How to fall in love with saving money

focus888

£45 is awesome, I be happy to find £45 right now. Subcribing because I have really enjoyed reading this thread the last few days.

I think you can totally learn to love to save. Even if you start off small like with a fiver here or there or for you that £45 when you see it build up it feels so good. From £45 to £100 and then watch it grow to £500 and then £1000. The feeling you get from having that security is amazing.

Keep up the good work.

cathybird

I suppose "how to fall in love with saving money" is actually a profounder question than I meant to ask - I just meant to inspire myself to get started on the journey. But it raises all sorts of questions - why do people fall in love with spending? How do they bring themselves to fall out of love with it when they realise it's a bad way to live, or is falling out of love not possible, will I always feel a hunger to spend even if I learn to control it more? Is it something innate in people that they love saving or spending, or is it just good or bad habits? The answers I've had have sometimes touched on these issues and it's really interesting.

cathybird

Maybe being in love with spending is like having a taste for bad boys and saving is like that nice boy who will actually look after you properly :rotfl:

Spending/bad boys - tempting, exciting, never a dull moment ... but down the line you'll rue the day ...

Saving/nice boys - quiet and unassuming, easy to overlook, but safe and secure and you'll grow old and contented together!

cathybird

focus888, I'm glad you're enjoying the thread - me too - it's really good to read the responses - such useful stuff

YoungBusinessman

Agree with above post, once all that "small" £45 payments grow to, £500 then into £1000 etc, before you know it you will have thousands to fall back on as security!! I had great security 2 months ago, £8k in bank and no debt besides mortgage, now is a different story (see sig) so i am starting to build my bank balance back up after being at a low point of £200ish! Now its upto over £1,300 and a pay on Friday with no more expenses to come for October...and i have done away with my £20 a week gambling budget and dont even miss it. So an extra £80 a month as really it always ended up going to bookies even if i got a win. Never hear of many bookies closing down but hear alot starting up, we have two that face each other in our local town, speaks volumes on how much money must be out there for them.

Looking forward to end of the year, that £1,300 will have grown and il enter 2014 positive as when i entered 2013 had just bought first house and it was expense after expense, living payday to payday for the first few months. 2014 is dedicated to saving. By the end of May iv got an aim to have enough in bank to live off for the rest of year so can save 7 months wages in 2014.

RevolvingDoor

cathybird wrote: »

I suppose "how to fall in love with saving money" is actually a profounder question than I meant to ask - I just meant to inspire myself to get started on the journey. But it raises all sorts of questions - why do people fall in love with spending? How do they bring themselves to fall out of love with it when they realise it's a bad way to live, or is falling out of love not possible, will I always feel a hunger to spend even if I learn to control it more? Is it something innate in people that they love saving or spending, or is it just good or bad habits? The answers I've had have sometimes touched on these issues and it's really interesting.

I look forward to buying things (especially on Amazon:o) and look forward to it being delivered but then the buzz goes away when I actually have the item. I'm hoping I can summon this excitement to looking at my savings account!

YoungBusinessman wrote: »

I had great security 2 months ago, £8k in bank and no debt besides mortgage, now is a different story (see sig) so i am starting to build my bank balance back up after being at a low point of £200ish!

Whoa,:( I hope you can build the savings back up.

Jevvers

£45 is great! And don't be put off by big savers, the journey to £1000 begins with a single penny

I have found that the more I save the more chances to save quickly I have - ie the first year I saved for an ISA I had to do it in a regular saver. But by the second year I could move that to an ISA paying a better rate and I could also start a new one. Also was recently able to buy Royal Mail shares because we had savings to use there. I sold some and put the money back into the savings account. So it gets kinda addictive!

focus888

When i was younger i was a big spender. On absolute rubbish. Clothes that i never even worn which still had tags on. Then as i grew older i wanted to have security and started slowly saving. Now i find it hard to spend on anything, i have to really want it. I set myself a budget for the month and once thats gone, its gone. There is still the spender inside of me and sometimes she wants to come out but its only on rare occasions. I still like seeing my savings grow.

Coming on here really helps, reading other people stories and struggles make you really think about your own situation.

What alot of posts have said is true and works for me. Pay yourself first some savings and then budget your spending allowance for the month. Even if you spent your budget on tat at least you made sure you saved some money that month. My allowance i do whatever i want with, eat out, entertain, shop. Once its gone though i just have to wait for payday to come around.

Also set yourself mini goals or challenges. That really helps to! x

cathybird

YoungBusinessman wrote: »

By the end of May iv got an aim to have enough in bank to live off for the rest of year so can save 7 months wages in 2014.

YoungBusinessman, sorry to hear of the unexpected hit to your savings plans but if you can save enough to live on for the rest of the year by the end of May, that's incredibly impressive.

cathybird

focus888 wrote: »

When i was younger i was a big spender. On absolute rubbish. Clothes that i never even worn which still had tags on. Then as i grew older i wanted to have security and started slowly saving. Now i find it hard to spend on anything, i have to really want it.

Focus888, maybe there's hope for me yet