Money Saving Tips

This is quite a long post so grab a cuppa and get comfy!

Now I’m no ‘expert’ but in the last 5 years we have done some serious saving! We’ve saved for a house deposit and also a wedding…so I thought I’d share some of the tips that seem to have helped us as I know in this day and age it seems impossible to save for house deposits especially but don’t give up!
Also these are just a few tips and ideas, there are so many so maybe I'll follow up with more in the near future.

Set a (realistic) amountWhether you’re saving for a big event such as a house deposit or a wedding or you are just saving to pay any credit card bills, maybe that nice holiday you keep pricing up? It’s always best to set a realistic amount you can save weekly/monthly.
To get an idea of how much you think you could save, take into account all of the things you have come out of your account i.e. phone bills, gym membership, Netflix, Spotify etc etc.
Then look at the figure you are left with, also remember you still want to ‘live’ a little so you don’t want to put the whole lot into savings and end up with nothing.
So maybe start by putting half into a savings account and see how you get on.
Now talking about savings accounts, there are so many! If I’m completely honest I just opened an online savers on the Lloyds mobile banking app as it’s so easy to transfer money to and from, now I know this isn’t beneficial in the way that I’m not making a lot if anything on interest but for me I just wanted somewhere I can separate my savings.
If this is something you are wanting to look into I’d recommend looking on Money Supermarket as this is the money man Martin Lewis’ website and he’s brilliant at things like this!

Memberships/Subscriptions – do you need them?Everyone has at least one direct debit, whether it be for the mortgage, car finance, phone contract etc however most of us are guilty of having those direct debits to things that we really don’t need!
If you have these whether it be gym membership or Netflix, think to yourself, do you need them? Now I can hear people gasping at the suggestion to get rid of their Netflix subscription but if it’s something you only watch every now and then is it really worth paying for? When was the last time you went to the gym? Or used that music app?
If you have a service you are paying for but you really don’t use, it might be time to cancel! If you have doubts and think ‘Yes but I think I’ll use it in 5 months time’ well that’s fine there’s nothing to stop you from signing back up but just think of the money you could save over the month and year – it all helps!

Change (the money kind!)
By this I don’t mean you need to change personally! What I am referring to are those pennies which sit in your purse/wallet until the end of time.
Start collecting those in a tin or money pot. We have a Celebrations tin (no chocolates in there obvs!) and we collect 1p’s, 2p’s and 5p’s. Anytime we have change we just throw it in the tin and at the end of the month we s

This is quite a long post so grab a cuppa and get comfy!

Now I’m no ‘expert’ but in the last 5 years we have done some serious saving! We’ve saved for a house deposit and also a wedding…so I thought I’d share some of the tips that seem to have helped us as I know in this day and age it seems impossible to save for house deposits especially but don’t give up!
Also these are just a few tips and ideas, there are so many so maybe I'll follow up with more in the near future.

Set a (realistic) amountWhether you’re saving for a big event such as a house deposit or a wedding or you are just saving to pay any credit card bills, maybe that nice holiday you keep pricing up? It’s always best to set a realistic amount you can save weekly/monthly.
To get an idea of how much you think you could save, take into account all of the things you have come out of your account i.e. phone bills, gym membership, Netflix, Spotify etc etc.
Then look at the figure you are left with, also remember you still want to ‘live’ a little so you don’t want to put the whole lot into savings and end up with nothing.
So maybe start by putting half into a savings account and see how you get on.
Now talking about savings accounts, there are so many! If I’m completely honest I just opened an online savers on the Lloyds mobile banking app as it’s so easy to transfer money to and from, now I know this isn’t beneficial in the way that I’m not making a lot if anything on interest but for me I just wanted somewhere I can separate my savings.
If this is something you are wanting to look into I’d recommend looking on Money Supermarket as this is the money man Martin Lewis’ website and he’s brilliant at things like this!

Memberships/Subscriptions – do you need them?Everyone has at least one direct debit, whether it be for the mortgage, car finance, phone contract etc however most of us are guilty of having those direct debits to things that we really don’t need!
If you have these whether it be gym membership or Netflix, think to yourself, do you need them? Now I can hear people gasping at the suggestion to get rid of their Netflix subscription but if it’s something you only watch every now and then is it really worth paying for? When was the last time you went to the gym? Or used that music app?
If you have a service you are paying for but you really don’t use, it might be time to cancel! If you have doubts and think ‘Yes but I think I’ll use it in 5 months time’ well that’s fine there’s nothing to stop you from signing back up but just think of the money you could save over the month and year – it all helps!

Change (the money kind!)
By this I don’t mean you need to change personally! What I am referring to are those pennies which sit in your purse/wallet until the end of time.
Start collecting those in a tin or money pot. We have a Celebrations tin (no chocolates in there obvs!) and we collect 1p’s, 2p’s and 5p’s. Anytime we have change we just throw it in the tin and at the end of the month we sort it into those plastic money bags (you can get these from the bank)
You’ll be surprised how much you’ll end up with over a few months. Also if you let people know you are saving those you tend to find people are happy to get rid of loose change and will throw it your way! Start this and see how much you have after 6 months, then go and take to the bank and bank the cash! It’s such an easy way to save just that little extra.

Anything and Everything elseDo you go out a lot? And by out I don’t necessarily mean ‘out out’ but just an odd Costa trip here and a cheeky Nando’s there…? (I’ve never been to Nando’s so not sure I’m qualified to use that phrase!) It might be worth planning to only have say 2 days a month where you do these sort of things, you’d be amazed how much you save! This does come back to the part above where I mentioned you obviously don’t want to give up absolutely everything and be miserable but just cutting out a couple of lunch dates will help.
The same for Takeaways, these all add up so maybe start having them as a once a month treat? You could always make it fun and make your own takeaways, there are loads of recipes on the internet for home-made Kebabs, Chinese, Pizza’s.

Whether you are saving for a house deposit or that dream holiday I hope these tips have been of help! If you have any more tips to save money share them in the comments below to help others even more.

Let me know if you are using any of these saving tips and if it’s helping.

Maxine x

Wedding Post #2 Saying Yes To The Dress!

Of course we all know your wedding day is about the commitment between you and your soon to be husband/wife but we also know another huge thing about the day is THE DRESS!

The wedding dress is the first thing you think of when planning your big day (I'm not speaking for everyone but it's got to be 99%!)
Those memories you have of being a little girl and pretending to be wearing a wedding dress is finally happening, you probably already know the style, colour, shape you want to go for.
It's one of the biggest, if not the biggest, decision and purchase you'll make. Not just because of the price but it's something you will always remember wearing and be reminded of wearing when you look back at your happy day.

Wedding dress shopping for me was exciting but also quite overwhelming.
I tried on so many styles and if there's one thing I have noticed from shopping for myself and also speaking to others, it's that the style you think you're going to like and will suit you the most isn't what you end up falling in love with!

I wanted to share with you some tips and things to think about when picking your dream dress to help you also have that amazing experience and hopefully not be too overwhelming!

Budget

The main thing you need to consider when you start looking for your dress is the budget.
You need to be realistic and also remember just because it's £10,000 doesn't mean it's the best and most expensive looking!
The dress I chose was the least expensive of the ones I tried on and it actually looks more expensive than some of the ones which were nearly £1,000 more!
(Once the wedding has taken place, I'll post photo's and reveal the price!)
When discussing your budget also take into consideration any alterations which may be required, depending on the alterations these can be anything between £50 - £300 (possibly more) so if you have a budget of say £2000 and the dress you fall in love with is £2100 you may think it's only £100 more but you may require £200 of alterations.
It really is a personal choice and how much you are wanting to spend, as I say just because someone has spent £10,000 doesn't mean it's the best dress!

Style/Shape
Princess? Fishtail? A-Line? Short?
There are so many styles and shapes of dresses. You probably already know which style you are wanting to go for whether it be the big Princess ballgown or a simple fitted A Line dress.
If I had any tips I would suggest you also try other styles, even the ones you thought you wouldn't like or you thought wouldn't suit you. You might be surprised and end up falling in love with one you wouldn't in a million years think you would!
Make the most of your appointment and remember you're the bride to be and also the customer so any dress you see try it, see what it's like and if you don't like it you just move on to the next one.

Colour
Now you are probably thinking 'Why are you even talking about the colour? White obviously!'
Yes, most brides will choose either White or Ivory.
However, it's becoming quite popular to go for a different colour. Brides are now steering towards the 'non traditional' aspect (myself included!) and not choosing the white or ivory dresses.
The most popular colour when not choosing white/ivory is blush!
Blush is a lovely subtle romantic colour which is fast becoming a popular choice amongst bride to be's.
When shopping for a dress I also saw red, ice blue, peach, gold and quite a few others.
So if you are wanting to choose another colour, don't worry there are quite a few options out there!
Also if you find a dress you like and it's white/ivory in the shop, ask the bridal consultant whether it does come in any other colour, you will more than likely find they have the white/ivory in for trying on but it does come in different colours.

EntourageIf you are currently planning your big day you more than likely have seen the popular TV show 'Say Yes To The Dress' (I love it!) and you see them take about 600 people with them and surprise surprise they don't impress everyone!
Keep your group small when going to try on dresses, only take the people who's opinions matter and not just because Auntie Joyce will be so upset if you don't take her with you.
At the end of the day the final decision is yours but it's always nice to have someone with you who can let you know whether they are blown away or doesn't think it's the right style.
People have different opinions and so if you take too many people you'll never please everyone and therefore you'll never make a decision. Remember -  IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU!!

Finally....

The last things I can think are, don't rush into a decision and don't feel pressured into making a quick decision. 

You are in control, if you aren't sure then you can have time to think. Whether that be popping for a quick coffee to discuss the dresses you've tried or even leaving it a week or two and then returning.
I had been to two different bridal shops in one day and after 3 hours of trying dresses I just felt defeated, I had tried on pretty much every style and shape. I decided to come away and go back the following week, this helped so much! As I realised there were two dresses I really liked and going back to just try those two on again was so much easier than trying and comparing to around 30 others!


If you are currently planning your wedding, Congratulations!
I hope some or all of the above help to make your wedding dress shopping a little less overwhelming.

Let me know in the comments below if your wedding is coming up.

                                                                           Maxine x