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!

@Merrow thank you for the advice about Chase, I'll add them to my list of banks/accounts to check out.

@OakTreesAreTheBest I love the idea of external motivation and seeing the standing order to myself as a "bill". A few others have suggested similar, I'm going to do this.

@RaspberryJamTart they are out of nursery. Thankfully I have no child care costs due to extensive family help. I appreciate your advice, I'm loathed to reduce my pension contributions again because I know I get a lot of benefits with the employer contribution, tax relief and also compound interest over time.

Chase bank gives you 1% cashback on spending and also keeps a separate savings account that “rounds up “ every spend and moves it across automatically. NatWest have a regular saver (150/month) that pays 6.17%.

You lowered your pension contributions, which would have been boosted by 20% tax relief, and would have grown with compound interest to ease your retirement. Then you sank £10,000 you couldn't afford into a fast depreciating asset which will cost you thousands of pounds a year in tax, insurance, maintenance fees and site costs each year. If you used savings to pay for it you are losing interest and liquidity. If you borrowed money for it, its real cost is hugely greater that £10,000 due to the cost of interest on the loan.

That van needs to go ASAP, unfortunately.

I can see that your budgeting is pretty close to the bone already. You are doing good things there, for sure. However, I would suggest that you have a long look at the Mr Money Mustache blog, which might help you fine tune a mindset that will work well with the obvious love and concern that you have for your family.

I really do wish you every happiness.

Op

Youve had some good advice on here but by god you are a long time dead! Do you want to deprive yourself so much in the name of owning your home or a bigger one? You know you can’t take it with you

I feel what is important is being able to pay your bills, have a roof over your head AND have experiences that create lovely lifelong memories

Yes these will sometimes cost you and as a fellow owner I know how much sites can cost but by god they’re much cheaper than hotels - usually £70 for a weekend away, plus fuel and maybe food if you don’t take your own supplies

If you did sell your camper you can still get deals through it is on etc for two night breaks here and there for a decent price. You can also go away to parks and hire a static for £500 a week give or take some.

But would I live frugally for the next five years for the sake of the bigger house then the answer is nope.

you need to add up all your annual expenditure some have been mentioned
car tax, mot service tyres brakes pads etc ( needing new tyres is not an emergency generally it can be foreseen it will happen an emergency would be one having a nail in it 3 weeks after replacement) £600
house insurance and maintenance £300
christmas how many gifts how much on extra food etc ( i would expect pantomine to come out of treat fund) £300
birthdays how many gifts at what price including when your kids get invited to parties could easily be 10 x £10 plus how much you spend on their party £300
school uniform and trips and bags stationery £150
clothes for whole family £600
treats £50 per month £600 I think you need to reduce this but otherwise £1800
holiday £100 =£1200 I think you need to reduce this too otherwise £2400

grand total £4050 ÷12 =337 a month or 6450 ÷12 =537
I have upped clothes as I do not think 360 a year for clothes for a whole family including hair cuts is realistic
once this is added up divide by 12 and set that amount into savings account each month so if it is £300 a month and you know car mot is due that is £55 so 245 goes to savings 55 stays in bill account for MOT
£400 sounds reasonable for food but try and make it include laundry cleaning materials and basic toiletries
I would advise taking your 2900 your basics come to 2290 ( no treats holidays or clothes) ie what you need to survive no fun
does the 2900 include child benefit?
that leaves you £610 before you account for 1/12 of annual stuff which from my guesstimates above is £337 which leaves £270 or only £70 sticks to your original budgets £70 is better than nothing left but I would seriously label your saving pots as it is easier to save for something specific like emergency fund holiday fund new house fund, eventually new car fund
move money into savings the day you get paid
I don't think realistically you can save much on utilities food or phones and I can't say about commuting costs you didn't mention childcare maybe your kids don't need it
overall you're not doing bad but the camper van is a luxury you may not be able to afford

Good idea

I obviously don't know your industry, but would it be worth seeing if you can get a similar role working from home? That would be £200 cut straight off, and it might give you a bit more flexibility on your area for your next move?

Re the van, from what I've heard 10k is actually quite cheap, so is it an older van? I would be really nervous about it breaking, it could scupper your plans so I would personally be selling up in the Spring.

You’re doing well so don’t feel deflated. In your situation I’d sell the van and put the money into an isa . Money box is around 5% atm with an additional .98% for the first 12 months. That’s £600 for a year. Then you can add a nominal amount per month when you get paid. Set it up as a direct debit / standing order so you don’t have to think about it.
It might be worth setting up another bank account with two direct debits and then moving it around for the switch deals? Follow Martin Lewis for available banks. There’s only First Direct atm but I’ve moved to NatWest, LLOYDS and Barclays in the last couple of years. Use TopCashback for any online shopping and refer your family and friends to get the £35 reward. ( this amount changes). You won’t get a huge amount but it all adds up and could be a few hundred annually for Christmas gifts.

I think you’re aware that it’s catastrophic thinking about the flood risk. Plan to stay where you are longer than 5 years. You’re close to family, moving house costs loads in stamp duty, solicitors etc and you’re otherwise happy with where you are. Aim to stay at least until the time to think about secondary school applications, and assess at that point. Ideally your next house move might be to downsize when the DC leave home.

Perhaps check out the zero-based budgeting app YNAB. Many people find it transforms their relationship with money and their priorities, allowing them clarity over what’s most important.

My next door neighbour rents his campervan for £1500 a week on goboony you could do that on weeks you are not using it. He uses his two weeks in August rest of the year it's working that could be £50000 a year, obviously there will be some expenses, and tax to pay.

How much do you think you need to save within 4-5 years?

Is there a plan B? Does it have to be upsizing? Because if you need another £100k that isn’t going to happen on your income, camper van or no camper van!

I do think it's wise to plan to sell well ahead of 2050, but selling in the next 4-5 years to upgrade to a more expensive house is going to make things really hard for yourself. I agree that looking to sell either at the start of secondary school or after the kids leave home is a more realistic goal that will let you live life a bit in the meantime.