Sunday 24 April 2016

In the dim and distant days of my youth

In the far distant days of my youth I was financially feckless and sadly that fecklessness lasted well into middle age.  I should be a wealthier woman, indeed I would be a wealthier woman if I had been as careful with my money as I am now but you can't put an old head on young shoulders.

Anyway, no good crying over spilt milk.  Things have now changed and I am rather more prudent.  I wanted to mention two things which have facilitated that change.

The first is that a few months ago I won some budgetting software.  It's You Need A Budget (YNAB) and I can't speak highly enough of it.  The software which I won was a one-off download with continuing support and but sadly new customers have to take out a a monthly or annual subscription service which I would not find so appealing and I would have to think long and hard before I made the financial commitment to that.  However, the general fact remains: I have found a method of budgetting which suits me and which I actually enjoy using.  I never thought I would say that I enjoy budgetting but I enjoy budgetting!

The second thing which has helped me change is t'interweb itself.  On-line shopping is a terrible temptation, there are sites a-plenty encouraging us to buy the latest this or the most expensive that, but the fact remains that for money saving ideas and strategies the web is superb.  There are price comparison sites, cashback sites, coupon and voucher sites but best of all there are blogs written by ordinary people who need to stretch their pennies.  There is an incredible amount of inspiration out there!  

Thank you , all you lovely bloggers who share your stories.  

14 comments:

  1. I've learned more from the ordinary folk, and have met some kindred souls.

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    1. Yes, there are some extra-ordinary ordinary folk who truly inspire.

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  2. Budgeting is actually very simple. You add up all your incoming money for the month and then deduct all your outgoings which you have little to no control over - your council tax, rent or mortgage repayment, gas, electricity, insurances, etc, everything that must go out regardless, and then you are left with what, well, what you have left to spend on food, clothes, toiletries, holidays, petrol, etc. It isn't rocket sciences as they say. But if you have software to help, then so much the better. But you just need to know what you have comeing in, going out and what's left. Then, if you're still tempted to overspend, divide the money you have left after all necessities have been catered for and divide that by the number of days left until your next 'pay day' (whether an actual pay day of pension day) and that is your daily allowance. Don't spend on one day and you can spend double the next day. Simples.
    Margaret P

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    1. Very simples. I've always known the theory but somehow the practice never really happened! I envy those for whom it is truly simples in reality!

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  3. PS Sadly vouchers are intended to make us spend more money. Seldon, also, are they for things I actually need or even want. Recent ones sent to me for Waitrose was all to do with cleaning products (we're into spring cleaning, are we not? These supermarkets have their fingers on the pulse, so send vouchers for all kinds of cleaning things.) I do not want these, but some might be tempted simply because they are a tad cheaper with a voucher. The best way to save money is not to spend it unless you really need something, not merely fancy having it in the cupboard or on the table.
    Margaret P

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  4. As soon as I get coupons or vouchers I look at mysupermarket to look at the best way to spend them to my advantage. As you say there is so much information available on the internet to help including great bloggers.

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  5. We are watching our pennies, in March we started recording every thing we spend, we are doing it again in April and will do it in May. It's not stopping us spending, just recording where we spend. I only buy my cross stitch supplies on line, it's much cheaper. I do like to see what I am buying, we stopped going to town each weekend a couple of years ago, which helps. Plus we now only purchase something new when the old one breaks. As for clothes we are wearing the huge pile of stuff we have purchased over the years.

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  6. I wish I had caught on much earlier/ I wish I had been taught money sense as a kid. I think it was more the poor example that I followed then the teaching. I'm proud to say that now I do enjoy budgeting (I think you've gathered that much, hehe) but penny pinching is still really hard work.

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    1. I wish I had your wisdom when I was your age! I can honestly say that YNAB has made budgetting fun for the first time ever here at Frugal Follies. It's not the way for everyone but it turned on a light for me.

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  7. Oh goodness, I can't be of much help to you as an example of being frugal! As you know, I'm not reckless and do save - but still enjoy the occasional splurge. Could try harder - but probably won't! X

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  8. I have my splurges but they are a little more considered - or maybe I pull in the reins a bit quicker afterwards!

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  9. You are right about the Internet. There are so any sites out there full of stories. I like the ones about people who have really pulled their socks up and got themselves back from impossible financial positions. I admire these people a lot

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  10. We got our budgeting/accounts tracking software for £5 off an Amazon offer and it has saved us that over and over again. Especially as we avoided ever going over bank limit every again and incurring charges very quickly. Back in the day we used to just shrug that off - how silly we were.

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  11. It's great when you find the right solution which really helps you. Budgetting sounds like it should be one size fits all - but it seems as though it doesn't!

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