Receipts

When we shop we might never acknowledge the importance of receipts with our purchases. We know they are a proof of what we have bought, also great for return and exchanges. Another good thing about them is that we can decide up to 30 days (90 days with some stores) whether we have changed our minds to whether keep the goods or not. For food, such as eating out, receipts are great to also show proof that a payment has gone through if we have made a card payment.

Well, now that I feel that I have emphasised about the importance of receipts, I've noticed how quick of a pile I get from them in my room or in my purse. 

If you are one to bin your receipts, try not to get too comfortable on binning them too quickly, for example if you are one to have two or more cards, its a great way to see which card you have made a payment with. On the other hand, some payments made via cards do not automatically show on your bank statements or if you were to directly check them on your phone or at a cash machine (this can usually take up to 3-5 working days till it appears) and then you'll still think you have money. 

The importance of knowing where you have used your card is vital. Couple months back, I was updating my spending to realise a random outgoing transaction (roughly £1.85) I know it was not a lot but it had appeared twice with no information of what type of transaction it was. With this information I managed to call my bank and ask, they explained that sometimes a small amount would go out and be sent back in my account. (Sounded like it was a regular thing). So this red alert made me really aware... so yeah, be cautious. It is your bank account with your details after all. How would you have felt if £100+ went out your account with realisation? 

Next Step; 

So back on the subject of receipts, I've decided to drop them all on Excel. I've divided my receipts into monthly categories. The categories which I've named are: food, clothing, food shopping, travel, eating out and other expenses.

This well help me to neatly and easily review how much I have spent and how much I could have potentially save.

Pennies found

This post will be short and sweet!
Last week I randomly explained to my friend about the pennies I found (£1.29p - in one week) and when I mean found, I mean the pennies which I find on the street or lying around, she laughed and it gave me the courage to explain to her the reason behind it and I'm pretty sure you'll want to find out too!


I didn't want to brag about it but I thought I'll share my point on it. Based on the last post, now that I have bags of coins this helps me to build my pennies into pounds. I've gained to value pennies more now that I value the fact that it accumulates in my penny jar. Seriously... try it. Try and see how many pennies you can find a day for a week!

Try this for a whole month and see how much it comes up to...

Bad Habits

I'm sure by reading my posts, you'll acknowledge that I'm becoming a "geek" to the land of budgeting. Well for myself that's a great move.
The past couple weeks has been an eye opener. I've managed to catch up with friends and within the last few days it has come to my attention that a few of us ladies do not tend to put our finance into consideration! Tut tut!

Time is money and money is time.

Ladies. Be careful on how you spend. This is an advice to myself over and over again. I know that I am not an expert at not carrying a certain amount of cash on me but be aware that spending to fulfil your needs when you are upset isn't a great idea either.
And ladies. Do me a favour and put your debit cards aside.

One friend of mine at work expressed to me that she spends a lot and on how much it is more or less becoming a habit. Yes the beginning is hard but disciple is a virtue too just as patience! Teach yourself that some items are not needed. just because its nice it doesn't mean that its a need. Learn the difference between your NEEDS and your WANTS and also if you have the money for it!

How did I overcome it?

- I looked at my bank statement once and was ashamed of two things: 1. Small consistent purchases made and 2. Sum of the figures spent. This made no sense and I realised that I wasn't working for free and needed to see the fruits of my labour.

- I started saving by doing it "small-small". I calculated how much I needed for my outgoings. From this point onwards the money which was left over, was directly popped into my savings.

- Writing and keeping notes on where your money is going, or in harsher terms, telling your money where to go is also another solution. Make sure that you are in full awareness of the bills which needs to be paid off first as this can have a bad result to your credit score.

- If I used cash, my change will be put aside. This has made me value change a lot more than dashing it around the house (I will post about it later on).

-Think of how your work schedule is for the week. Mentally tell yourself that you wake up to go to work and once work is over you will go straight home. With this technique you will not spend and if hungry tell yourself that you will eat at home.

- I looked at everything that I had at home. Clothes, shoes, jackets ect. and realised that it was more than ENOUGH! I had been buying things, that so many items still had tags on them or I either had a duplicate of an item which was either very similar but in a different colour.


Cutting a habit for myself is like giving your life away, but now, I can say that hard work makes you a lot happier than having a mounting of things which you will hardly remember.

Plan for Sun

Everyone wants a treat and everyone wants a treat in the SUN! 

I've been to a few places but the sun had never been the cause or the reason to escape from the horrible British weather. My main reason for an escape would generally be to relax or to be away from home for some peace and quiet. 

For some people, it can be quiet hard to save for a holiday as some things are main priorities and important. Working full-time and still enjoying the outings with friends, I've managed to come up with an idea on how to save for a holiday. This was a random idea which came to mind last month and thought I'll put it in to practice. 

Verdict?

Well, I'm glad to know that its going well! 

You can do this alone or you can do this with your partner or a friend... But I would honestly say that it works better with your loved ones. Two people or more is also ideal.

The trick of this plan is to workout how much each can afford from your intake bi-weekly or monthly paycheck. For myself I've decided to put in £20 every two weeks... if a payment has been missed I then add £10 to every week failed.

So, find yourself a pot... or a jar.... whatever you want to call it and STICK TO IT! 

You can start off like I did, or by doing £20+ depending on how quick you want to go on holiday or how good your paycheck is looking, but firstly set yourself a goal! 

From my plan, we decided to go on holiday next year, the bottom line is, if me and my partner put in £10 every week till the end of the year we have come up to a sum of £700+. Isn't that pretty good eh?

Its slow but this trick is planned and we will be very likely to go on a beach holiday.. this also has its perks and it comes to a conclusion that...

1. We can plan were to go in the meantime of saving and it lets us budget...

2. We will have a chance of booking it at a cheaper price rate if we were to book it early...

3... Saving money aside will help you to deposit for a holiday which will allow you on continuing to save up towards your holiday. 

It's never too late to plan, even starting off with the few odd coins, you'll be very surprised. This just doesn't stop here, I will keep you updated blog!

Tips/Review:

This is good for money management, I've never seen myself doing this but lets all put it to work by the Grace of God and see how far I can do this! Baring in mind that December is only six months away I would like to know how we can achieve! Yikes! 

Any change you have from previous holidays or country breaks feel free to also add it in there! We started off with £80 from a previous holiday this year so I'm pretty sure the outcome should be a good one

x