To ask your physical saving tips?

[iloveMiWadi]

Not the saving tips such as cutting down on this and that, or bringing coffee instead of buying out.

I mean physical saving tips like for example having a few bank accounts, maybe transferring a few € at the end of the week if you know you won't miss it?

Recently opened a savings account and really wanna stick with it, any tips? Direct debits? Christmas saving accounts?

How much of a chunk do you save? Ideally I'd like to save a lot more than I probably can.

Definitely direct debit, on payday so you don't notice it missing!

I second that! We have it set up to come out by direct debit every 2 weeks on payday. It goes directly into a savings account and we don't even think about it

It depends on how much you earn. Personally I transfer a lump sum to my savings as soon as I get paid, then pay rent and bills etc and everything left over is what I have for the month for food, treats etc. But the amount I transfer into savings would obviously vary if I earned less or more. When I was self-employed and income was unpredictable I found it much harder so I just put a few hundred in savings every time I did a particularly lucrative job.

I also have separate accounts - one savings, one rent and bills come out of, and one current account for spending. I've got more savings in an ISA which penalises me if I withdraw from it by charging me a fee so that stops me dipping into it

Standing order at the start of the month to ours and the children's savings accounts. Have another account where we save for Christmas, holidays etc that can be accessed when needed.

I read Alvin Hall's book years ago, and one of the things he always recommended was paying yourself first. So, once you've worked out your budget (including all those annual expenses), then transfer an amount to savings when you get paid, rather than at the end of the month.

The other way I managed to save money was always allocating at least some of any extra money (so bonuses, pay rises etc) to savings - so if I got a bonus I'd spend some, save some and potentially stick some in my pension (my mindset was generally to split it three ways between spend now/ short term savings/long term savings).

Thanks ladies, the main reason I want to save is definitely for holiday.

My earnings would be around €550 net pay (what I end up with after tax) so probably could easily save €100 a week but usually end up spending it.

Fingers crossed I can stick to it!

And that savings account that charges you sounds really handy

I have a strange tip! I make sure I only have round numbers in my cash account, so every day I check and if there is £11.45 in my account, I’ll transfer £1.45 into my savings. I always round down to the nearest £5. I’ve managed to save a fair amount that way and I never miss the money.
I mentioned it to a lady I work with and she’s saved over £2,000!

That's a great tip chocolate chip. I actually started to do similar without even planning it! So if I had say €56 I'd transfer €6 knowing I wouldn't really miss it!

DD for savings straight after payday.
I have an online saver that nets 3% and that I can only put £400 in a month. So that's encouraged me to raise what I save.

I also save a little for the kids for 18. And pay their pocket money into their accounts. There's also a smaller savings amount that I transfer an amount into that's easy to dip back into if the month has been expensive.

I also buy £100 of premium bonds monthly as it's gone and forgotten, but might earn me a winning but isn't lost if it doesn't.

I am with Lloyds and have set up the 'save the change' function where they take the sum of my daily transactions, round them up to the next pound and then save that little amount. It adds up.

On top of that, I take out £100 on monthly payday and stash it in the house for dipping into if I need it, or saving if I don't. And I save £2 coins in one jar and 2p and 1ps in another.

I save £2 coins into those savings tins which you need a can opener to open. Once it's full, it's deposited straight into a fixed term account or invested in premium bonds. I've managed to save £800 in a year.

I've saved £150 by switching to another mortgage deal and reducing by monthly payments.

Use top cash back for all online purchases, so that's another £300 saved for Christmas & birthdays.

I have 3 current accounts: my wages go into one at the end of the month, I have all my direct debits go out of that account, and I then have standing orders fixed to go out on the first of each month to:

£x to other current account, which is what I use for spending (I don't keep the other debit card in my purse so can't be tempted to use it.)
£x to help to buy ISA.
£x to monthly saver
£x to another monthly saver.
If I have anything left over at the end of the month I transfer it to my third bank account.

Only realised recently that you can have more than one current account!

I know you said you didn't want tips on cutting down but the way to save the 100 euro that you end up spending, is to not spend it .

Think more before spending on useless crap.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/money-mantras

Don't allow yourself to buy anything immediately. If you see a dress you really like, take down all the details and say "I'll buy it tomorrow". It's amazing how often that when tomorrow comes it doesn't seem quite so necessary to buy it. And then you can add the cost of the dress into the savings account too.

Halifax used to do an account which you could divide into separate "pots" (or sub accounts as they called it). I had one for Christmas, one for regular one off costs (car insurance, MOT, house insurance), one for holidays & one for general. I transferred a set amount into them each month. I could dip into general for planned big spends, took all of the Christmas amount out on 1st Dec, used the regular one off costs as & when required. The holiday one was either used for holidays or unexpected spends. I also used to put the same amount as the Council Tax into the general pot in the months I didn't have to pay Council Tax as I was used to not having that amount each month.
I also used to have a job where I got a bonus of around £2k. I always used to have a plan of what that would be spent on. First £100 would be treats for me, next £500 would be "general" and then the rest would either be allocated to frittering or to saving but with at least 50% into savings.

I'm a firm believer in look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves, which probably isn't what you were looking for but that "couple of quid" matters, don't fritter it.

Mostly though, transfer savings at the beginning not the end of the month. I only recently realised that some people "save" by transferring what's left, which seems ridiculous to me.

Get a Monzo card. Your money comes off in real time and you can set up things like ‘coin jars’ where your pennies are automatically transferred there so you save every day , similar to the round numbers comment by @chocolatechipmuffin

Agree with having standing orders to transfer money to savings on payday so you don’t get a chance to miss it. Over the years, as I’ve gotten pay rises etc, I up my standing order so I still have the same “wage” going in to my current account, as I’m used to having a set amount to live on monthly now.

Also, whatever I have left the day before payday, I transfer it into savings. Some months it’s £5, some it’s £100 but it all adds up.

Lastly, I have different amounts put into different savings accounts. One is our joint savings account, and the bulk goes there and generally isn’t touched except for big items or costly emergencies.
Then an amount goes into my personal credit union account, this is savings for fun things- holidays, mini-breaks etc.

Lastly, another fixed amount goes in to my Christmas saving account, which is a work scheme.

Several bank accounts helps me.
I have extra ones for car expenses, emergency savings and childcare.

I have formed a habit that very month I transfer a set anount into my savings, my daughter's savings and take out cash to put in the mini safe for christmas.

Ladies, I didn't mean to come across as rude and certainly wasn't dissing pennies. All I meant was I already cut back on coffee/lunch costs etc but was looking for physical saving tips as that's one I struggle with more!

Multiple accounts here. Current/everyday account that salary goes into
Bills account - dh and I transfer into this each payday
Random savings - I put any birthday/Christmas money in until i want to buy something
Holiday savings - fixed amount standing order
Secret savings - fixed amount standing order I use it for booking surprise trips/anything I don’t want dh to know about
Dh has a series of ISAs which he uses to save for various bits and bobs, home improvements, cars and a reserve pot for our rental property

It sounds hard work but the money goes to the Various pots each payday and I prefer it that any money in current account if mine to spend

Instead of cash consider a stocks and shares ISA for long term savings. For approx 10 years of my life I was only earning below 16k, saving odd amounts every month (but at least over £25) into various top funds at my preferred investment site (there are many - Hargreaves Lansdown perhaps has the best reputation but you could use your bank too). After 10 years I had put in 10,000 and it was worth nearly £30,000

I rarely have more than £50 in my current account - I transfer anything extra into an instant access savings account. Pays bugger all in interest, but it stops me from making impulse purchases. I can still check pending transactions and then move money back to cover bills.

Any loose change under 20p I stick in a piggy bank. I haven't had to dip into it for years, but have at least £200 in crap coins there now.

Something I always, always advise people to do is sign up for online surveys. Some of them are crap (you get 35p for a five minute one) some of them are ACE (£20 for 15 minutes). Most of them pay out in cash or vouchers. I tend to use mine for Amazon gift cards, so when birthdays & Christmas roll round, I have a healthy balance built up. The last two Christmases, I haven't had to pay a penny for presents for the DC because I've had over £200 in credit. It does take time to get that much, but it's money I don't have to spend.