Making savings before it's too late

lessonlearned · 1 May 2018 at 4:31PM

suki1964 wrote: »

Tell me about it, yet when you warn youngsters just starting out to have at least 3 months living expenses saved, you are told you are talking rot

I found the perfect answer to that one.......

I had been nagging my youngest spendthrift son he needed an emergency fund....I got nowhere.

One day he came home really upset. He thougt he was gong to be sacked. There had been a bust up at work, he had the manager from hell.

Always one to seize an advantage I said "you know what I'm going to say, don't you". He said "are you going to give me a lecture on why need a emergency fund".

I just smiled and said "no, darling I am going to tell you that what you need is a "f... you" fund". :rotfl: that has become family legend.....

Well he was gobsmacked because I don't swear as a rule. But it worked...I had shocked him so much that he actually took it on board.He knew exactly what I meant.

From then on he was a reformed character. He taught himself and now he is so good he manages my investments for me.

lessonlearned · 1 May 2018 at 4:34PM

Yes Kittie I remember those days......it was tough going at times.

Thanks for the cbd oil tip.

tori.k · 2 May 2018 at 9:50AM

I got our bissell carpet washer after hiring a rug doctor a couple of times at £50 a pop it was a no brainer and its paid for itself a dozen times over.
Ive been lucky with both my lads both have been sensible with savings, but it could have easily gone the other way, as there wasn't a lot of spare income when they were younger, but they grew up with mothers true cost mentality much to the amusement of my husband. I've always measured the cost of a want against the hours needed to work for it, as I hated my old job and found it was often unsurprising how much something looses its appeal once you find you have to work an additional 20/30+ hrs to pay for the thing.

caronc · 3 May 2018 at 7:52PM

I discovered today accidently that I'd been a bit too enthusiastic in shuffling cash out of my current account to various budget accounts and "tilly tidying" on the 1st of May.:o My income comes in at varying points in the month and I hadn't properly taken account of peaks of d/ds coming out at the beginning of the month. Sorted thankfully before any problems arose but I need to be more mindful of this especially on the back of a heavy spend month like April was. Although I have an overdraft authorised I don't want to use this I've managed, apart from once when my wages were mucked up, never been overdrawn and don't intend to start now especially when I have the money just not in the right place! I'm definitely on a learning curve with this .....

On a more positive note my mortgage is now below £40K:D:D, I can't pay anymore big (or little) chunks off until December but hopefully by the end of my current fixed deal in Nov 2020 it will be as near to £20K as I can get it without living on bread & water!

PipneyJane · 3 May 2018 at 10:02PM

tori.k wrote: »

I got our bissell carpet washer after hiring a rug doctor a couple of times at £50 a pop it was a no brainer and its paid for itself a dozen times over.
Ive been lucky with both my lads both have been sensible with savings, but it could have easily gone the other way, as there wasn't a lot of spare income when they were younger, but they grew up with mothers true cost mentality much to the amusement of my husband. I've always measured the cost of a want against the hours needed to work for it, as I hated my old job and found it was often unsurprising how much something looses its appeal once you find you have to work an additional 20/30+ hrs to pay for the thing.

This deserves more than a “Thanks”. We forget just how hard we have to work to have Pounds in our pockets. One of my friends used to be a computer contractor in Silicon Valley - she had a spreadsheet which worked out how much it cost her to go to work (time and money). It factored in mileage, childcare and other costs for commuting. Once you added it all up, some jobs just weren’t worth applying for at the rates on offer.

- Pip

[Deleted User] · 4 May 2018 at 8:21PM

yes it has to be the same for anything and apart from necessities, it really then becomes a case of want and not need. The exception being if there is spare money and it is a much wanted item, when it will be enjoyed

Speaking of which, I just ordered myself some specialist cycle clothing suitable for a curvy woman. It took me ages but at last I found a site that makes cycle kit for real women and not stick insects on bikes. I only wanted a gilet to start with, but honestly they are all based on stick shapes ie straight up and down and they end on a 14, which I definitely am not. So I have ordered pedal pushers, a gilet and a cap to go under my helmet and next time around it will be a jersey and in time a thin jacket. This all arose from today because suddenly it was too warm to wear my windproof fleece, so to heck with it

[Deleted User] · 6 May 2018 at 11:39AM

I have spent a bit this weekend, online, ken follett century trilogy, all 3 books for a total of £12 from lowplex, haven`t used them before but certainly a lot cheaper than amazon. I have decided that I need physical books to read in bed, rather than using my kindle. These books will last me a very long time and if they are as good as the kingsbridge trilogy, then I will read them over and over again

I have plenty of sewing fabrics but cba making a summer nightie. I have 2 strappy nighties but wanted another short sleeved one and the last one from patra was so comfortable, so I have another on the way, soft jersey cotton

I am keeping busy at home with the gardening and allotment and house maintenance, it does keep me out of (spending) mischief. I will be glad when the money for house/contents insurance goes out and the current money startes building again, so that I can do some actual saving. I want to add to ns&i. This savings emphasis has only been ongoing since february and is already making a big difference

[Deleted User] · 9 May 2018 at 6:45AM

:cool: I just `invested` in bedding for show ie to stage my bedroom when I come to sell. 10 pieces and on last clicks price on qvc, two sets of singles. Blowsy, sumptuous and I know I will get my hand snapped off if I give one set to each pre-teen dgd afterwards. I have got silk bedding, from when I went through that `money means nothing` phase after hubbie died. My cotton sheets had been washed too hot and had shrunk and become stiff, so they went to a cs and I bought new silk and several items too, wish I hadn`t but thats life

I want to be using these silk items and they don`t last that long anyway when used, so was faffing about trying to get pristine sets together for potential viewings and failing because they were slipping and sliding, so I gave up the sets idea. When the new shiny, non-silk, sets arrive, they will go straight onto an empty bedroom shelf, only to be opened when I sell. It was a good bundle, including cushions. All I need is a dash of colour over my pale cream ottoman and I have the perfect dark pink welsh blanket for that

Must put that spend on m/s money plus the `large` electricity bill for winter, I purposely did not send readings in over winter. I dithered about ordering fresh fish this morning from cornwall but did the sensible thing and went to see what I still have. Enough for this month, I almost got carried away and need to tighten the belt a bit to the end of the month now

Tori, how is progress?

Blackcatsreturns · 9 May 2018 at 11:27AM

I've been away for a few days - partly work and partly leisure. It was good fun but it was lovely to get home and have a bowl of homemade soup from the freezer and a slice of toast for tea last night and the bliss of a cup of tea at home this morning when I got up!
Whilst away i met the family member who wanted to "borrow" some money. They were actually very civil to me but constantly implied that I'd missed an opportunity to lend them some money which I found amusing. They have borrowed from someone else but haven't yet done any of the repairs to their vehicle so still they aren't doing any work. According to them they are going to have a great summer, making lots of money ....it just reminded me of Only Fools and Horses "this time next year we'll be millionaires". I'm so glad I didn't agree to lend the money - it really would have been throwing good money after bad. I'm also glad that I've met up with them and had a chat so there's no need to worry about their reaction any more.
Kittie - I love new bed linen and I do think that it is so attractive when showing a house to viewers to have fresh, neat bedding.

moneyistooshorttomention · 9 May 2018 at 12:49PM

"An opportunity to lend money" -:rotfl: - yeah right....of course it was(n't).

"An opportunity" sounds like you'd have received a good rate of interest on that money they were after as a loan - and I don't suppose for one second they were planning on paying you any interest whatsoever:cool:

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Making savings before it's too late

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