Savings

[KittenCatt]

After buying a house, I’d like to replenish my savings in case of an emergency etc.

I can afford to save £100 a month from my wage, is there anything else I can do to save money?

I currently have £11 in savings, so any help will be greatly appreciated!

You can only increase you income or decrease your costs 🤷‍♀️

i have managed to save loads by selling and buying clothes on Vinted. I haven’t had to spend any money on new clothes for a year now.

Thanks @Wolfpa. I’ve started selling stuff on FB marketplace - I’ve sold an electric fireplace and a surround that came with our house, so far!

Listed a couple of other bits too.

You have now got a savers mindset. That is a great start. If you are tempted to buy something, think long and hard about that purchase. Would the money be best put in savings etc. Always look for opportunities to sell stuff, get good deals.

Save what you can immediately before pay day, on each pay day and if something you were expecting to pay out for is cheaper than you anticipated save the difference. If you say were buying lunch out and switch to a packed lunch either calculate the difference that will make in advance and put that into savings or save the money each day so you feel more motivated. Having a seperate account just for those little savings can help you feel motivated too. It won't take you long to really make a difference.

When looking at expenses really try to be radical so do fewer journeys by anything that costs you money so walk and cycle more. I switched to the bus and cycling when the £2 bus fares came in and it has hugely reduced my costs.

For reasons I don't understand, I cannot stand having to check the lowest cost for utility bills and insurance, but weirdly my husband enjoys this so he does it. Meeting him for this reason alone has made my life better!

On pay day transfer £150 into your savings (£100 you can afford and £50 you think you can’t). If you do indeed really need that £50 you can easily move it out of your savings and back into your current account. But maybe you will be able to make do without it and then you are saving 50% more every month.

I find saving rather addictive. I would rather eat beans and toast and raid the deepest darkest depths of the freezer to keep the extra £50 in savings.

Meant to add, when you save say £1000, you could transfer that into a less accessible account that should give a better interest rate. It’s still your money, you can still spend it if you really need to but you will start to learn about the wonders of compound interest and that’s when saving starts to get really addictive.

@KittenCatt there is some good advice here - and I second that saving can be addictive - just watching those numbers rise, especially when you can look back a couple of months, then a year.

I really like @Belindabelle 's idea to save more than you think you can afford as a way to see what you really need. Check whether your current account has a linked easy-access saver with a good interest rate (eg Nat West's digital saver, (6%) or Nationwide's various regular savers (up to 8%), which mean you can take some back out if you need.

Other things you could do if you want to stick with the £100 as a regular commitment, but try to build in a little more is to check if your current account has a round-up or sweeping function that puts the odd pence from card payments or your end-of-day balance into a savings account . (Also has the advantage of getting that happy kick from seeing numbers go up!). Although, if you are doing well at reigning in your spending, this might not work very quickly!

Make sure you keep an eye on the best interest rates for savings - takes a little time, but a financial review once a month is time well spent anyway.