To ask what you do to save money?

[time4change2020]

DP and I are gonna go try to overhaul our finances next year. We currently have no savings behind us and I would like a bit of a safety net to fall onto if we need to.

This year has been particularly hard financially and I've finally said that it's time to change.

What do you do to save money?

The biggest eye opener for me that really made me change my spending habits was to sit down and work out our annual budget. So, 12 months of post tax income, less the annualised monthly fixed costs and variable amounts (eg food shop, clothes etc). The "excess" that we should have had left over was horrifying because I used to get to the end of every month with nothing left - seeing how much money we were actually wasting was the kick up the arse we needed to get on top of things.

I do a Martin Lewis trick of multiplication to understand how much little things really cost you, eg :

Latte : £2.50.
Latte every workday : £12.50 per week, multiplied by 47 working weeks per year = £587.50 per year on coffee.

Honestly? I live cheap. Look at your spending. Do you pay much for things like haircuts, beauty products, makeup? Are you a member of a gym or paying for classes?

Just.... don't.

I get my hair cut about once or twice a year, cheaply. Ask around and you can often find people who come to your house - they tend to be inexpensive as you aren't paying for the costs of a salon.

You don't need to join a gym. You can go running for free, lots of parks have outdoor gym machines, and you can swim in public pools occasionally for a lot less than a membership. Classes eg yoga etc are terrifically expensive - get a good DVD and practise at home.

If you are paying for eyebrow threading, learn how to pluck your own with tweezers. Paint your own nails etc etc.

Don't by brand new cars or anything on finance. Get a 3 or 4 year old car (at best) of a reliable non premium marque - Mazdas and Toyotas run well for years, Fords are also good value.

Buy fresh ingredients & cook from scratch.

Don't spend money constantly fiddling with your home decor. You don't need a farrow &
Ball navy blue feature wall, it will be out of style next year anyway.

I'm always by how many people i know drizzle away money constantly on this stuff. Never buy stuff on the spot. Always wait a day or two. Really think about if you actually need it, for every purchase you make

Agelikewine where are you getting a latte so cheap 😲 £3:50 round my parts

Ivykaty44

It was a guess. I would never dream of spending £2.50 a day every day on coffee, never mind £3.50!

Im going to add if you have the opportunity for payrise, bonus, overtime, second or multiple jobs
Save this extra money

(Eating yellow sticker fruit loaf 22 pence )