Making savings before it's too late

blackcatsx2

I suppose that finding the best place for savings is a discipline we need to have just like shopping around for the best deal on other things. With such low rates even a slightly better rate is worth it. I have updated this years calendar with dates when savings accounts mature and the rate will automatically fall from the “high” of nearly 2% to insulting rates like 0.001%. Of course I’d rather be in the position of having savings at 2% rather than credit card debt at 18% so don’t want to sound too grumpy.

[Deleted User]

oh me too, I would much rather have savings than debt and in fact am trying to encourage a 10 year old dgs to have saving whilst also having the `thrill` of gambling. I say that because I saw his face light up when he saw the loud attractiveness of a gambling arcade whilst we were all on holiday together. I think he understands the concept, however it doesn`t help when his parents still buy lottery tickets. I bought him some premium bonds and explained it all to him, he was very much in favour of being in a draw system but still being able to take the money out in future.

I suppose the temptation for some is to buy big money goods now rather than wait for cash value to erode but above and beyond everything has to be that savings safety net, which enables one to sleep at night.

[Deleted User]

I have just been testing my new halifax savings account transfer system and passed a few £ into savings. It is still single figures but I want to make sure that it is easy to do and is easy to handle. It needs to be a mobile account as it will be the feeder account for all my one-off bills in future.

There is more than one pinch point in my current account until mid february so I am treading carefully and grateful that I can see them ahead. I should be able to start building savings from then

[Deleted User]

oh this is a long month, january always is long. I only went to a shop once this month, to get sugar to use up blackcurrants from my freezer, to make jam to give as small gifts. I have two birthdays in february, dd and a son in law and I have been using stash and making socks for them, no money has passed for presents and I know I already have cards in my stash. The socks are beautiful btw, properly blocked

So I looked at m/s money and have decided to take off my ambitious aim of a transfer this month into my 12 month bill smoothing account. My current account is all in the black, all the way through to my last transferred entry at the end of march but this month has pinch points. I have had three one-off bills this month, car tax, car insurance and tax, so feel pretty good about not having to draw from savings for any of them, however I have been very frugal

blackcatsx2

Kittie, you have done well. My spending tracker for this month shows that I’ve done ok, I’m on track to be better than last year but there’s still a long time to go til the end of the month.
I’ve got some vouchers that I’m going to use to buy presents for the first few birthdays of this year. I don’t have the skills to make gifts, although I did knit a scarf for a friend for Christmas which turned out well. Trouble is it took me several months to complete it. i will concentrate on buying thoughtful gifts within budget and am enjoying researching potential presents.

[Deleted User]

my personal pension went in today so I transferred enough to smile cc to pay the last statement off

I went into a shop on the way back from a visit to dd, no extra petrol, I just bought one tube of toothpaste. I am very pleased with myself, have done the km and vowed to myself to put one in and put one or two out

All on track so far, just plain old hard slog ie avoiding buying things

I am glad you are on track too blackcats

maryb

Kittie have you had your refund yet? I ask because I was due a refund a couple of years ago and it didn't come and didn't come. Eventually I phoned up and it had somehow got stuck in a loop in the automated system and it needed someone to press a button to authorise it. Normally when you are due a refund HMRC pay it within a week so it doesn't sound right to be waiting so long

I nearly forgot to pay my tax this year - I submitted my return back in the summer and it showed I had £1.20 to pay. So I promptly forgot about it.

Then last week I got an email which looked a bit like the phishing emails going round this time last year. But it didn't have a link to click on so I wondered if it might be genuine. So I logged on and I'm very glad I did because it would be soooo irritating to get a penalty for forgetting to pay £1.20

[Deleted User]

Thank you so much Maryb, it hasn`t arrived yet and I was starting to get twitchy. I have been waiting 11 weeks now. I`m grateful for your post and will ring next week

[Deleted User]

I phoned up and the lady on the phone was lovely but she asked me for the amounts that were submitted by the accountant ie overpayment by me from a past year. A poxy windows update on my old laptop, windows 7, wiped all my e mails off, including the e mail and attachment that the accountant sent to me and which I scanned after signing and sent back and which he submitted. I have no paperwork in front of me, drat and no amounts. She was so nice and said it had gone to another department and I needed to wait another 2 weeks and ring again.

Was quite easy to get to talk to a person Maryb, I was surprised although there was a long wait on the phone.

blackcatsx2

Friday night - bliss! I’m still enjoying my candle stash. Still gets lots of candles, some I’d forgotten about and some that were half used and then put away. Friday night decadence I’ve lit 3 candles tonight. Going to have a glass of wine now too.