Taking care of the pennies

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yamyam89
yamyam89 Posts: 17 Forumite
in How much have you saved?
Hello all

I thought I would make a little thread to log my money saving accomplishments, as my wife finds me incredibly tedious, hah!

At the moment, we're saving for:

- A work trip / holiday in June - her trip that we are extending into a holiday, as we tend to do
- IUI (babies!)
- A home (one day)
- Building a larger emergency fund

My income is stable, but my wife's isn't. She's been working since Jan but is only guaranteed work til April. After that, who knows. She wasn't working for a long, long time after becoming disabled (22 months) and I wasn't working for quite a while too while I was her carer. So, we ate up all our savings.

I'm 29, she's 31.

So, looking to log my little accomplishments here. Hope it's not too dull! :rotfl:
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  • yamyam89
    yamyam89 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Last week's accomplishment:

    Getting out of my bad lunch habit of an Asda salad and a marked down punnet of blueberries each day (totalling about £2.50 a day). Now packing lunches (sandwiches and salads) for £1.60 a day.

    Saving each week: £4.50
  • yamyam89
    yamyam89 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    This week's accomplishment:

    Downgrading our Netflix from the standard package to the basic. We were paying so our parents could use our Netflix, but they never do. So that's £2 a month in the piggy. Not a lot but... it all adds up!
  • yamyam89
    yamyam89 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Upcoming change:

    Moving from Virgin to NowTV for broadband on 30 May. The difference in the price will pay for my wife's new phone and my new Dyson, within 24 months! I've paid for those on a 0% 32mo CC just for that purpose, and set up a DD to pay it off to the amount of the difference (£28) per month. We could have paid for them outright but I wanted to get money into a Help to Buy ISA instead.
  • yamyam89
    yamyam89 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Next payday accomplishment:

    From my next payday (Friday), I will have increased my pension contributions from 3% to 12.5%. It's not quite as much as Martin recommends (divide the age you start by two) but it's the most I can manage at the moment while still paying into our savings accounts and covering our outgoings.

    It's only decreasing my take home pay by £100 per month, but my pension forecast is vastly improved. If my wife manages to get a job in April when this one ends, I'll look to increase my contributions again.
  • Skint_yet_Again
    Skint_yet_Again Posts: 7,568 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
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    Well done on your savings and extra pension payments. My pension is rubbish and as a single parent working part time for years I now work almost full time but I wouldn't know where to start whether it's worth paying more into it. I am relying on my property to provide an income when I downsize
    0% credit card £1360 & 0% Car Loan £7500 ~ paid in full JAN 2020 = NOW DEBT FREE 🤗
    House sale OCT 2022 = NOW MORTGAGE FREE 🤗
    House purchase completed FEB 2023 🥳🍾 Left work. 🤗

    Retired at 55 & now living off the equity £10k a year (until pensions start at 60 & 67).

    Previous Savings diary https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5597938/get-a-grip/p1

    Living off savings diary
    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6429003/escape-to-the-country-living-off-savings/p1
  • yamyam89
    yamyam89 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Thank you. I've done it via salary sacrifice so may have to change in the future if a mortgage supplier isn't keen, but we shall see. My concern/paranoia is that they take the state pension away from us millenials!
  • KellySB
    KellySB Posts: 5 Forumite
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    good job! Hum, I could seriously consider how to manage my money as I always run out of my salary at the end of each month, a typical moonlight clans :P
  • yamyam89
    yamyam89 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Last weekend achievement:

    Had our niece and nephew up to visit, age 1 and 3 respectively, for the full bank holiday weekend. Had three accomplishments:

    1. Supplied new story books for bedtime, which he was very pleased about (free from a colleague whose children are now too old)
    2. Produced a Thomas the Tank engine toy (Flying Scotsman, no less) to add to his railway set from seemingly thin air (my pocket) when he was mid-tantrum in the car, which quietened things down considerably (from Poundland)
    3. Had a Toucan activity box at the ready for him to take home and make a crown, to send us a photo of, when he was getting very upset that he had to leave (free trial)

    So, he and his parents were suitably impressed, and I just spent a single pound!

    The niece kept herself entertained playing with our crate of dog food tins. Much simpler.
  • savingwannabe
    savingwannabe Posts: 16,610 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
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    Dog tins!!!! So funny:rotfl::rotfl:. Well done on saving money and entertaining the little ones. :j
    Aiming for a minimal spend 2022
  • yamyam89
    yamyam89 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    Achievements this week:

    Set up wife's LISA, and deposited £333 into it.

    Also:

    Using the MSE discount, picked up a birthday present for my MIL to be put away until October - a navy cropped collarless jacket, for £4.75 with free postage. She's been after something like it for a long time. It'll go in the cupboard with the £6.99 navy dog-print wellies bought in Aldi a while ago to put aside.
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