Everyday savings

Yesterday I was looking at some photographs of when Man Wonderful and I first got together. 17 years we have been an item!

These days, Man Wonderful is retired and I'm not working due to ill health, but thanks to the

everyday ways that we save money, we are able to still live A Beautiful Life together.

I thought I'd list some of the things we do, in the hope that it might just help someone else to save a few pennies too.

Housing

We meet lots of people who live in various ways, but very few who live as we do - or as cheaply! 

We used to live in a detached four-bedroom house.

There were four adults and two babies by the time that our daughter moved out, leaving just the two of us.

Many folk in middle-age choose to continue living in the family home.

For us to do that would have meant a huge monthly mortgage payment, as well as ongoing repair costs, council taxes, etc. This figure was over a thousand pounds at it's highest.

When we knew that the young family were moving out, we made our decision to move out too, and to find something to suit our needs.

This enabled us to give them any furniture/fittings they wanted to set themselves up, and to be able to sell the rest of things we didn't want/need.

I wont lie to you - it was difficult because items have a draw on them.

However, having read and re-read the Marie Condo book, that made it easier for me to do, and today  
we live in a very small space with a super view.

We live very simply with just what we need - and each other - and we are near the kids.

I am still working through the selling stuff - but it is stored away from our home, so there is no temptation to want any of it back!

Our monthly housing costs are £400 a month, including council tax, electricity AND water!

Savings

We have all read the Money Saving Expert's advice on having an 'Emergency Fund'.

When you don't have one, it feels wobbly.

We got rid of our credit cards and paid off the loan related to home improvement, leaving us debt free, BUT we had no savings.

What was coning in was going out. 

By setting up a direct debit of £100 a month to our savings account and managing without this amount, we have our emergency fund (that was dipped into slightly for daughter's wedding then paid back the next month) and a long-term savings plan.

This saving is done religiously.

It might not be much, but it does build up.

Transport

We had a car each when we were both working at different places and finishing at different times/having to collect small daughter from school.

I would never buy a new car, as I believe that they depreciate in value as you drive them away from 

the forecourt...but I used to try and buy ex-demonstrators of last year's model - so a used car, but with 
little mileage, and the features well-tested and working.

The last car I did this with is our current car.

I paid off the finance with a lower-interest bank loan, and repaid that years ago.

It has just gone over 160,000 miles, and we will keep it until any repairs outweigh it's value.

Its a workhorse, a vehicle. It's not a status symbol.

I can't walk far, and use crutches on a bad day, but Man Wonderful has a free bus pass, so on some journeys we will use the bus and just pay for me.

Work

MW has been retired for years now, but still gets work each summer doing school visits for the exam 
board.  These pennies go towards our summer holiday.

Food

We use to love eating out - a local Indian restaurant, a pasta/pizza place; and a weekly takeaway - Chinese or fish and chips.  When you have two healthy incomes and are working long hours, this is reasonable.

When things change, you change - and it is actually much easier than you think to keep the interest on your table. 

We began our 'new' life by having an amount in cash in an envelope each month for food shopping.  I 
shopped at cheaper supermarkets and locally, and bought reduced price things to use sooner or for the freezer.

I also started cooking once-eating twice, and cut many items from our list, replacing them with other 
things.


Clothing

Because we live in a small place, we are limited for storage: therefore we don't have a great deal of space for clothing.  So, in the same way we sorted out the rest of our possessions, we chose items of our existing clothing to keep and I'm working my way through the rest, popping a bag every week or so from our storage unit into a charity shop, and selling many items on eBay.
The things we have kept need to earn their place, and are frequently audited; repairs or replacements sorted as necessary. 

As much as possible, I like to wear second-hand clothing and shoes: but I do wear new underwear (when I wear any!).


All these everyday things become second nature after a while.

What do you do everyday that is a saving?