Making savings before it's too late

[Deleted User]

yes replace and relocate tori, its a stitch in time and like you say, all the mess at one time.

I have put the 350 into cc to pay off last month and have another 160 on cc for next months bill but will be getting that down to zero by end of may. I am staying put, around the house, just doing simple things like hobbies, getting out on my bike, allotment. I have plenty of food in, only 11 days to go. After that, even £5 into savings will make me smile. I think I have downloaded all bills to end of july, 2 months ahead and cannot see anything nasty.

I have birthdays coming up, grandchildren, son in law and son. I really need to fixate on what to get them, its always difficult. I honestly think they would like some money but deciding how much is always a problem

Blackcatsreturns

Tori - at least boiler didn't break down on a bitterly cold Winters day but what a nuisance. I had a very old boiler that kept going year after year. It would gurgle and glug and burst into life but was probably incredibly inefficient. Son in law is a plumber and he reckoned boiler was as old as him! The instruction manual featured very brown and orange 70's kitchens with a glamorous woman in high fashion 70's clothes. I replaced when I re-did my kitchen and it is nice now not to even think about whether it will work or not. I agree with Kittie replace and re-locate will be most effective long term albeit the most expensive short term.

[Deleted User]

It is going to be a miracle if I don`t have to dip into my linked savings account at the end of this month. I needed a wheelbarrow and decided to get one with a wheel that will never go flat and a lightweight body because I have to barrow watering cans.

I needed some basic raw foods, now ordered. The most expensive order today was the order from lakeland, belt and braces stuff as in moth protection and vac packing storage at the same time. All because I saw one clothes moth in my bedroom last night. I dealt with it and don`t think there are more but I am not taking a chance with my hugely expensive enormous stash of silks, wools, linens and they are just the fabrics and fibres. Almost all my clothes are natural fabrics, which moths love. The last time I saw a clothes moth was when I was a child, a very long time ago but I have seen programmes on tv and quite frankly, they are scary as in very destructive. Hence the large amount of barrier protection ordered

Bright side is that they will be vacuumed and take less space than now plus they will be ready to move, if I ever find a house

tori.k

Things are looking a bit more positive here.
This months CC balance (cleared in full each month) is £200 less than last months, and a £120 a month saving in petrol from this house compared to the last with the CT being £30 a month cheaper and my £100 wage increase, is the £250 a month mortgage over payment without any additional cutbacks.
we still have a lot of work to do in the house but as always that will be a ongoing project,
Next month plan is for me to sort the conservatory, which shamefully has become a bit of a dumping ground, I've picked out a grey cheap corner sofa set from homebase for £200 and got a sheepskin rug and some extra pillows to soften up the cheap sofa, the longer term plan is to remove the conservatory into a proper kitchen extension in a couple of years so don't want to spend to much but would be nice to make use of the space while we have it as the morning heat is lovely this time of year.

Blackcatsreturns

I've had a family member staying for the last week. Last time they visited we spent a lot of money on eating out. Some meals were good and some mediocre. This time we've eaten out once (a just above average curry). Instead we've been enjoying shopping for good quality and seasonal ingredients and making lovely meals together at home. My food bill will be slightly higher than usual but overall spending is much lower than I anticipated plus it's been really enjoyable.
A couple of my savings accounts have just matured so today's task is to move the funds to accounts with better interest than the accounts the building societies automatically move them to.
My goal for this year is to save as much as I can for next years ISA. I've broken it down into 1% chunks of £200. Whilst I am unlikely to get to the £20000 limit it is motivating to have a target broken down into bite sized chunks. I am never successful at saving without a specific target. I was better at paying off debt than building up savings so am trying to apply debt busting techniques to savings.

[Deleted User]

oh it is so nice to have hopes and aspirations, makes it all worthwhile


I have been expecting a plumbing bill for a very long time, did e mail him and ask for it, months ago and made sure to put the money into one of my savings accounts. Bill came yesterday and I had never put it into m/s money so had to withdraw £1500 from nationwide. Yes I knew it had to be paid but it was still not good psychology.



Only another 4 days to the end of the month and I bought a lot of moth proofing stuff and vac bags from lakeland, a stitch in time stuff. It is going to be touch and go, I will be able to take cc back to zero I think and if I can put £5 into my safety net account, well then I will dance a little jig

Blackcatsreturns

Tori - glad the house move is working out well financially. Those monthly savings will soon accumulate.
Kittie - I've thought about the Lakeland vacuum storage - are you pleased with it?
I'm edging towards the end of the month and might just meet my budget. I did a small shop for milk and fruit and veg and I'm using up freezer and cupboard supplies which has actually given me a nice meal plan for the week. I also bought a few things from the Shopmium offers which I've just claimed my money back on. Although they aren't real cheap bargains they are nice to have items. I also got a free packet of biscuits to welcome me back to the site as I haven't used it for a while. 2 days to go and having a budget and recording my spending is really focussing me. So blooming obvious I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to grasp this simplest of concepts!

caronc

My financial month ends tomorrow and it has been another spendy month, mainly planned but still a bit of an overspend in some areas. Thankfully my tax code does seem to have been sorted out so at least that's something, with a small rebate due to paid with my pension tomorrow. Still waiting the tax bill for what I owe from last year but I have the money put aside for that. June will be another spendy month due to family birthdays but hopefully all covered from various saving pots so shouldn't need to dip into my proper savings.

[Deleted User]

blackcats, yes the vac bags in the outer case are absolutely brilliant, the shape is contained in the case, they even have inner straps and the outer case has a zip all around. I cannot believe how much stuff I got into those. Normal vac bags remain large and bumpy so are hard to store, the case system stacks one on another with a large clear area to see what is stored
I bought 6 sets of 3 and only have 3 bags left, one of each size, which will be perfect for all my bedding when/if moving is imminent. They are so secure that I would be happy storing my fine wool fibres in a garage


https://www.lakeland.co.uk/24142/Lakeland-Vacuum-Clothes-%26-Duvet-Storage-Tote-Bag---38L-Standard


CC has added up to above what I can easily pay from current this month so I will be raiding the safety net but haven`t touched real savings, except for the plumbing bill.

tori.k

Ive done the same Caronc, had a bit of a impulse buy with a decent garden shredder, I was halfway through fighting a berberis thats taken over, and decided i had enough and popped to screwfix, my lazy justification is the whole garden is a mix of mature shrubs and hardy perennials and i can use the chippings for mulch, but really its just something else to currently find storage for, and we can't replace the rotten shed until I move the berberis, so its current home will be my finally tidy conservatory. which i had been moaning at everyone else for using as a dumping ground