Saving on an IVA

[spenmotherhen]

Hello all

I have read on here that alot of people have savings plans or accounts. I would love to be able to save some money during our IVA particularly if our washer etc breaks down.

Please can someone advise me on a good savings account and how they budget themselves to do this? I thought I was managing our money quite well but when I read these threads, I thought I can't be doing as well as I thought as we very rarely have more than a couple of pounds left in our account at the end of the month.

Any tips on budgeting at all, food shopping etc would be great.

Already this month we are penny pinching as we have had Car Tax and MOT to fork out for. We could not get the children to school without the car and unfortunately paying for a years Car Tax is out of the budget.

Feel like a right skin flint when we are looking through the reduced section at the supermarkets as well as buying all the shops own brands. I find it hard also to buy healthily as all the cheap stuff is white refined items.

Sorry to moan, this month is a tough one. Parents have offered to lend us some money but would rather not go down that street.

Thanks for any info. x

[pippa]

Hi Spenmotherhen

I too have tax and mot at the end of he month, and a tyre or two to replace i suspect.
Someone gave some great advice on here about the post office savings stamps that you can use to pay for your car tax, i wish i had known about these before but will definately start saving them monthy from now on.

I have an e savings account linked to my bank account and I put all my allowances over and above my housekeeping and bills in there as soon as I get paid, I am loath to take them back out again unless absolutely needed, but the car will see to most of that this month.

I totally understand the cheap stuff issue, I cannot stand white bread I have no idea why it was invented, I do buy lots of value items like household products, tinned foods, even fruit but dont skimp on breads, eggs, and a few other foods that I consider should be of a good standard.

To be honest since I started the IVA/BR road I have a fear of spending money, dont know if that sounds strange. I keep barely any money in my purse so I cannot be tempted, (sounds depressing) but for me it works.

Would be interested to know others tips myself.

Take care

Pippa

[lizziej]

Tip one- shop around- use your local market for veg and fruit - it is alot cheaper!!

Use the web to search for cheaper companies to get your insurance,utilitiy bills down - I did for my electric and saved £20 a month!

Don't worry about looking through the "Sale" shelves - that is how the millionaires have made their money and they don't care so why should we!

[emma_t]

Hi there

In preparation for my iva proposal, I opened a new bank account with the CoOp and a saving account also with them. If my iva goes through I plan to put any surplus every month into saving account to save for emergancies whcih I am sure will arise within the 5 years and to account for things like birthdays, christmas, etc..
I never looked at the price of food before but I am now obsessed with checking everything and am writing down every bit of expenditure right down to a coffee out or a magazine. This exercise has helped me no end as I see where money is going, before I used to draw mney from cash machine and have no idea where it went and used to not remember even spending it. I would recommend to write everything down and then you can see areas you need to make changes/savings.

[aguise]

Like Emma I tend to look at everything that I am buying and quite often say to myself do we really need that and now say no. I check the internet shopping sites like sains and tescos to see what offers they have on, but only buy as an alternative to the usual, not as extra, and double up if the regular things i use are on offer to save the next week. Around now I start to get the odd bit for xmas, it takes a bit off the shopping bill, and I save all my nectar points etc for xmas as well.
Only buy what you need.

Ang

Please visit my blog at http://aguise.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[spenmotherhen]

Greta tips!!!

Thanks very much. I am totally with you pippa, I hate parting with my money now. I used to pay by Switch fotr everything, then have a heart attack when I checked my bank account.

Love the idea for saving stamps for my Car Tax, didn't even know it existed. i will definately be saving for the next 6 months.

Just got my fruit and veg off the market today Lizziej, saved myself a couple of quid there, thanks.

Does anyone have any cheapy meal ideas??
Getting fed up with eating the same things at the mo.

thanks again this Forum is superb!!

[Skippy]

I bought my first savings stamps this month and if I can buy £10 a month between now and when the tax is due I'll have about £100 which will come in very handy! I like the idea that I can't spend them if I get short!

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[spenmotherhen]

I'm going to do the same Skippy - but I will have to start next month cos I'm skint this month!!! lol

[e.h]

Hi there - was reading Spenmotherhen's post with interest and the replies so far. Don't know if my method is any use but here's what me and my husband do. Do you have an Aldi near you? (Don't mock till you've tried it!) We spend approximately half in Aldi that we would normally spend in Tesco or Asda (even buying Tesco and Asda own brands). All the food is gorgeous. Aldi is Germany's equivalent to Tesco or Sainsbury so the quality of the products is excellent. On a Sunday and a Thursday they have special offer days when they sell different things at cut prices, for example bedding, saucepans, even new bathrooms, at real knock down prices. Also, if you have a £1 shop near you, you could probably get all your cleaning stuff for a £1 a throw, all the normal brands, including household cleaning stuff, washing powder, comfort, toothpaste, bleach, soaps, shampoos, toilet rolls etc. These things all cost a fortune in the "normal" supermarkets but you would be amazed at the variety of goods you can buy if only you can bring yourself to go into them for the first time. They are like Aladdin's caves. This is where we make huge savings on our housekeeping bill. Also, I have adopted the "envelope" system. By this I mean that we use our allocated budgets for housekeeping, car tax, mot, petrol etc etc and stick it all in envelopes marked what they are for. Doing this, you can soon build up a nice kitty to put towards car tax, repairs etc. and you know exactly what you have at the start of the month to see you through. Don't know if any of these things will be of help, but we seem to be coping with them at the moment.

Good luck.

Liz
x

[bagpuss]

I also think it helps to save reciepts...i was amazed at how much i spent in a week and when i looked at what i was spending it on i could see where i could be saving.

I still walk round saying to myself..."do i really need that"....often the answer is no.

Angie xx


My IVA Story......http://bagpuss.blogs.iva.co.uk/2007/09/ ... iva-story/

[scaredkez]

they are all very good ideas and i am sure they will help people to budget thank you for sharing them.
kerri

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[Spreadlove]

e.h, your shoppings tips are excellent. I've found a 99p shop,(yes 99p!!) near me, great for cleaning products, paper goods and top quality bath/shower products.At first I was a bit concerned and kept checking the 'use by' dates.I've been going to Aldi/Lidl for a while, no problems with their food.We are so used to Tescos/Asda. My daughter goes to Sweden each summer and tells me Aldi/Lidl are the eqivilent(spelling mistake??)to Sainsbury's etc over here. I've sent all my paperwork to the i.v.a company, waiting for my telephone appt to discuss proposal.
Spreadlove sending love

[ray_a]

Don't forget to look at money savings thread further down the forum page as this helps!

[spenmotherhen]

Thanks guys, some greta tips.

We are regulars at Aldi Lidl and Farmfoods which isn't that great as a lot of the food is processed stuff but we get our named ice-cream, bread and some other bits and bobs from there.

The £1 shop is great, as I have 4 children we can get lots of party things, colouring bits and bobs, sweets etc. It is great at this time of year for Halloween to.

I love the idea of the envelope system Liz. I am going to give that one a go.

Just going to check out the money saving thread you mentioned, ray a.

Thanks to you all its great to share these tips and ideas.

Kind Regards Spenmotherhen

[Skippy]

I use the envelope system as well for my shopping and petrol and if we have a bit left over in the shopping money at the end of the month we have a curry which gives us something to look forward to!

The other thing I do is collect supermarket savings stamps - you can buy them in Sainsburys and Tesco, they are £1 each and they can be used for anything in store.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/