Money!

[Hormonal Filly]

Any tips on saving money?!

I wouldn't say I was 'skint' as I have a bit of savings but every month I am over spending what I earn and its not nice.
Every time my account looks healthy, something goes wrong. Last week my dog needed a emergency operation and the excess was £150, thankfully hes fine and my horse cost me £1100 between October and December last year, plus my MOT ran out in December and needed parts that was £100. Thankfully I have no credit cards but recently being constantly in my over draft isn't fun.

I have 2 horses (and 2 dogs) which are costly but on 'paper' when tallied out I earn enough to cover what I spend on a average wage. My other half claims I spend money on crap but I don't buy anything during the month apart from spending money on grocery shopping, horse feed, dog food, the usual and can't see how I can save money. I haven't had any lessons for months as I haven't been able to afford it and haven't been boxing out much as the fuels expensive, can't remember when I last spent money on horse tack, rug etc and if I do its second hand.

Anyone who has any advice on saving please feel free to share!

 

[D66]

Keep a spending diary for a couple of months.
Plan meals weekly/fortnightly and make a shopping list.
Shop in a cheaper supermarket or a market.

 

[oldie48]

Hi I don,t know what you feed but mine just gets chaff, micronised linseed and unmollassed beet and ad lib haylage (make my own) + lots of turnout. Cheaper than buying ready made feeds. Being old I can cook and knock up cheap soups for lunch and can turn a large chicken into many different meals including stock for soups or a risotto. So we all eat quite cheaply but well. Dog is on MW which is also good nutrition and value for money. Also I never waste food and am a huge fan of Lidl.

 

[milliepops]

following! I'm a financial disaster area. A succession of house moves finally did for me, moving is sodding expensive. My luxury splurges are on lessons but even they are currently covered by generous xmas pressies from family... everything else is pretty much shaved down to the bone

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Hi I don,t know what you feed but mine just gets chaff, micronised linseed and unmollassed beet and ad lib haylage (make my own) + lots of turnout. Cheaper than buying ready made feeds. Being old I can cook and knock up cheap soups for lunch and can turn a large chicken into many different meals including stock for soups or a risotto. So we all eat quite cheaply but well. Dog is on MW which is also good nutrition and value for money. Also I never waste food and am a huge fan of Lidl.

Mine both get little amount but Alfa A, Micronised linseed and Equilibria balancer (occasionally calm and condition but haven't bought a sack for 3 months) The balancer is the more expensive, costs £27 a month for both horses but they look cracking on it. Their DIY livery package (not a bad price) includes ad-lib haylage and are turned out as much as possible, even some nights if they don't want to come in. Shavings I go through 1 bale a week (for both) costing £12 a bale in winter months. The joint supplement I give them costs about £20 a month, I buy and blend my own. Our dogs are also on MW which costs £50 a month to feed 2 x medium dogs. I haven't shopped in Lidl for a while.. may start again as currently use Tesco which isn't cheap really! Other half pays the cottage rent which isn't much but I feel bad as I can't afford to help out so buy the food shopping instead, I also keep the horses where we live now so save a fortune now in fuel as previous yard was 20 mins away.

 

[Sprat]

Have you looked at changing any of your bills providers? Husband and I recently moved house with a bigger mortgage so we have tried to cut down on costs a bit more. We've managed to changed our tv/internet/phone, gas/electric and mobile phone providers and have saved a fair few quid every month.

I think you can get lulled into just leaving things to carry on and you may not be getting the best deal!

 

[Reacher]

Agree do a spending diary.
Do you buy lunches at work? if so making pack lunches saves a lot.
Lidl and Aldi are great for food shopping

 

[mariew]

Horses are expensive, even when kept on the cheap. The only real way to save on horses is not have one. But if you don't have one, you'd probably spend it on other rubbish Catch 22! If you have a horse box, take it off road and not use it, or sell it, especially if you can't afford things that you need to use it for. Do you have to have two horses? Could you go down to one? I don't think i would be able to have horses if it meant i relied on others to pay rent/living. but that's just me.

Lidl is great for shopping, but not sure uber cheap in comparison to Tescos. Once you know what you are actually spending on stuff then you know where you can save.

 

[Hallo2012]

sounds like you cant spend much less but can you make more?
can you do clipping, mane pulling etc at weekends or a couple of evenings to make some cash in hand?

 

[Chippers1]

This may sound overboard but I literally document everything I spend on a spreadsheet, and normally start the month with everything I know i'm going to spend so I know how much 'spare' cash I should have. Then I can budget comps and diesel costs in with what is left over and i'm very strict in saying when I can't afford to do something.
I'm also looking at changing all insurance providers this year as I've let them lapse a few years so i'm not getting the best deal, it's a hassle but it'll save me in the long run!
I live quite frugally, including have a weekly food budget that I try to stick to (this includes cat food) I live on my own, have a mortgage, bills, cat, horse and competing to deal with so I have to but it's so I can do what I love.

 

[blitznbobs]

I was never good at saving so I always tried to earn more... but preparing meals in bulk helps, and saves time, have a look round your tack room etc and sell the stuff you don’t use, if I write down everything I spend I automatically spend less or forget cards and pay cash for everything for a month and all of a sudden it feels more real so you forgo some of the things you didn’t even know you were buying..

 

[milliepops]

I caught some of the Money Box programme on Radio 4 yesterday when in the car and they were talking about some phone apps you could use to budget and make little changes, I am planning to listen to the whole thing when I get a chance and might make use of some of them, some sounded interesting and more user friendly when out and about than a spreadsheet on the computer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000219b

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Taking your own lunches and cooking from scratch can save you loads as well as shopping at Aldi/Lidl. Write everything down that you spend for one month and see what's going where. A long term plan is to look at bank statements and see if you could save by paying up front rather than monthly DD, look at your energy providers etc and see what you can save, check insurances and see if you can shop about. Sell anything you've not used for 6 months or more (horsey or otherwise). Flea and wormers for horses and pets are generally much cheaper from Hyperdrug/Viovet etc etc

I really think Aldi is cheaper than Tescos but we get our shopping from a mix of places (incl Morrisons and Coop as thats all we have locally) and our veg box comes from a local producer-I set myself the challenge of using everything in it so £18 fortnightly for 80% of our fruit and veg isnt bad. If I cook a chicken for example, I get a roast, a curry and a risotto out of it plus stock for soups etc. Having space for a freezer really helps.

 

[Annagain]

Only use cash. Set yourself a monthly budget. Take half of your budget out at the start of the month and half on the 15th. If you need to buy something online and use a card make sure you put that amount back into your account.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

sounds like you cant spend much less but can you make more?
can you do clipping, mane pulling etc at weekends or a couple of evenings to make some cash in hand?

Great idea, it would be good to make some cash at weekends etc. I work away 4 times a year at country shows selling for 10% commission which is good and I can earn £500 over 2 days but would be nice to be more often. There are so many freelance clipper people and horsey people around by me I can't see it would be worth doing with insurance etc? I may look online or email a few local pubs see if I can work a late evening a week.

Thanks guys, some great ideas. I will get a app.. and everything is cooked from scatch. I always think about selling one but really can't do it.

 

[WHWMo]

I also think that being prepared can be helpful to spread the cost of everything horsey and I suppose that could be useful for other areas of life so that it’s not such a shock!

I try to work out how much a horse costs for routine maintenance over a year and then divide by 12. So livery, hay, feed, shoes, vaccinations, teeth, saddle checks, physio etc for the whole year and divide by 12. I then put that amount away every month so that when it comes to that big vaccination/dental bill that I know is coming I’ve already got it budgeted for over the whole year.

Obviously you have to do this for a year before it starts working out but hopefully your horses and other pets will be around for a long time and it pays off to do some long term planning too!

 

[supsup]

I think your budget is missing the "expected unexpected" expenses. Even though you don't know when your car will need repairs, the horse will need the vet, or your washing machine will break, you DO know that it will happen - eventually. You can also anticipate annual expenses like MOT/insurance payments etc.
To get an idea of how much you spend (on average) on those expected unexpected expenses, have a look at past bills that were a surprise to you, and see how much you spent over a longer period (maybe 3-5 years, the longer the better). Then figure out how much that comes to as a monthly or annual expense, and add that to your budget. Do your wages still cover your costs? I think it's really important to have a realistic view of what your budget looks like, including those occasional, one-off expenses, else you will forever be caught out by them. Once you have a better idea of how much this type of emergency costs you, you can start putting away an amount monthly for an emergency fund.
If you haven't done something like it already, I'd highly recommend doing an overhaul of all your regular expenses (moneysavingexpert has loads of good tips), like mobile, broadband, insurances, energy etc. Anything you can save by switching will "pay it forward" by saving you money every month, not just once. You could also consider switching bank accounts (or opening an additional one) and get a bonus for it (to help pay off that overdraft).
For selling stuff (particularly items that don't ship easily), I've come to quite like FB marketplace, because it allows searching locally, and you're more likely to end up with people making offers who can come and collect.

 

[Teajack]

I do the weekly shop in Aldi but visit the reduced to clear section in other shops and bulk buy meat and fish to freeze when there are bargains. Some of my salary goes directly into a credit union, allows me to borrow cheaply against my savings which are now a useful sum, up to 3 x the amount saved.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Oh has saved £40 a week by taking a packed lunch to work this month!

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Erm on the supermarket question, Tesco aren't the cheapest!

I went to Tesco, bought about 10 items and realised I'd forgotten a shopping bag. They said they cost £1, I asked for a 5p bag and they flat out lied and told me no supermarkets do 5p bags. Between that and the lack of use by dates on veg packed in plastic, I walked out.

I went to Sainsbury's and put exactly the same items in my basket. 2 of them were slightly more expensive than Tesco by a few pence but I saved over £3 on the other items. And I get nectar points which eventually lead to more money off.

And Sainsbury's only charged me 5p for a shopping bag.

 

[milliepops]

guess it really depends on what you buy, sainsbury's is loads more expensive than tesco for me, and I find morrisons cheaper than tesco I work from home and always cook from scratch so very little in the way of pre-made stuff gets bought... i'm struggling to think of ways to keep food costs down that won't offend OH (I'm veggie and quite used to extremely cheap meals but he has a different take on things!) have recently moved (again) so have space for a freezer again, I agree with a PP that this is definitely a money saver. Hurrah!

 

[Lintel]

Agree with others on keeping a spending diary.
I've been doing that the past few months.... and the amount I spend on odds and ends is phenomenal. All be it odds and ends that we need for the house or dog... etc.

I find farmfoods an amazing shop for random stuff.
We have been getting 40 toilet rolls (decent quality) for £10 out of there.
Persil for £10 lasts 2 of us 3 months! - with the machine on once a day.

Aldis and lidls for sure for food!

Could you make money by doing something up or making things? Selling loads of uneeded or unwanted crap on gumtree?

 

[Remi'sMum]

Highly recommend an app called Spending (little brown wallet icon). Really easy to use. You can set different categories eg mine are food/household, horse (general), lessons, competing, eating out (ha! never!!), fuel - car, fuel - horsebox etc etc. Everything I spend gets entered into the app (not including standard monthly direct debits, they go out of a separate account). Then it’s really easy to see over time exactly where the money goes. You can log each individual transaction with a note eg when I buy feed I note what I’ve bought eg linseed, nuts, chaff, rather than just ‘feed’ so I can look back and see when I last bought it. You can view the expenditure in different categories as a list or as a chart. I just find it helps to see where the money goes and where I might be able to cut back.

Waste nothing. Leftovers can be recycled into soups or casseroles. Use a slow cooker. Batch cook. Freeze. Don’t buy a Starbucks everyday or kid yourself that the £3.50 meal deal is good value!!

When I split from my husband and bought my flat I went to visit my mortgage advisor for an appointment a year later. I went straight from the yard so in jods and boots. He said he’d been certain I would’ve had to sell the horse as he didn’t think I’d manage financially. It’s tight, but I do!!

 

[DirectorFury]

sounds like you cant spend much less but can you make more?
can you do clipping, mane pulling etc at weekends or a couple of evenings to make some cash in hand?

I agree with this, at a certain point there's not much more you can reduce so you need to increase the money coming in.

If it's something you think budgeting can help with I've always found YNAB really good.

 

[ktj1891]

I have a budget planner book (Wilko's), I write everything in it thats fixed spending i.e. bills and when they are due to come out. Variable spending I include food, fuel and anything else I need or want for the month. It's a good way to forecast for the month as well as add to savings!

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Thanks everyone!

I have got myself the app Remi'smum recommended. It is great and worth having specially for free. I should have £400 free every month after the 'normal' bills but due to being over drawn I'm constantly in that pit at the moment. I've noticed I buy things I don't need to buy RIGHT then such as dog joint supplements, horse supplements and could of waited until next month. I tend to black out my bank account and buy things without noticing.. so now I have this app i'll definitely manage my money better and will keep looking and not be scared to look at my account - lol!

Highly recommend an app called Spending (little brown wallet icon). Really easy to use. You can set different categories eg mine are food/household, horse (general), lessons, competing, eating out (ha! never!!), fuel - car, fuel - horsebox etc etc. Everything I spend gets entered into the app (not including standard monthly direct debits, they go out of a separate account).

 

[ycbm]

It doesn't sound like this applies to you, but I've lost count of the number of people I've chatted to in the Costa queue recently who don't realise that if they have one medium coffee every few days, they're spending three hundred pounds a year.

A spending diary is a great idea.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

It doesn't sound like this applies to you, but I've lost count of the number of people I've chatted to in the Costa queue recently who don't realise that if they have one medium coffee every few days, they're spending three hundred pounds a year.

A spending diary is a great idea.

I wish I could blame that, but I work 2 miles from home and don't buy any lunches or drinks. Dinner is a sandwich or a tin of 99p soup with a slice of bread if i'm lucky. When i worked in Tesco as a teenager I worked out for 2 years I had been spending £100 a month just on lunches!

Costa is expensive though!

 

[DD]

go to martinlewismoneysaving page and have a look lots of good ideas on there.

 

[blitznbobs]

Also apps like TopCashback if you are buying something on line (esp big ticket items but little ones add up) and when you get the cash back it feels like you’ve got something for nothing