Saving for a house

Gilv

I finally had the bumper month I'd been waiting for, saving an additional £291 to bring December's total to a mammoth £641. It was largely helped by receiving £125 switching incentive from First Direct. It was a nice surprise to be reminded I had signed up via MSE for the bonus £25.

On the subject of banking, I've once again done some organising with accounts. I was close to maxing out on my Bank of Scotland Vantage and knowing I'd need to open another account, I opened a Club Lloyds account for the extra interest. It killed two birds with one stone too, as it gave me an opportunity to use the Bank of Scotland Vantage as an account to switch to Yorkshire Bank for £150 incentive.

My system:
Wages > Halifax Reward
All but enough to cover DDs and SO > Yorkshire Current Account Direct
TSB Classic Plus 1: £500 > TSB Classic Plus 2. Vice versa.
Club Lloyds: £1,500 > Nationwide FlexDirect.
Yorkshire Current Account Direct: top up to £5,000 after DDs > Club Lloyds
Yorkshire Current Account Direct: £300 > First Direct Regular Saver
Interest earned > Yorkshire Current Account Direct.

Through this forum, I also discovered the Field Agent app and earned an extra £29 for about two hours work. Win, win situation as it solved boredom on my day off and allowed me to earn some extra money. I also made £36 on eBay and with two weeks off in January, between hibernating, I plan to really focus on eBay and Field Agent.

I have to say signing up for MSE has been a great decision. While I was doing quite well before, it was more slow and steady and without a great deal of thought. Simple example , the other day, when I wanted to buy something from notonthehighstreet.com, I checked TopCashBack, which is offering 6.3% cashback and also Googled for discount codes and found 10% off. It's something I simply wouldn't have done a few months back.

I've learnt the importance of having multiple methods of saving money, be it having the best bank accounts, earning money outside of work or finding the best deal, when buying something.

This month, I took home £938. After putting aside £350 for savings, bills and spending I've already done this month, I'm left with £377, which is £14.50 per day.

Not including the £377, I'm currently up to £15,288. I've set myself a target of £6,000 in 2015 and you'll find me on the Save £12k in 2015 thread.

smithkjohn

Keep it done Gilv, you are doing very well job.

kteara

You'll hit that 20k in no time. After that I suggest you save an additional 1-1.5grand and reward yourself with a holiday (or something else that tickles your fancy. It may seem distant but you will laugh once you reach that amount. Then you have the reward to look forward to.

Gilv

kteara wrote: »

You'll hit that 20k in no time. After that I suggest you save an additional 1-1.5grand and reward yourself with a holiday (or something else that tickles your fancy. It may seem distant but you will laugh once you reach that amount. Then you have the reward to look forward to.

That definitely is a good idea. Alongside saving, I still make sure I enjoy my money. Normally something like going shopping for the day, a night out or a meal. Keeps me ticking over.

Gilv

I had another decent month and start to the year, saving an extra £193 to bring January's total to £543.

I never really exploited Field Agent or eBay as much as I wanted to as I spent the last of the my two weeks off ill. Although I still made £63 on eBay and earned £75 through Field Agent.

Last month, I took home £986. After setting aside £350 for savings and spending I've already done this month, I'm left with £249 which equates to £10.83 per day.

Not including the £249, I'm up to £15,823.

controversy

I would also add that spending the absolute minimum on food will boost your savings. I'm trying to save an extra £220 a month by simply only buying staple foods.

What you mad Bro?

Instead I am growing it! I am turning my whole front yard and back yard into a urban homestead.

Some landlords will let you do this providing you have a plan and create a raised bed garden which makes the property appealing.

I've just started experimenting with things like Kale Pasta and Sour dough Bread.

Being a disabled person I've always got use to saving money but now I'm going to take it to the extreme.

I've also got that Universal Credit welfare transformation to look forward to so hopefully I will be able to work 16 or more hours on & off without having the carpet pull beneath me every time I fall ill.

Gilv

After a good February saving £533, March was pretty much a write-off savings wise as I had to pay car insurance, road tax and MOT, which certainly added up.

It stupidly left me demotivated, whereas now in hindsight, I know one month without saving isn't the be end and end all. It didn't help that work was just generally annoying me last month, although I now feel back on track with both.

Last month, I took home £903. Putting aside £350 for saving this month, plus spending I've already done this month, I'm left with £306. This equates to £14.57 per day, which should be easy enough.

Excluding the £306, I'm now up to £16,173.

savingwannabe

Hallo Mr or Mrs Gilv. Blimey fantastic savings. I wouldn't worry too much about your car spending as that is an investment. Everytime I spend on my house that's what I remember. It is an investment into your future. Keep up the good work. V inspiring reading.:j
Weather is gorgeous here. Am about to go for a walk. Free and fun!:beer:

Gilv

savingwannabe wrote: »

Hallo Mr or Mrs Gilv. Blimey fantastic savings. I wouldn't worry too much about your car spending as that is an investment. Everytime I spend on my house that's what I remember. It is an investment into your future. Keep up the good work. V inspiring reading.:j
Weather is gorgeous here. Am about to go for a walk. Free and fun!:beer:

Thank you, I've got over it now. This month, I've challenged myself to not spend any money on clothes and also to sell more on eBay to get back on track. I love going for walks, especially as I have a dog and two nephews who equally enjoy them and like you, they don't cost a penny.

Gilv

Although I've been on MSE, this thread has been somewhat abandoned.

The saving hasn't stopped though. Really good April and June, saving £411 and £405 respectively. May was a lower £301 as I thought it was a good idea to watch my football team lose 4-0 at Wembley. My grand total up to £16,943.

Unfortunately, July looks like a write-up in terms of saving, as I had a £210 bill for my car. I'm also having a weekend away next week and rightly or wrongly, I just want to enjoy it.

This time last year, I really thought I had things planned: promoted with same company, then get a mortgage. However, without aforementioned promotion, (I get the responsibility without the pay/ job title) I've decided there is more to life than working in retail.

September onwards, I will be studying AAT level 2 part-time. It's something I've been thinking about for a while but never really had the confidence before. It's not cheap, but I do regret not doing something like this before.