The 'Save 12k in 2014' Thread!

nat21luv

Ive also thought about it and Ive decided that Im missing out on life. Im going to ditch the students and head out to paid employment instead. It will get me out of the house meeting new people instead of picking up after ungrateful kids! Ive had students for 4 years now and Im fed up of sharing my house. Its really difficult to do both as the students aren't allowed to be at home on their own and require dinner quite early. Ill start again next year perhaps, I just want my summers back!!


I need to add up the sums for this month, im expecting a miracle if im able to save anything!

tara747

bigbadbear wrote: »

Tara, I don't think you have anything to worry about after managing to save £73k I would say thats pretty good going to say the least! I have read a couple of your posts on this forum and it has really inspired me to start saving and to stop wasting my money month after month.

YoungBusinessman wrote: »

Tara I think you are one that can take a wee negitive to have a holiday....I'm in Paris and still can't help myself but come on mse forums, love them!! I think I'm going to be down from £1,260 to maybe £1,000 at end of February as a result of holiday but I'm sure when weather starts getting better in march I can crack on saving 4 figure a month! To be honest saving £10k in a year would make me delighted, nevermind my £15k target. Iv got about 45 years at least until state pension age which probably won't even exist by the time I'm there if I make it, trying not to get too caught up in saving all my money too early. I have already done that so I could get my house and missed out on a lot of decent football matches, 21sts, music festivals etc I otherwise would have went to if I wasn't so addicted to saving!

May and July will be my 2 best months, last year was over £2k each of them months put away, hope for a repeat of that to make up for this slow month!!

115K wrote: »

Wowee! Well done.:)

Thanks for the kind words And bigbadbear, if I've inspired you then I'm really chuffed.

tara747

sparrer wrote: »

Since changing jobs both my DD and S-i-L are now paid weekly, they seem to manage well and are putting a little away each week. When they were paid monthly they 'appeared' to have a large sum of money to play with every month but in truth the month always ran out before the money did. On the other hand I get my pension monthly and manage to put a small amount away for car emergencies, weekends away etc.

Having said which I have a problem with spending - not on myself but on my children and grandchildren. I love treating them and wouldn't dream of adding up how much I spend on them even though it's not really helping my NZ fund. It will be my holiday of a lifetime and am so looking forward to it but can't seem to find a good balance. Any ideas would be helpful but please don't suggest I stop treating my lovely family

The obvious suggestion would be to make your treats more MSE. Using grabbits, vouchers etc? It could make a big difference to your finances

Twiggy_34

crennes wrote: »

Does anyone else think that being paid weekly helps with saving? After being unemployed i was working for an agency whom pay weekly. I realised i was more focused and saved move by doing this. Does anyone else agree?

Shane

I've not been paid weekly since one of my first jobs (when I was still living with my parents and spending money as fast as I earned it) but yes, I've always thought that having a weekly income would make it easier to save. But, I think the points about making it tricky to budget are very valid...

For me the main reason for wanting weekly pay is similar to one made by another poster, and that's that all my bills are scheduled to be paid by DD on the 1st of each month (I get paid on the last working day of each month) and I used to spend the last 1-2 weeks of each month counting down the days till pay day as I was running out of cash. Then, once pay day arrives I get the urge to splurge as you have this large sum of cash to play with and you feel like you've been without for ages and deserve to treat yourself... Being paid weekly would eliminate the seemingly everlasting wait for pay day!

Financially though I'm in a very different place now to where I was even as little as 3 months ago, so I'm not feeling like I have to wait for pay day if there's ever anything I really need (or even just really want!). And so the vicious cycle has been broken for me at last!

sparrer

Thanks for the suggestion Tara, it makes sense to look out for even more offers etc than I do now.

Have a very nice bank statement, I'd forgotten that a dd was paid off last month so I have a good bit extra to put into savings. Looks like Feb will be quite a good month after all

lavenderlover

Well done everyone! After being a very good saver in January, I am having a pretty expensive February... I already put 240 away at the beginning of the month, but my goal relies on some leftovers at the end of each month and I don't know how that'll go.

The main reason for this month being expensive is little luxuries - OH and I went to a restaurant last week and we're going to the theatre this weekend, so I got tickets for that. We also got a takeaway. These three totalled to almost £100! (I was paying for both of us). This is very odd for us though, it's not something that happens every month.

Also, I am now on PAYG rather than contract for my mobile phone, so that could either save me a lot of money or be really expensive. I don't use my phone much but I'm just realising just how many texts my OH and I send each other (it's quite embarrassing considering we live together... In our defence we do study and work far so only see each other at night/weekends). I honestly hadn't realised, since I had virtually infinite texts on my contract, and just assumed it'd be cheaper to only pay for what I use. I may have to discuss this with him because I think he's used to that frequency now... And we are the obnoxious lovey-dovey couple that just sends each other the "I love you" "I love you to my sunshine" "I love you more my teddy bear" sort of babble

Keep up the good work everyone!

JustinCredibleGillespie

Hey everyone,

I was able to add another £556 to the pot yesterday as I rec'd a cheque for damage to my car in an accident. So lodged that yesterday in local credit union. From this week onwards we have decided to save £100 per week in there, £90 to us and £10 into our sons book. Plus another £200-£300 from our salaries which will help the savings grow.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

JCG

xx

JoJoC

Sparrer- when you're thinking about treating your kids and grandkids, why not look at limiting it.

For example, you can treat each of them once per month and set a budget limit to that. That way, you're still treating each of them regularly but not blowing the budget by getting carried away.

Also, some of the best things aren't that expensive. I'm not sure what your family is like, but in the nicer weather, my parents invite us down for BBQs, organise day trips with homemade picnics and that doesn't cost that much, but it's lovely to spend time together.

Obviously, that's harder in this weather, but maybe trying to think outside the box a bit might help to lower costs?

This week has been terrible for me, spending-wise. I need to get a grip! It's as if because i had to spend out a bit, i stopped caring! I bought a bagel for breakfast yesterday (£2) then had lunch with my friend at work (£3). What a waste!

I felt guilty so came home, put £3 in my £ tin and swore that I wouldn't spend unnecessarily again this month.

I WILL REGAIN MY MOTIVATION!! :mad:

tara747

JoJoC wrote: »

Sparrer- when you're thinking about treating your kids and grandkids, why not look at limiting it.

For example, you can treat each of them once per month and set a budget limit to that. That way, you're still treating each of them regularly but not blowing the budget by getting carried away.

Also, some of the best things aren't that expensive. I'm not sure what your family is like, but in the nicer weather, my parents invite us down for BBQs, organise day trips with homemade picnics and that doesn't cost that much, but it's lovely to spend time together.

Obviously, that's harder in this weather, but maybe trying to think outside the box a bit might help to lower costs?

This week has been terrible for me, spending-wise. I need to get a grip! It's as if because i had to spend out a bit, i stopped caring! I bought a bagel for breakfast yesterday (£2) then had lunch with my friend at work (£3). What a waste!

I felt guilty so came home, put £3 in my £ tin and swore that I wouldn't spend unnecessarily again this month.

I WILL REGAIN MY MOTIVATION!! :mad:

Excellent suggestions, and exactly what I was getting at (but you put it so much better). Children and grandchildren value your time more than your money, and they don't count the cost of what you spend.

Don't beat yourself up about the unnecessary spending - if you enjoyed lunch with your friend, then it wasn't a waste And you've got £3 in your tin now, so well done!

SusanneCape

lavenderlover wrote: »

Also, I am now on PAYG rather than contract for my mobile phone, so that could either save me a lot of money or be really expensive. I don't use my phone much but I'm just realising just how many texts my OH and I send each other (it's quite embarrassing considering we live together... In our defence we do study and work far so only see each other at night/weekends). I honestly hadn't realised, since I had virtually infinite texts on my contract, and just assumed it'd be cheaper to only pay for what I use. I may have to discuss this with him because I think he's used to that frequency now... And we are the obnoxious lovey-dovey couple that just sends each other the "I love you" "I love you to my sunshine" "I love you more my teddy bear" sort of babble

Keep up the good work everyone!

Hi honey,

You need to get whatsapp. Your texts will be free. This is how I stay in touch with my family who are scattered on different continents. My contract was costing me a fortune (and I never came close to my limits), so I stopped it and now pay £10 per month on a rolling monthly contract. Saves me almost £300 per year.

I am taking my young one to New York for her 21st at the end of May, but should have looked at prices first. After paying out £1200 for flights, I am looking at much the same for accommodation for 5 days and probably the same for food and spending money (if not more). Anyone here have some suggestions on where to stay that does not break the bank but is clean and in a good area and close to tourist attractions?

On the upside, I worked a ton of overtime this month so I will probably be able to add to my savings as well as overpay on my mortgage at the end of the month. I also go to Germany for 2 weeks on 1 March and that is never cheap ..............:mad:.

Happy saving everyone,