The "Save 12k in 2021" Thread!

mole_man

greent said:

mole_man said:

DireEmblem said:

mole_man said:
Oh wow! Your savings are still impressive though, despite the outlay on takeaways. It is so ‘easy’ to spend £400/£500 on them over 3 months! Been there, done that! 

Currently on a detox from takeaways myself - we did not have a single one during March!

Yes, I got into the bad habit again last year.  I used the excuse that I felt bad that I was relatively unaffected as able to work from home.  Especially when lots of restaurants and stuff cant open and support staff.  I sort of used it as an excuse that I was supporting them, and probably went a little overboard.

I used to be quite good at swapping a pizza delivery for a Chicago town stuffed crust pizza or similar.  Especially when they were on offer <£2.50 as they regularly are.  I would perhaps get some Gu desserts as well, so all in all under £5, and then put the £15ish into VWRP.  I would similarly cook my own Indian or make tex mex as well, similar deal - put the difference into a global equity tracker something or other.  I'm going to get back into that habit again I think.

Fair play! The last year has been incredibly difficult and I know so many people who have done the same as us, which in a way, makes me feel better about it!! That’s a good idea to sometimes try and substitute a takeaway for cheaper alternatives/options.

The money I would have otherwise spent on takeaways in March ended up being spent on some new trainers and clothes instead! I realise I did not save any extra in the process but that was never my aim. I feel like it is important to have some money set aside to treat yourself! But the golden rule for me is to pay myself first.

We've been making curries from S1mply C00k/ Sp1ce Ta1lor kits, rather than buy takeaway ones - a takeaway curry can easily cost £55 or more for 4 of us - way cheaper (and often nicer) to cook with a kit. Lots of other options - not just curries, too Hasn't stopped our takeaways entirely - the chippy and kebab shop still both occasionally feature - but these are cheaper, anyway!

(If anyone fancies trying a box of 4 S1mply C00k spice/ flavourings kits for FREE I can give you a referral code - please DM me - genuinely no need to carry on with them after your free box. Disclaimer - I would also get a free box from any sign up )

We are big fans of SC and would recommend it too! I prefer it over the ones which deliver all the ingredients as you are not forced to have it all in one week. The curries they do are brilliant (Katsu Curry is my personal favourite!) — you can even pick up individual boxes from some supermarkets. It doesn’t even take long to cook it and you can save a hell of a lot in the process. 

Not heard of STaylor, so will check them out. Overall, I think you’re right, it is not easy to fully cut these things out but it’s nice to find a good balance between spending on takeaways and having good food cooked at home!

greent

mole_man said:

greent said:

mole_man said:

DireEmblem said:

mole_man said:
Oh wow! Your savings are still impressive though, despite the outlay on takeaways. It is so ‘easy’ to spend £400/£500 on them over 3 months! Been there, done that! 

Currently on a detox from takeaways myself - we did not have a single one during March!

Yes, I got into the bad habit again last year.  I used the excuse that I felt bad that I was relatively unaffected as able to work from home.  Especially when lots of restaurants and stuff cant open and support staff.  I sort of used it as an excuse that I was supporting them, and probably went a little overboard.

I used to be quite good at swapping a pizza delivery for a Chicago town stuffed crust pizza or similar.  Especially when they were on offer <£2.50 as they regularly are.  I would perhaps get some Gu desserts as well, so all in all under £5, and then put the £15ish into VWRP.  I would similarly cook my own Indian or make tex mex as well, similar deal - put the difference into a global equity tracker something or other.  I'm going to get back into that habit again I think.

Fair play! The last year has been incredibly difficult and I know so many people who have done the same as us, which in a way, makes me feel better about it!! That’s a good idea to sometimes try and substitute a takeaway for cheaper alternatives/options.

The money I would have otherwise spent on takeaways in March ended up being spent on some new trainers and clothes instead! I realise I did not save any extra in the process but that was never my aim. I feel like it is important to have some money set aside to treat yourself! But the golden rule for me is to pay myself first.

We've been making curries from S1mply C00k/ Sp1ce Ta1lor kits, rather than buy takeaway ones - a takeaway curry can easily cost £55 or more for 4 of us - way cheaper (and often nicer) to cook with a kit. Lots of other options - not just curries, too Hasn't stopped our takeaways entirely - the chippy and kebab shop still both occasionally feature - but these are cheaper, anyway!

(If anyone fancies trying a box of 4 S1mply C00k spice/ flavourings kits for FREE I can give you a referral code - please DM me - genuinely no need to carry on with them after your free box. Disclaimer - I would also get a free box from any sign up )

We are big fans of SC and would recommend it too! I prefer it over the ones which deliver all the ingredients as you are not forced to have it all in one week. The curries they do are brilliant (Katsu Curry is my personal favourite!) — you can even pick up individual boxes from some supermarkets. It doesn’t even take long to cook it and you can save a hell of a lot in the process. 

Not heard of STaylor, so will check them out. Overall, I think you’re right, it is not easy to fully cut these things out but it’s nice to find a good balance between spending on takeaways and having good food cooked at home!

I also like the fact we don't have to eat it all in one go - we have been known to have 3 in a week and other weeks none, so the flexibility is great - and Tesc0 sell them at £1-£1.50 each sometimes , so fab value   

Betharooni

Hi

Sorry for lack of updates so far this year - have just not been coming on the forum for a while. Hopefully will be back now. Updates for Jan-Mar submitted as follows: 

Jan - £1,630.26
Feb - £1,703.84
Mar - £1,573.47

April will be significantly reduced as will be paying out for some private medical appointments. Am taking the money from my general monthly savings rather than raiding my emergency fund.

B x

DireEmblem

Excellent work Betharooni!

_theinsider

#92 reporting £1,000 for March. Got paid £500 in backdated expenses from work so moved this to savings (Premium Bonds) plus my standard regular £500 savings per month split 50/50 between a regular savings account and S&S ISA. Form updated.

Littlebigmoose

#81 checking in for the first time with a total of £5000, mostly in my lisa

slowlyfading

longhill said:

No 28 sorry I am going to drop out after my husband died in October last year I have been living off my savings so it hard to keep track of new saving will take time to get my head around it and may start again next year good luck to everyone

Sorry to hear that - I hope you are ok and you find some kind of new normal. Be kind to yourself

slowlyfading

Spreadsheet updated - it's great to see some people rejoin the fold, so to speak

Gem-gem

April's total saved £7500.00
Made up of salary, dividends from company and interest. Deposited into 2X RS and ISA.
Total for the year £19,100.00
Savings for the remaining of the year will slow down - planning on putting a new kitchen in, in September, so will be saving for that but not counting it in my total. 

Form has been submitted. 

bioboybill

#77 checking in. Sorry for the late update, but my total for March is -£548.11, with update submitted. My first minus month since I started doing this IIRC, but not too bad since I had to spend over £3K of savings on my roof. To counter that I put a decent amount back and the wife did the £2880 in and £3.6K out with her HL SIPP to bank another £720. In the circumstances my figure isn't too bad.

I hope everybody is doing well health-wise and wealth-wise.