Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

BlueJ94

joedenise said:

Have you heard of Tilly Tidies @BlueJ94?  This is where you round your account to the nearest £10 or £5 and send the odd money to your savings account.  It's amazing how quickly it adds up!  I started doing it again at the beginning of December and also the £66/67 help from the Government and am now up to nearly £450.  It helps that DH receives his pension weekly so the odd money goes across at least weekly but I check every day as if a DD has gone out there is also likely to be odd money.

I have I did used to do it but I get side tracked and forget to do it! Maybe I'll do it again now! 

Suffolk_lass

joedenise said:

Have you heard of Tilly Tidies @BlueJ94?  This is where you round your account to the nearest £10 or £5 and send the odd money to your savings account.  It's amazing how quickly it adds up!  I started doing it again at the beginning of December and also the £66/67 help from the Government and am now up to nearly £450.  It helps that DH receives his pension weekly so the odd money goes across at least weekly but I check every day as if a DD has gone out there is also likely to be odd money.

Ooh yes - this is key to saving and we paid down our mortgage a few years early doing this. I also have a jar for coins of 20p and smaller, a purse for the bigger coins, and another for £5 notes (if ever).

The other tips I would suggest are making yourself feel poor by moving money out of your current account - personally I refer to the "I can afford it if I want it" sentiment as my smug filter and keeping it firmly under control is key. I move money to the instant saver behind the spending account where it accumulates as an emergency fund, and an "ooh that's more than I was expecting" pot now, but it was for proper saving. 

I also take savings at the beginning of the month (a regular saver at 7% which is real time 3.5% over the year, in Martin's money email). And moving a spare bank account to receive the incentive payments (up to £175 as a one off) if you have some money you can shuffle around to satisfy the £x amounts in per month criteria. It all helps

SueP19

Lovely to see Tilly Tidy has been a success, so chuffed, never expected that

Making yourself poor is a really great way to go too but do you panic, because I do when it's divided up lol

Suffolk_lass

SueP19 said:

Lovely to see Tilly Tidy has been a success, so chuffed, never expected that

Making yourself poor is a really great way to go too but do you panic, because I do when it's divided up lol

A bit, but not in a sleepless way. A little bit of surface tension - just enough to stop my spendy threshold being breached. I suspect that threshold is one of the things we all need to find for ourselves, and there is no benefit if it causes anxiety that impacts on MH

SueP19

Suffolk_lass said:

SueP19 said:

Lovely to see Tilly Tidy has been a success, so chuffed, never expected that

Making yourself poor is a really great way to go too but do you panic, because I do when it's divided up lol

A bit, but not in a sleepless way. A little bit of surface tension - just enough to stop my spendy threshold being breached. I suspect that threshold is one of the things we all need to find for ourselves, and there is no benefit if it causes anxiety that impacts on MH

I think I need to take it in stages and not divi up too much lol

EssexHebridean

Loving the idea of the secret tin - I save £2 coins, but use cash so rarely these days I pretty much never get them. I've not even bothered counting up last years yet! 

@BlueJ94 - I reckon my best bit of advice is - whatever you start to do now in terms of good financial habits to get to your deposit - whether that's surveys, cashback, Tilly Tidies etc - continue to do them once you have a mortgage and put them towards overpaying. Start from the very beginning of the term, and even a small amount each month has a huge impact over a 25 year term. Also - put whatever you save into accounts earning the best interest rates you can, and don't be afraid of regular savers as if you can only afford to save £200 a month, it might as well earn 7% interest as earning 3% in a "top paying" easy access! Just make sure you always have accessible emergency funds. 

foxgloves

@Suffolk_lass - Yes, I did know you've been poorly. I hope the wretched virus is on it way now.  Our milk delivery has also just increased in price again by 6p per pint. I am going to stick with it for now though, as I very much prefer having milk & juice in glass bottles & it is useful to have it on the door step by 7am on delivery days ready for breakfast. If the differential becomes too great, then I will revert to supermarket milk, but I wouldn't be at all happy about the plastic. I think you are a lot more rural than us. I live in a riverside village (population around 2000), but we are only one & a half miles from town, which is a traditional historic market town. There is a farm shop in our village to which I can walk or cycle if necessary, so even if I am car-less (as I usually am on weekdays) or don't fancy cycling or taking the lergymobile, I can pop there for fresh stuff, meat, dairy, baked goods, etc. 

@BlueJ94 - Yes, I had read on your diary that you were going to try & buy the house you currently rent. If you're happy there, it would be great actually to own it. Hope it works out for you. Regarding any other ways to make extra money - No, I don't think I have anything that hasn't already been mentioned on these forums in the past. I think I would just add 2 things - firstly, if you really, really want this opportunity to get your foot on the housing ladder, then it's probably worth having a period of quite strict 'Needs' not 'Wants'. Anything you find yourself thinking of buying, or actually in the queue to buy it, or on the phone for a take-away or whatever, tell yourself that this £5, £17 or £30 would be much better off in your house deposit fund. You can treat yourself afterwards. I remember back in the Spendy Era, a lot of my impulse buys were around the £40 -£50 mark but would be regular. Post LBM, I could really see how I was in permanent debt, as you only have to spaff around £50 on 4 occasions in a week (not difficult to do) & that's £200 gone. So I think it's probably a good time to have a properly frugal spell to make sure you are maximising every bit of available money for your deposit.
Secondly.....when you earn a bit extra, for instance from ebay, ziffit, car boot sales, etc, that sort of thing, it's easy to put the money straight into savings. Make sure that money from other types of savings also end up in your deposit fund. As an example....I'm currently doing a couple of survey sites which pay out in vouchers. I'm choosing supermarket vouchers so that I can sub them into my grocery budget while swapping out that sum of money into our savings pots. But if I don't action it, by actually physically making the transfer which means the voucher money goes into those pots, then it doesn't happen & the money just skulls around in our general account not doing what I intended it for. So even if you have budgeted, say £30 to spend on a particular item, it only costs you £23, make sure that spare £7 is added to your deposit savings straight away. I did a lot of this when I was debt-busting. It's all very well saving money, but if it doesn't end up where it needs to go, there is a chance it will just be recycled through your bank account & get used for something else. 
Good luck with getting the deposit together. Exciting times if you can do it! 
F x

foxgloves

Greetings Chilly Frugalistas,
The ice hasn't melted at all from our garden today - & 3 large jugs of hot water before the bird bath finally started to melt. 
Today's small wins:
*Seed order arrived & I did indeed receive one of the trial packets of free tomato seed, so with my others, I should have sufficient for next year too.
*Rubber pork still doing its thing, as will be making a stir-fry tonight.
*Mr F has heard that their pay award at work has been passed - yes, it is of course below inflation, as is always the case with public sector pay & he's not at all happy about pay stagnation, but it is more than his sector has received for several years & was not at all certain. Back-pay to last April will apparently happen in next month's pay packet.
*Did a couple of small financial updates.
*Did a few surveys - sadly missed out on a really good payer because I couldn't fathom out how to move to the next page. That sounds ridiculous, but I'm not an IT numpty, so it may have been an issue with how it was set up. I sent feedback anyway.
*Not a no-spend day. I had the wheels this afternoon so was able to pop out to get a few of the things I couldn't buy at the weekend when I wasn't feeling good - bird food, penultimate pack of veggie seed required for this year & new secateurs (again!)) Only bought my previous pair last year but they flew spectacularly into pieces last month. I've spent less on this pair, have made a mental note of the maximum diameter stem they will cut & will make sure I oil them (5-year guarantee)
*Sorted out jars from my recycled jam jar stash ready for marmalade, as it's sevilles season.
*As the very icy weather is triggering the heating more frequently, I was pleased to find that the laundry had all dried overnight, so heated airer not needed again until next week. Virtually no ironing either.
*Ordered first fish box of the year, including some frozen items this time to keep the cost down.
*Did not feel even remotely tempted by the range of tat in a catalogue I found enclosed with my seed order. I can only think that gardeners are maybe still seen as an elderly demographic? Anyway, things I will very definitely NOT be buying included ear wax dissolver, a truss, detox patches to stick to my feet overnight, a brace of magnets to wear on my shoulders & a handy liquid solution for thick gnarly toenails. Oh my giddy aunt! Who buys this stuff? 
Well, I must sign out now & go & do something which doesn't involve looking at screens.
F x

Humdinger1

@foxgloves the haul you list above sounds irresistible!  Sounds like they are clearing remnants from  a jumble sale; could that be the name of the catalogue? Love Humdinger xx 

Blackcats

I think my dad gets the catalogue you mention and loves to peruse it.  I often arrive and am handed the catalogue marked up with his suggested purchases which we talk through and mostly disregard.   He is very keen on various options for ear wax removal but I don't think he's seen the toe nail liquid (although he can't reach his toes and I'm definitely not doing it).  🤣