Ways to save

I want to know if anyone has any tips for helping to save. It's something we are very bad at in the UK.

A friend was whining to me on Saturday.

"There is no way you can earn enough money to save any during your 20s", he complained.

And suddenly I remembered a very good way of starting to save that someone once told me.

This person told their kids that whenever they got a pay rise they should take 20 per cent of it and save it. That way, they still got their pay increase - but only ever saw 80 per cent of it.

As always the proof is in the pudding.

Six years on and one of his children, now 25, is saving around £1,500 a year. And they have never found it a struggle mentally because they never saw that money in their bank account.

Anyone else got any good tips?

Comments

[Moneygeek]

Hi James

Yes I hear what you are saying - it is difficult to save in the UK, largely because this country has become very expensive to live in.

Saving is always difficult but it can be done. The way I started saving was to write down everything that I was spending in the month and then cut down on the items that I simply didn't need.

I also cut down on my energy usage, my credit card bills, and any items I deemed a luxury. It was a bit difficult to swallow in the begining, but in the end, I realised that I didn't need half of that stuff anyway. :-)

There are quite a few websites out there that have helpful tips on how to save money.

Hope that helps.

Happy Saving!
MG

[Havery West]

This is all well and good however once you have been working more than about 5 years pay rises which enable you to save more than an additional £5-10 per month at this rate are hard to come by. If your lucky enough to get perpetual promotions or choose to job hoop for higher pay increases it's great.

This years annual pay increase of 3% meant after tax I was a whole £42 a month better off - that's not going to help a first time buyer much when shopping for a mortgage.

[Vicky]

I hate carrying around change. So I keep the £1 coins and 50ps in my purse and put the rest in a savings tin. Then once every few months I count it all up and put it in my ISA – you'll be surprised how much you bank each time.

[Trevor Twinem]

I save into a stocks and shares mini ISA (index tracker) with Legal and General. So far I have accumulated just over £3000. Is there any advantage to me opening an additional index tracker with another provider or should I just up the monthtly amount invested.