Tips for saving a lot

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Trying to keep this one short, but I can share more details if people are interested.

Can anyone share tips for saving up a lot of money?

I struggle because although I earn a decent wage, I don't have a huge amount of disposable income after bills are paid. What I tend to do is save for a while but then splurge. I also struggle because I mostly manage to save by really cutting back on "fun", but then I think "why not treat yourself". For example, I recently spent £10,000 on a second hand campervan because I believe it will really change my family's quality of life and opportunity to make memories together.

Long term, I want to save a big chunk of money for moving house/upsizing. For various reasons, I'll need to move house and area in around 4-5 years, and I want to make sure I have as much as possible to facilitate the move. I'm living in a cheap rural area right now, and I'll need to move somewhere where houses are more expensive.

Ideally I wish I could increase what I earn, for example through a second job or side hustle and then save all that money. But I don't think that's feasible as I can't think of any side hustles, and "proper" second jobs (e.g. bar work) would be difficult to fit in.

OK, this one was longer than I planned!

You could start by selling the campervan and putting the money somewhere you won't touch it.

1. Sell campervan asap.
2. Fix sale money in high interest fixed term account.
3. Give yourself a month to become some level of financially literate by reading and listening to personal finance, folks like Dave Ramsey on Martin Lewis, et cetera.
4. inpersonal finance, folks, like Dave Ramsey or Martin Luis, et cetera.
5. In the meantime post your incoming and outgoings so people can advise

List all possible outgoings and income. Then based on this, make plan on how much you would like to save each month and also allow for monthly fun spending. I am happy with £100 fun spending money. Setting annual target of saving for each year is also helpful. I always transfer the amount I need to save as soon as I get paid, and likewise for the bill. Money left in the current account is for fun spending.

I do prolific survey now and then. It pays for my bus tickets to work and sim only phone bill. Sometimes I also use the monthly interest from savings if needed (under £20).

Campervan is fine as long as you use it a lot and can economically justify keeping it. Does it actually make your holiday cost cheaper?

Thank you. Here is a breakdown per month

• income after tax and pension: 2900
• mortgage: 1350
• commute : 200
• Council tax: 140
• energy: 100
• water: 30
• phones : 20
• food: 400
• national trust: 12
• broadband: 25
• tv license: 13
• treats : 150
• clothes/makeup/hairdressers: 30
• holidays: 200

The treats is mostly a mix of things like takeaways, trips to the pub.

Car insurance, house insurance and AA are paid annually and total approx. £600 per year.

The left over I stick in a pot for savings, but I've struggled to save long term (as described above).

I know selling the van is an obvious thing, and honestly, I do have several things i could sell - and even give up things like the treat fund and the holiday fund.

What I want to know is: is this the only way of doing it - or are there other smart hacks?

I'm a bit hesitant to give up all pleasures for 4-5 years. But maybe this this the only way?

@Marmut I've only just got the campervan, and I'm hoping it will mean we do more things together as a family, cheaply. But I haven't got enough info to know it will reduce holiday costs.

Also I wonder if my problem is not having different "pots" for saving (e.g i don't have an official fun or holiday pot, I just take it out the savings so far. But the figures I provided above are an average from the past year. The same with the insurances, hair, makeup clothes etc).

I don’t actually think you have that much spare money looking at that to be honest. Not with what life throws at you and children

Have multiple accounts in different banks. - it's harder to randomly spend if you don't see the balance every time you log onto your current account.

Set standing order to move money to your savings accounts as soon as you are paid

• savings become another "bill" that is automatically paid rather than requiring a conscious decision.

Maximise savings by moving spare money at end of month to another account

The total of all outcoming per month, including annual insurances, is £2720. No wonder you find it hard to save as the disposable income per month after all of your outcoming is £180.

Unfortunately, I think you need to be more conservative with your spending. I used to avoid lunch/dinner out as a family to cut costs and doing packed lunch with a trip to cafe as it is much cheaper. Can you cut the cost for food? I used to meal plan and planned the meal based on what's on offer (online grocery delivery) and buy treats when they are on offer. Putting money in pots would be helpful.

About the caravan, as long as you use it often, I guess it will probably be worth it. I spend a lot on running shoes, but as I use them to run to work (minimise transport cost) and avoid not paying for the gym, they still save me money in the long run.

Same. Is that one person income or joint. Your mortgage is high for one but manageable for two

Actually think about what you are about to spend money on. Do you need it? (Pub is not a need!) Or is it just a want? Can you get it cheaper by negotiating or getting it elsewhere/buying second hand etc.
but essentially yes, you need to stop spending and start to save. Giving up ‘your pleasures’ is a start.
Not spending it is really the only way to save once it’s earned.

The 200 budget per month for holidays: was that based on spending 2k plus for the year before you got the campervan? If so, I guess that could come down a lot as you can take the van and your self-catering accommodation is basically free apart from pitch fees?

My bank lets you open lots of savings accounts which you can name. At the beginning of each month I put away what I want to save. Once it's in its pot it feels wrong to pull it out to spend on treats or other everyday things.

The best advice I ever received was pay yourself first.

I set up an automatic transfer out of my bank immediately after the pay arrived. I have a couple of things I’ve done, one is a brokerage account, so the money is invested in a fund linked to the American stock market (I’m in the US, so not sure if there’s a similar option in the UK) and the other is transfer money to an online bank account with a higher interest rate.

This money is only in my every day bank account for 5 minutes, so I just don’t count it as an option to spend.

I also have a separate bank account (at my day to day bank) for a travel fund. The money goes there automatically too.

I believe automating savings works for me because if I had to actually do it, I’d probably find excuses and things to spend it on.

I know too many people who've gotten mini vans and camper vans for "cheap holidays".

Sadly, the maintenance always costs a lot more than expected. Then suddenly it's not so cheap.

I'd consider getting rid of the van if you're needing to save a lot and quickly. One issue could cost big time and you'll then struggle to sell it for what you paid.

You could just do cheap holidays in an air BnB similar. Or a cheap static caravan. Without owning a liability that WILL cost money to look after.

What bank is that please?

I have Monzo which allows the same. It also allows you to stipulate when you want it to become available (which can be overridden if needs be but puts a few steps in the way for impulsive spending).

I will say it has really changed my attitude to money. I have a number of pots for all sorts of things and once the money is in there it is separate in my mind. You can also set up virtual cards so that automatic card payments go out of that pot or you can allocate direct debits to be paid from that pot.

m I think there’s a few online banks that offer similar features.

Download the chip app. It uses an algorithm to see your spending and it takes random amounts of money out of your account that you won’t notice, and the interest rate they pay is 4.84% aer, interest is paid monthly. I love it, I save a good £200-£300 a month on it without really noticing it leaving. You can add money directly too, set up saving goals and withdrawal of funds is pretty much instant!

I don’t work for chip, (full disclosure, I have a couple of quid invested in them) but whilst I was sceptical at first I’m actually super impressed with the ease of saving money. Could be worth a shot!

Where in that list is
Buildings and contents insurance
Car maintenance: MOT / service/ tyres etc
car insurance?

You bought the camper van before doing the sums? Capital cost (p.a depreciation), insurance, MOT, servicing, road tax, petrol worked out mpg for the typical journeys you would like to do, campsite fees, gas bottle etc?

Given that you have a specific goal for upsizing, work out how much each year you need to save to reach that goal.

Match that against your real monthly spend plus a contingency.

Put that amount of money in a savings account on payday. Use a fixed term savings account into which you can make payments but not withdrawals before the end of the term.

And look at your emotional / personality impetus behind splurging.

Thank you for all of your replies. I think one thing I haven't done, is really look at my annual outgoings and see how that's averaged over each month (e.g. monthly after mot, holidays, house insurance).

To give some context, I'm a lone parent and I recently bought my first house - so I have high interest rate and high price. But I wanted to get on the housing ladder before it was too late. I was able to save a lot through lockdown due to wfh and 0 communte costs - but we've now been called into the office full time.

I also didn't do any holidays since 2019 (until last year), and during this time my "treat" money was almost 0. My rent was quite a bit cheaper than my mortgage (at £950 per month), although just before I moved the landlord gave notice of putting it to to £1300 per month, which was in line with the market rate for my area.

My ex has also stopped working and paying maintenance (another story). Then you have food price inflation. To save my house deposit I also drastically cut my pension contributions. So at one point I was saving well over £1000 but now it's dwindled to almost nothing. I could cut my pension contributions again, but I don't know if I want to.

@TempleOfBloom building, content and car insurance is in the £600 annual figure I quoted, but I didn't account for mot, tyres, repairs etc. You're right. Thank you for all the practical advice.

@Shaunthesleep I bought the camper because I found the cost of airbnb during school holidays terrifying, but you're right about the "hidden" costs of the van.

Thank you everyone who has suggested the various account and savings options, I'm going to check these out.

@ToriTheStoryteller the £200 was what I spent last year, so I'm assuming the same spend this year. I hope it will be less.

The camper van is 66 months of your treats budget, or 5.5 years. But you can only hope that it reduces your holiday spending as you don't know?

I'm truly shit with money but a big £10K spend like that without costing it out seems self-sabotaging. Can you sell it for a similar amount now?