Friday 11 January 2013

Saving Begins...

Money Saving Ideas… Suggestions Welcome!
So saving for a holiday and a wedding at one time is a lot tougher than I’d originally anticipated. I’m a good saver – when it’s something I really want. This however, can lead to long periods of boredom. These are the solutions I’ve come up with so far which I think will help save us the most money in the time we have (whatever that may be…)
  1. Cut down on booze… we love partying, but this so far has led to empty bank accounts, sore heads, and entire days wasted due to tiredness… is it really necessary? I’m on day 6 of my no booze diet and I already feel better.
  2. The joy of cooking… since moving in with Akshay, I’ve had to learn to cook more than pasta bake and tikka masala using a jar of sauce from the supermarket. We now enjoy going into the kitchen together and making something – I’m the chopper, he’s the one that deals with the splashing oil in the pan! Doing this stops us spending on takeaways, dining out and makes us healthier than eating awful microwave meals… not too healthy though, we enjoy tasty food.
  3. Speaking of food… we do however enjoy eating out once in a while, our “date nights” as we call them. My brother suggested we buy a Taste Card. Basically this is valid in certain restaurants allowing you to get buy one get one free offers or 50% off. We got the card for £30 and it’s valid for a year, so really we will only need to eat out a couple of times to get value for money, but a few nights out in a month will be nice.
  4. Moving Pictures… we both have Cineworld Unlimited Cards. Basically we pay £15 a month and can see as many movies as we like. There are normally at least one or two Bollywood movies out each month, a couple of action, some comedy and of course chick flicks. We have basically decided even if it looks rubbish, we’re going!! A single ticket can cost over £8 so again, 2 movies and we’ve made our money back but on average we will see around 6 or 7 movies a month. Gets us out of the flat and something new to chat about. Movies I’ve seen with Akshay that I would recommend are The Impossible, Barfi, Jack Reacher and English Vinglish.
  5. Keeping Fit… Yup, can be dull but we have gym memberships for Virgin Active. I prefer classes as I’m more pushed to work out but it’s nice going round the equipment together… I confess this is near the bottom of our pile in terms of “fun things to do” but we always feel good after it AND the gym has a pool, Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna so there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.
  6. Spending time with Friends… in our flat. Rather than going out, paying for taxis, spending £3-£4 a drink, and a McDonalds at 3am we think a good way to save will be inviting friends round to our flat. Bring your own booze if you want to drink, we can cook or get a take away and just have a laugh. Obviously it’s nice to escape to someone else’s flat or go into town once in a while but hey, no one ever got the dream wedding by gallivanting here there and everywhere!
This is all I have so far - not a bad start though

2 comments:

  1. Good ideas :)
    I've also decided if I buy something I don't need, like a CD or some clothes in a sale, I'm putting the same amount of money in my savings account. This either gets me a bit more money or stops me spending it on things I don't need!

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  2. That's a very good idea! I dont think i've ever thought of doing that before but it's a nice one :)

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