Stop frivolous spending and save more

Loveactually

Hi all, 

after reading so many wonderful debt dairies here I have decided to start my own dairy. My aim is to stop frivolous spending of money on unnecessary things and save more. My target is to buy a 2nd property on buy to let so that it can be my retirement income or can pass on to my only child so that they don’t have to be burdened with a monthly commitment. It’s going to be a long thread for my first posting.

I had some debts ( due to a house extension in 2017) which I m paying off next month will be my last payment towards this loan and I will be debt free!!!! 

I already have some savings towards my goal but would like to add at least 30k more to it to be able to afford a BTL property. My aim is to save this in 3 years time. Hopefully it’s doable. I don’t spend much on myself all my clothes are from Asda or Tesco. My weakness is my 6 year old daughter and I pamper her a lot. I literally but anything she asks for as I can’t say no. I came from a family where money was tight as I was always met with a ‘no’ for my wants. In hindsight may be I don’t want my daughter to have that and sometimes it leads to frivolous spending. 

Four_Seasons

Welcome!! You will find lots of lovely folk on here all ready to give advice/tips and loads of encouragement.  I will be cheering you on.

Loveactually

I must consider myself lucky as my husband pays all the bills for the household except food. My spending is only on food, commute and travel bookings if we plan to go anywhere. 

I roughly earn £2300( salary)  + 84 child benefit per month after all deductions,  I also contribute to teachers pension, my main outgoings are as follows: 

food , clothes, toiletries etc - £600
money to parents ( they are dependent on me) - £450
union fees - £23
Mobile  - £10
life insurance - £9
Home and contents insurance - £18 (paid annually £216)
Car insurance - £80 (paid annually £960) 
MOT and service - £20 (annually £240)
Childcare - £60 (after school clubs)
donation - £5 ( to charity) 
Child iSA - £200 every month

spending a total of £1475 every month 

leaving me with £900 every month I W t to be able to curb some spending of this to be able to save £1000 every month. Technically the £200 for ISA is saving but that will only be accessible by my daughter when she is 18 abs that saving is may be for her university. 

Please advice me on where and how I can cut down my expenses. 

PS- no fuel as I drive an electric car and no parking etc as I only drive to work and back that’s it. Other times we take the family car. 

Loveactually

Four_Seasons said:

Welcome!! You will find lots of lovely folk on here all ready to give advice/tips and loads of encouragement.  I will be cheering you on.

Thank you ... will be waiting eagerly 

Loveactually

Aims for this week: (7th June - 12th June) 

carry lunch from home 
cook everything from scratch (use up stuff from freezer and cupboard) 
no takeaways 
try to have at least 4 NSD’s 

Loveactually

NSD 1 for today .... very happy
all food from home and cooked dinner with the items in fridge. 

Blackcats

Hello love actually.  I'm sure you'll get lots of support and advice here.
one of the things that's pleased and surprised me is how little savings have accrued.  I have a savings pot with the grand (tongue in cheek) title of Accumulation of Marginal Gains.  I basically round down my current account to the nearest £10 at least weekly.  I put any cash back from £co in the pot (although I've used it for a long time I've earned over£1000).  If I use vouchers I transfer the value of the voucher to the pot etc etc.  Sometimes if I resist a takeaway and cook myself I put a take away donation into the pot.  I can be very inventive with the rules to suit myself 🤣.  Anyway the point of my ramblings is that it's helped me focus on little and often savings but they are painless and easy.  I'm up to £503 since January and I'd love to reach £1000 by the end of the year.  

Loveactually

I think this Friday I will skip my takeaway and instead pot those money. Thanks for the advice blackcats. 

Blackcats

Sounds like a good plan and will give your savings pot a good start.  We often make a fakeaway on a Friday - sometimes spend a bit more on ingredients to make a special meal for a fraction of the cost of a takeaway.  Homemade chicken kebab with salad and home made garlic flatbreads is one of our favourites and quite healthy too.  Homemade pizza is fun to do with your daughter.  

You might find it motivating to keep track of your savings and maybe set yourself mini targets.  For example if you want to save £3000 you could break that down into 1% chunks of £30 each.  I make 100 box charts and colour each square in - strangely satisfying for a grown up 🤣 somehow £3000  will feel more attainable than £30,000 and you can colour in the squares quite quickly!

Loveactually

Yes I do love cooking, fakeaway here I come. Chicken kebabs sounds very yummy I might give that a try this weekend then. 

Loveactually

Have to go shopping today for yoghurts and bananas. Hopefully will not pick anything else. No NSD today