TheBunting's Starting From Scratch Savings Diary

TheBunting

So at 22 years old, finishing my Plumbing Apprenticeship at the end of June, I am deciding to start heavily saving for things I'm going to need in the next 5-10-15 years. I have had to live off basic wages during my apprenticeship but nearing the end I will be on decent money (£1600/1700 pm after tax) which is good considering my outgoings are small. Currently on about £1200/£1300 pm. My outgoings are: £150 Digs, £50 DD's, £50 ISA, £250 Car and Insurance and £100 Food. So my essentials only cover for roughly half of my wages, I should be able to save plenty every month (especially June onwards)!! Let's see what I can do when I put my mind to it!!

Starting off March 2015:
£100

Opened up my first Current Account - TSB Classic Plus
Starting as of March because Feb is nearly over and I have a night out this weekend so from March onwards I am going for it!

Any tips along the way will be appreciated. :beer:

TheBunting

So we hit March and I have hit a bad spell. I have a few events going on this year because all our friends are growing up and getting girlfriends etc so will be settling down. I have a T in the Park ticket, concert ticket and booking Ibiza with a few of the dudes (:beer:). I know you will be saying to yourselves, how is he gonna get anywhere when he is doing all this and I know that, but this will be the last year we can do this so why not. I'm young and naive haha.

So I have all this to pay for but I still wanna save up a wee bit aswell. So I am gonna start doing lots of homers and working weekends and not going out. Could use a few money saving ideas, I am doing the Save £12k in 2015 thing but need more help. Thinking of starting the golf on Sunday's with my uncles to stop me going out on Saturdays. Any ideas and support will be appreciated guys. But as of now the savings cannot start until I get through this period. :mad:

Eco_Miser

TheBunting wrote: »

Starting as of March because Feb is nearly over and I have a night out this weekend so from March onwards I am going for it!

TheBunting wrote: »

So we hit March and I have hit a bad spell.
...
But as of now the savings cannot start until I get through this period. :mad:

Oh dear ...
And in April there will be something else to spend on before you save, then May, June, July, ... There's that Ibiza trip - you won't be going all the way to Ibiza and not spending on a few nights out.

You asked for tips, here's one:
The only way to save is to
not spend!

atush

Yes, Eco Miser has it lol.

I realise you want to have some fun, and that is OK. but you need to set a budget for it (leisure), and NOT go over it. And save for holidays (and spending money) in advance. n Preferably before booking.

So, start a spending diary. See where you spend EVERY pound. Then cut out waste and save that cash.

Once you have saved up for the upcoming holidays/leisure spends, then save for emergencies. I see you have a DD for an Isa? Cash? How much is in it and what % interest?

You need an emergency cash fund. Of at least 3 months spending.

Do you have an employer now? Do they have a pension?

lalman

What I find useful is to automate my savings each month - so save first, and whatever I have left at the end of the month is mine to spend...


That way I make sure I save what my target is (pay myself first) and reach my goals...

atush

that is always a good approach, although I recommend saving some of the left over as well lol.

TheBunting

Thanks for the replies folks, I think I am trying to have my cake and eat it with all these things going on and still wanting to save money when I am still on 4th year apprenticeship wages.

atush wrote: »

Once you have saved up for the upcoming holidays/leisure spends, then save for emergencies. I see you have a DD for an Isa? Cash? How much is in it and what % interest?

You need an emergency cash fund. Of at least 3 months spending.

Do you have an employer now? Do they have a pension?

It is a new ISA I have just set up. I got auto enrolled into my company's pension and they offered to set up a stocks and shares ISA so I went for it. I have an employer yes and in a pension with them.

I think I am just gonna pass on Ibiza, will save £650 booking it and the £1000-£2000 spending money. Big decision but I am going for it.

bowlhead99

TheBunting wrote: »

I think I am just gonna pass on Ibiza, will save £650 booking it and the £1000-£2000 spending money. Big decision but I am going for it.

Good move. Always tempting to spend money as fast as your mates, you should just say no some of the timethe time. You don't have to miss out on every holiday, just keep things in moderation. Think of it as saving for an even bigger holiday in Vegas for your 30ths!

When you're young it's easy to just spend on whatever comes up. But you have an excuse now, everyone knows you're only on apprentice money and nobody expects you to have thousands of pounds lying about for holidays. In five or ten years you're not going to want to be the one who's earning proper good wages but has to turn down all the holidays because you don't have anything in savings or you haven't started your pension yet or whatever.

£150 a month for your digs is pretty much nothing. One thing you could do is work out how much it costs to rent a flat or pay a mortgage, pay all bills etc if you were on your own. That number will be over £150. Put the difference away into savings and investments. Then sometime down the line you can use the money that's built up to get out on your own and you can start to pay the real world cost without really noticing too much because you've been used to not seeing that bit of your salary. Meanwhile you can increase your other savings (and going out money) with future pay rises and it will all snowball up from there.

Eco_Miser

TheBunting wrote: »

I think I am just gonna pass on Ibiza, will save £650 booking it and the £1000-£2000 spending money. Big decision but I am going for it.

Good decision.
When you're on a proper wage, and have the money saved up, you'll be able to afford a holiday without impacting seriously on your savings.

organic_wanabe

Wise decision. To spend up to £2650 on a holiday to Ibiza with a few friends would be crazy. I take it we are not talking 5 star luxury here! My 22 year old son has lots of holidays and treats with his friends, including spending too much on alcohol (in my opinion), but would never spend even half that amount on such a holiday. In fact many of them have spent less than that going to exciting countries on the other side of the World.

Think of the boost that this decision will make to your savings pot. You are young and have plenty time for exciting holidays when you are in a secure financial position.

bowlhead99

organic_wanabe wrote: »

My 22 year old son has lots of holidays and treats with his friends, including spending too much on alcohol (in my opinion), but would never tell me that he spent even half that amount on such a holiday.

fixed that for you

I do agree with your point though