How To Budget Your Money

[shyvas]

I have changed both my car and home insurance (same guarantees) and have managed to save 235.29 € per annum with the new company . As a new customer I have 2 months home insurance foc and a month foc for my car. I have also transferred one of my savings account and opened a new account at another bank and they have paid for the transfer fees.

It really does pay to shop around and the new insurance company takes care of all the paperwork to cancel the existing contracts.

 

[shyvas]

I bought some Chilean Chardonnay ( Casillero del Diablo) which was on special offer at Carrefour's. It really does pay to stock up
when shops have these offers as wine can be stored for a long time. I store mine on a shelf in the garage which is always very cool.

Each bottle came to 4 € instead of 7. As I had a shop coupon and a gift voucher; I paid 2.50 € for 3 bottles of excellent wine.

Chardonnay

 

[Moll Flanders]

Interest rates have risen here for the first time in a decade.

I have to call up and change my mortgage payment as a rate change means that they reduce the payment to the minimum. When we first got our mortgage for our house the rate was over 5%, that seems weirdly high now!

I did just fix our electric bill to a lower rate.

I have been terrible with spending on going out and buying clothes and things lately.

I think it's because my husband might be losing his job because he has had so much time off sick and that probably would mean that we would have to move out of London. I'm trying to take advantage of living here while I still can!

 

[shyvas]

Interest rates have risen here for the first time in a decade.

I have to call up and change my mortgage payment as a rate change means that they reduce the payment to the minimum. When we first got our mortgage for our house the rate was over 5%, that seems weirdly high now!

I did just fix our electric bill to a lower rate.

I have been terrible with spending on going out and buying clothes and things lately.

I think it's because my husband might be losing his job because he has had so much time off sick and that probably would mean that we would have to move out of London. I'm trying to take advantage of living here while I still can!

I also switched to a company which offers a much lower rate for electricity.

When I bought my flat my mortgage rate was 4.6 % plus 0 % on the second one. I still have another 20 months to go before my flat is all mine and am paying off the 0% mortgage.

 

[Moll Flanders]

When I bought my flat my mortgage rate was 4.6 % plus 0 % on the second one. I still have another 20 months to go before my flat is all mine and am paying off the 0%.

That is going to be such a good feeling.

I know I already said this, but I'm so happy that we have paid off so much of our mortgage now, the debt is now under £25,000 and it was about £150,000 when we first got it.

 

[shyvas]

That is going to be such a good feeling.

I know I already said this, but I'm so happy that we have paid off so much of our mortgage now, the debt is now under £25,000 and it was about £150,000 when we first got it.

I know what you mean as I also paid off 20 000 € a few years ago. I can't wait to see the day when I will have no more payments and be able to live in the place virtually foc. If I had to rent my own property today, I would have virtually no money to pay any other expense.

 

[PTree15]

I'm going into major savings mode given the recent layoffs at work. I want a minimum of six months of living expenses in my savings account by October. With prudent paring and lots of discipline, I am sure I can do it -- as long as I have my job.

 

[shyvas]

I'm going into major savings mode given the recent layoffs at work. I want a minimum of six months of living expenses in my savings account by October. With prudent paring and lots of discipline, I am sure I can do it -- as long as I have my job.

That is a wise and excellent idea. It's usually the norm to have 6 months of saving in the event of losing a job.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I did a lot of things when I was first trying to save money that were environmentally friendly like buying a reusable water bottle, changing to LED lightbulbs, trying to use less household water and I think they have added up over time. Some of the LED bulbs I've bought have been crappy quality and have broken easily, for some reason. I must have saved a fortune over the years by bringing my water bottle out with me instead of buying bottled water. I did have a cool stainless steel one that would keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot, but it broke and leaked water all over me when I was on the train! At least I didn't have hot soup in there.

 

[PTree15]

I did a lot of things when I was first trying to save money that were environmentally friendly like buying a reusable water bottle, changing to LED lightbulbs, trying to use less household water and I think they have added up over time. Some of the LED bulbs I've bought have been crappy quality and have broken easily, for some reason. I must have saved a fortune over the years by bringing my water bottle out with me instead of buying bottled water. I did have a cool ceramic one that would keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot, but it broke and leaked water all over me when I was on the train! At least I didn't have hot soup in there.

I am thankful I never got into buying bottled water. You are right, it adds up. I persuaded my parents to buy one of those filtered pitchers for tap water so that they could stop buying bottled water (they go through a couple of cases a week!). It will pay for itself in no time at all.

I try to do environmentally friendly savings as well, like not using paper napkins (I have cloth ones that I made), hardly buying paper towels (I have them on hand for when the cat sitter comes), using energy-efficient lighting, etc. Next year I might have an energy audit to see whether I could shore up the insulation or take other measures to improve the heating efficiency. It's not bad right now, but I suspect I could improve that somewhat. I am pretty good about cutting down on water usage and electricity. I don't leave lights on unnecessarily, for example (thank you, Mom!), and I cut down on gas for the car by running all of my errands in one trip. If I forget something, I make myself wait until I have more than a few errands to do or make sure I do them either to or from work. It really helps because I notice I don't have to fill up as often when I pay attention to that sort of thing. I've also found that the bus comes by a nearby street, so I'm going to consider using that for some trips to the supermarket or drugstore. To be honest, I could walk, but it would take longer, haha. I will do that in the warmer weather for sure.

 

[PTree15]

That is a wise and excellent idea. It's usually the norm to have 6 months of saving in the event of losing a job.

Yes, way too many people aren't able to or just don't do it. I know I can, with prudent budgeting. When I was laid off the first time, I was lucky I got a decent severance package, otherwise I'd have been in real trouble. I won't get that this time (I would get something, but not that much), so I want to make sure I have it should it happen. If nothing else, it would give me peace of mind to have a cushion for any unforeseen expenses, especially now that I own a home. It would make me less likely to stress about job security so much if I had a decent amount of cash reserves. That way, at least you have time to look for other work without fear of losing everything.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I'm not sure whether to keep overpaying the mortgage, the idea was to make one big payment so then we could reduce the monthly payments, but I worked out we could be mortgage free by the end of 2020 if we keep up the overpayments. Decisions, decisions...

I am thankful I never got into buying bottled water. You are right, it adds up. I persuaded my parents to buy one of those filtered pitchers for tap water so that they could stop buying bottled water (they go through a couple of cases a week!). It will pay for itself in no time at all.

I used to probably buy at least one bottle of water a day when I worked in an office and there was free water available to me at work!

 

[PTree15]

I'm not sure whether to keep overpaying the mortgage, the idea was to make one big payment so then we could reduce the monthly payments, but I worked out we could be mortgage free by the end of 2020 if we keep up the overpayments. Decisions, decisions...



I used to probably buy at least one bottle of water a day when I worked in an office and there was free water available to me at work!

In the U.S., financial types always discourage paying down a mortgage early for several reasons, among them tax purposes and taking that money and investing it. It goes against my nature to be debt free, though lol. Plus, our current administration seems hellbent on taking those tax incentives away with the tax overhaul. Paying down the principal should reduce the overall cost in interest on the loan. I am all for that. I am paying a little extra so that I can cut seven years off my mortgage, at a minimum. If I can pay more, I will.

 

[Moll Flanders]

In the U.S., finanial types always discourage paying down a mortgage early for several reasons, among them tax purposes and taking that money and investing it. It goes against my nature to be debt free, though lol. Plus, our current administration seems hellbent on taking those tax incentives away with the tax overhaul. Paying down the principal should reduce the overall cost in interest on the loan. I am all for that. I am paying a little extra so that I can cut seven years off my mortgage, at a minimum. If I can pay more, I will.

That would be brilliant if you could cut off 7 years, we would cut off 6 years if we finish ours in 2020. ETA - no, actually 8 years we cut off.

There are always huge arguments about this subject on the finance forums I'm on, pay off mortgage or invest instead. I know that I could invest the money and get more, but I want to be completely debt free. I paid off my student debt way before I had to. I've never read about anyone saying that they got themselves into the position of being mortgage free and hating it either. I think we are just going to carry on overpaying for the moment.

 

[PTree15]

That would be brilliant if you could cut off 7 years, we would cut off 6 years if we finish ours in 2020. ETA - no, actually 8 years we cut off.

There are always huge arguments about this subject on the finance forums I'm on, pay off mortgage or invest instead. I know that I could invest the money and get more, but I want to be completely debt free. I paid off my student debt way before I had to. I've never read about anyone saying that they got themselves into the position of being mortgage free and hating it either. I think we are just going to carry on overpaying for the moment.

Hah, we are on the same page. I think paying the mortgage off as early as possible makes it easier when you are older because earning power decreases. Not having a mortgage would be a huge load off my mind, especially if some of the savings has to go toward medical costs, also another thing to consider as we age. We don't have universal health care, sadly. I will do my darndest to pay off as much as possible while I am fully employed...also, a winning lottery ticket would be awesome!

ETA: I have a friend who paid off her mortgage early and it freed her up to buy her dream home in Maine. I honestly don't know enough about investing to really make a go of it, so I'd rather be debt-free and use my money for things like traveling, concerts and home improvement. I also am not a big risk taker when it comes to finance, so I'm always a bit reluctant to trust my money in something like the stock market.

 

[shyvas]

Hah, we are on the same page. I think paying the mortgage off as early as possible makes it easier when you are older because earning power decreases. Not having a mortgage would be a huge load off my mind, especially if some of the savings has to go toward medical costs, also another thing to consider as we age. We don't have universal health care, sadly. I will do my darndest to pay off as much as possible while I am fully employed...also, a winning lottery ticket would be awesome!

ETA: I have a friend who paid off her mortgage early and it freed her up to buy her dream home in Maine. I honestly don't know enough about investing to really make a go of it, so I'd rather be debt-free and use my money for things like traveling, concerts and home improvement. I also am not a big risk taker when it comes to finance, so I'm always a bit reluctant to trust my money in something like the stock market.

Being debt free and paying off the mortgage (when possible) is by far the best solution. The money saved monthly could then be invested into a safe or risk free plan. It's always wise to have savings when you retire for any emergency payments such as house/flat repairs or unplanned health matters.

I payed off my main mortgage 6 years ago and only have another 20 months to pay off my 2 nd mortgage. I am planning to pay it off when I stop working as we receive a large perk when leaving the firm.

 

[Moll Flanders]

Not having a mortgage would be a huge load off my mind, especially if some of the savings has to go toward medical costs, also another thing to consider as we age. We don't have universal health care, sadly.

Yes, that is the difference I have noticed between the US and the UK when I talk to people about personal finance online. That must be a big worry.

 

[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.

 

[shyvas]

UK Grocery Chain Sells Food Past 'Best By' Date To Combat Waste

 

[Mark Mywordz]

UK Grocery Chain Sells Food Past 'Best By' Date To Combat Waste

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