Making savings before it's too late

mardatha

I have just been in chat with Plusnet - said I was thinking of leaving to get somewhere cheaper. He knocked £10 off the monthly bill if I took out a new contract for 12 months. I love MSE lol this thread gave me the inspiration to try it! My current month's bill was £42 - BB £16.99 and Phone £18.99, plus calls of £6 = £42 and that was too high for me.

[Deleted User]

I am going to give you a bit of personal info, those that don`t know my recent history, maybe it will help to get those savings in place. Three years ago, life was hunky dory, me and my husband, both retired, he was very fit, did 200+ miles cycling every week. One afternoon out of the blue, a policeman at the door, rushed me to hospital, too late, his heart stopped suddenly while cycling

The haze and panic and adrenaline, then the paperwork, first off the registrar, I was with others, devastated for their own losses, in the waiting room and had to pay money out then, to get the certs, maybe £60 I cannot remember. From the moment of death, his state pension stopped and his private pension halved, all of a sudden and any pension that had been paid out had to be paid back, they took it back over two months. Suddenly income was much reduced and I relied on my savings. Then there was the funeral, almost £6000, none of this had been expected. I had to cancel his car tax to become the new car owner and had to fork out for another year, there and then. Same with car insurance, there and then. The same heating and energy bills, paid by one person

I survived all that because I had savings but since then, my savings are depleting, partly my own fault because I gave some cash gifts to the children, bought a few bits of furniture for me, money meant nothing, what was the point of saving. Thankfully I am back into reality and maybe the fact that I have another 30 years of life ahead of me

I am thankful that I was the one who did all the finances and that we had savings in joint accounts, solo accounts in his name took time to get into and I needed money fast

So now back to today when I am on an even keel and looking forward to the future. I have written down all the necessary bills and included the average income tax that I must pay each year, my tax affairs are not yet straightforward but they cause pinch points. The amount I need to transfer every month into my smoothing account is £508, this will cover all the one-off big bills, the ones that arrive once or twice a year, does not include the monthly broadband, energy or council tax

pipkin71

It can't have been an easy time for you, kittie Thank you for sharing

[Deleted User]

pipkin, I was just about to write down that the smoothing amount does not cover food, house maintenance, repairs or replacements.

trailingspouse

kittie - thank you for sharing. I'm so pleased that you are out the other side - we never forget, but at some point our own life-force comes back to us and we know that we can carry on.

moneyistooshorttomention

Financial reviewing going on here as well - determined to spend as little as possible on the bills too (one person - ie me - paying them).

So I've also been onto Plusnet and got some savings. They must think I was born yesterday that they tell me there are two price levels they charge - which boils down to one for more urban areas and one for more remote areas. Guess which one is dearer? Yep - the areas that need broadband most (ie the more remote ones). In urban areas one could manage pretty reasonably without - but in more remote areas it is much more necessary (keeping in touch with people elsewhere/buying goods online/checking exactly how jobs should be done before the much-more-limited selection of tradespeople come in to do them).

Their excuse for charging us more being "It costs us more to provide these areas with a service". Errrr...hello.....I've translated that into "We know you need broadband much more in your areas and we've got fewer competitors you could swop to" I figure:cool:

Stopped paying my Civil Service Pensioners Association dues (only £2 a month - but I figure I was getting nothing for that). Been onto my fuel provider - checking I've got the best tariff.

Resolved to check even more carefully - and write down an absolutely exact "how to do it" list for future occasions I get tradespeople in on (it's gotten very old paying another tradesperson to re-do what a first/maybe second/maybe even third tradesperson mucked-up in the first place:cool:). Very necessary when in an area where they think (and tell you....) you should have "local loyalties" in who you choose (agreed - but not to the extent that one puts up with lower standards than in urban areas with lotsa choice).

Resolved to make full use of the more "modern" tools available to us as consumers if firms are trying to get away with selling us dud goods - so yep....Facebook shaming them and giving them bad Google reviews.

mardatha

I work in a totally different way kittie, as we are all in different circs and of different mindsets.
If the RV fell off his perch- and he is in poor health and 72 now - his two pensions, state and work, would stop completely. Not transferrable to spouse. I have only a reduced state pension of £113 a week. I'd be eligible for Pension Credit which would take me up to £160. So I'd have very little actual money - but I'd pay no rent and only a tiny amount of CT.
We work mostly in cash, have only one joint bank acc for household bills on DD and only a few of these. We have savings in cash and no debt. Over the last few years we have renewed everything in the house like washing machine, cooker, suite, carpets, bed etc so that would hopefully give me a breathing space. I don't drive so would sell the car and the bike.
I think it's very important to be aware of how things could change and have a plan in place for it. Although plans never work out perfectly lol but it helps to have some sort of framework.
The one big problem for me would be the garden. I'm not fit enough to cut all that grass or dig the veg bit so would maybe need to pay somebody if my sons wouldn't do it.

lessonlearned

Managed to flood my kitchen last night, by leaving a tap running....,talk about absent minded. :rotfl:

Not sure if the dishwasher has died........oh well I’ll just have to replace it later, after my holiday. Will ring the insurance company later and see if I’m covered. It might dry out. I think I managed to catch everything else in time. Hopefully the kitchen cabinets won’t warp and the plaster isn’t wet. I’ve had the dehumidifier going and it’s starting to smell drier already.

Great start to the new year.......:D

Interesting to hear about plus net, I’m with BT for my internet/phone/tv package, £42 plus I have a mobile contract at £20 - I own the phone. I think £62 is a lot just for a tv I hardly watch, phones I hardly use and The internet. I need to look at reducing those.

As I go through the year renewing everything I will be shopping around to see what savings I can make.

As a widow I’m not too badly placed. I got half of my husbands works pension, a boost from his contributions to my state pension, my own enhanced state pension. So all in all I am ok. I have no mortgage and a reasonable cushion.

When I really get going with this I am going to aim to save 30 to 40 per cent of my net income each month. A tall order and it will require some serious frugality. It won’t be sustainable in the long term but hopefully if I can do it for even just one year it will replenish my savings.

I was thinking of getting rid of my car because I do a very small annual mileage. However, because it sailed through it’s MOT and it had its big service last year, I have decided to give it a reprieve. I do like the freedom of having a car and fingers crossed the running costs are quite low, so I’ll hang fire for now.

Anyway I probably won’t post again, I sail on Sunday. So “see” you all when I get back.

Good luck with the money saving quest.

[Deleted User]

I wanted to write that personal stuff because I want spouses and partners to realise that things can change suddenly out of the blue. Without savings, I would have been in queer street and in difficulty. I could see the strain in the faces of people queueing in the registrars office, not many would have had the cash to pay for the certificates. I have spent time explaining these things to my own children, no-one likes to think of the bad stuff but having a savings safety net will ease things. Mar is right too about the extra work, buying help in at least for a while, until we get up and running again and she is also right about having that plan in place, no point in ducking and diving. Access to money helps to ease into a positive future, no doubt about it. I didn`t want to scare anyone but savings is key and the time to think about it is now, right now

LL ooh, have a lovely time on your fantastic holiday

LameWolf

trailingspouse wrote: »

This thread is for people who have realised their outgoings have been greater than their incomings - we're not in the red, but out savings are down on last year and we need to do something about it before it's too late.

I'm not quite in this situation - we've always had at least something left at the end of the month - but I'd very much like us to do better. I will have a major expense shortly, (ie in a few days' time) which cannot be put off, which will eat a major chunk of my savings, so anything that helps to put some back has to be a good thing.

I don't know if it will help anyone just starting out with spreadsheets, but my list of Direct Debits is as follows:

• Council tax
• Water board
• Electricity & gas
• Mr LW's dental plan
• Mr LW's mobile phone
• My mobile phone
• Broadband, landline & tv package

We are thankfully mortgage free, hence no entry for mortgage or rent.

Since Mr LW retired in March 2016, his income is approximately halved in terms of money going into his bank account; I subsist on disability money, which the Government may, in their wisdom, decide to withdraw at any time, plus a small Civil Service pension; so anything that helps to build our savings is a Good Thing.