confessions of a spendthrift!

EssexHebridean

ravilious_fan wrote: »

Is anyone else like this, and did you manage to change? Is it possible to go from being a spendthrift to a saver?

IN a word - YES! Potted history of my time on here - arrived in 2008 with no major debts as such, but a car loan on a 30 month term and a bank account that started every month in credit but entered OD by the middle of each month without fail. Now - the loan got paid off (in 13 months if I remember correctly) and owe nobody anything aside from the mortgage, and even that has now been overpaid to within an inch of it's life - as a result it should be killed off in 14 years rather than 25. I can't remember the last time any of our bank accounts dipped into OD, and we actually have *whispers" savings! :eek:

Bottom line is, once you start seeing the effect of money building up, it will almost certainly goad you on to save harder. The first thing for me was to set myself a certain amount of money per week for general spending, and go to the cashpoint once a week, draw that out, and that was that. The incentive of a specific target (in our case, the loan) helped enormously - as did "rewards" along the way - we agreed that at certain points we were going to have a meal out, or buy something treaty, or whatever, and that gave us things to look forward to along the way.

As a starting point, why not open yourself an ISA for your savings, and set up a regular transfer for the start of each pay-month to put an amount in there. Make it a little bit tricky to access too, so you can't just transfer the money back to your current account.

My bank (the one that is actually a building society!) allows me to have lots of spin-off savings accounts off my current account so I have separate savings pots for car expenses, presents, general fun stuff (meals out, weekend away etc) - the money transfers automatically for those items as soon as the money goes in on payday so it's never really "my" money, in my head, if that makes sense?

Go for it - it really will be the best thing you'll ever do, and who knows, maybe like me, ion a few years time you've have to reluctantly concede that maybe you *are* good with money, after all!

savingfortomorrow

I was terrible for a year or so. I would see it buy it and regret it. But I changed. The only decent thing my bank did was to remind me to do regular saving and it has become a way of life. Grabbed hold of that idea and am not letting go. I dear say I am a little bit frugal.

You need a goal. Saving habits come with time, but start with a target, a holiday or house hold object or 1000 emergency fund. Watch it grow and soon you will catch the saving bug.

I always pay myself first, then bills and then spend on whatever bits and bobs are needed. Sometimes it's great to save small amounts towards something quality as a big goal to start like a make up brushes or splurge item.

It takes time to change a habit, oh and ignore most of the money box technical stuff. It's rather basic spend less than you earn and keep the remainder some where safe (all the rest is over complicated, start with a basic good habit and it all falls into place.)

Therese1

I dunno if I read it on this Forum or elsewhere, but I'm going to give this one a go....some of you might find it useful to "get into the habit" of saving but with your own variations.


Basically, its saving over a year a decreasing amount according to the number of days/weeks/months you want to save for:


weekly: (my intention)
52 weeks in the year so save £52 in week 1, 51 in week 2, 50 in week 3 and so on, finishing with £1 in week 52


ending up with £1,378! Quite a nice wee Emergency or Treat amount you'll agree?


If that's too much to save, you could vary it to;


£5.20 in week 1, £5.10 in week 2 or even
£15.20 in week, £15.10 in week 2


a monthly option could be £120 in month 1, £110 in month 2
you get the idea?


It starts off quite "painful" though the good thing is that its a decreasing amount but you end up with quite a nice pot at the end.

fruitisbad

I haven't bought toilet roll in over a year, saving around £100.

firesidemaid

ravilious_fan wrote: »

Alvin Hall recommends to save 10% of your income. Is that about the amount you set aside for savings? I have quite a low disposable income (£190 a month) out of which I have to buy clothes (hence EBay!) and top up my mobile, and pay for bus passes. But I also spend far too much money on things I could really manage without.

Have you already examined all your other outgoings to see if any savings could be made? How much do you spend on food and/or lunches every month? How much do you spend on your mobile - would it be cheaper to get a contract etc?


What WOULD you like to save for? Car? House? Anything is possible.....

ReadingTim

You need a goal to save towards - an emergency fund, a deposit for a flat, paying off the mortgage on the house etc: if you don't think you can save for saving's sake, save now to spend more later (and on properly big and important stuff, not cheap ebay tat!).

You probably also need to cultivate some interests and hobbies that don't involve spending money. Shopping is not a leisure pursuit, but I bet you're spending money because you're bored or because going into town is how you spend your free time. So the next time you fancy a walk; walk around the park, not up and down the High Street!

ravilious_fan

firesidemaid wrote: »

Have you already examined all your other outgoings to see if any savings could be made? How much do you spend on food and/or lunches every month? How much do you spend on your mobile - would it be cheaper to get a contract etc?


What WOULD you like to save for? Car? House? Anything is possible.....

Well, I need to replace my passport.. that's about £70 + photos, so £75-ish. I'm on a low income so £75 is quite a lot to come up with in one go.

Other than that I would just like the peace of mind that if (heaven forbid) I were suddenly without income I wouldn't be starving and destitute. I live literally from hand to mouth at the moment. After Christmas shopping I'm left with about a tenner! :eek: I'm determined to change my bad money habits, and the replies on this thread have given me inspiration

Food - I get through £170 per month for 2 of us. I often get through it half way through the month to be honest.

Mobile, - I pay £10 PAYG and each text costs 14p. It's gone up a lot recently. £10 used to last me 6 weeks, now I'm lucky if it lasts the month.

ravilious_fan

ReadingTim wrote: »

You need a goal to save towards - an emergency fund, a deposit for a flat, paying off the mortgage on the house etc: if you don't think you can save for saving's sake, save now to spend more later (and on properly big and important stuff, not cheap ebay tat!).

You probably also need to cultivate some interests and hobbies that don't involve spending money. Shopping is not a leisure pursuit, but I bet you're spending money because you're bored or because going into town is how you spend your free time. So the next time you fancy a walk; walk around the park, not up and down the High Street!

Very true! I'm sure the need to spend money and buy things is an emotional need. I don't spend much, but I like the feeling of buying something nice. Yet sometimes I'l buy a CD for example and then hardly ever play it! I often try and sell them on but without much success so far.

12_month_challenge

fruitisbad wrote: »

I haven't bought toilet roll in over a year, saving around £100.

I'm scared to ask :rotfl:

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

tealady

fruitisbad wrote: »

I haven't bought toilet roll in over a year, saving around £100.

:eek:

The first thing that came to mind is public toilets
Then the Romans (don't ask!)
Toilet roll in my house is definitely an essential!