The "Save 12k in 2019" Thread

Lomcevak

#6 reporting in with a final update for the year of £8,735.98 for December, making £80,916.02 for 2019.Very pleased with that, it's been an exceptional year for a number of reasons, and has really moved my FIRE plans forward. The final breakdown for the calendar year is:

- £41,250 into various forms of cash savings
- £26,948.55 into my SIPP
- £12,336.77 into my S&S ISA
- £380.70 in interest

2020 won't be on the same scale, as a number of significant house projects are looming - none individually huge, but collectively expensive. On the other hand, 2020 should also see us mortgage-free by mid-year, so we can really start to look forward at that point. Exciting times!

Congratulations all for your efforts in 2019, and SF in particular for running the challenge. See you all in the 2020 thread

skid112

#88 reporting in early for December, will take whats left from rounding down, interest etc. to assist with 2020 effort. £1012.06, total for the year £61987.36, very pleased with that. Going towards the new home in Spain, have subscribed to 2020 with a much lower target.

Just want to add my thanks to SF, a great effort to keep this thread running when you are so busy, I am truly grateful it has been a good focus for me this year.

To the many, many posters, thank you for all your inspiration and tips it is so helpful for me, at least, to read how you save and what you save. Have pointed my children to this thread in the hope they can take inspiration as well.

Lastly, a very merry Christmas to all, may the New Year bring all your wishes and hopes.

bobobski

My final report for the year - £955 for the month which is particularly good for me and enabled by a combination of under-budget spending and finding ways to earn extra income here and there. Plus I've put £25.96 into mortgage overpayments (plus what we put in jointly) - so I'm really pleased, even though I haven't quite met my target for the year (due to that expensive holiday!). I've also, this month, doubled my work-related pension contributions, so I'm now putting in 10% (salary sacrifice) and my employer is putting in 5%; moreover, I'm now more active in managing my various pensions and tracking their growth - the two I don't contribute to have grown by 18% and 19% since this time last year, which has really spurred me on to look at opening a S&S ISA in the new year!

Thank you ever so much for running this thread SF, it's really kept me on the straight and narrow during my first year of home ownership when notoriously finances can be chaotic and spending can get out of hand.

Lomcevak, your post is inspirational - I feel like I'm on the same journey as you but several decades behind!

I'm already signed up for the 2020 challenge and hoping it will be a much more settled year than this year finances-wise. We've now settled down into our post-purchase budget, have paid of 1/3 of our house-related (0%!) loans already, and have started overpaying on the mortgage c. £50 per month. My overall goal is to stay on this track. By this time next year, with any luck, I'll have paid off my most expensive loan (0% credit card for car purchase) and we'll have paid off our most expensive house-related (0%!) loan, and started snowballing into the next payment. If all goes to plan, they'll all be paid off by c. September 2021 - nearly £24k of loans in all, and (hopefully!) not a penny of interest paid. And then we'll have freed up nearly £900 of monthly income, ready to be saved for more important things!

A very, very merry Christmas to all, and here's to a prosperous new year! :xmastree: :beer:

tara747

Hi all

I’ve been quiet all year, haven’t done my usual monthly updates but here I am with my 2019 total. I’ve managed to save an incredible £25,392 this year - thanks to a lucky and dramatic reductions in my outgoings, plus some decent interest on a savings bond.

My new overall savings total is £161,957. I’m hoping to hit the £180,000 mark in 2020.

As my savings have grown, I’ve become conscious that there is so much more to life than money. I know it’s easy to say, but there are things that we can’t buy.

Wishing you all a peaceful and happy Christmas.

eandjsmum

Last submission from me
also just checked my ISA so have an extra £22. Not bad only started the ISA in November

sonas_baby

No 66 reporting in with £410 for December. Hope you all had a good Christmas and roll on the new year and new challenge. Thank you slowlyfading for all your hard work running this thread for us all.

Cherry_Burton

Hello,

This is my last post of the year and I am adding £1300 to the pot. It is a particularly strong end to the year, helped by overtime in the run up to Christmas. I went off the boil in the summer when I was seduced by the good weather into going out and spending instead of saving. The thread brought me back to my senses, I lowered my target from £12k to £8k and started again. I have surpassed the £8k target but not by much.

Although I am saving for retirement I only report my cash savings here and not the extra I add to my pension. My reason is that the pension is automatically taken from my salary so is very easy and takes no will power to arrange. The cash savings are a different matter and, as the summer shows, I can easily become distracted instead of focusing on my goals. Also, I don't report savings for home improvements, car replacement or repair, holidays and other short term items. Although some, such as home improvements, are related to leaving paid employment they are not central to my plan to bridge the gap between work & drawing my pension.

I've already signed up for 2020 with a target of £10k. Good luck everyone, happy savings and see you in 2020.

CB

slowlyfading

tara747 wrote: »

My new overall savings total is £161,957. I’m hoping to hit the £180,000 mark in 2020.

As my savings have grown, I’ve become conscious that there is so much more to life than money. I know it’s easy to say, but there are things that we can’t buy.

Wishing you all a peaceful and happy Christmas.

That's a great amount - I've missed your updates this year. I hope you're okay.

slowlyfading

Spreadsheet updated - we're nearly there!

geoffers4

tara747 wrote: »

I’ve been quiet all year, haven’t done my usual monthly updates but here I am with my 2019 total. I’ve managed to save an incredible £25,392 this year - thanks to a lucky and dramatic reductions in my outgoings, plus some decent interest on a savings bond. My new overall savings total is £161,957. I’m hoping to hit the £180,000 mark in 2020.

Thank goodness you've posted tara747 - I was worried you'd dropped off and you're 1 of only 3 "ever present" savers since the board started in 2012! (including Lomcevak and SlowlyFading herself of course).

I've updated the
Totaliser Spreadsheet Since 2012
and we're over 8.8 million pounds saved now!!