In 2019, I started saving for some expensive things, a boiler, a new car and for private school fees (Annabelle will start High School in 2023!). For a long time, Andy and I just lived with the things we had because they worked, a clunky back boiler, old fashioned wallpaper (that came with the house) and a car where I couldn’t open or close my windows or lock the doors from the driver’s side. I started cutting out things from my daily spending and found that I actually enjoyed the feeling of saving money.
I am now on a mission to save at least £200 a month and thought it would be helpful to set some January Goals in order to keep me on track. I think I will set a new list every month so I don’t feel like I am depriving myself of anything for a full year!
- No takeaway coffees – This happened by accident in 2019 as I would avoid buying takeaway coffees if I didn’t have my reusable cup. I then began realising how much I was saving by waiting to go home and eat/drink there instead and before I knew it, I had gone months without buying anything from Starbucks.
- No Clothes – When I started going to the gym in June, I avoided buying clothes as my body was changing. I do need some new trousers and jeans but I am putting this off for this month, and probably til mid March as I have just joined an exercise focus group and want to make a conscious effort to achieve my fitness goal of losing my love handles. Until then, it would be a waste of money to buy clothes that are only going to fit for the next few weeks.
- No makeup or skincare – My biggest weakness is spending money at Cult Beauty and Space NK! I love eyeshadow, lipstick and cleansers. I would happily spend £100 on cosmetics but I add and then delete the same clothes from my online basket over and over again. In my recent Black Friday blog post I mentioned that I have unsubscribed from a ton of company emails to avoid temptation. I still find this tough as I see lots of ads from these companies on social media but I now have two strategies to combat this:
- Visualise my working hours – I read online that a good way to avoid buying things was to remove the urgency and see if you still wanted it a month later. This never works for me as I have wanted a Louis Vuitton handbag for the last three years so by this theory, my bank account would definitely be £1k lighter at this point. Instead, I find it easier to work out how many hours/days I would have to work in order to save up the money for this item. So far, this has helped to dissuade me from buying a new laptop, trainers and makeup on offer in the Christmas/January sales.
- Set a goal – I have two big savings goals, private school fees for the children and a new house. I am tempted to print off a picture of the house I want to buy and the logo of the school I would like my children to go to and to laminate it and stick it in my planner. I can then visualise these two goals when I feel the urge to buy something.
Do you have any goals for January and are you saving for anything in 2020? Bx
I realised that a lot of the time, I have been buying things I like just because they are on offer. I don’t actually need the goods, I just like them. I then remembered this feeling I had when I was on a coach in Greece. I observed the locals, especially the older generation who seemed to live a simpler life. This is by no means an insult. They just seemed happier with less. It made me crave a life where I didn’t want to buy designer handbags, expensive trainers or a brand new laptop.
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