Anybody else finding it impossible to save money at the moment?

Newbie_John

Are you getting all the free money available?

Nursery was mentioned - child benefit, child tax account for 20% nursery discount, free hours.

We could share some ideas if we could see some of your monthly spending.. how much are your bills, food, clothes etc. - here its useful to compare to others as you can find areas for improvement.

Again while having a kid Ive learnt thats better to buy "used" more expensive toys rather than new - lets say a bike/walker - theres plenty used ones for £20 vs new for £100, and after 6 months you can sell it back for £20 meaning no cost to you, and that saves a lot.

Kim_13

Look for a £50 Regular Saver - YBS have done one for Savings Week (in September) for the last couple of years, with Saffron expected to launch one then too (last year there was a Members’ version as well as one paying the same 8% open to new members who had been referred.) I found it easier to save when I was able to max out the capacity of the account, it just felt as though I was getting somewhere for some reason. You will feel better if that £50 per month stays there even if you have to raid a standard savings account that you have.

NatWest/RBS Digital Regular Savers are good for saving the change - and allow you to save from 1x up to 5x the change.

BridgetTheCat

It’s not easy, especially if you have children. Expenses seem to be endless. I’m only earning about 2K above minimum wage (and a single income household). However one thing I’ve done is, whenever I pay something off, eg my car loan, I set up a standing order equivalent to the monthly payment into my savings account. That way I don’t get used to having extra money to spend.

Other strategies:

• I have a ‘frivolous spending’ allowance. Every year on my birthday I put £500 in a savings pot to be spent throughout the year on non-essentials, just because I want them. It goes on books, supplies for my hobbies, podcast and streaming subscriptions, and sometimes clothes. I’ve yet to spend the full £500 in a year.
• I separate ‘saving up’ pots from general growth savings. So the holiday fund and the house decoration fund have their own accounts and targets.
• ’Save half’. As a small child I got quite generous pocket money, but I was always encouraged to put half of it in my piggy bank, and later in the building society. At 24 I used that money as the deposit on my first home. My instinct is still to save half of whatever money I have after essential expenses.

Not sure if that will help at all!

Metrocammell

I'll be honest, it's been a bit of a rough year so far. Work has been extremely sporadic, I haven't had a month since April where my outgoings where less than my income. That said, I have been able to save, but only though having a massive sort out of unneeded belongings in my spare time.

Baldytyke88

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82078984#Comment_82078984

I have that book, but I have not read it, I am not a reader. My toughest time was when I separated and got divorced. I had to cash in an endowment policy, but over time I made myself save. If you are a spender, then you will always be poor.

I am now heading towards retirement and will have more in retirement than I did when I was working; it's a choice.

Kaizen917

It might sound like a made up problem what Im about to describe but Im starting to feel the pinch in a sense that I am now cutting on salary sac or ISA contributions because higher expenses are eating more and more of my designated disposable income. Where it gets alarming is that Im on a fairly decent/stable finance job and with no kids or large expenses to pay after. 20 years ago or so ago, I would have had to be pretty negligent (financially) to be in a similar situation at the career level Im on. In other words, if Im starting to feel the heat, I dread the fact that others must be boiling.

When I think of the past 5-6 years, my wage and bonus did increase but that did not translate into much in terms of net income. I basically did what everyone preaching financial discipline would have said by not allowing for lifestyle creep and mainly focus on raising the pension/ISA contributions instead. If I went for maximising my net income, that would have rather hiked my tax/NI bill before I notice anything more substantial hitting my account.

jaypers

There is a lot written on what I’m about to say here and I know it really hard for so many people. A good habit to get into is the concept of pots……every time you get paid, divide the money up into different categories and place accordingly (either in actual pots like Zopa) or theoretically in a spreadsheet (can be less effective). One of those pots should be ‘savings’ and appreciate it might start as a really low amount but if you think of it as an outgoing the change of mindset can be helpful.

RobM99

As BridgetTheCat says - similar to me - i have a Slush Fund - I pay into a basic account each month - and that money is to spend on absolutely anything I choose. No justification needed! If I wanted to put it all on a horse (not tha I would) - Slush fund!

ToastLady

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82079713#Comment_82079713

My pension is my monthly spend, put money in pots for annual payments such as internet, car insurance etc., once monthly bills are taken off, that's my spending for the month for everything else. Anything left at the end of the month is put into savings and start all over again the next month. Must admit, what I am left with is way less compared to a couple of years ago, and some months there is practically zilch left. I do have the benefit of having savings though, so if necessary would dip in if I had to, and realise that I am luckier than some.

Queen_of_the_Hive

Couldn't read and run.

Lots of good feedback and ideas already given.

I'm coming out of a couple of bad years and something I started in this tax year was setting up a new Stocks & Shares ISA and I pay into it £1 every day. The payment is automatically taken from my bank acc. It may not sound like much but psychologically it feels good to be saving something when real saving is very difficult to do and slowly a little pot is growing.