How to be a good saver? Tips needed!

[chchcherry]

A bit of background first ..

I am about to return to work full time after a wonderful 9 months off with my first DC. I am lucky enough that my DP has mainly supported us financially all the way through my maternity leave as I was only entitled to SMP.

i am going to be straight here, please don’t judge, but I am ashamed to admit that I have never been a saver where money is concerned and never really needed to be (gifted deposit for house etc). So have been lucky to get on the property ladder with a massive leg up off the parents. I have never saved for holidays abroad, i have always paid them off monthly. The only thing I actually save up for is my car insurance which is only about £450 a year. I have always enjoyed my money and spent it on pretty much what I like.. nails, hair, clothes, going out, etc.

however, since my DS was born I am a changed woman.. I’m no longer interested in going on nights out, buying clothes, having my nails done etc. My main priority now is having a good chunk of savings behind me, saving for DS future, and saving for holidays/weekends away/experiences for our family to enjoy.

after my half of the mortgage, bills, loan for new kitchen, and car (pcp), mobile phone, food shop and petrol are paid I am left with about £1000 disposable income a month to myself. Am I being too ambitious to think I can put most of this into savings every month? DP doesn’t think I can do it and thinks I will miss getting my hair and nails done and buying new clothes etc. But I haven’t done these things since DS was born due to change in priorities and not having time. And I certainly won’t have the time when I return to work!

I was thinking of transferring £600 directly into my savings account on pay day then the remaining £400 budgeting myself to £100 a week for anything we might want to do in the evenings/weekends? And if I don’t spend it then shove whatevers left into my savings too? Do you guys think this is doable? DP thinks I’m crazy. I know some months will be more expensive than others with birthdays and Christmas etc. Does anyone use any apps like YNAB? Someone recommended that to me and she said it changed her life.

btw, once we have paid mortgage and bills etc DP & I have our own separate disposable income to do what we want with. So the £1000 left over is mine and he has roughly the same.

Yes. Treat savings as another bill that has to be transferred. Set up a payment for payday every month. You can tweak the amount after a few months if you find £100 a week is not enough or too much.

If you really want to be serious then get over to MSE Forum for all the hints and tips.you will ever need.

Virtually all of my disposable money each month now goes into savings.

Some of it goes into accounts that won't be touched. Others into accounts that are for things like big bills (car etc) or holidays and can be accessed if a big bill arrives unexpectedly.

My 'spendies' that I leave myself each month in my current account used to be spent but now I typically transfer most into savings account as I prefer to save rather than fritter it away.

What I am trying to say is I move most money into savings accounts on the day I get paid. This makes me think very carefully if I really want to move it back to spend on something.

It can definitely be done.

I use YNAB and have for years now. I love it, makes budgeting really easy and helps to see savings grow. Some aspects of it can be a bit complicated but there are loads of tutorials on you tube. They also do 34 days free so you can try it out.

Tips I use for saving money

1. Put a chunk into savings right away

1. Don't buy anything impulsively. If you see something you want put it in your on line basket but you wait a few hours before purchasing (preferably the next day)

1. Have different 'pots' Some for gifts, holidays etc. on YNAB you can set goals for how much you want to save and it's really motivating to see the pot grow

1. I never withdrawal cash as I would fritter it away. Much better for me to use contactless.

Once you have savings it feels great to know that if the shit hits the fan you have options, it's very freeing.

I set a yearly budget for predictable costs like insurance, Christmas, birthdays, etc. and put 1/12 in to pots for each month. So say car costs are £600 a year, you'd put £50 per month in. That means I can also budget a consistent amount of savings and put that in an ISA which is difficult to get money out of once I have an easy access one with enough spare for emergencies like the boiler goes. It's hard to start but once you're going it's pretty easy to maintain.

I would suggest the following

1
Join your employers pension
You may find that your employer adds free contributions
The tax is also added for free into the pot
Or
If you are self employed, start a pension

2
Save for emergencies

3
Save for something specific

4
Look at money saving expert website

5
Save into ISA tax free