How do you guys save your money?

edwardcasbon1 said:
You all say go out less, but how many of you have partners, and do stuff with them? It's very difficult to not go out loads when you're with someone.
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The things I enjoy most are very cheap and/or free:
- Sexy time
- Walking my dogs in the woods
- Sleeping
- Relaxing in front of the PC and/or TV
- Gaming (I say free because buying a new game that came out a few months ago for £15 for 30 hours entertainment is good value).


A 'night out' can be cheap if you stay sensible. Four pitchers at Wetherspoons is only £20.
You can also eat out twice a week easily. Go to some chain-pub that does two meals with 2 drinks for under £20. The other time you eat out it can be a £5 Subway.

OP: Spending money on your friends? Why? If they are true friends (rather than friends that you keep 'buying') then you do not need to do that. Don't be a sucker for a sob story either! True friends do not sponge off each other.

I am careful with my cash, but then I want to buy myself a house one day. I am currently single so I think that it is hard to do alone. Also, over the last year I have bought lots of nice things and have saved very little, but I never spend what I do not have.
 
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ive always been a saver since day 1 of working!

ive always aimed for £500 a month to save and managed it on a 18k wage and now on a 13k wage (atm dont ask, life story, all is good tho ;) :D )

im still saving 500! so living off around £250 a month after bills. can be done!
 
The way i handle my money is like this:

My own account > £1200 pm - my income

Joint account > £400 pm via S/O day after payday. This covers all bills with about £70 spare each month, the Mrs contributes the same amount. Has a £1000 "buffer" for emergencys

ISA > £100 pm via S/O day after payday - I don't withdraw this, rebuilding it since I bought A house this month! Already got £600

Leaving £700 pm for:

fuel - I don't drive a lot and cycle to work more than once a week,
food - I enjoy cooking which is A lot cheaper than eating out,
trips out - Still eat out sometimes, Cinema, or other events, went to the zoo last week for instance :)
Whatever else - Games, clothes - as and when i need/want etc

after each payday when all S/O's are done any money over £700 usually £100-200, Then some goes to overpaying the mortgage and some to building the ISA's back to how they were.

I also have a 2nd "short term" savings account that i use for larger than normal purchases witch will get a share of the remainder each payday. Like new PC components, New TV, an R/C Heli and other Big boys toys lol.

The key thing is always live within your means - but i think a lot of people read that as "you cant have what you want" which just isn't true.

I view everything not by price so much, but by time required to save for.

New GFX card 2 - 3 months
New Game 0.5 months

This way i never feel like there's something (within reason) I can't have if I really wanted it. Even that Lotus Exige I've always wanted - 56 months. lol
 
Forget technique with saving money. It's all about attitude. When you have the right attitude, your technique will happen according to the contextual surroundings of your daily life.
 
I used to send all the money I wanted to save to a 60 day building society account, so once it's in there, I can't get it out for 60 days. I saved a big amount in a fairly short amount of time then went on holiday. Now I'm going to do the same again.

Also: 2 jobs. Two jobs made me save a massive amount.
 
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I don't even think about it. The main hobbies of mine are:

1) Drinks at the pub
2) Gaming
3) Squash
4) Cycling

Of them:

1) You don't have to get smashed when you drink. With that attitude, you've saved a lot.
2) Gaming on a per hour of entertainment is a rather cheap hobby really. So long as you aren't silly.
3) Squash. After your equipment there's only membership/court fee's which are small.
4) Cycling. No cost at all after the bike really.

Just pick some hobbies that don't cost much. I'm lucky that those are mine by default.

The big one is not getting smashed on nights out i'd say. I can spend £20 on a game and get days of entertainment out of it. I can spend £20 on one night out on drinks VERY easily... and that's obviously just one nights entertainment. Think like that and you drink less I find. Also try to do different things with your mates? Drinking isn't the only sociable thing in life although some people act like it is.
 
Every time I want to buy something i'll look at it and think 'i've gone this long without it, do I really need it now?' and that always seals the deal of not buying things. Try it, it works like a charm.
 
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