How to fall in love with saving money

cathybird

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and New Year

Back from my trip abroad, it wasn't cheap but then I don't travel too often. Now looking forward to a quiet and relatively frugal Christmas.

I hope the festive season treats everyone well.

cathybird

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I overspent a little, and bought too much food, but none of it will go to waste - in fact it will cut down on the food bill for January, so that at least is good. I have some time off in the runup to the New Year and am going to use it to think sensibly about how much I can automatically squirrel away next year and to tackle the You Need A Budget software I bought and haven't had time to have a proper go at.

YoungBusinessman

One thing I fully intend to do either today or tomorrow is start a budget for 2014!! That's me spent near enough every penny I have to for 2014. Got some hefty bills early 2014 will make them 2013 expenses though as they are getting paid for from savings. Got a 3 hour session at dentist, I'm booking a holiday and I need a few bits an pieces for work. Aswel as earn more next year I'm going to try and take expenses down, i can't even remember last time this year I didn't have a drink on the weekend which is as much a health issue as it is financial! Anyway hope everyone had a good Xmas hope everyone keeps to this thread next year as it's a good motivator! All the best, folks.

cathybird

hi YoungBusinessman, hope you had a great Christmas It's funny you should mention not drinking as I'm thinking of taking three months off alcohol early in 2014 both to save money and for the sake of my health, inspired partly by this: http://hellosundaymorning.org/. It just seems like a good thing to do.

I'm slightly concerned about setting a budget because I don't want to set the savings figure unrealistically high - I could squirrel away quite a lot probably but I went away for three days before Christmas to Denmark and had such a great time and would really like to do more travelling, so don't want to put away so much money that I end up not being able to do that. It's tricky, isn't it? Anyway, I'll sit down and have a good hard think this week.

Eco_Miser

cathybird wrote: »

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I overspent a little, and bought too much food, but none of it will go to waste

But will any of it go to waist?:) I find that's a danger at this time of year.

cathybird wrote: »

I'm slightly concerned about setting a budget because I don't want to set the savings figure unrealistically high - I could squirrel away quite a lot probably but I went away for three days before Christmas to Denmark and had such a great time and would really like to do more travelling, so don't want to put away so much money that I end up not being able to do that. It's tricky, isn't it? Anyway, I'll sit down and have a good hard think this week.

Include generous provision for holidays in your budget, saved in an instant access account, with the understanding that anything not spent in a reasonable time gets added to your savings. If you're disciplined and won't overspend, you can combine it with your emergency pot.

I need to look at my own budget soon, see if I managed to save anything this year, and set expectations for next year. Since I actually set the budget for 1st Jan 2013 to 5 April 2014 I don't need to rush.

WantToBeSE

Hi Everyone

Cathy- i have decided to have a dry January and drink lots of water instead. I read an article that someone posted on this site about a woman who improved her skin loads when she drank the recommended 2lts a day of water. So i am giving that a go.

Things are ticking along nicely here. My £700 is still in tact. I am very proud that i got through C'mas without touching it. I wasn't really all that tempted either.

cathybird

Eco_Miser wrote: »

But will any of it go to waist?:) I find that's a danger at this time of year.

ha ha! :rotfl: I fear some of it probably will go to waist but that's the festive season for you I had some particularly yummy Christmas pudding-flavoured fudge that I bought to share with work colleagues, which I did indeed do, and it was much appreciated, but I still mysteriously seemed to end up eating quite a lot of it myself - don't know how that happened.

Include generous provision for holidays in your budget, saved in an instant access account, with the understanding that anything not spent in a reasonable time gets added to your savings. If you're disciplined and won't overspend, you can combine it with your emergency pot.

Yes good idea - otherwise I'll get six months into my own budget and start chafing at the bit. As Tara747 says, you've got to live.

I need to look at my own budget soon, see if I managed to save anything this year, and set expectations for next year. Since I actually set the budget for 1st Jan 2013 to 5 April 2014 I don't need to rush.

Eco Miser, I am full of admiration at the way you can live on so little - I wish I had half of your resolve.

cathybird

Eco_Miser wrote: »

Include generous provision for holidays in your budget, saved in an instant access account, with the understanding that anything not spent in a reasonable time gets added to your savings. If you're disciplined and won't overspend, you can combine it with your emergency pot.

Striking a slightly sombre note here but my mother saved religiously all her life and though we had holidays while I was growing up (visiting the rellies - quite clearly in retrospect dirt cheap, though fun at the time), she and my dad spent very little and enjoyed very few "treats". They were just gearing up for their first big trip overseas to Europe, around the time my dad retired, when she was diagnosed with cancer and very shortly after that she died. She was at that time still young, only 59. It was a huge shock to me at the time and I am pretty sure that one factor in my own generally short-term "live it up" approach to money is that I've always had in the back of my mind that there might be no tomorrow. There are other factors in my over-spending, such as general idiocy , but I'm sure her early death had an influence.

Of course now that I am the age I am, it has occurred to me that there's a good chance that there will be a tomorrow and I haven't saved up enough money for it But there does have to be a balance - the future does have to be part of the picture but it's not the only part.

So I hope you are treating yourself this festive season, Eco Miser "Because you're worth it"

cathybird

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Hi Everyone

Cathy- i have decided to have a dry January and drink lots of water instead. I read an article that someone posted on this site about a woman who improved her skin loads when she drank the recommended 2lts a day of water. So i am giving that a go.

Things are ticking along nicely here. My £700 is still in tact. I am very proud that i got through C'mas without touching it. I wasn't really all that tempted either.

WantToBeSE, fantastic idea I really like the idea of at least a month off and would like to aim for three. January is to my mind not the most brilliant month to do it in because it's post-Christmas and cold and grim, but many do take a month off alcohol in January and any time taken off is a good idea. I have had three months off in the past, in 2007, and it was brilliant, so I would like to do that again.

Well done you for not touching your £700 It's amazing what a difference it makes being "part of the gang" on MSE. Fantastic resolve :T:T:T

atush

Be careful of that 2L a day.

I drink that much when am home in the USA and spend half my time going to the toilet lol!