Making savings before it's too late

blackcatsx2

My new years money saving resolution is to shop mainly at Li*ls with occasional top ups at Sains for items I can’t get at Mr L’s. Only 13 days into the year but so far so good lol. I think the fruit and veg at l’s is brilliant quality and value. Had fish and chips from the chippy tonight and really enjoyed it as a treat.

[Deleted User]

I don`t have any shops in walking distance, so am used to having food stashes and making my own bread and grow much of my own veg. I am making a very big effort to eat from the freezer for the savings reason plus the fact that I only have until about june before the allotment is producing again. So far so good and I have already used up a small freezer worth. The money in my purse is not diminishing at all, not on petrol either

The plants arrived and are great but I decided that tbh they need their own outer pots but I found one for each plant, amazon and each one was just a few £. There was an indoor plant gap, looks much better now

So far so good wrt the amount in my current account, I will be able to fund my tax bill at the pinch point, without dipping into savings. Car insurance this month too. I should be able to make a donation to a savings account at the end of this month and will be on a roll from february, first taking out a chunk towards the years bills and whatever is left will be for daily expenses, food and the rest into savings

blackcatsx2

I’ve got a tax bill to pay too this month. It’s not too bad and I’ve got enough money put aside to pay it and if I’m careful for the rest of the month I can pay the accountants bill without dipping into main savings. Dinner from the freezer tomorrow and Tuesday then away from home on a work trip on Wednesday so cheap shopping week this week - fruit, veg and milk. Still got some Christmas chocolates left to ensure a balanced diet.

tori.k

Just reconcile our accounts, not been a good a month as I hoped, we have 10 days left of our month as I zero budget to my payday in our day to day account. I'm only just getting use to having the cost of DH car in the mix as he had a paid for works van with his last job.
I've changed the way I do things this year with set savings going out at the beginning rather than whatever left at the end of the month to be a bit more ridged with the budget and I've all but run out of money, I have enough for petrol and probably enough loose change between us for any fresh stuff we may need. I still have almost £40 on a gift card but that's another 20mile round trip so will keep that for next month and just use the co-op in the nearest village for milk, it a royal pain living in the sticks at times, but I'm determined not to break into the savings.

trailingspouse

I remember living out in the middle of nowhere - lots of advantages, but lots of disadvantages too.

When we bought our current house, I was concerned that it was on a main road close to the town centre. But everything else about it was perfect, and there always has to be a compromise of some sort, so I decided to put up with it. It turns out I love being this close to town!! I can walk to the supermarket, the doc, the dentist, the hairdresser, the coffee shop, the pub, the post office, the chippy - it's great!!

[Deleted User]

everyone works differently, whatever suits their own circumstances.

I remember in 70s/80s, hubbie coming home and said that they had had a vote at work, everyone got to keep their job but everyone was suddenly on half salary, oh that was tough. I think ccs had just come out and I owed about £60, no idea about the fact than minimum payment increased the debt in leaps and bounds but I managed to pay it back, one small salary, mortgage 15%, remember those days? I sat on a bed with a notebook and every single spend went down, I took a sum out every week and divided it into envelopes, some for this, some for that. It was such an eyeopener for me. I grew veg and we went camping for holidays and bit by bit we and the country, came out of that mire.

What a lesson that was and I openly admit to never being in debt since. Many people lost their homes. I save now, for me and a comfortable old age and most of all, to be there for my adult children and grandchildren. Work, health and safety, targets, HR and bullying, it all adds up and the stress in our younger adults is palpable, so my saving is also a safety net for them. I don`t make a song and dance about it but I am the one most able to save

So I take stock at least every month now and yes I spent too much after my husband died but almost three year on and I am through that dark tunnel. Not quite saving much yet but will be soon, once I know I have the bill feeder account stocked up with money for a years major bills

tori.k

I can see where I've come unstuck it's where some debit payments when out after the Christmas bank holidays for stuff purchased before, I didn't account for them when I shifted the savings across so it came out of January's budget rather than December,
Our savings are destined for a lump sum overpayment for the mortgage. We were self employed for years and wasn't smart enough to make better pension provisions so came late to the pension game. So need to remove our housing costs to be able to consider retirement, I didn't plan to get old so fast

[Deleted User]

I just paid my tax, it was niggling at me, to get it paid on time, so it is done and I still have enough buffer. Car insurance will be paid on 20th after my personal pension is in. These are both important bills and I`ll be glad when both are paid

HMRC owe me a refund and I am still waiting, in the tenth week now, thinking it has to arrive any day. They must be mad busy at the moment but its a shocking wait to get my own money back

Tori re getting old, yes it doesn`t half come fast once you get to 50

mardatha

Tori I live way out in the sticks and find online shoping the way to go. I can sit on sainsbugs or asda site and cut and trim and slice until my weekly bill is just what I want it to be. And over the course of a month I can factor in all the wee extras that I can't afford in one week.

trailingspouse

I have my tax ready in an interest bearing account, and will pay it on 24th Jan - plenty of time for it to get to HMRC by 31st, and maximises my interest. (Well, I suppose I could earn more by not paying until 30th but I like to give myself a bit of breathing space in case of problems!)

Then it's a case of putting money aside for the next installment in July. And corporation tax in December. And VAT every quarter. I have separate banks accounts for each, so they don't accidentally get spent. Every time an invoice is paid I put the VAT element into the VAT account. Every time we pay a dividend I put 20% into the Corporation Tax account. And then once we've paid ourselves, I put yet more money aside to cover our personal taxation.

Add in the amount of VAT that's included on the things that we buy, and the amount of money we send to the government in a year starts to mount up. Shame they don't seem to know what to do with it.