Making savings before it's too late

moneyistooshorttomention

trailingspouse wrote: »

Yes, tori.k it's bizarre isn't it? I'm having this conversation with my daughter at the moment. She's been surviving for years on a low income but recently got promoted and money is getting easier. She's never had a credit card, but in her new job she needs to pay up front for things like mileage and accommodation and then get reimbursed. I've suggested to her that she should get a credit card so she's not out of pocket - the money will be in her account before the credit cards needs to be paid. And she needs to build up her credit history - her and her boyfriend seem to be pretty serious so I wouldn't be surprised if she needed to look at getting a mortgage before too long.

I very rarely use a credit card - but I do have one.

Hence it took me a while to cotton on that a few £s gets credited to me in December each year for anything I've spent on it. It aint very much at all and I've still not worked out the logic of why they're paying me to use my card in effect.

But I have duly rung up my bank the last couple of years and asked them to credit those few £s over into my bank account. A single figure number of £s per year ain't gonna get me much that's for sure - but I guess "Every little helps". So I duly claimed the grand sum of all of about £8 last month:rotfl:

I just take the view that I like to make sure that I get all my money I should have and get something for all my money - even if, in the next breath, I'm thinking "HOW much have I just spent on food or decided to spend on an item for the garden?:eek::eek:".

Though I'll admit one of my "pet peeves" since moving has been how often a tradesperson has decided for me that "She'll have the cheaper version of whatever-it-is" and not bothered to ask me what my decision is on that. Annoying considering that my own viewpoint is "Why the heck bother to have a low standard version of something if the reasonable standard one only costs literally a few £s more?:huh: I think it's going in one ear and out the other sometimes when I spell out what my own personal standard is of what I've decided on....and get given a cheaper standard whatever-it-is instead.....

joedenise

tori k - I think it would be worthwhile hanging onto your CC. Perhaps you could just use it once a week to do your shopping and pay it off immediately or even once a month.

I think this is particularly important if you're hoping to get a mortgage in the future. Mortgage companies like to see that you can use credit sensibly.

Denise

Hev

Many thanks for the advice Kittie, Cranky and Black cats and big (((hugs))) to you all. I admit to getting a little tearful reading that 😢 We are at the age (into our early 60's) and newly moved that we need to discuss this difficult but necessary subject and get the information listed and available for both of us. Also more reason to get those savings started. Most of the equity we got out of the house move has been put back into the house, making it cheaper and easier to run over the years ahead so don't regret that but we need emergency money put by and quite a bit reading Kitties post 😳😔

LameWolf

Mr LW is under strict instructions that he's to let me pop my clogs first. That said, he's 10 yrs older than me. :cool:

I do all the household accounts (I'm better at it) but he knows how my spreadsheets work, and where to find all the logins/passwords etc.

We have a "mirror will" in place, whoever goes first, t'other gets everything; and when we've both gone, there's a list of charities etc. who are to benefit - acually, that really needs updating, because the Anglian Wolf Society, which was on the list, has closed down; their last wolf passed away, and both directors felt they were getting a bit long in the tooth to be bringing in more wolf cubs, so they decided to call it a day.:(

lessonlearned

One piece of advice re preparing for the worst......

Put insurance policies in Trust. This means the proceeds bypass the will and go straight to the beneficiary.

I claimed off my husbands insurance policy on the Monday, received the cheque on the Friday.

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

trailingspouse wrote: »

One of the items on my list of ways I'll be trying to save next year is 'Use up the alcohol we already have'.

Well, having stocked up for Christmas, and had a load of people round, we've actually made a net gain in the quantity of alcohol we possess - everyone brought wine, but we didn't drink it all!!

Tomorrow I'll go through it all and make a list of what we've got - hmm, think I'll start another thread, along the lines of 'No more buying unnecessary toiletries' - 'No more buying unnecessary alcohol...'

I know for sure we've got some very strange stuff - some Chinese vodka that OH was given on a business trip, and some elderly advocaat for starters. 2018 could get very interesting!!

Hi TrailingSpouse,

My DH & I went through our drinks cupboard in October 2016 - got rid of some vile green stuff bought in France many years ago - never managed to persuade any visitors to even have a sip!
At least it was cheap!
Many years ago we decided that we wouldn’t make it a habit to drink at home - too easy to get drunk. Now we have the occasional bottle of wine, a bottle of champagne on XMas day, and a single drink to toast in the New Year - this year I finished off a three year old bottle of Baileys - nothing wrong with it!
If the summer is hot we stock up with alcoholic ginger beer - very refreshing.

I mostly use wine in cooking - I read/heard somewhere that if you wouldn’t drink it then you shouldn’t cook with it so I always have a couple of bottles in the house. Also have a couple of aged bottles of whiskey when only a good stiff drink will do! They are at least ten years old & only one has been opened which just reminds us that we have been extraordinarily lucky in our lives.

Maybe you could use some of the more unusual alcohol in a punch? It could be fun doing small experiments using fresh herbs and juices?

Good luck!

Mrs SD:)

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

LessonLearned,
Just a quick note to wish you happy sailing:j
Hope we get some posts about the wonderful places you visit - puhleeze

Mrs SD:T

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

LameWolf wrote: »

I did mine ages ago; because I already have a dog-sitting appointment for next August!
Mr LW doesn't realise it yet, but we're going to be cutting back somewhat on alcohol, that should save us a bit. I won't say cut it out altogether, just cut back.
And we don't do "Dry January" because if we try that, we both immediately want a glass of wine just because we can't have one.

Hi LameWolf,
Re ‘Dry January’ my DH & I don’t participate as we are the same - a sort of craving for something alcoholic. Also means I wouldn’t be able to use wine in cooking.
I’m the same with ‘diets’ so have finally learned to call them something or even anything else. I think “sensible eating” sounds good but I am open to suggestions as I do need to shed a few (well rather a lot) of lbs.

By the way, I love reading your posts the common sense shines through.

Mrs SD:)

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

kittie wrote: »

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

Kittie,
Thank you for the info.
What a nightmare - “officialdom” has no heart. If “they” owe you money they drag their feet but if you need to pay “them” it must be done immediately. Whatever happened to kindness and sensitivity?

I am happy that you are looking forward to the future, as it does make life easier.
May your future be bright!

Mrs SD:)

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

tori.k wrote: »

Last council tax payment paid today, normally I leave Feb and March payments in the bills account as a buffer but moved it straight to savings, so will have to keep a watchful eye on the telephone / water bill as there is only £50ish more than what goes out now as much as I round up the bill money it's only a couple pounds more than what's needed each month and there is no overdraft on the account.
Also had a message from the bank as they are stopping my credit card unless I contact them, it's not been used since 2013/14 I think as a balance transfers card at the time it was never actually spent on . This is the only credit link I have attached to my name, I don't own a mobile and I already shut down my cashback credit card when it moved to store shopping vouchers rather than cashback.
I've never been a big shopper and sleep better saving for larger items then opting for credit but unsure if this may bite me on the bum with the reapplication for the mortgage, I had a bit of a nightmare the first time round due to lack of credit history and our outgoings so low, DH had no issue simply due to the amount of cards and loans he had over the years. Feels like he was rewarded for being crappy with money and I was treated with suspicion.
It's an odd world we live in.

Torri,

“The following is not to be regarded as financial advice”.
I would keep the card and use it once every month or two (instead of cash) then pay in full. I would also use it once you have saved for any big items so you get the safety net of using a cc should there be any problems. I only have one cc and I use it sparingly and always pay in full.
I agree that people who are cr...y with money seem to be more favoured than those of us who have been careful. I think it all went wrong when we became ‘a number’ at our banks rather than ‘a person’

It really is an odd world.

Mrs SD:)