.

Is need to look at it in greater depth, of course, but those were my initial concerns.

Thanks for the advice though! You're very knowledgable Atush and I'm glad you share your knowledge