June Money Challenge

Happy Holidays

Gold Member

• 9 June 2014

• #1

hi all

Well another month passes by, I really do need to do some saving this month, I need to make changes to probably the basics.

Me & my sister are taking our mum to Lourdes on 27th June mum won't fly so we're going on the train, it's not been a cheap holiday by any stretch of the imagination. In August it's our dad's 70th so me & my sister are going halves at train fare for him & step mum, hotel for two nights & meal for them both, another costly event.

As well as my car tax is due this month with the MOT, so I need to get a grip of finances.

Any help and tips as usual will be gratefully rec'd

 

*Emsie*

Gold Member

• 9 June 2014

• #2

In! Need to get myself sorted! Have spent a lot of money recently and have got things coming up that I want some spends for....my birthday, hubby's birthday and I also want to start saving for.......christmas lol x

 

Happy Holidays

Gold Member

• 9 June 2014

• #3

*Emsie* said:

In! Need to get myself sorted! Have spent a lot of money recently and have got things coming up that I want some spends for....my birthday, hubby's birthday and I also want to start saving for.......christmas lol x

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I bought a pressie for my sister's Christmas stocking last week, but yep I've not got as far as planning for Christmas!!!!!

 

sparty

Gold Member

• 11 June 2014

• #4

I am so in!! I have been awful with lots of social events etc. now I'm engaged I need to curb it and save save save!!!

 

Happy Holidays

Gold Member

• 11 June 2014

• #5

sparty said:

I am so in!! I have been awful with lots of social events etc. now I'm engaged  I need to curb it and save save save!!!

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I can't remember but did you say when the wedding is?

I think what I need to do is work out how much money I've spent on holidays, where it's coming from & how much more I need, that in itself will help me focus.

 

sparty

Gold Member

• 11 June 2014

• #6

Not til 2016 but we don't have savings for it yet so I need to get my butt in gear. Will be ebaying some things this weekend I think!!

 

Happy Holidays

Gold Member

• 11 June 2014

• #7

I've just read my MSE email & thought a reminder of points noted in previous months would help.

Budget. Moving bill dates cuts fees, but won't tackle the overdraft. So sit down and do a budget to find out where you can cut back.

Try piggybanking. Organise incoming cash and move it into bill pots at the start of the month so you're not tempted to spend unnecessarily. Use this technique to make payments - eg, £100/mth - to your overdraft, treating it like any other bill.

I started this in January & put £50pm into a birthday account & the money saved on pet insurance & other things into a holiday one, and I’ve not used the birthday one since starting it even though I’ve had birthdays!!!

Paying account fees for an overdraft? Do you need to? Some people pay a monthly fee because 'premier banking' gives a large overdraft. But add up the costs. If you could shift the overdraft elsewhere, you could get a no-fee account and use the savings to help clear the debt.

Check if you can money transfer your overdraft. If your overdraft's small, you may be able to switch account. If not, you may already have the best deal, and should work to budget & pay off the overdraft.

 

MrsTinaV

Loving Married Life

• 12 June 2014

• #8

My tips;

1) plan all your food, use what's in your freezer and buy frozen bits where you can as they tend to work out cheaper.
2) consider using Aldi/Lidl to get some shopping (I can't get all my SW bits there tho, but what you can get does help with food costs)
3) do a boot sale if you have bits in the loft etc
4) be sensible and realise that sometimes you can't afford everything.

i only use debit cards, I don't have credit cards and my mortgage and car loan are my priorities. If I don't have the cash, I don't go out for dinner or buy myself things that I don't need.

both me and my Hubby work and don't have children, so I can't pass on any tips for parents but I have learnt that living a quieter life means I don't worry about finances as much as I would otherwise.

 

sparty

Gold Member

• 16 June 2014

• #9

I've struggled this month as we have been very busy socialising with all our friends to celebrate our engagement.

But with 2 weeks left of the month to go I am going to try and curb it to start fresh next month. We will also need to start saving for our wedding so will need all the help we can get. Luckily I have been given a temporary promotion at work so I plan to save all the extra money I get and have a bit of a nest egg building up! I don't want to get used to the money as it isn't permanent.

Credit cards have taken a bit of a bashing but with my remortgage we will be able to pay some of that off to ease the burden a little bit. Hopefully!!

I have a ton of things to try and see on eBay so will see how that goes as a starter to put in my wedding account. We have one of those ceramic savings jars that you have to smash to open and that has about £30 in it already so we are off to a slow start....but started none the less lol

 

Happy Holidays

Gold Member

• 16 June 2014

• #10

Hey at least you have a plan, that's a good idea about saving the increase in wages. How long do you have left on your re-mortgage is it cost effective to pay off Ccards, is it possible to transfer these to 0% cards?

 

sparty

Gold Member

• 17 June 2014

• #11

I will have to transfer some balance to a 0% card but the majority will be paid off once the remortgage comes through. It's a better interest rate than I am on now plus my monthly payments will go down slightly so all round a better deal for me which is good

The promotion should last til April so I should be able to get a little nest egg together by then for the wedding

 

*Emsie*

Gold Member

• 17 June 2014

• #12

Im having an expensive month as I changed my car a couple of weeks ago and the new one seems to want stuff doing to it :cry:

 

sparty

Gold Member

• 17 June 2014

• #13

Argh how annoying emsie. Cars are so much hassle! Take it back!! Lol

 

*Emsie*

Gold Member

• 17 June 2014

• #14

sparty said:

Argh how annoying emsie. Cars are so much hassle! Take it back!! Lol

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Not sure where I stand there lol and then I'd only have to get another

 

Happy Holidays

Gold Member

• 25 June 2014

• #15

Good morning all, just to let you know I paid 1 year car tax yesterday & used the money from my little savings pot I started earlier this year, I put £50 a month in there to pay for things like this, I have to admit it felt good moving the money across & knowing I'm not going to go even more overdrawn than I already will do

 

sparty

Gold Member

• 25 June 2014

• #16

That's brilliant happy what a good idea!

My mortgage stuff is all approved now I just need to wait for the money to transfer over and the extra money to come into my account. I actually got a better deal than I thought and I'll be saving £80 per month which is fantastic! The first month will be more expensive as it will be for a month and a half but we will just have to cope with the extra and do our best til it settled down.

I've sold a couple of bits on eBay and got £40 in my paypal which i am going to keep where it is and hopefully add to it. Then I will buy some paint to paint my bathroom which I have been wanting to do for ages!

 

Happy Holidays

Gold Member

• 25 June 2014

• #17

Yay that's brill

 

sparty

Gold Member

• 30 June 2014

• #18

http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world-off-topic/342985-july-money-challenge.html#post7393424

July thread for those interested!