How do I save money??!!

[ReginaaPhalange]

As the title suggests, I'm mid 30s with zero savings of my own. My DH has some savings which if either of us needed access to merge ch funds, we would be ok for a small amount.

I want to start saving my own money! We have a joint account where bills and salaries are paid and each month we take a fixed sum each and transfer it into our accounts. DH earns considerably more than me but takes the same amount of fixed money as me each month.

He can save. I can't! I buy clothes and make up just for the sake of it cause the money is there!

What are your best tried and tested ways to save? I have started the "round up" option on my bank so it rounds up my transaction to the nearest pound and puts that into a separate pot.

I want savings cause we are TTC and I want to save for maternity leave etc

Just don’t go to the shops or shops online.
When you want to buy something think about the opportunity that money could give you instead. E.g I could spend £15 on this top or have the £15 to put towards more time off or nursery stuff when you conceive.

Think of saving like a debt - so owing your savings account £50 per month for example. Set up a DD, so it goes out as soon as you get paid.

Transfer a set amount to your savings account on the day you are paid. That way the money is gone from your current account and can’t tempt you. Set an ambitious target to achieve - you can always transfer a little back of you are short towards the end of the month. Enjoy seeing your savings pot grow each month and feel proud. TTC is a great motivator to save for. Good luck.

Start a fixed rate regular saver account and set up a standing order of £100 per month or wherever you can afford into it. When it matures it will leave you with the makings of a rainy day fund. They usually pay the best interest because the amount you can put in is limited, and they often don't allow withdrawals until maturity.

I have only been able to save since I discovered how easy it is to set up multiple savings pots on my online banking. I now have household savings, Xmas and birthdays, personal savings and another with slightly higher interest rate that is limited as to how much I can put in.

I just put amounts in each as and when I can, and have the mindset then of just not considering those accounts, if that makes sense. I put money in them and then that money is off the table and I just go by what's left in my current account.

It's that mindset that really clinches it for me.

Oh and any bonuses or overtime go straight into savings, that's another rule I've set myself.

Read the thread on here somewhere, it’s in reverse the woman earns more, joint account the same is allocated for spends each month, she saves some, her husband spends his (although he actually tries to borrow from her) but you’d get the idea how frustrating it is for her, especially if you’ll both need to finance maternity at some point.

I save by waiting for 48 hours before buying something, I then know if I need it or just want it, pretty much every time I don’t purchase it after that time.

You need to transfer out your savings the day you get paid. I keep a set amount each month in my current account for every day expenses. I transfer £100 into a separate account each month and I use that for annual expenses like car insurance, car tax etc (£1200 over the course of the year covers all of those expenses). And the rest gets saved in premium bonds.

There are months when I don't use all the money in my current account which I keep for everyday expenses and so sometimes I'm able to put a bit more into savings the next month.

It really helps me to have those annual expenses saved up and paid out of a different account. Then I know that the money I have in my current account is just for day to day things and I know how much I roughly need for those each month. I'm not trying to think about what bills are due to come in when I'm deciding how much to transfer to savings

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4239829-To-think-I-ve-made-a-big-mistake-in-suggesting-to-pool-our-money

Put your savings money aside as soon as you take your allocated funds from the joint account each month.
I’m exactly the same, always end up with zero a few days before payday because I always find things to spend it on. But I have a huge pot of savings because I take that away as soon as I get paid and it’s in a 90 day account with Moneybox so it gets a higher interest rate and I have to give them 90 days notice to access it so I’m not tempted to dip into it.

Like a PP said, transfer it straight to savings on payday. Treat it as a bill. Set up a standing order so it’s gone before you even check your online banking.

Spend what you don’t save
Don’t save what you don’t spend

I agree with the above posts - I only really started saving successfully when I 'paid myself first' - so transferred an amount to savings on payday then the rest was for me to spend. Saving what was left over at the end of the month was never successful for me as I would always have spent it!

Another successful strategy was to always transfer a portion of any additional money to savings (bonuses, pay rises, tax refunds etc etc).

My savings come out of my account and into a savings account the day I get paid. Once you get started it becomes highly addictive to see your savings grow.. far more addictive than buys unnecessary items.

Thanks all for the replies so far! I will add £100 a month (for now) to my savings account the day we get paid. I will also keep with the "round the pennies up" feature that I've got too!

Let's hope I can build these savings up and get addicted to it lol!!

I also put away the savings first. Whatever is left for fun spends, I divide into weekly amounts. Before I started this, I would use up my 300 for the month by the end of week 2 and then dip into my savings, whereas 75 a week seems to do me just fine and no need to dip into savings towards the end of the month

@Jenjenn I'm thinking or giving myself a set amount each week too. We are both WFH and when I do need to go into the office I can walk, so not spending on petrol. Our weekly food shop is about £80 but we split that so £40 each. I think I could give myself £100 a week and still put a good amount into savings.

One thing I do which is effective is put money into a building society account which I can only access with a book. Therefore I can't impulse buy.

He can save. I can't! I buy clothes and make up just for the sake of it cause the money is there!

Then you know where the problem is and what you need to do!

If you are ttc then stop buying clothes until you start needing bigger ones and then set a budget and stick to it, just getting what you need when you need it.

If you can, you might skim another 20-30 off the weekly amount and set aside for slightly bigger spends like for example a coat, trainers, very fancy meal out,

@Jenjenn I don't want to skint myself to the point I take from savings. Definitely going to do baby steps but work hard to build up some savings!!

I worked out a budget for spending each month and I transfer that amount to a Monzo card each month. So my main current account is only for salary in / bills out. I transfer out my spends to Monzo on payday. I accounted for all my bills coming off and the difference I transfer into savings - on pay day too so it is not missed. I only ever use my Monzo for day to day spending.

[quote ReginaaPhalange]@Jenjenn I'm thinking or giving myself a set amount each week too. We are both WFH and when I do need to go into the office I can walk, so not spending on petrol. Our weekly food shop is about £80 but we split that so £40 each. I think I could give myself £100 a week and still put a good amount into savings. [/quote]
You need to change your mindset, giving yourself a set amount per week implies that you are going to spend it regardless of whether you actually need to.

Why not start from the position that you don't need to buy anything that's not absolutely essential for a few months.

Your post implies you spend £60 every week on top of food, what kind of things are you buying?

Simple rule - you buy something when you have run out of it. With the exception of underwear and socks, on that basis you will probably never need to buy any clothes again.

Same for makeup which is just over priced face paint anyway.

Shopping is a chore,not a hobby.

You also need six months living expenses stashed.

@BelleBlueBell honestly? Absolute shite! Make up, clothes, takeaways and now dinners out....

[quote ReginaaPhalange]@BelleBlueBell honestly? Absolute shite! Make up, clothes, takeaways and now dinners out.... [/quote]
There you go then, stop buying stuff you don't need