How much do you have in savings? Decent tips for you that actually helped build them?

[Cupcakeicecream]

As title states how much do you have in savings? I'm trying to build my saving back up again pretty much wiped out atm as some large Bill's and expenses have taken that. So basically I'm starting from scratch.ive head as a buffer 3 month wages is the general rule of thumb. My tips would be have a jingle jar a jar that has just copper and silver change it tends to add up quick and can save you if you need bread or milk or if you save enough you can count and sort and take to the bank.
Also dont buy prepackaged precut food such as fruit or veg I know its easier and more convenient but the price does shoot up. Take your own bags to the supermarket the amount of times I've had to pay for carrier bags I now leave bags in the car and the difference is little but helps.downgrade on products the cheap 20p spaghetti tastes exactly the same as branded.

Avoid the shops.
Have a change jar.
I have 6.6 months salary in my savings.
I put something there each month. And something in my DDs savings account.
We use debs credit card and get vouchers from debs. We pay in full.
I use Quidco.
I cycle to work....car stays on my drive. I save a fortune.
I'm pt, earning under tax threshold but paying 5% into pension.
I'm not rich, neither is my oh. We're not big earners.
We've got other investments.
We make our money work for us.
I had 5 years as a sahm. That was lean!
It can be done.

I was a debt adviser for a long time and it really opened my eyes. I check our bank accounts pretty much every day to keep track. We have a spreadsheet for outgoings but for things like shopping / gifts / meals out it's very much a ballpark figure. So, some months we may not eat out at all, whereas others we end up being out twice a week every week, but it balances out in the end.

We're lucky in that we both earn a decent salary (though DH earns A LOT more than me), so we don't have to be too strict in general. When we have a goal in mind (big holiday, newer car) we will always save rather than use credit (unless it's financially more sensible to get a 0% credit deal and keep our money earning a bit of interest in the bank).

We don't have kids yet (about to adopt) so we have a big cushion of ready cash in the joint account we've been building up separate to our savings. We've done this by:

'Eating the freezer' for a week or two (still buying odd fresh bits of course)

DH has joined a cheaper gym, both reduced phone contracts

Refixed mortgage rate for next 5 years for stability (1.84%) - we ALWAYS go via a broker like London & Country to get the best deals

Always switching gas/elec to cheapest supplier

As a PP mentioned we also get the Moneysavingexpert email and the site is great in general

Buy Birthday and Christmas presents year round - have a box in the cellar we put bits in as and when we see bargains / Jan sales also for cards/wrapping paper. This works really well for us and we don't then have a big 'shock' expense at Christmas

Depends on how much money you earn etc so quite hard to generalise. We have had times when full time childcare costs and London mortgage or rent was so high nothing was spare.

In general I find it fairly easy not to spend money but other people really enjoy spending it like water. I like to keep track of things. Every morning my first job at my desk is to check the bank account. I keep records of what is spent and have since I was about 17. I have certainly not however been a successful investor.

We paid off mortgages on two "buy to lose" rather than buy to let (I say lose as they went right down in value and were sold at a loss in the 90s crash) flats. Then on our last house. But then borrowed a large amount when I was 35 to move to this house. Now this mortgage has been paid off (I am in my 50s and have worked full time for about 35 years without a break which is certainly the key reason the money situation is fine). I earned 10x my husband for various reasons not least good exam results and deliberately picking London law as a career.

Just try not to keep increasing lifestyle as income rises and keep anything spare and put it aside

Some great tips here thanks guys gonna go for a few of them

Gingerkittykat how much life insurance do you get when you open a savings account with a credit union? That sounds like a good deal.

I definitely agree with stashing extra money away on pay day. Have a good budget which includes annual expenditures and money for emergencies, clothes, holidays, gifts etc. Save money in (electronic) pots for those and then stash absolutely everything else. I have gone from being married with zero savings, stupid debt and no money put aside for annual expenses so feeling the pressure when those hit each year. To being single with much less household income, having less debt, which is all overpaid, all money for annual expenses safely stored away and savings and all sorted within a year. The pay yourself first principle is the thing that made the difference.

I've found shopping where possible at Lidl saves a significant amount on my weekly grocery shop. I can't get absolutely everything I need there, but if I try to get the majority of my groceries, I save loads each time.

We are in receipt of tax credits, and have a government help to save account. DH & I save £50pm each and earn up to 50% in bonus (you have to not spent at all for 4 years to get the full 50%)

1. Everytime you check your bank account round the amount to either the nearest 5 pound or 10 or 20 pound.

I.e bank acvount balance 456.35
Transfer 1.35 to savings acc

Or 456.35
Transfer 6.35 to sav acc

Or 456.35
Transfer 16.35

Whichever one you do depends on how much free cash you have. If its minimal go with either of the top two.

If you check your account regularly...youll be surprised at how quickly these little bits add up.

Do it in conjunction with a couple of other things

1. Like others have said....pay your savings first. Ideally 10-20% of your income. But any per cent is better than nothing

1. Whenever you get an increase in income. Take 10 / 20 / 30% / 50 etc of that for savings and set up a standing order that way you dont grt used to 100% of money.

Even if its only a small increse in income. I got a 20per month rise. Thats another tenner in savings.

If you get a tax rebate / bonus / a cheque out the blùe...save a percentage of it. Make it a rule that these little wins will always result in a percentage going into the savings

1. Put the savings in 5% interest rate accounts...its only an extra 100 quid ish a year but it adds up.

1. Do topcashback and the few quid you gain from it....transfer to savings.

1. Once youve cutback on the daft Dd's or standing orders...dont cut back further.....earn more...overtime, ebay, change jobs to a better paid one...ask for a rise...but rather than cutting back further and luving miserably...find ways to earn more.

Theres loads of things like that. It all adds up. Good luck.

Watching thread with interest

smoothieoooo

My spreadsheet did the same, but also had a row for dividing the remaining money by the number of days remaining in the month.

So at the beginning of the month I could see I had £7 per day fun money say, but anything I didn't spend got divided by the other days as they wore on. So my mental model was "ok, I can do Sunday lunch using 3 days allowance, but on Weds there's a free film showing. If I live off beans for a week there's a few more quid in the pot next Saturday on Sarah's birthday" etc.

We don't use loans/credit cards for anything - even things like cars! We save up for them. We recently changed DH's car and will put away some each month ready for the next one.

Take lunch to work - sounds trivial but the amount saved adds up.

If you can, save in a stocks and shares ISA (managed funds). You get far more interest that way - thankfully, my husband is quite into looking at where is best to invest.

Try to avoid having to have the latest gadgets - a have decent phones etc. But don't feel the need to constantly upgrade.

We buy things we need but we don't waste money on unecessary things.

We have a nice, comfortable life but we are not overly materialistic. I'm 32 and DH is 51 and lets just say, if I lost my job tomorrow, I wouldn't be worried.

I've got the Plum app too. I'm up to £900 now and I haven't noticed the money.

I've also got a stocks and shares isa. Originally I was putting in £50pm but I've rationalised some bills and I've upped it to £75.

I also have another savings account that I put whatever is left at the end of the month.

I also put extra into our bills account by standing order and that goes into savings.

My friend has referred me for a Monzo amount which does the rounding up to the nearest £1 on transactions and saving that. So my £300 spending money will go on that account and hopefully I'll save s few more pounds that way.

Little and often is the way forward. A few pounds here and there, you don't miss them, next month up it a few more pounds. Before you know it you'll have a nice little pot.

Can you point me in the direction of bank account that rounds up to the next pound and puts it in savings automatically pls?

Plum sounds good but doesn't look like it's available on android. Or if it is I can't find it?!

for little savings every time you genuinely save money put it in a jar
you go to the supermarket intending to spend £1,10 on large wholemeal loaf it is reduced to 74p you have saved 36p ( as you would have spent 1.10) so 36p in jar for birthdays takeaways or whatever
it needs to be genuine savings on what you intend to buy not 2 t shirts for the price of 1 when actually you don't need 1 never mind 2 t shirts
if you get a salary rise you were managing on previous so save the difference or if managing was a real struggle save half the rise
encourage your kids to save say for example you could have an ice cream now at the park but if you don't have ice cream today or tomorrow there will be enough for a comic on saturday

Regular savings, so you live with a given amount less each month.
No subscription tv (probably saves c£250 per year minimum)
Pay off mortgage as quickly as possible, or get good deals and overpay.
Stop being a fashion victim and buying more clothes than you need.

I draw an allowance out of the bank in cash weekly and can only spend cash. If I don't have any money in my wallet I can't spend it. Anything left over goes into a pot and into a savings account at the end of the month.

If I have to pay with my card, I then take that out of my wallet and set aside and withdraw that amount less the next week.

I don't take money or cards out with me unless I'm planning to buy something. Can't impulse buy if you have no money.

Plum sounds good but doesn't look like it's available on android. Or if it is I can't find it?!

You sign up to it via their website and you can manage your account via their chatbot in Facebook messenger. I don't think there's an actual app.

I'm another one who champions local credit unions. I pass mine every time I go into my local town. Sometimes I've nothing in my purse so I don't go in. Other times I have something I can deposit.

Not only am I saving, but I'm helping my community by ensuring the credit union has a surplus that it can use to lend to local people.

This keeps folk in need away from money lenders and pay day loans ( who charge ridiculous i interest rates).

My credit union charges 5 percent on loans and can give savers up to 8 percent on savings.

It's a win win as far as.I can see

We have recently upped pension contributions and mortgage payments and I feel stressed all the time about it. We also move money at the start of the month which does help a lot.

My advice is similar to a PP: increasing what you earn is the most effective way to build savings. When I was earning less I couldn’t save £50 per month let alone anything extra.

Currently OH and I save around £400 (me) and £600 (him) per month, though I recently got a pay rise so I would be matching him if it weren’t for the fact we’re about to take on our first mortgage. We have about £6.5k (me) and £13k (him) saved but £12k is about to go on a deposit. I’ll not have a huge amount left but will keep saving the £400. He’ll be covering furnishing and decorating the house. We’re not married so I don’t really see it as ‘one pot’ if that makes sense even though he says it is.

I transfer the money into savings on payday. But if you don’t have enough to live on and things are tight I find that quite patronising advice. My strategy to build savings was to go for promotions at work, undertake further training (funded by them) to move into senior roles and build my salary. I couldn’t have saved at all prior to going to uni for a profession and getting better paid jobs.

I transfer a set amount every month into my ISA
I sell stuff on eBay n wait until I’ve got a lump sum in my PayPal account to either save or spend
I have my work expenses paid into a separate account which I save to pay for holidays - I don’t miss the odd coffee or car park tickets it soon mounts up
If you have vouchers or nectar points etc treat it as cash so for example if you use £20 of Tesco points towards a pizza - put an extra £20 in your savings

Thecats - I'm going to bite your style so that my table shows the amount of cash available per day ... which will involve brushing up on my Excel skills!

smoothieooo

You need a single cell returning today's date, then set the end of the month (or payday) as a fixed date in each column - I hide the row. Then just subtract one from the other to give the days between! Then just divide remaining balance by days

I loved that one!

Set up a standing order for the amount you want to save whilst still leaving enough for essentials .
Don’t waste money in coffee shops .
Take lunch to work .
Eat really well at home instead of paying over the odds for mediocre food in run of the mill restaurants.
Don’t go to the shops unless necessary and then try to combine the trip with a few other chores.
Meet at friends houses for coffee and a chat and take turns to host .
Buy books from charity shops .
Sign up to cashback websites .
Don’t buy something you’d like the day you see it , go home and have a think about it .
Don’t buy anything on credit cards unless you can pay off the total at the end of the month .
Move your utilities around when the current deal ends for a better price and use cashback websites .
Cancel all paid tv .
Netflix is permitted ( share with a friend ?)
Get the cheapest mobile phone deal you can( sim only can be less than £10 a month)no one needs the latest iPhone .
Buy your children’s clothes out of season in the sales . Buying good brands in the sale means you have a good chance of reselling . The middle class wannabes will go nuts for second hand Boden . Take advantage of this . Ps they have dedicated Facebook pages 😜
If you’d like a new pair of winter boots , keep an eye on sales or place like amazon in May and June . I bought a pair of fly long boots for £35 instead of £120 a couple of years ago and stashed them away . Same for specific winter clothes like coats .
Same for summer shoes - buy in winter .
Grow your own salad leaves in the summer if you have space . The bags are crazy expensive and a packet of seeds costs a couple of ££ . You can get varieties you can cut and they’ll grow again . Kids love this too so win win .
Eat seasonal fruit and vegetables, strawberries in December is just all kinds of wrong and they taste dreadful .
Learn the price of things you use regularly and buy extra when it’s on offer .