Looking For Creative Ways to Save Money

SJG123

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for some creative ways to cut costs and start to put a little into savings / emergency funds.

To put a little background to it - OH and I have a total annual income of 33k (approx). We have ourselves, 2 kids, dog, 2 cats and chickens.

We have no debt apart from the mortgage and Currently we have zero in savings (everything got wiped out by some work that needed doing on the house).

We have done the usual rounds of cutting down to one car, changing all of the utility bills and insurances, taking own pack lunches, cutting the cost of groceries in half, got rid of the TV licence, not taking expensive holidays abroad,clothes are all second hand etc.

I am running out of things to cut back on and make cheaper. I am desperate to have some cash to use to build up the emergency fund and to start making payments on our mortgage. We are stuck in an NRAM interest only mortgage which we can't change unless we can build up some capitol first.

Even an extra 50 pounds a month would make a huge difference- according to the NRAM website making over payments of 50 pounds a month would save us nearly 5k in interest over the course of the mortgage.

I would rather save that go out to work for longer as I don't want to sacrifice time with the family.

So . . . . any 'out of the box' ideas welcome! TIA

ruthber

get rid of cats and dog?

SJG123

Thanks but NO - lol

mrsscattercushion

have you done a Statement of Affairs to see where your money is going each month/budgeting? It is what is often done on the DFW section of this board and people often have some good ideas re potential savings in the monthly budget.


Anything that could be sold via eb*y, car boots, Facebook? Option of surveys or any form of homeworking etc e.g. are you crafty


You are right, even small overpayments can save a fortune in interest

Uniscots97

SJG, check out the Sneaky ways to save pennies thread. That thread is a pretty good place to start.

SJG123

I think I just found 20 pounds per month towards my total - have seen on another post that you can pay your council tax over 12 months instead of 10 which I didn't know.

I realise that we still pay the same amount but it will reduce the amount per month for the other 10 months by about 20 pounds

Better that that money is saving me interest that sat in the council's money pot for the next 10 months!

Uniscots97

What about doing surveys etc to earn a little extra money?

asparagus1968

hiya, sounds like you have been on a mission!

fill this out, http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php then go through each item, thinking of different/cheaper ways to do them
use topcashback or quidco- absolutely fab!
sell the eggs???
what about looking into skill/ tool swapping with neighbours and friends? eg, you need a decorator, a pal who likes decorating wants to borrow a lawn mower, do the swap, both save money?
when you upgrade your mobile phones, sell the new handset, keep your old one to use?
house swap for holidays?

I know you said you wanted to overpay the interest only mortgage, but have you a plan to repay the capital?

SJG123

Thanks asparagus1968,

Not having a plan to clear the mortgage is the problem - We got caught with an interest only mortgage with Northern rock which is part loan part mortgage just before they collapsed.

This means that in order to change mortgage to a repayment we need one of the following to happen:

1. The house prices to go up enough to cover the loan, the mortgage and an extra bit to act as a 'deposit'
2. To clear the 30k which is the loan part, thus creating capitol
3. Make over payments on the mortgage part until we have made a big enough dent to act as a deposit so that we can combine the loan and the mortgage into one repayment plan.

Having spoken with a financial adviser they have suggested that we take option 3 for the moment (whilst hoping that house prices go up) that way at least we are making a small dent and reducing the total sum of interest.

Ideally I want to find as much as possible per month to make bigger payments but though 50 pounds sounded like a reasonable starting point - It won't solve the problem but should be achievable - once I have cracked this on a regular basis I will up my target.

Gigervamp

What about saving £2 coins? It's amazing how quickly they add up. Also, another pot to save coppers and 5ps.

asparagus1968

ah, I see. gosh that's awful!
well, you have an aim, you have the determination,you have a few ideas to start you off, keep posting, am sure you will make it happen