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Original poster

Motivating stories of money saving...

53 replies

Buddy80 · 26/01/2015 12:04

I am 6-months into money saving. So far we have downsized our house (a much smaller rental, closer to everything), got rid of one car and cut back a lot (meal planning, selling un-needed stuff).

We are doing well and the savings are starting to show...a trickle effect. We are saving for a deposit on a house, that's our main goal.

Thought we could share our stories and it may help keep some of us motivated. I know for a lot it's a necessity but wanted to make this a happy thread.

OP posts:
ememem84 · 28/02/2015 18:49

I lost this thread for a while....

have cancelled sky. on 12 March, no more sky tv for me. this will save us about £50 a month. we've instead gone for amazon prime, and will probably also get netflix.

discovered that i have over £6k sitting in pension pot from my old employer, so have transferred that over to new pension. doesn't help my savings for house, but it'll be there when I'm old!

i'm learning to love my freezer. its almost empty at present, but will be heading to iceland during the week, for frozen veggies as am running out, and have started buying fresh veggies from our local market. way better value than supermarket.

need to stock up on meat etc for freezer too, so may head to M&S to see whether they have any decent offers (usually 3 for £10 on most things).

Original poster
Buddy80 · 16/03/2015 06:09

We have really kept track of our spending and after 5-months after moving to a much cheaper house, we are on track to save £800 this month!!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Buddy80 · 16/03/2015 06:09

That is this month alone. So, it looks like it took a while to get started. I hope to do even better next month.

OP posts:
catherinemm · 16/03/2015 19:37

Can I join? I'm main income earner and am just heading back to work following (an almost entirely paid maternity leave). This month I won't earn anything so need to be really frugal and soon I want to cut hrs a bit so we will need to save . . . I've done quite well selling on eBay recently (£80 for a chair we didn't actually like amongst other things) - made over £250 so far this year, we are good at not wasting food which is good because my DH feels very strongly about buying organic / higher welfare meat which is expensive - I agree it does taste better and DH is a great cook and inventive with cheaper cuts, we could do better with avoiding coffees out and I'm going to need to be very mindful of lunch spending when I go back to work

Original poster
Buddy80 · 17/03/2015 08:05

Well done catherinemm on your eBay selling, that is a good amount!

OP posts:
Munchkin08 · 22/03/2015 13:05

Hi can I join.

Proud I do the same - write out a shopping list and start crossing things off I can do without and eventually don't need to go shopping - just stop at the garage to get milk, it saves me about £40 Smile

ememem84 · 29/03/2015 17:37

update from me:

sky has gone and I barely miss it. Netflix has been set up, and is totally ruining my social life (but am not spending so that's a bonus).

we've been taking pack ups to work every day, so are winning the lunchtime battle! and have been walking to work as and when the weather allows it.

proudmummywife · 30/03/2015 14:47

How much do You spend on a weekly shop? We low money this month as just moved into our new house.

babygiraffe86 · 30/03/2015 15:02

Hi People ,

hoping you'll let me in too :)

been in our first house 1 year this month, bought it on the help to buy scheme - which gives us 4 years to pull together £30,000 to pay back the government loan before we start paying interest on it. I've broken this down into 100 lots of £300 as that seems so do-able! Already got 3 lots of this and only started the proper saving from Jan payday :)

Original poster
Buddy80 · 31/03/2015 07:02

ememem84 Netflix is so good.

Baby we are looking to go with the Help to Buy Scheme (hopefully around Christmas). Congrats on your home!

We have done a bit better this month in savings, it is helping me stay really motivated. Our tenancy is nearly up and the landlord wants us to sign for another year. Just more motivation to get a place of our own.

OP posts:
ememem84 · 31/03/2015 07:09

We don't weekly shop much.
I'm spending £100 per month (ish) on food/house bits. We bought a proper freezer a while back and I'm learning to love it. It's running down at present but will fill up again on Thursday when I big shop.

We decided in jan to eat less meat. This I think has helped. We eat meat maybe twice a week, but nicer stuff. From the butchers if I'm actually eating it as meat (steak, chicken breast iyswim...if it's being slow cooked or turned into something -spag Bol etc ill supermarket it...)

More veggies and beans/pulses.

babygiraffe86 · 31/03/2015 09:09

buddy Good luck with it - we got a new build and though I swore I never would have one I love it :) and after renting for 6 years it's wonderful to just know its 'all mine' (in a 20% loan and 75% mortgage kind of way haha)

ememem We have found that proper cuts from the butchers seem to work out so much cheaper as for 2 of us i can use 1 butchers chicken breast yet would use a whole supermarket pack of them!

proud we spend probably about £50 if i stick to a meal plan for the week, both of us bring lunches to work which is usually a sarnie, yoghurt, fruit and a hard boiled egg or something simiar. our butchers do weekly offers so usually get 6 chicken breasts for £5, 4 burgers for £2.50, some sausages and some mince. it's not our closest butcher but the savings are worth the 10 min drive.

ememem84 · 31/03/2015 22:34

Walked past greggs today and had a craving for a sausage roll.

Came home made dinner. Then set about making sausage rolls. I now have 24 (there were 27....) sausage rolls freezing in my freezer. Ready for lunch boxes.

Also made some veggie curry pasties. Also frozen.

And mini quiches.

Today was a pastry day evidently.

Have also just sent dh to the shop he spent £60. And did some price checking for me. Have ordered 300 teabags (?) from amazon. Waaay cheaper than the shop. Had to do some maths but 80 twinning a camomile work our at 4.9p per bag in coop. On amazon 3.9p. It sounds like nothing... But it's cheaper. And I have free prime. And I've never ordered groceries from them...

babygiraffe86 · 01/04/2015 10:12

Ooooo I'm intrigued by the teabags thing,
I've discovered a new love for Twinnings English breakfast as its the only one I can drink black and for some reason I've gone off milk lately.
Will give them a try.

Baking day sounds lovely, but like you I can never not eat what I've just made - fresh out of the oven cheese scones with lurpack anyone?

I get paid weekly every Thursday (nightmare) so last week I took £60 cash out, put £15 in the car for commuting. just checked my purse - and have still got £9.87. Not too sure what I've bought all week but know its Grannys 80th Birthday and her presents are bought and I've eaten all week :)

If I can live on the £60 a week, especially with having some left over - then will be well on the way towards saving :)

ginorwine · 28/05/2015 08:10

I've been ironing all my clothes so that they look nice so don't buy more .
Meal plan .
Gone cold turkey with going into town !

Does anyone know what veg I could grow in tub please - tried last year - slugs had it not us !!! I was thinking spinach ?
Keep going !!!

MTWTFSS · 28/05/2015 17:24

Small changes= big savings over time:

Such as, I used to buy:
Walkers Crisps (12)- £2 (once a week)
Bodyform sanitary towels- £1 (3 a month)

That works out as £140 a year.

I now buy:
Tesco Value crisps (12)- 66p (once a week)
Tesco Value Sanitary towels- 15p (3 a month)

That works out as £39.72 a year... saving £100.28 a year.

I am aware this is not a massive amount, but I am surprised just switching 2 items in my shopping basket could make that much of a difference in a year.

CunfuddledAlways · 29/05/2015 13:34

Could I recommend cloth sanitary pads? They cost more to start off with but soon pay for themselves, I have saved so much now I have been using them a few years it's only washing costs now and as I wash with my other clothes it's minimal

S0mmerHuset · 29/05/2015 14:00

Great thread, I have really enjoyed reading it!! I pmd you my story as it's identifying, but I'm a big supporter of saving!

S0mmerHuset · 29/05/2015 14:06

I'm motivated to save for an extension now!

MostAmused · 29/05/2015 14:07

Would love to join this thread. We're saving for our house. I've just downloaded You Need a Budget and it looks like we're on track to save £400 this month. Then once other debts are out the way we'll be saving around £700 per month for 5 years and we'll have a good chunk of cash for a deposit. It's quite difficult to get DP on board though. He's terrible with money. So I think I'll need to try and change the whole way he thinks about it.

Original poster
Buddy80 · 31/05/2015 16:32

Cunfuddledalways yep totally agree on the cloth sanitary wear. I bought a set of cloth sanitary pads about 6-years ago (paid £22) and they have been brilliant and more than made their money back. If I am honest, a lot more comfortable too as they don't fold themselves in half whilst wearing Smile.

We were making really healthy strides into the deposit saving but decided to divert the money to credit card bills instead. Oh yes, it was painful to see the savings go back down to zero. But, in a couple of months, the £650 a month we were paying on credit card bills can go into savings. Plus it will fare better when making our mortgage application if we can put a fat 0 next to the credit card column on the application form. That's if we ever get there, just got to keep saving.

For us, it's really looking and asking "do I need this?". I saw a really good stamp for putting names onto clothes. Only £20. But I already have labels that I can sew on. Small things like that, I guess.

I have been getting more books out of the library and also looking at free courses. We took a bike to a Repair Cafe, which saved some money Here.

On a big scale, we have agreed if the car "dies", we will do without one.

OP posts:
YaTalkinToMe · 31/05/2015 16:41

www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/demotivator/ I love this tool!

YaTalkinToMe · 31/05/2015 16:46

Oh and the below always kept me motivated, although it was a few years ago so figures may have changed and I never checked it out for complete accuracy.

For every £1 not put down as a deposit
will cost you £2 in mortgage payments
You will have to earn £3 to cover the £1 not put down at deposit.

Original poster
Buddy80 · 31/05/2015 17:47

YaTalkinToMe love that! Smile

OP posts:
CountryLovingGirl · 02/06/2015 14:54

Hi,

Can I join too?

I really need to cut back as I do tend to spend more than I need to. I buy my children (11 and 7) more clothes than they need (always) and I am really trying to cut back.
We were abroad last week, for a holiday, but I intend on cutting down now. I did buy the eldest a few pairs of shorts from Primark before we went and they were £3 or £3.50 a pair. He should be able to wear them throughout the summer so not too bad. I tend to stock up on clothes in the sale (at the next size up) from Asda/Sainsbury's but I buy more than they need so it defeats the object of saving money.
I second the cloth sanitary pads. I have been using mine a few years now and love them. I only buy disposable's if I am going on holiday.

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