New ways of saving

kittieworld

I have closed my William Hill bingo account to save £20-£30 per month
I have stopped buying more then one coffee per day £2.15
I have bought a E-cig to cut back on smoking and hopefully stop smoking all together by next month

So far I am saving around £60-£70
and if I succeed at quitting smoking I will save around £2000 per year.

Yep bad habits need to go now anyone else quit habits to save money?

Emperor2014

I too used spend too much money on coffee (2,3 a day, £2.50 per coffee) and I needed to stop. I started having small coffees, instead of medium/large and changed to an independent establishment (£0.65 per coffee). A few weeks later I cut back the number of cofees I have and limited myself to 1 a day, at £0.65. And now I have discovered the Waitrose membership card (free) which entitles you to a free coffee/tea every day (you do not have to buy anything). So now I still enjoy quality coffee at £0 per day... and the fact that it is a coffee that is wholly free of charge makes it taste just that bit better!

I've changed my mobile phone contract as soon as my contract came to an end by threatening to leave, telling them that I had been made redundant and that I could no longer afford their contract in any case. So I negotiated an initial cost of £30-40 per month (24 months) to a rolling contract of £10 per month which I can now cancel at any moment.

I used to have hot lunch every day (£4-5 per day). I now have sandwiches (£1.05) per day.

I obtained through some serendipity and deviousness a student card, which reduced the cost of my bus pass from £500 per year to £260.

I stopped my Gym membership. Saved me £20 per month or £240 per year.

In total I reckon i've saved close to £2800 in one year, if not more. House deposit, here I come! :T:money:

Archi_Bald

Great resolves. I kicked smoking about 8 years ago, after having smoked for Britain for over 30 years, when I realised my smoking bill (incl dry cleaning, re-decorating etc) came to some £5K a year, the smoking was killing me and my dearest, and I was actually reeking of the foul stuff however much I washed. I could not believe that I had to knock off £1K of my asking price for the car I wanted to sell - I had only ever smoked in it with the windows ajar. And I used god knows what air fresheners. But nobody was prepared to pay top price for it because it reeked. All the while, I was also coughing and splattering and had a tight feeling in my chest. Awful habit, smoking. Glad it's behind me, and I hope you can kick it, too.

Now put all the money that you are saving straight into a good interest-paying account, and don't touch it for the next year. Don't just leave it in your purse or in your regular current account because you will just fritter it away on other things. Enjoy the big packet of money in a year's time - e.g. on a nice holiday.

What are you saving for? How much by when? How are you tracking your progress?

kittieworld

Emperor2014 wrote: »

I too used spend too much money on coffee (2,3 a day, £2.50 per coffee) and I needed to stop. I started having small coffees, instead of medium/large and changed to an independent establishment (£0.65 per coffee). A few weeks later I cut back the number of cofees I have and limited myself to 1 a day, at £0.65. And now I have discovered the Waitrose membership card (free) which entitles you to a free coffee/tea every day (you do not have to buy anything). So now I still enjoy quality coffee at £0 per day... and the fact that it is a coffee that is wholly free of charge makes it taste just that bit better!

I've changed my mobile phone contract as soon as my contract came to an end by threatening to leave, telling them that I had been made redundant and that I could no longer afford their contract in any case. So I negotiated an initial cost of £30-40 per month (24 months) to a rolling contract of £10 per month which I can now cancel at any moment.

I used to have hot lunch every day (£4-5 per day). I now have sandwiches (£1.05) per day.

I obtained through some serendipity and deviousness a student card, which reduced the cost of my bus pass from £500 per year to £260.

I stopped my Gym membership. Saved me £20 per month or £240 per year.

In total I reckon i've saved close to £2800 in one year, if not more. House deposit, here I come! :T:money:

Good on you you have done very well

kittieworld

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Great resolves. I kicked smoking about 8 years ago, after having smoked for Britain for over 30 years, when I realised my smoking bill (incl dry cleaning, re-decorating etc) came to some £5K a year, the smoking was killing me and my dearest, and I was actually reeking of the foul stuff however much I washed. I could not believe that I had to knock off £1K of my asking price for the car I wanted to sell - I had only ever smoked in it with the windows ajar. And I used god knows what air fresheners. But nobody was prepared to pay top price for it because it reeked. All the while, I was also coughing and splattering and had a tight feeling in my chest. Awful habit, smoking. Glad it's behind me, and I hope you can kick it, too.

Now put all the money that you are saving straight into a good interest-paying account, and don't touch it for the next year. Don't just leave it in your purse or in your regular current account because you will just fritter it away on other things. Enjoy the big packet of money in a year's time - e.g. on a nice holiday.

What are you saving for? How much by when? How are you tracking your progress?

Well done it must be a great feeling to quit smoking I can not wait for that feeling yes your totally right about the smell I am the same as a smoker alays worried people smell it on me
I just want to save money to have a bit of security, not sure how much yet just want to save I will start tracking thats a good idea

mardiemare2008

It will be my 5 month anniversary of stopping smoking on 03/02/14. It hs saved me so much money, and I feel healthier in almost every way. You don't realise how disgusting it smells until you stop!

I have also saved money ensuring I take my lunch to work as I was sometimes spending £5+ per day (Too much money).

I have started to use mysupermarket.co.uk to price compare my groceries and everyday essentials.

Wilkins

The biggest avoidable costs for most people are the three Cs: cigarettes, cars and children. I gave up fags over 30 years ago. I gave up cars nearly 20 years ago. Now I've just got to get the kids off my hands.;)

Emperor2014

kittieworld wrote: »

Good on you you have done very well

Thanks. I'm always on the look out of other ways I can save money. And i've come to the conclusion that i'm stil not frugal (my new favourite word I can't stop saying) enough. I do sometimes slip up and buy a £1.50 coffee when I know I shouldnt and I do every so often buy hot lunch when I know I shouldn't. By being more strict with my weekly food shopping and NOT buying coffee or hot lunch, I reckon I can save another £1,000 per year.

I also cut my swimming membership which saves me another £240 a year! And all these relatively small amounts all add up. :j

By reducing my costs I have gone from being able to save £200 monthly to being able to save 60% of my monthly income. My target is to save £75% of my monthly income and I will see how that goes next month.

My new motto: respect your money, respect yourself! Uber-frugal living FTW. :T :money: