*sigh* this may take a while

savingholmes

It's a shame people don't discuss money more readily in RL - I think I could have learned so much - much sooner if they had.

I also find audio books on millionaires inspiring - research suggests you are more likely to become a millionaire as a teacher or nurse than a lawyer or doctor due to less lifestyle creep.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Agreed, it's still such a taboo subject, not sure why.  I find other peoples' finances fascinating  

Quiet few days money wise, trying to behave,  Had to by some stuff from am@z0n, boring things like softener salt, filters for pool, extension cable - came to £70!  Rude!

Having some plastering done this week, all budgeted for.  Looking good already, but don't like the weird dampness and smell in the house from fresh plaster.  Will give it a paint asap to prevent excess dust.

Children all pleased it's summer hols, no major plans, will muddle through!

savingholmes

Pool sounds blissful 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

we bought it last summer, one of those 5000L pool things, it was up from May-Sept and we were impressed.  It's a bit of a faff monitoring PH and chlorine levels etc but the kids spend a couple of hours a day in there on good weather days, so worth it's weight in gold   We set it up this year just before the hot weather kicked in, so perfect timing  

savingholmes

Looks a lovely idea. Presumably you don't heat the water so cheaper than a hot tub. Sounds blissful.

enthusiasticsaver

£1600 is a lot of frittering so a good idea to go back to basics although summer holidays with five children seems a tricky time to do it but being more careful is sensible. I always think higher earners tend to be a bit more blase about saving so you may have fallen into the trap of assuming the status quo  will always remain as it is now but life sometimes throws curve balls.  You have the option of returning to work full time if anything happened to your husbands income which obviously is the higher amount.  Saving more and investing more is essential if you want to retire early so deciding on financial goals is a good idea.  We retired 8 years only but only by saving and investing probably from about 10 years prior to retirement although we both had good occupational pensions. You have some expensive years coming up though with presumably university, driving lessons, weddings, house deposits etc etc and with a large family that will be more expensive than most so you are doing the right thing in looking at where money is leaking out of your budget now. 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Thanks SH and ES
Pool wise, definitely don't heat it, so a win there.  A couple of our neighbours have proper swimming pools, they look amazing but I've seen the upkeep and am not tempted.
EH, you're right, a lot of frittering - £50 here and there adds up.  Summer hols are a killer - I've taken 1-2 days off each week and feel the need to fill them!  For instance, Zoo yesterday (£80 inc lunch and ice creams), cinema tomorrow (£35 for 5 of us).
Trying to bw more mindful of where we spend/save and feeling the benefits already

savingholmes

I think the trick is to set a budget for school holidays spends or equivalent - and as we've discussed - pull out the savings first. 

Not always easy I know - and I ain't perfect either when it comes to that.

mark55man

good luck with the summer.  your oldest is probably too old, but we spent about £200 on a large 14' trampoline and basically the kids lived on it all summer - would have eaten on it if we hadn't put our feet down (which was unwise .... on a trampoline) - maybe your eldest could do the evening shift with a few friends 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

So far, so good!  Behaving ourselves and sticking yo budget