Saving for my future everything 7 October 2017 at 2:31PM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in How much have you saved? 40 replies 10.9K views

Zaphiera

As per my title I'm here to save. Im relatively young at age 20 however I've come to a steep realisation of the past year that I need to change my habits if I have any chance of saving for my dream of having a house deposit :T
I work within the financial industry for a very well known and probably well used bank within the forum. Working with customer’s day in and day out I have seen what life is like when people get into debt and the destruction it causes to individuals and as a result, debt has become my biggest fear.
With that being said I have just gotten myself into a good position. I got into the habit of living off credit cards and was drowning myself in working excessive hours to try and make sure they were cleared month by month, leaving me then with no funds. I am officially credit card free as off September 2017:beer:
I also have another huge expenditure in the form of a horse I took a repayment plan to afford to buy my horse, Zaphiera (as per my screen name) in 2016 and I have been paying monthly since, until August 2017 for the grand total of £3200.00. I have also been fortunate enough to have moved my horse to a much cheaper area literally this weekend and have slashed my monthly bill from £350.00 to £152.00 per month however extras always pop up.
I have struggled so much this year and I finally feel a bit more free. I am to blame for how horrendous this year has been with going on three separate holidays but from the start of the year I had unexpected large bills every other month, starting with my car breaking down on new years with it breaking down a further three occasions.
I am so fortunate to be living at home being charged a tiny amount of rent and my parents help me as much as possible which I am so grateful for. My goal is to save for a house deposit but not only that I just want something to fall back on. The world is changing everyday and I see it regularly that something happens that you weren’t expecting and all of a sudden you’re struggling again. I do not want to have to go through that and I want myself and my partner to have a good future.
I’m aiming for a deposit by myself of between £25,000.00 to £30,000.00 to include fees and furnishings. My partner has just sold his house and currently lives with me however he is looking to buy a flat until I can afford to put my money with his and save. House prices in my area are hideous and neither me or my OH are on amazing wages so even together we wouldn’t be loaned much and for as long as we can both live at my home then the more we can save.
Out goings via DD and SO;
Car insurance - £82.97
Horse insurance - £35.00 (I have recently looked at compare sites and have already cancelled this with the view to take out cover for just £20.00 a month but that wont be until october pay)
Rent - £100.00
Horses care - £152.00

Everything else like food and fuel i budget for general outgoings. I'm trying my hardest to save as much as possible as i've had 0 in savings but now I've completely cleared all debt I had in the past twelve months. Last months pay i managed to save a grand total of £400.00 but i had to dip into that to pay moving fees for the horse which in the long run will help me so much so i dont feel bad about it. My monthly pay fluctuates too much to be able to say exactly how much ill be able to save but my aim if for 1k a month from November onward. In Octobers pay im planning to put away £750.00 which feels so good as ill have a total of £1100.00 saved away is is the most ive ever been able to have!!!!!!

Wish me luck everyone!

savingwannabe

Hello and welcome. I think you must really love your horse as that is a lot of money you are investing in him. I applaud you for having a plan. Well done on saving £400. Good luck and happy savings!

O_O

Good luck with your saving!
I'm also living with my parents and it helps a lot! Saving can be really monotonous so perhaps set yourself some goals like '10% of your target' or something along those lines and treat yourself just so that you don't get bogged down by it all.
All the best!

Zaphiera

As ridiculous as it is because the horse is a small fortune it’s something I’ve been doing as a child and I could never part with her unless my financial situation dictates otherwise which at the moment it doesn’t. She may just be an animal but she is part of the family, everyone chips in to look after her and she acts as therapy for my not very well sister. I don’t go out and I don’t spend money on myself so she is my social life, hobby and a purpose for me. I realise that her bill every month was excessive but I feel like I’ve got myself in a good place with her now and she will be staying!

Thank you! I’m definitely looking at shorter term goals and I love the thought of doing some of the challenges on this forum. I often can’t control the money I save so I give it all to my OH who has a savings account open just for me with another bank so it’s hard for me to visualise how much I actually save, I’m just taking it month by month.

blue_mango

You are very lucky to have such a low rent, take advantage of it and save while you can Good luck xx

atrixa

It's great to have a plan so early! With low outgoings you should see the numbers climbing very nicely

Zaphiera

I am exceptionally lucky to be able to live at home with little rent. My parents got a large sum through inheritance several years ago and the first thing they did was clear there remaining mortgage. There not planning to move from th there family home until both my sister and I leave so they don’t seem to be concerned at all with either of us paying to live there because there bills are relatively low when split between us.

I’ve realised I’ve budgeted very tightly until pay day which isn’t for another week and a bit. I have an interview in London on Tuesday (fingers Crossed!!) and I didn’t think about spending extra on train fares but hopefully it won’t be too much and well worth it in the end.

savingwannabe

Good luck at interview. Keep up the good work.:j

Zaphiera

I don’t think I should have been in such a rush to get out of my door this morning when an opportunity to have a lay in was there. I’m working late all week but I get conscious that the horsey wants to be out in the field with all her friends, so regardless of the potential to stay in bed, I get up at 6.30am and make sure she’s out nice and early so she can enjoy her day. However I’m now sat at work with another few hours in the evening to go having already turned up two hours early to get some interview preparation and overtime in, craving sugar and caving into the temptations of my guilty pleasures…. Red bull and chocolate.
Energy drinks in particular have been a hard habit to kick. I used to work in night clubs before my current role where I found the only successful way to stay up until the early hours of the morning were to drink red bull. Unfortunately for me that habit has stuck and even more unfortunately I no longer get the supply for free. Its actually quite expensive as a day to day treat but at least I don’t have habits like smoking or drinking alcohol which I can imagine really puts a dent in budgets.
I have a week until pay day and have to be incredibly tight if I’m going to make it. I have lunches for the rest of the week so that should stop me spending money. I have to pay for the train for the interview tomorrow and I’m concerned at the cost but hopefully won’t be too bad.
I’m extremely lucky that overtime is available to me at my leisure which is how I managed to clear my debt very quickly. The only issue with this is I have in the past overdone it to the point of making myself sick. I have planned to work a full extra shift on Thursday to match my partners working hours as we are going to view a flat in the evening for him so fingers are crossed that he likes it. I wish I could say I hope he hates it so he can continue to live with me but I know how incredibly selfish that would be. He gets very worried about being a burden on my family living with us no matter how much I assure him he isn’t. But this is what he wants so I will support him of course even though i don’t know how it will affect him financially. He sold his house for more then what he’s looking to buy for so I know he doesn’t have to worry about money but he wants to move as a temporary fix as he wants us to buy our house together when I have the money which I feel is going to put pressure on me. But then that’s not necessarily a bad thing I guess.
Just an hour and a half of work to go!

Zaphiera

Note to self, interviews will always go better when you know where you’re actually going 🙄 Everyone, take that as an indication not to ask! To be fair I’m not giving myself enough credit. After the major !!!! up of my gps signal not working on my phone and trying to navigate London via asking workers in local restaurants help with directions, I managed to get there only ten or so minutes late. The actual interview itself was very positive and I would like to think I have a chance of getting it. However after speaking to them directly (its internal to my company) I’m not sure if it’s financially the best move to make in my career. It would be a good step however the position is only offered on a temporary 12 month basis with no guarantee of a permanent job even though the potential is there. That coupled with the decrease in pay due to travel I need to consider my next moves carefully. With that being said it was a good experience and I may not even be offered a job, so we’ll wait and see!!
I treated myself with a celebratory gift from Lush, picking up a face mask ready for me to relax in the bath this evening. In total I have saved around 360 this month and payday next Wednesday I’ll be putting in another 800. November’s pay I’m hoping to put in my goal of 1k and it’s got me really looking forward to do some overtime! I’m planning on doing an extra 10 hours this week in the addition of yesterdays 1 hour and next week I would like to think I can manage a similar amount. I need to do it either way because Christmas is around the corner and I’m yet to buy any presents which is starting to become a concern for me. Both that and my very generous OH has bought me Olympia tickets this year so I also need to book a room for the night to watch an evening performance which should be amazing!
Luckily because my interview was internal I was given the time off work to attend, however that now means I’m back off to work for the day! Happy Tuesday everyone!

savingwannabe

Well done on making it through the interview, I am sure you performed with aplomb. It's good that you are thinking through the effects on your salary.

Incredible savings. Mine were non existent this month due to my cut in salary which is why I need my lodger. It's good to think ahead for Christmas too.