Economy drive

[Lily]

Thank you for your posts. They are all so helpful!

Skips, would you mind sharing your spreadsheet with me too? It sounds like I could do with one of those. I normally pay my car insurance yearly on my credit card and then pay the whole thing off the next month but I should take that into account for saving up as well. I also need to save up for MOT and service - my bloody car cost me £600 this year, even though she's only a couple of years old, as she needed new tyres and brakepads. It only cost that much because my carman (who has retired) came down from Scotland for Christmas and did her, otherwise it would have been double. I ought to have several savings accounts like some of you do. I think I can sort that with First Direct; it would be nice if my brother would handle all these so I can't see/touch the funds until I need to, but I must grow up and take responsibility for myself at some point!

I'm sorry to hear your daughter struggles too Mojojo - is she looking at getting help for it at all? I have touched on it with my therapist, not as much as I should do - in fact just posting last night helped hugely as I could work through it. I've been so ashamed of it. I'd much rather be still self-harming and not skint. (This may be a lie)

Things I Have Done Today:
- I had planned to go to the fishmonger today (amazing fish but not cheap) but I am going to Lidl instead. I will just have to deal with fish being wrapped in plastic until I have got my finance under control.
- Unsubscribed from emails like Ken
- Done a meal plan for next week

When I come back from Lidl ( ) I will get a Monzo card. I also could move my interest gathering cards onto an interest free Barclaycard which I keep forgetting I've got although if I can pay one off next month I don't want to spend more on a transfer fee than on interest so I need to investigate that.

[Froozy]

Is it worth looking into a new card which is 0% for transfers and interest and moving all your card debt into that? I’m not an expert so don’t know what it would do to your credit score but it might be worth it while you pay the cards off.

[Topcat]

Do people really have tons of current accounts? Are they with different banks, or the same one?

[smalex]

We've got an account which allows up to 10 (I think) sub accounts, and a couple with another bank which are visible online with my current account. It's not much hassle at all really

[Ella77]

I have about 7 or 8, some shared, some not. I always know how much I have to spend. Couldn’t manage with one account (although 3 would be fine).

[Morganna]

I have a few. Mostly it is so I can use the linked savings accounts, though. I do all my actual banking from one of mine and the joint one with Mr M.

[mojojojo]

I'm sorry to hear your daughter struggles too Mojojo - is she looking at getting help for it at all?

Thanks Lily. No - I’ve suggested it (she has some other issues), but she’s not in a getting help kind of place yet. She’s managing ok with us holding her savings, and because things are going reasonably well for her at the moment, but I do worry that it will resurface the next time she’s feeling low.

We’ve got accounts for different things, but they’re all with the same bank, which I do wonder about sometimes.

[happyhighlandcoo]

Lily, if you like your brother monitoring your money, have you considered using another bank to have some money psychologically separate? I have some with Halifax but spending money with Natwest which helps me not dip into my savings in the same way I used to. Sort of like having it with a family member, especially if you don't get the online banking app, maybe?

[Skips]

I have loads of accounts for different things, but my main ones are bills, joint account (frivolous spending), food and my monzo which is for fuel. I then have various savings account as well (holiday and house).

[Luce]

Do people really have tons of current accounts? Are they with different banks, or the same one?

Yes and most are with the same bank but not all.

[Lily]

I have a spare bank account which I use normally for when I'm collecting money from people for dinners and so forth. I could use that but I'll also look into what First Direct offer.

I've done a very mindful shop at Lidl. Normally I would have gone to the organic natural grocery store for a few things and wound up spending a fortune but this time I was careful to get stuff like lemons, etc. as cheaply as possible. I did have to get peppercorns from the NGS but that's because nowhere else appears to sell the bloody things in a small cardboard box. I got things like olive oil/rapeseed oil from Lidl rather than the NGS where a bottle costs about £5 each so I am getting there.

I've just realised my bamboo loo roll wrapped in biodegradable packaging lasts half as long as the Who Gives A Crap roll I 'borrowed' from work so I need to figure out where to buy my loo roll from too.

Being mindful in general, thinking about what I'm buying, can I afford/do I need xyz - I've been doing that all today thanks to you lot!

My credit score is good Froozy, so I could certainly look at that kind of card as an option and then shutting the rest down.

[Lily]

Froozy - thanks for the idea! I have a 0% offer on my Barclaycard with a small transfer fee which is smaller than the interest the bloody things are gaining so I've done a transfer. It will feel like I'm getting somewhere if I throw money all at that one card.

[Roma]

You seem to be on the right track now Lily. I think it’s a great idea to only have on credit card to pay off.

Saving can be quite addictive too once you start and it builds up quickly.

Having control over your finances will make you much happier and it’s nice not having to stress over money.

[Rhodonite]

I used to be so good at keeping track of spending. I agree with Roma that it can get quite addictive to see your savings build up.

I need to get better at it again, but since I stopped working I barely even log onto my account, as I know I barely have any money! I do still have some savings, but I had to dip into them for Christmas, so I'd like to be able to replace what I took out.

I do have a credit card, but it only has a £500 limit, and I use it rarely, but I like to have it for added security on some purchases. I make sure I pay it off every month.

I've never heard of Monzo cards, so I'm off to have a Google!

[Froozy]

I would really like a savings account which holds money in separate pots so I can see at a glance what I have for each requirement. Can anyone recommend an account that does this?

We have a spreadsheet for our joint savings and D is excellent at keeping it up to date but my brain does not work like that so I never manage to do it for my own savings.

[Morganna]

I think that planning food for the week is a great way of economising, if you aren't sidetracked by special offers and the new products the supermarkets push at you, that is .

Do you use Love Food, Hate Waste? It shows you how to shop wisely, so that you can get a few meals from the same shopping list, by using leftovers and thinking ahead. You can easily get three meals plus soup from a chicken if you try, and can freeze single portions of things you like, so the temptation to get a takeaway when you are hungry is lessened. That can be my downfall if Mr M is away/out/eating something else (it was worse when I was working full-time), and it gets expensive when you are ordering for one, because of the minimum order thing.

How does Traidcraft compare with your usual loo roll? They are very dear to my heart, as I've done PR with them before, and they are such an ethically sound organisation. You might have to buy more than you can store in order to get free delivery, though.

[bramblerose]

I would really like a savings account which holds money in separate pots so I can see at a glance what I have for each requirement. Can anyone recommend an account that does this?

We have a spreadsheet for our joint savings and D is excellent at keeping it up to date but my brain does not work like that so I never manage to do it for my own savings.

Monzo! I have several pots for different things and it's so easy to use. If you don't need the money straight away but can wait a day, then you get interest on your savings as well!

[Skips]

In the back of this thread I applied for a loan with a much lower APR than my old one, which MoneySavingExpert said I had a 90% chance if being accepted for and I was!

It takes 10 months off what it would have taken with the old loan. 10 MONTHS! I can make overpayments without penalty as well so I can chip away at it as the monthly payments are lower as well so I'll technically snowball by keeping the repayments the same.

[Edith Bacon]

That’s brilliant, Skips! 10 months is amazing!

[Froozy]

Thank you Bramble! I have a Monzo current account, but hadn’t realised they did savings now. I’ll look into that.

Good research, Skips, that sounds like an excellent move.