Budgeting and treating yourself

VanillaCupcake

I am looking for ideas for little tips to save money but still enjoy yourself..

My OH and I are trying to pay off our wedding which is next year. I think that we have done a really good job at saving for it so far but I still want us to enjoy ourselves as we are still young

We have Netflix, and we tend to go for a 'date night' meal once a month, and I will always try to find an offer for that. I always buy toiletries on offer, and have loyalty cards for the major stores.

Do you have any handy tips or advice on how to enjoy things for less or even free in some cases?

flutterbyuk25

Have a look on the Freebies board on MSE for free cinema tickets (I don't live in a big city but tend to get freebie tickets every other month for my local cinemas).

Have either of you bought insurance or products through Compare the Market website in last year? If so you can get 241 cinema tickets via Meercat Movies on Tues and Weds each week. Martin had a guide to show how you can get this by buying something for under a fiver, just search MSE for it. It's valid for a year from when you buy something.

Is there a university where you live? Mine offer the occasional free lecture on a variety of topics.

If you are unemployed are there any free courses you can do in college, for fun or to help with getting a job?

When (if!) the weather gets warmer then a good old walk round somewhere new or even local can be good for change of scenary.

heuchera

What sort of things do you like doing? Books are free if you join a library (while there are still libraries available.. but that's a whole different topic:rotfl: )

VanillaCupcake

flutterbyuk25 - Thanks for your response, will look out for cinema tickets! Would like to take up a free online course, but would like to do one from a website that is reputable x

heuchera - I do enjoy reading and cooking and baking which I have recently got into x

lovehackney

are you planning on remaining unemployed (not a criticism, just a question)

because obviously if you get a job, you could pay off the wedding sooner and also have more money to spend on free things

do you have any pubs near you that offer free events? where I live they have a free comedy night every wednesday. There's also a life drawing class (!) which is only £5 (all materials included) and a pub quiz for £1 each.

lovehackney

oh and try Coursera for free online courses, accredited with universities.

VanillaCupcake

lovehackney - Thank you for replying, no definitely not! Applying for jobs and confident something will come soon I've always had an interest in saving but interested in seeing how it can be done on limited budgets. Thank you for the tip about the course, I will have a look! x

pollyanna24

What I do is budget for days out, so that when they come around, it feels like they are free. A lot of people don't think like me, so maybe it's just me though.

For example, in the next few months, we have:-

London Aquarium (50% off tickets) already noted on my March spreadsheet, so the money's already allocated.

Circus (Groupon deal) - already paid for, so the money's gone.

Even things like "walk in the woods" or "get on a train into London," I stick in the diary cos if I don't, then we end up not doing it. This way, we have it planned and can look forward to each adventure.

Other things I just have to allocate days for and find vouchers for are:-

A zoo trip of some sort (plan to use Tesco vouchers).
Crazy Golf
Farm

I appreciate mine are all with my kids in mind, but you can do the same thing even if you don't have kids. Just plan them and you won't be rooting around looking for the money for them.

jackyann

Treat jar into which goes the allocated money. You don't have to spend it!
Local colleges: do they offer cheap hair dos, manicures etc? Lots have a cheap restaurant where the catering students practice.
Look on your local council's website: even in these difficult times, some offer cheap or free events, and definitely befriend your local library - they have information about events, and often put them on.

Once you have a practiced eye, you spot all sorts of things - very useful for when kids come along!

Callie22

Edx do some great free online courses - I've just participated in an online book club for Jane Eyre which was run by Berkeley College in the US. It was really interesting.

chanie

Since having children, we don't have as much money as we used to, we've had to be more creative in terms of budgeting for treats

eating in I have a book called 'the takeaway secret' where the author recreates various favourites (Chinese, Indian food etc). We've had fun trying the recipes.

local events check out your local authority website as they often have local events listed, which can be cheap or free.

English heritage/national trust membership membership lasts a year and give you access to hundreds of their properties.