Advice Saving Money - advice needed

[Stevo985]

And understand what your saying about keeping my money locked away for the best interest, but I just don't think I'll be able to do that, which is why I was looking at ISAs as lots of them allow unlimited access.

Bear in mind that your ISA allowance for the year is in total, so if you withdraw from it you lose that part of your allowance.

This years cash ISA limit is £5,640, so if you deposit £2000 and then end up withdrawing it you'll only have £3,640 left, you can never get that £2000 back on your ISA.

Cheers mate. I'd considered that already. The amount of rent I pay in there will only be £4,800 a year max so shouldn't be a problem.

Also, might be wrong, but I think I read that the ISA limit was going up? (or maybe it's already gone up and I'm getting confused)

[GarethRDR]

I can make your money work for you. First, let me assure you that this is not one of those shady pyramid schemes you've been hearing about. No sir. Our model is the trapezoid!

[Si.]

Quick question about Quidco. Ive done the Lovefilm offer for £15 cash back. It is saying tracked and has been for past 4 days or so. When will it become available to put in my account?

[saturdaygig]

Quick question about Quidco. Ive done the Lovefilm offer for £15 cash back. It is saying tracked and has been for past 4 days or so. When will it become available to put in my account?

Thing with quidco, its not for impatient people. Everything I bought up to christmas is now paid, apart from a t-mobile from november that's only just been confirmed. March and April purchases are still 'tracked'.

My favourite things to use it for are mobile phone contracts and insurance, they have big cashbacks and I'm going to get them anyway. I have £444 total paid in about 2 years.

[saturdaygig]

Talking about credit cards im thinking of getting one. Anybody know any good deals currently?

If you always pay off and just use it for convenience, then Capital One is good because you get 1% cashback at the end of the year.

[JulieB]

Just PM me if you need any help with anything.

I would however recommend having a look at the Money Advice Website and going through their money health check

MAS

[Ginko]

Thought I'd resurrect this thread instead of starting a new one.

 

I've just moved into an apartment -- after living back home with the folks due to an unfortunate set of circumstances -- and so money is going to be a lot tighter from now on. I was just wondering if any of you smart and savvy chaps had any good advice to save money. I'm thinking of things like ways to keep your electricity bill down, or any other things that a lot of people don't know about that could save you a few pennies.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers in advance, fellas.

[Kingman]

Slow horses and fast women… Try and reverse the roles! 

[Xann]

Her ladyship subscribed us to 'Which?' a few years ago.

 

They disentangle all the deliberately confusing crap the energy companies use to mask their nefarious activIties.

 

That saved us a bundle on energy bills, and their trusted local trader service provided us with a great double glazing company and a boiler installer.

 

They also point out good deals with everything from savings accounts to sound bars for your telly.

 

Really been surprised at how useful it's been, the subscription has already been covered for a lifetime I reckon.

[Ginko]

Cheers for that, I'll look into it.

[Genie]

I just saved over £300 a year by switching my gas and electric using uswitch.

Also, check out quidco, anything at all you buy online use quidco or other cash back sites. Free money.

[P3te]

I find making a spreadsheet of every penny you spend over month 1 of your new financial routine is a great way to identify what needs to be trimmed in terms of expenditure. It's very easy to get into the "it's only a fiver" mentality, but over the course of a month, those fivers add up pretty quickly, and it's amazing to see how much money you waste once you actually document every single penny for a typical month.

 

Once that's done figure out what you can cut out or scale back on, and set a budget for those for the new month. The aim should to beat the budget without leaving yourself stuck without anything you genuinely need. You'll quickly start to identify the actual essentials, and they're often not what you think they are

[villarule123]

Don't ever buy anything from a shop, always online.

 

Use www.hotukdeals.co.uk

[Ingram85]

Don't buy wrestling figures.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

earn more money.

[omariqy]

Use moneysavingexpert and subscribe to their weekly email.  You will save plenty.

 

As hard as it may seem you can actually still save money if things seem tight.  Key is to 'pay yourself first'.  I.e. put the money away before you realise. Use a standing order and put it in an account you find difficult to access.  Heck give someone else you trust the card to it if you have to.  I would start at 5% to 10% of what you earn per month.  Trust me, you won't miss the money if you don't have it!

[maqroll]

I know people who leave the lights on all over their house overnight, cuz they're too lazy to shut em off. Total waste of money when you tally it up over a year. I always unplug appliances and computer if I leave my house for more than a few days. 

 

I bundle up and wear layers indoors in the winter instead of blasting the heat so I can walk around in shorts and sandals. Never understood people who did that. 

 

Walk/ride a bike whenever possible instead of driving.

[jjaacckk91]

Use moneysavingexpert and subscribe to their weekly email. You will save plenty.

I echo this, if you haven't already check your current account to see if there's one that suits you better.

Pretty well known now but Santander 123 will give you cash back on most of your routine bills if you pay by direct debit. They charge a £24 a year but you can and probably will save over £100 without much effort, has a nice interest on it too.

Also if saving, and what Omar suggests by putting money away so you can't use it doesn't suit, I do pretty much the opposite, challenge myself to how much I can leave by pay day and then when I get paid stick all I haven't spent that month away, helps me feel I won't leave myself short.

[darrenm]

I know people who leave the lights on all over their house overnight, cuz they're too lazy to shut em off. Total waste of money when you tally it up over a year. I always unplug appliances and computer if I leave my house for more than a few days.

I bundle up and wear layers indoors in the winter instead of blasting the heat so I can walk around in shorts and sandals. Never understood people who did that.

Walk/ride a bike whenever possible instead of driving.

Agree with the last point.

You shouldn't unplug appliances though, they're designed around power being constantly available. The power supply being switched on and off just means that the components fail quicker, costing you more money replacing items than the small amount that keeping them on costs.

[Xela]

 

 

I bundle up and wear layers indoors in the winter instead of blasting the heat so I can walk around in shorts and sandals. Never understood people who did that. 

 

 

 

I don't agree with this - I don't work 50-60 hours a week so I can go home and wear a coat indoors. Heating is essential for me (posting wearing a t-shirt and shorts)