Really proud of myself AND kicking myself at the same time

[ladybee28]

I've saved £10,000 since October.

£10,000 blimmin' quid. And I'm really not saying this to brag –I know people have it really tough at the moment.

It's just I've never saved, never even had a savings account, and always thought I was someone who was just 'bad with money'. I always ended up supporting my partners financially any time I had anything spare, and living paycheque to paycheque.

Turns out once you open a savings account, it's quite fun to watch it filling up and I found LOADS of stuff I could stop spending on in order to top up my savings. I felt so good when I saw the numbers adding up that I sat down and properly worked out a budget for the first time ever, and it really made a difference.

I'm really, really proud of myself, AND also unbelievably annoyed – why oh why didn't I start doing this sooner? What a f*&king waste of so many years I could have been putting money aside... and what an IDIOT I was to think I didn't have anything to spare.

I'm only posting this because firstly, I can't tell anyone in my real life right now, and secondly, I wish someone had given me a good kick in the arse 10 years ago to start saving, so I'm hoping this is a little bit of inspiration to anyone in my old shoes.

Congratulations that’s an amazing achievement, especially in such a short space of time! But make sure you make the most of the money as the interest rates are not great at the moment unfortunately

I was like you once and then you get into saving money, paying off mortgages and god knows what else and then onto pensions... it’s a dangerous slippery slope.

And then the exciting world of financial products opens up, isas, stock and shares isas, premium bonds, regular savings accounts, peer to peer lending..... I think you just stepped through the looking glass!

Well done you!

Well done - you should be so proud!

I have saved £3000 in around the same time (am a care worker so not high earner) - cant tell anyone in real life and it's not a brag. I'm 33 and think back to how much I wasted on crap since working from 18 (didnt go to uni) to my mid 20's. We bought a house in 2015 shared ownership which I love but can't help thinking we could have bought a 'normal' house if I had have saved more...

Anyway you cant change the past but enjoying using your money for something well deserved!

Well done OP! Oh I have so many regrets on ridiculous spending habits. I always thought money was simply for spending.
I came into saving simply because I'd broken up with someone and final settlement was 2k so I banked it.
Then I felt the relief of having a buffer and learned from there. I was 26 by then.
The sooner the better really. Sigh.
👍🏻

Well done!
Tell us what you've cut back on!

@Dashel that all still feels quite scary to me–I have a little bit of money in a stocks and shares ISA but I can't add to it any more because I'm no longer tax resident in the UK.

And beyond that it does feel really quite intimidating and complex. I'd love to learn, but I still haven't quite got out of the 'that's not the kind of person I am' mentality. And the sheer amount of information online is just as overwhelming as it is helpful.

Honestly I think if there were one thing I would most benefit from really understanding and feeling confident about, it would be finances. I feel SUCH a weight lifted already and I've only really done one thing!

I wish there were some kind of 'money for beginners' lessons I could take!

And thanks everyone for the high fives – really.I came back really worried people would have thought I was being a dick and bragging in an insensitive way. Means a lot to have people to celebrate with!

That’s amazing, congratulations!
I haven’t even earnt that much in that time.

Well done 👍 that’s a serious amount in such a short space of time.

Yay! It’s great when you start seeing it add up! What’s your plan now? What’s the goal? Or isn’t there one?

@Dailywalk

Yay! It’s great when you start seeing it add up! What’s your plan now? What’s the goal? Or isn’t there one?

Thank you for asking this - it's the big question and one I can't quite get my head around! I don't know!

I think first and foremost the goal is to be able to breathe really easily, knowing I have a nice fat safety net under me.

And then I need to think about what it's all for beyond that point –I've honestly never been specific about 'saving', I just always knew it was something I SHOULD be doing and WASN'T doing....

Saving for retirement sounds like the right idea to me –but does saving for that mean I can't also save for a house? Maybe I'm thinking in all-or-nothing terms and I could actually do both...

I'd love to hear more about how other people make sense of all of this, and WHY.

Personally I'd put everything towards getting on the property ladder, then look at general retirement savings (since a house forms part of your retirement plan anyway).

Some resources, the 'flowchart' from ukpersonalfinance Reddit

flowchart.ukpersonal.finance/

And for a friendly accessible podcast with a UK focus

moneytothemasses.com/podcast

@MLMsuperfan thanks so much for these!

I've been trying to find a good UK podcast for ages - really appreciate the recommendation.

Well done @ladybee28!!
Can I ask how you did it? Did you make a huge effort to cut back or just found you were not spending much because of lockdown?
I have saved around two grand since Oct and have found lockdown has generally curbed my spending habit or not spending things on rubbish / or not being able to account for anything if you see what I mean?

nov, dec, jan & feb so £2.500 each month

well done and how have you done this?

and what were you spending the £2500 on each month before?

Congratulations! I think everyone wishes they had started a bit earlier, but at least you weren't 1/5/10 etc years later.
Meaningful Money is another great UK podcast, plenty of different series focused on different situations so you can start with something relevant

Check out Martin Lewis (The Money Saving Expert) as he did some basic tutorials about money a little while ago. I think they were aimed at teens but I think they are good basic knowledge for anyone really. Well done!

Well done you !

Saving is extremely addictive !

@ivykaty44 – a bit more than that - I started in October, so there's some of September's paycheque in the mix too. So a bit of September, October, November, December, Jan, Feb...

In terms of how I've been doing it, I'm ashamed to say I'm honestly not 100% sure!

I have been working my ASS off, so my income has definitely increased. I wasn't simply spending that amount before and now I'm not

I've stopped driving, which probably makes an impact.

If I had a big one-off project come in (which I did in October), usually the money would sit in my account along with everything else and get frizzled away on eating out, or 'treating' myself to nice skincare or clothes – everything would get a little bit more fancy for a while. It's likeI'd act like I was rich until all the extra money was gone and I was back at my usual level again. Now, all that extra goes into my savings instead.

I basically just don't go shopping anymore I do my grocery shops online, and that's really helped, because I can keep an eye on the total as I shop. In the past I'd just wander around and fill up my basket and whatever happened at the checkout would be a surprise!

And then I'm just slinging whatever I can into that account as often as possible.

If the money isn't in my current account to spend, I don't spend it. But if it IS, I WILL. SO the best way for me to budget is to get it out of sight as soon as I can –and then I'll just find a way to make ends meet with what's left over.

I don't know if that's even vaguely helpful - I wish I was someone who was diligent and specific about these things... but I think it's mostly just doing a really good job of swindling myself out of cash!

Fantastic! A very inspiring post for me as I’m terrible with saving, always been much more inclined to want instant gratification, and have been in a fair amount of debt in the past. However thankfully my DH is very much a saver so we do have savings and a security net.

But I’ve decided I’m done being silly with money, once and for all. So I’ll be working toward my own little nest egg too, whilst still planning to be able to mindfully buy some of the lovely things I want and need.

Well done on that fantastic achievement!👍

Well done 🥳 I recommend Dave Ramsey, check him on YouTube. He has 7 baby steps that you follow, and it's nice to have step by step plan which has really helped me. I am still paying off debt then I will save 3-6 months of expenses in an emergency fund, then save for a downpayment on a house.

Ooh, sorry @Achillislandsands - meant to tag you in the above.

www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/mses-academy-money/content-section-overview

This is a free Martin Lewis / Open University course that you might be interested in OP