How To Budget Your Money

[shyvas]

Good idea but unfortunately the Co-op is probably the most expensive supermarket in the UK (unless you include Fortnum and Masons and Harrods).

I think that M&S, Waitrose and the Co-op are the most expensive ones. I have never bought anything form the latter as their prices are so expensive. However, they seem to have a lot of customers.

Cheapest supermarket: slash prices & save money - MSE

 

[Moll Flanders]

I like the food and wine in Co-op. It is expensive, though. I mainly shop at Ocado (the online version of Waitrose) and Sainsbury's. My dogs really like the dog food from Ocado. I tried to switch to a cheaper one and my dog had an itchy reaction so it looks like I'm stuck buying that brand.

I was just reading about the financial situation of the UK in This is Money and then in The Guardian. This is Money says people should be feeling better off as median household disposable income has gone up and The Guardian says about a survey saying that 70% of people claim to be chronically broke. I'm not sure which one is truthful.

My local council has had a freeze on the council tax for quite a few years because of so-called austerity and some genius has now realised that they need to raise it and it's meant to go up by almost 6%! It probably would have been better if they had been gradually raising it over the years, rather than in one go.

 

[shyvas]

I like the food and wine in Co-op. It is expensive, though. I mainly shop at Ocado (the online version of Waitrose) and Sainsbury's. My dogs really like the dog food from Ocado. I tried to switch to a cheaper one and my dog had an itchy reaction so it looks like I'm stuck buying that brand.

I was just reading about the financial situation of the UK in This is Money and then in The Guardian. This is Money says people should be feeling better off as median household disposable income has gone up and The Guardian says about a survey saying that 70% of people claim to be chronically broke. I'm not sure which one is truthful.

.

I think that it's a global thing.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I'm quite pleased with myself as I was reading that a standing desk was better if you have back pain. I looked at the prices and was going to buy one and then I thought I would look around my house to see if there was something I could use that was the right height. I have a fold out guest bed with a wooden top that I could use instead. Yay!

I didn't even have to bring the bed downstairs as I thought I would bring my laptop upstairs to the spare room and then I can put my "new desk" by the window so I can see out to the gardens.

 

[PTree15]

So I'm three weeks into my grand savings plan, and so far I have been very disciplined with regard to making my lunches, not buying lots of coffees, eating out, etc. I'm posting this to be accountable. I will fess up when I misbehave financially, hehe.

OK, so I had a little spending spree over the weekend, and while everything I bought was on sale, I spent too much (see Last Thing You Bought thread ). That said, it's almost March, so not too bad overall. Most of it was clothing: three hoodies, exercise pants, a dress, 4 t-shirts (at thrift store, so I saved a lot), a used book and a used CD. Back to my austerity plan!

 

[shyvas]

OK, so I had a little spending spree over the weekend, and while everything I bought was on sale, I spent too much (see Last Thing You Bought thread ). That said, it's almost March, so not too bad overall. Most of it was clothing: three hoodies, exercise pants, a dress, 4 t-shirts (at thrift store, so I saved a lot), a used book and a used CD. Back to my austerity plan!

I think that it is really very important to enjoy 'spending sprees' when on a tight budget. It's like being on a strict diet where you do need a treat from time to time.

You really can't beat charity shops/thrift stores for going on a spree !!!

 

[PTree15]

I think that it is really very important to enjoy 'spending sprees' when on a tight budget. It's like being on a strict diet where you do need a treat from time to time.

You really can't beat charity shops/thrift stores for going on a spree !!!

I agree. Because I haven't been spending money on lunches and coffee and dining out so often, there is some that can go for these sprees instead. I didn't really stress out about it too much because so far, I'm keeping to my savings plan. It will be a little tight for the next two weeks (next payday), but that's because I paid some bills early. That will also help get right back into smarter spending and all, having to watch my pennies.

 

[shyvas]

Save Your Acorns by Robert Gardner

Save Your Acorns (acorns grow into big trees) is an educational book for young children. It teaches the latter the importance of saving money(no matter how small an amount) from an early age. Apparently that saving money should be taught to a child before the age of 7.
Having discussed saving money and spending habits with many children, I have noticed that some have already learned the skills and others have reckless ideas.

I think that even many adults would benefit from reading it.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I paid off my mortgage!

The money was taken out a couple of weeks ago and I feel such relief! I wish I had started overpaying when I first got it instead of only starting in 2006 when I first read about mortgage overpaying!

I am really going to loosen the purse strings as I have been putting too much pressure on myself. Time to have more fun.

 

[PTree15]

I paid off my mortgage!

The money was taken out a couple of weeks ago and I feel such relief! I wish I had started overpaying when I first got it instead of only starting in 2006 when I first read about mortgage overpaying!

I am really going to loosen the purse strings as I have been putting too much pressure on myself. Time to have more fun.

Profuse congratulations!!!!! That is awesome, Moll. I'm so happy for you!! And nice to see you again!

 

[Moll Flanders]

Profuse congratulations!!!!! That is awesome, Moll. I'm so happy for you!! And nice to see you again!

Thanks PTree.xx

 

[PTree15]

A little update on my 2018 savings goals: I have been hitting my mark every month since I began, and I am really happy about that. I also got a little more in my tax refund than I expected, and the extra will go right to savings. I'm on target to hit my goal for the year (and possibly exceed it!!), which will bring me much relief from the stress of worrying about job security all the time. I at least will have a cushion if the unthinkable happens. We haven't heard any rumblings about any layoffs, but we have a new head honcho, so all bets are off until he gets his sea legs. He seems to be enthusiastic about my division, but you never know. This time around, I will be prepared. I'm going to keep adding as much to savings as I can in the meantime.

I've been using coupons more, too, and I'm now back in the habit of making all my lunches and keeping the coffee purchases in check. I wish I had been this disciplined when I was younger, haha, but there will be no looking back. Onward!

 

[Moll Flanders]

I wish I had been this disciplined when I was younger, haha, but there will be no looking back. Onward!

I'm like that as well PTree, but you are right there is no point in regrets!

 

[PTree15]

I'm like that as well PTree, but you are right there is no point in regrets!

Exactly. It can't be undone, but moving forward, I can/will be better. Just having what I have now is taking a little stress away. I would love to put it all toward the mortgage, haha, but hey, if things improve at work and job security gets better, I could maybe do a big chunk next year or something. I have to really wait until the fiscal year is over (October) before I can consider doing that. I want as much in cash reserves as possible.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I just saw that information about FIRE (Financial Independence, Retiring Early) was in quite a few newspaper articles this week. It was in The Times, The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Telegraph. That is quite amazing that a counterculture idea like that can get into the majority of the main newspapers. I hope it makes some people think!

I was thinking about retiring early at around 45, but it was too stressful and I'm aiming for retirement at about 50 now. I can't wait to have free time all the time as I would like to get involved in animal fostering or general AR stuff.

I've been spending a lot more money these past few months and need to get back to having a budget.

 

[richy]

I find that those applications on your phone are really good budget trackers. As much as I love the good old pen and notebook, an app manages to delegate my expenses. All I have to do is just put in the numbers and it calculates and charts down my expenses, budget, and savings for me. I use the Money manager app for the phone, by the way. It has a yellow square with a pig icon on it.

 

[hungryraccoon]

I think I need to spend more time on this thread

I'm not terrible with money but would like to be more frugal - it's much more important now what with having a mortgage, car payments etc.

One of the easiest things that I would say everyone should do (silly not to really) is use cashback sites for all online purchases. I use Quidco & topcashback.

Also I may switch from ocado for shopping to Asda or Tesco some of the time, as it would probably be cheaper.

 

[shyvas]

Christmas on a budget - Family Lives

 

[silva]

My Aldi is open and it's a wonderful remodel! I save so much just shopping there!
I'm going to try and stop using my credit card and budget all cash. I found my mother had another life insurance I thought I had canceled- that would pay off my zero interest cards that will come due this may/june and jump to something lime 20%. I also have my usual credit card racked up to 15000!

 

[PTree15]

My Aldi is open and it's a wonderful remodel! I save so much just shopping there!
I'm going to try and stop using my credit card and budget all cash. I found my mother had another life insurance I thought I had canceled- that would pay off my zero interest cards that will come due this may/june and jump to something lime 20%. I also have my usual credit card racked up to 15000!

I finally went to the Aldi near me. I can't believe how much better the prices are. I tried the vegan veggie burger (quinoa-based). It's a little bland, but I doctored it up with buffalo sauce and pesto, and it was tasty. They cost about half what the grocery store veggie burgers cost. I will be shopping there regularly from now on. I can't believe how much stuff I got for $50.