My journey to a debt free life

HairyHandofDartmoor

I use cash in the self service till at the supermarket.

enthusiasticsaver

As you may have guessed, due to my user name I have always been a saver.  Always for a reason though.  Aimless saving holds no interest for me in the same way that spending just for the sake of spending doesn't  interest me either.  So we set savings goals,  a holiday, a house project, new car (or last years purchase 2 e bikes) a family get together or prior to retirement, early retirement. We discuss our goals annually and monthly.  At the moment it is garden improvements and a few short breaks in September/October.   I always transfer into savings on the same day we get paid.  Anything left out of our monthly disposable income (after allowing for credit card purchases) also goes into savings. It always worked for me even when we had very little spare money on just one income, high mortgage rates and young children.  Always helped that we rarely took on debt  other than a mortgage or the odd interest free purchase or low interest car loan though. 

Onebrokelady

enthusiasticsaver said:

As you may have guessed, due to my user name I have always been a saver.  Always for a reason though.  Aimless saving holds no interest for me in the same way that spending just for the sake of spending doesn't  interest me either.  So we set savings goals,  a holiday, a house project, new car (or last years purchase 2 e bikes) a family get together or prior to retirement, early retirement. We discuss our goals annually and monthly.  At the moment it is garden improvements and a few short breaks in September/October.   I always transfer into savings on the same day we get paid.  Anything left out of our monthly disposable income (after allowing for credit card purchases) also goes into savings. It always worked for me even when we had very little spare money on just one income, high mortgage rates and young children.  Always helped that we rarely took on debt  other than a mortgage or the odd interest free purchase or low interest car loan though. 

I find I need a reason to save or I'm not focused enough. I was reminiscing about buying my first pony the other day, it was an absolute passion and I saved every penny I could until I had enough money to buy one for a grand total of £75 🙀🙀🙀this was in 1976 though, if I was saving for a horse now the focus on that goal would be intense 😀
Sadly although I am extremely tempted I'm not saving for a horse......yet......but I am saving to smarten my house up, it's been neglected for far too long  so that is my goal 😊 

Onebrokelady

I didn't leave the dishes in the end,they were getting on my nerves, I ran round the house like a banshee and had a quick dusting session, washed the dishes, cleaned out the chickens and took a pair of DDs trousers up so I did have a productive couple of hours in the end.
I trimmed my fringe today and the hair around my ears, then when DD got home I got her to cut the back for me, my hair is really short but it had got long on my neck and had started to curl outwards at the bottom, she has cut off the curl so it's straight into the nape of my neck. I have to say she hasn't done a bad job and it will do me until I can get my normal haircut in a few weeks😊I told her I'm going to buy some hairdressing scissors so she can cut it from now on 😀 it feels much cooler on my neck now 
Ive also been plotting to sort my eating habits out this afternoon. We are currently eating the contents of the freezer because I want to defrost it. We are then going to do an online shop to refill it but instead of buying lots of processed beige food I am going to try to plan some meals for a few weeks, cook them and freeze them so I can cut down on cooking time but still have food to eat every day, so far I've come up with these meals,each one will feed me for four days if DD doesn't eat any of it,she normally does her own cooking but sometimes takes a fancy to things I've made😊
Cottage Pie
Spag Bol
Leek Crustade
Gnocchi Bake 
Quorn chicken curry
Honey and Mustard Chicken 
Sausage and Mash
Sausage Casserole (chuck some apple and cider in and this is extra yummy) 
Roast Dinner 

Thats 36 portions of food for me if I eat it on my own, realistically DD is going to want to eat some of that so at the very least it will be 30 meals for me. I'm going to cost it out and buy all the bits I need to make these meals then I know I've definitely got food in for my main meal and to take to work. This should also hopefully put paid to our naughty Dominoes pizza habit that we indulge in when we haven't bothered to cook We just need to be organised and remember to take stuff out of the freezer 😊 

Onebrokelady

Oops forgot to say I've also updated my signature to reflect this months SC payment 😊and I've changed the name of my general savings account to house fund so it's now got a purpose which will motivate me to save 😊

foxgloves

Yes, OBL, it's strange how re-naming different savings pots can re-motivate. A while back, I changed our 'Household' pot to 'Home & Garden' & felt much more motivated to put into it, especially as it now covers garden expenditure such as veggie seeds, compost, etc. I am definitely remorivated with our general savings now too, because of thinking of it being our potential means of moving to be near the sea.
F x

Willowtree222

I always start with the best intentions on making batch meals, but I can never sustain it. I lack motivation which isn't a good thing at all. 
I need to do something to enable me to save, but I don't know what. I have tried various things, and I always end up not doing it. I guess it is trial and error. x

Sun_Addict

I'm glad you've found some inspiration on the saving threads, I must take a look.  I'm getting much better at saving and have a budget spreadsheet and enjoy shuffling any leftover money into different savings pots. I've been doing the Virtual Sealed Pot thing for a few years now and this always pays for Christmas. I've also set up a standing order for an amount of money to go out on payday into a monthly saver account which keeps me disciplined. It's like a lot of things you need to form a habit for it to stick.

Ooh you're all motivated with batch cooking and savings 😁

WinterWarrior

I’m with @Nicnak and struggle to save. I’m a big one for putting into pots and pulling it back out again in a matter of days...sigh! @Sun_Addict you are so good and an inspiration. I have opened a savings account away from my normal accounts that takes a day to transfer back, I’m hoping it will stop me dipping in. 

Sun_Addict

Suzanne I was exactly the same as you just a few years ago. It’s hard to save if you haven’t got a lot of spare cash to play around with. Even if it’s just a small amount it’s better than nothing.