To ask you how to save money

[rainbows93]

I am absolutely terrible with money, I will admit it.

If I have it, I'll spend it but I'm ready to get myself out of debt and start being sensible.

Any tips, tricks etc on how to save money would be great, any apps you use etc.

Thank you

Take the saving out first. You get wages, you move x amount into saving account. The rest use as usual

I set myself weekly goals on how much I can afford to spend. Every Saturday, if I have anything left over from that goal, I put it straight into my savings. It means I have something to focus on, and putting away a weekly target gives me an incentive to keep close track of what I’m spending.

I’ll also put a lump sum straight into savings when I get paid. So my weekly top-ups are like an extra bonus.

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Take the saving out first. You get wages, you move x amount into saving account. The rest use as usual

This us what we do.

We have an account just for hills that we pay a big chunk into, I transfer £1,000 into savings account (have to put in that much every month to get the good interest rate), transfer Back whatever is needed into the bills account so the excess stays in the savings account

Take a look at money saving expert which is full of really helpful advice. They have a budget spreadsheet which you can download which is pretty handy to figure out where your money is going and so many tips.

When things are tight here or I'm on a savings mission I tend to set myself a weekly budget for anything other than rent/utilities etc. I take out that amount in cash and that is it, I always found it helpful in cash as it's not an abstract amount sitting in the bank. It's amazing how much the odd coffee out adds up. Having said that there's also some slightly less low tech options, it's worth checking out accounts like monzo which will allow you to properly track your card spending and many have some neat savings tricks (e.g. Rounding up to the pound every time you buy something and popping that money into a savings account).

Good luck! It's a great feeling saving money for a change and once you get into the habit becomes easy.

YNAB, You Need a Budget. www.youneedabudget.com/

I've been using it off and on for years, and got into it hardcore this year. I don't think I'll ever stop. It's amazing.

They have a YouTube channel too. I really recommend checking it out.

I have my checking account automatically transfer €50 every week to a savings account. I then try to not touch the savings but stretch the checking through the end of the month.
It works really well. Twice I have built up €1000 that I then transfer to a high interest rate premium account where I keep my emergency cash savings. But if you were paying off debts, it means each month you could knock the debt down by €200 or so.

If you are about to impulse buy something, wait 3 days. If you still want it in 3 days time you probably actually wanted it, if you don't, then it was just a passing whim and you've saved that money,

I have been using plum for two years they now have apps, it is an automatic savings bot and you can set the scale of how you want to save such as shy, balanced or beast mode(as much as poss).There are other apps but I don't know their names.
I cleared off some debt with that plum too and now have a good attitude to saving in various ways. Do you receive working tax credit? There is a government savings initiative 50p for every pound you put in.

First things first is get rid of any useless direct debits and change at least one spending habit. Such as reduce or stop take outs of some form be it coffee or food. Over time with some form of savings and getting used to not spending on certain things you will be encouraged and it won't be so difficult.

Cancel all direct debits that aren't essential.

Insurance, rent, mortgage etc - essential

Sky tv, music streaming, gyms etc - bin it.

Really look at what's important. Maybe keep one streaming service but you don't need three. Stop take out coffees. Remove shopping apps from your phone so you don't impulse buy shit you don't need. Cancel amazon subscription.

I have 4 accounts because otherwise I am poorly disciplined!

Main account: wages in, personal bills paid from like gym membership and phone.

Bills account: with my partner, we both transfer our share into this account on payday.

Savings account: transfer a fixed amount on payday.

Personal spending account: transfer a fixed amount on payday. This is to cover my fuel, coffees, lunches out with friends, clothes etc.

The trick for me for getting it to work was two things:

1. Make the amounts realistic and achievable.

I was always trying to save larger amounts each month, leaving myself £200 to spend on fuel and coffee, running out in 2 weeks, then decided “fuck it” and transferring my savings back and spending them too! So I was trying to save £500 per month and just never managing. Now I target £300 per month and give myself extra on the personal spending. It’s now just about the right amount to cover my day to day costs and the odd treat or two. If I run out it’s usually 2/3 days before pay day and my mindset is “only a couple of days to wait for a top up” so it’s much more achievable.

1. Have an unexpected bills fund. Myself and partner put £100 per month extra into our bills account so that we can dip into it for random expenses come up. So far this year that’s covered us for a boiler repair, a new dishwasher and a new car battery when I needed one. If I had tried to cover these from my “spending” account I would have run out of money and gone back to the “fuck it” attitude for that month. This also applies to yearly expenses such as insurances, TV license. The amount that goes into our bills account is not just the sum of our monthly direct debits.

Oh and I also have a Moneybox roundup account. This attaches to my other accounts, looks at every recent transaction and rounds it up to the nearest pound, putting the pence in an ISA.

Currently up to £1500 doing this!

Write down your bills mortgage, council tax, utilities etc. See what is left over from what you get paid, then plan on putting a sum away as soon as you get paid. The best way to do this is in a regular saver account that is difficult to access.
Also, as pp noted have a look at what DD are going out such as tv packages, are you on the best mobile contract? Can you see use Uswitch or such to see if you can save on utilities?

Look at The Budget Mom website. American but lots of tips on how to budget, get yourself out of debt etc

Transfer the money straight across after you get paid into savings and don't touch it. Withdraw money for your treats as cash each week. Once its gone its gone. Also in the current climate it's not hard to recognise the importance of having savings. That should really be encouraging enough for anyone who is currently frivolous to be more sensible with their money.

I do that @aLilNonnyMouse it really works! I've just taken delivery of a beautiful jumper that I've been looking at for 2 weeks, the additional bonus is that it was originally £69.95 and was reduced to £19.95 on the John Lewis website!

I went on a CAP money management course and learnt how to budget and how to make saving a priority. Now I put money into premium bonds every month and rarely withdraw them.

I just don't spend it.
Once I was terrible with money when I was about 18 with no responsibilities. I spent the lot, and was earning considerably.

A few suggestions:

Go on money saving expert. It’s a great (and free) resource. The first thing you need to do is make a budget, and MSE has a good template. If you are brave, post your incomings and outgoings on the debt free wannabe board. Use the advice on mse to get your existing debt as cheap as possible and cut your outgoings.

Every day, write down what you spend (discretionary/semi discretionary, using cash or debit card, not bills etc) it works well if you write down what you expect to spend (say you know there’s a leaving collection at work, you’re meeting a friend for drinks etc) then at the end of the day write down what you actually spent. This is an eye-opener.

Get the book The Complete Tightwad Gazette. Last time I recommended this someone criticised me saying ‘all money-saving tips are free’. That may be true, but money-saving tips are one thing, a change of mindset is quite another. The book is American and dated, but it’s invaluable as a mindset-changing tool. It’s also well written and very entertaining. No other money saving book comes close.

All of the above, plus I try and have a few no-spend days each week (meals are planned and bought already). Go through your wardrobe before buying anything new –I can guarantee you'll have clothes you've forgotten you own. The campaign to end fast fashion asks you to only buy something new if you know you'll wear it 30+ times.

I became more mindful of my spending when saving for a deposit and it really helped shift my mindset. I used a spreadsheet back then, but I think Monzo and similar do the same now. Sounds a bit lame, but it was really satisfying looking back over the month and seeing I'd only spent x amount and still had a good month.

I'd go back through a few months' worth of bank statements and tot up how much you've spent on coffees / clothes / takeaways / beauty stuff (plus the DD as recommended above). Then work out where you can cut things out.

Put a set amount into your savings on payday - do it via direct debit so that you can't forget and it happens automatically.

Have a look through all your direct debits/subscription services and cancel anything unnecessary. If you have NowTV, for example, you can go to unsubscribe and they'll offer you everything for half price for a few months. I've never ever paid full-price for their services for more than a couple of months a year

See if you can save money on things like phone contracts, broadband packages and energy bills. Have a look on price comparison sites and have a look on your account settings for everything and see if there's any way to make savings. I recently saved £10 a month on my mobile bill by reducing the amount of internet I had, for example.

Take lunches to work and don't buy things like takeaway coffees etc. I used to spend a fortune on Costa, for example - it was over the road from work and just convenient. I've saved probably £60 a month since I left that job just on coffee alone!

The other thing you can do is at the end of each week/month, put any spare pennies into savings. So round your account down to the nearest "whole" number and put everything else in savings. At the end of the month, you can also put anything left into savings so you just have your salary in your current account for the month.

Where do you spend your money OP?

Depends on your income and what you spend money on .
If you can , transfer a set amount to a savings account when you get paid .
You need to train yourself to be a saver and the more you see in savings the easier it will become. Some things I do
Use topcashback for all online purchases and refer your friends and family when they offer an incentive . It’s not much for it all adds up .

Shop around for the best deal for insurances etc

Change WiFi providers at the end of your term and use topcashback to get £100 ish every time

Use camel camel camel to track prices on amazon, useful if there’s something you’d like but don’t need immediately eg Christmas presents .

Buy children’s clothing in places like Boden in the sale for your children to grow into. If you don’t have anyone to pass it onto , sell it . Buy things like coats and boots out of season for a fraction of the price and buy the best you can afford. Leather boots which can be reheeled will save you money in the long run

Good quality leather bags which will last for years

Charity shops for books and games

Share books with friends

Don’t be tempted by coffee and cake when you’re out and about . Buy an entire cake and invite a friend over instead.

Have one quality lunch or meal out a month instead of lots of cheapy ones

Buy good quality food to cook at home

Make a journey worthwhile . Eg make a list of things you need to do in the same area and do it all at once . Good use of your time too

If you have a garden , try growing your own soft fruits and salad leaves etc . Cut flowers from seeds . You may not save a lot of money but you won’t have time to spend it either 🤪

Wash your car yourself

Clean your own windows

Buy a good quality phone outright and get a sim only deal . Keep it for as long as you can .

Your children don’t need more than two pairs of shoes at any one time and wellies . They don’t need a lot of clothes either especially when they’re at school.

Choose good quality furniture you love and keep it for ever , same applies to other household items . Cushions , curtains etc should last years . Don’t change things because of the colour 😱

Spend your money on things that bring you joy. For me it’s good food , plants for the house and garden , beautiful art, antiques , books especially books on gardening and plants. Riding , music , tutoring lessons for my children.

Don’t buy stuff on a whim , have a think about it and if you still want it in a week, buy it . If it’s gone then it wasn’t meant to be .

Work out how much debt is actually costing you for encouragement to pay it off and think about what it would be like to be mortgage free. Also read 'your money, your life' by Vicki Robin for a mindset change www.amazon.co.uk/Transforming-Relationship-Achieving-Financial-Independence/dp/0143115766

I have recently become so determine to be financially secure and this may sound weird but I now get more of a buzz paying off of my mortgage than I do buying a new dress. I have a spreadsheet to work out the positive impacts of additional payments and how much quicker I can pay it back. Makes me want to spend less on non-essentials.

When you’re cooking something like pasta sauces , double or triple the ingredients and freeze it for the nights you can’t be arsed to cook. Same for soups which make great lunches for work.