The "Save 12k in 2020" Thread!

Sandyra

Suffolk_lass said:

Never too late to join but you will both need to put in a form. If you read back you will find a variety of approaches that people take to their saving (and spending - and whether spending is deducted from totals or not) - you can just decide on your approach with what best suits you. My favourite thing is Tilly tidying (named after Tilly, years ago on here) - where you round down your account to the nearest £0 (or £00, £000) and squirrel away the rounded bits into your savings total. Mine get pulled together into an instant saver until they reach a certain point and then they pay down my mortgage. Good luck!

Thank you. These weeks on lockdown have got me re-evaluating my spending and actually show that although I save a fair amount, I could save much more. I have a Virgin saver which I put £250 in every month, £1500 in my new Natwest account to get £175 switch bonus and I have £12,000 in a Marcus account. I was thinking to push myself to get to £20,000 by the end of the year whilst still trying to overpay my mortgage. Fingers crossed. As a teacher I’m grateful that I’m still working and getting paid, so I’m using that to spur me forward. Luckily my major spending was done before Coronavirus taking my boyfriend to Barcelona for his 40th birthday. 

As for Tilly tidying, with the spare time I’ve been reading her MFW diary - Countdown to Freedom. So far on page 753/1031. It’s amazing how she’s done it. I’ll definitely be using that technique.

funkymonkey

Happy April everyone - hope you are all staying safe!
Number 113 Reporting a total of £1700 this month: bringing me to a total save of £11700 - so close to my £12K target.
I think i might change my yearly total to £15K as I should have another £1000 of LISA bonus coming in May and that way I can keep the motivation up! 

lantanna

#93 saving of £490 for April. Happy to be saving anything during these times. Form submitted. Awaiting Jet 2 refund so that should beef up Mays savings nicely. 

utopiah

Hi All I've not posted any updates since I joined in with this challenge. It's been a very strange and worrying time for us all. We are fortunate that we are both working and can continue to save but it's taken a while to adjust to a new budget. We have managed to save £5500  this quarter but this is down to a variety things. Outgoings are substantially lower as we were unable to go on holiday so no currency to buy and all the additional cost that go with a holiday. We have been given credit for a future holiday so no need to save for holiday next year now. Cancelled  gym membership, lower fuel costs ( walking to work for exercise) and stricter meal planning has cut grocery costs. Also not eating out and socialising has saved us loads!! We both knew where our money was going and all these things are factored into our budget but this crisis has actually made us reevaluate a lot of areas. We probably wont take more than one holiday each year, go out once a week but on a tighter budget and think about sharing a car. 
Hope everyone is staying safe and well and I will try and update regularly from now on!

tommyedinburgh

utopiah said:

Hi All I've not posted any updates since I joined in with this challenge. It's been a very strange and worrying time for us all. We are fortunate that we are both working and can continue to save but it's taken a while to adjust to a new budget. We have managed to save £5500  this quarter but this is down to a variety things. Outgoings are substantially lower as we were unable to go on holiday so no currency to buy and all the additional cost that go with a holiday. We have been given credit for a future holiday so no need to save for holiday next year now. Cancelled  gym membership, lower fuel costs ( walking to work for exercise) and stricter meal planning has cut grocery costs. Also not eating out and socialising has saved us loads!! We both knew where our money was going and all these things are factored into our budget but this crisis has actually made us reevaluate a lot of areas. We probably wont take more than one holiday each year, go out once a week but on a tighter budget and think about sharing a car. 
Hope everyone is staying safe and well and I will try and update regularly from now on!

Wow! This could literally have been us that contributed this (we were about to get fish and chips but decided to have something out the freezer and fire the £15 across into the 'savings account').
I suspect that what you have shared may be replicated up and down the UK in the coming months and beyond.

utopiah

tommyedinburgh said:

utopiah said:

Hi All I've not posted any updates since I joined in with this challenge. It's been a very strange and worrying time for us all. We are fortunate that we are both working and can continue to save but it's taken a while to adjust to a new budget. We have managed to save £5500  this quarter but this is down to a variety things. Outgoings are substantially lower as we were unable to go on holiday so no currency to buy and all the additional cost that go with a holiday. We have been given credit for a future holiday so no need to save for holiday next year now. Cancelled  gym membership, lower fuel costs ( walking to work for exercise) and stricter meal planning has cut grocery costs. Also not eating out and socialising has saved us loads!! We both knew where our money was going and all these things are factored into our budget but this crisis has actually made us reevaluate a lot of areas. We probably wont take more than one holiday each year, go out once a week but on a tighter budget and think about sharing a car. 
Hope everyone is staying safe and well and I will try and update regularly from now on!

Wow! This could literally have been us that contributed this (we were about to get fish and chips but decided to have something out the freezer and fire the £15 across into the 'savings account').
I suspect that what you have shared may be replicated up and down the UK in the coming months and beyond.

Tommyedinburgh well done on saving £15 . It definitely makes you think about what's important. Our pace of life has changed dramatically. We were always finishing work meeting up and socialising, grabbing something to eat rather than cooking. Going on holiday to chill out. Ironically we have relaxed more from not being able to do these things. We have eaten healthier, relaxed, walked more, actually spoken to people rather than quick text messages  and found we quite enjoy a simpler life style. I think the sunnier weather has helped though. It may have been a different story if this had happened in the winter. We are missing our family and friends and count our blessings we have not lost loved ones.

slowlyfading

Spreadsheet updated and two new members added

Hope everyone is okay and staying safe; I am finding this tougher as time goes on but trying to focus on the positives. We are spending less overall, though more on food. I am missing seeing other people and getting a hug off my mum! But, needs must I suppose.

delta13

I've saved £731 so far this month. I have payday coming up this week, and I've done a fair bit of overtime the last month so I'm going to move that across as soon as it comes in. I'll update the spreadsheet once that's all completed.
Hope everyone is well

Suffolk_lass

utopiah said:

Hi All I've not posted any updates since I joined in with this challenge. It's been a very strange and worrying time for us all. We are fortunate that we are both working and can continue to save but it's taken a while to adjust to a new budget. We have managed to save £5500  this quarter but this is down to a variety things. Outgoings are substantially lower as we were unable to go on holiday so no currency to buy and all the additional cost that go with a holiday. We have been given credit for a future holiday so no need to save for holiday next year now. Cancelled  gym membership, lower fuel costs ( walking to work for exercise) and stricter meal planning has cut grocery costs. Also not eating out and socialising has saved us loads!! We both knew where our money was going and all these things are factored into our budget but this crisis has actually made us reevaluate a lot of areas. We probably wont take more than one holiday each year, go out once a week but on a tighter budget and think about sharing a car. 
Hope everyone is staying safe and well and I will try and update regularly from now on!

Just been listening to the radio where they were talking about airlines offering credit notes - just be aware that if you have a credit note it is not currently covered by the ATOL Protection scheme, so if the company fails, you lose that money. If you have already accepted this it might be worth booking something a year ahead so it is covered again

tommyedinburgh

We will have a few hundred extra this month and likely next month is the shape of a reduced childcare bill. I suppose it’s a very small positive giving everything going on.