What's the biggest single thing you've done to improve your finances?

[OldMotherHubbardsBigBottom]

I'm starting to get control of my finances and I'm curious as to what others have done to improve their relationship with money.

I almost feel like I tell my money what to do rather than the other way round- still a bit of ground to cover before I'm finally there though.

What did you do/are you doing?

Ah yes, cutting down on meat.

I quit my professional career after having DS and DP had a breakdown. At the age of 28, I’d never had an overdraft or CC or loan except student loan and was proud of myself for managing my money well.

Fast forward to now at 31 and I’ve got £1k overdraft that I’m constantly over, earn less than £1k a month in a part time job and am paying off two loans.

I’m so ashamed of myself for letting it get to this point but have spent the last couple of months trying to remove my head from the sand, where I had firmly buried it.

I was spending a lot of money on ‘just’ going out for breakfast with DS 2/3 times a week or a McDonald’s breakfast for me twice a week for my early starts at work. Also, coffee out 4/5 times a week. Ludicrous.

Luckily for me, DS started nursery school in September and due to me being part time and DPs parents being able to do some childcare, I no longer have childcare fees. My boss changed my job for me, so I’ve gone from a 4 day commute at 31 miles each way to 3 days, but similar hours. I’m also allowed to manage the social media from home, which bumps up my wages by 4/5 hours a week.

I’ve used this as an incentive to really crack down hard on my spending. I intend to go back to teaching in September 2020 but I’ve got to get through this year first!

I use Plum and have done for 6 weeks. There’s £30 in there but should be £50... I withdrew money before I got a grip on myself. It communicates through FB messenger, so I deleted the app from my phone so I can’t see it. I also have a SO of £10 a month to a Savings account that I can’t see, and have about £70 in there now.

I meal plan religiously. Last week I spent £26.37 for two adults and a child for the week, although I mentally plan (and physically budget) for £45. This means that, this week when I spent £55, I don’t panic because it has evened out.

I also work out how many hours I have to work to afford x.

I’ve started planning for Christmas at the beginning of September and have a running list, starting in January, of the people I want to buy for and ideas. That way I stick to buying things they want/need over a year instead of getting sucked into the MN Christmas threads, panic buying stuff!!

I try and adopt environmentally friendly approaches and let myself feel guilted into not doing stuff. I will only buy butchers meat and won’t buy eggs from a supermarket. This has meant we haven’t had meat for 3/4 weeks at dinner as I can’t afford the meat.

I make packed lunches now. I plan my week in advance and do free things with DS and sell it to him as having a picnic, which he LOVES, even though it’s a sandwich, crisps and fruit. I’m very lucky to live in snowdonia, so we do a lot of walking/playing in rivers/parks/waterfalls etc which is all free.

I try and get excited about shopping on eBay. I can’t afford the sustainable clothing brands so I tell myself it’s eco friendly and I’m saving the earth by only buying clothes on eBay.

I hate being skint but I need to get back on top!

@AlohaMolly Well done!! You have absolutely no reason to feel ashamed, it sounds like you've had a lot to deal with. Hope your DP is recovering. I'm also sticking to a £50 food budget and it's totally doable, by the end of this month I'll be quids in 👍

Treat my savings as much of a priority as my bills.

Every payday I send whatever residual balance is left to a savings account, then all the bills go out along with standing orders for savings for various things.

I also have a "nonsense" account. This is money that I can spend on whatever stupid thing I like without guilt. More often than not I don't spend it so it's mounting up nicely now.

I am also fortunate that I live well below my means so I have been able to divert a goodly portion of my pre-tax salary into pension, so I don't even see it.

Also:

• Overpaying my mortgage as a top priority. On track to save tens of thousands in interest.
• Don't tend to buy food and drink when out
• Love late night weekday bad weather shopping when loads more stuff is reduced than usual

-drive an old car.

• maintain an excellent credit record (999 according to credit expert.com)

Best of all is that I don't feel compelled to "keep up with the joneses". Not feeling like I "ought" to have flashy new stuff is much easier! it also helps that I loathe shopping!

Meerkat movies/ meals
Shop at Aldi

Plan, plan, plan. You want to be running your money, not having your money running you.

Plan the meals. Do the shop and the meal prep and you're sorted. I do this twice a week - Sunday for the week ahead and then Thursday for the weekend.

Plan what you want to do in a year - any trips, holidays, expensive experiences. Work out the budget and divide by 12. Stick this in a dedicated savings account.

Plan for Christmas and birthdays:
Scale present-buying right back to the minimum number of people and have 'the conversation' well in advance if you're ditching a long-standing tradition.
I sent out an announcement years ago that we were stopping Christmas cards for local people to make a charitable donation instead.
Work out what you want/need to spend on everything - presents, cards, postage, wrap, trimmings, extra food. entertaining etc - and divide by 12. Put this amount every month into a dedicated savings account and then you've got a fund to pay for everything before it actually happens.
Same with birthdays. Plan for family and special people's birthdays Wherever else possible, ditch presents. I get together with a friend for a birthday coffee - bring them a card and some supermarket roses - instead of a stupid present that they don't need. It also saves them buying me stuff I don't want. My daughter has a lovely friendship group and instead of all of them buying each other stuff on their individual birthdays they treat themselves, once a year, to a spa afternoon from Groupon. Sing 'Happy birthday to us' in the sauna!

Online grocery shopping, quit smoking and don't drink. Also 10/20 coming out of my account and into a savings account each week for emergencies as soon as money goes into my account.

@AlohaMolly - you're inspirational!

I don’t know if I’d go that far I’m so bloody sick of being skint, but I’ve now made a written budget and forecast to the end of November, where I can see that, if I stick to it, I’ll have £140 ‘spare’ on top of savings as well!

Overpaid on my mortgage. Made a huge difference to my financial situation in the long term. Even a little bit helps. Any extra money I get a month I put straight into the mortgage.

Online grocery shop has saved me a lot too. I used to browse around the clothes and book aisles and overspend on things we didn’t really need