Top 5 Household Saving Tips
Weekend is finally upon us! I hope many of you are relaxing with a glass of vino, I sure am!
Today's post is first of many lifestyle posts I am going to write. I absolutely love Lifestyle posts and this is the main direction I'd like to see my blog going. So grab a cuppa and.....enjoy!!!
As some of you may know I am planning my wedding, which is taking place in June 2017 in Portugal - exciting! Ever since we really got down to planning, our lives turned into a series of "Can we afford it..."; "Maybe after the wedding..."; "We should stay in...."; "I will make dinner at home...." - Believe me, for anyone on an average pay planning a wedding can put on a serious strain on a. your relationship and b. on your sanity.
The constant battle between choosing one thing over another because your being budget conscious can be quite exhausting. While your friends are going on yet ANOTHER holiday, your furthest trip was down to the local park.
I have decided this will not get the best of me and I have came up with few ways of saving money and doing things for little to none of the cost.
Christmas Shopping
This had to be my #1. Who doesn't love going to the shopping centers, listening to the carols blaring over speakers or better yet in bigger malls they have choirs singing carols (in aid of charities). I personally LOVE it, the atmosphere it creates (even though if one more person pushes me in a shop I will pull their hair out, haha), the smell of freshly made hot coco and just the overall vibe. For those who are short on cash, this can bring anxiety and stress especially the social pressure of having to get AMAZING gifts. Am i the only one who noticed that with each year the gifts are getting more and more expensive? It's almost like we have to compete with last years gifts! Anyhow, I am way off point here. I have the ULTIMATE saving scheme, where Christmas will be THE celebration of all times, stress-free!
Basically, what you do is you find yourself a little box or a jar where you'd keep the money (Nice shabby chic or up-cycled old jar would work well :) )
You start saving in January, each week of the year represents a number of Euros you have to save, e.g.
Week 1 = €1
Week 2 = €2
Week 3 = €3 and so on until the end of the year on week 52.
Currently we are on week 32 and up to date i have saved €528.00 towards Christmas and it's only August!
I do realize this may get harder when you get to later weeks but even €528.00 is a lot for some people and they may stop there! This is an amazing way to save for things, and does not have to be done for Christmas however as it's towards the end of the year it makes sense!
If you save for the 52 weeks, your total savings will be €1378!
Holiday/Treat Savings
Another way to save for holidays or a pick-me-up treat is to set aside each week an affordable amount of money without a fail. For example, in September we are going out to Portugal to finalize our menus, pick suppliers, meet florist and do an engagement shoot etc. I am not going to lie, getting married abroad is going to cost us a small fortune, therefore going out to Portugal in September will be our ONLY holiday this year. What I always do whether I have extra cash or not, is I always pre-pay for my hotel and flights in full. This way all I have to worry about is the spending money. During the year I have mountains of bills to pay whether it's wedding related or not, my life goes on I still have to pay rent, car expenses, phone bill etc. the list only grows bigger.
Six months before our holiday I have decided to put aside €20 each week as spending money for our little holiday. Six months gives you 24 weeks = €480.00
My other half is doing the same scheme, and this way we almost have €1000.00 spending money for 6 day holiday and should we have leftover money we will treat ourselves to something nice i am sure.
The key to remember is, do not assign an amount that is unrealistic and that you will not be able to afford, as it will only bring you down if you won't be able to afford to save for it. Remember, while you are trying to save for all your wonderful goals, life goes on and and bills still have to be paid.
Plan Ahead of Time
I have always been a practical and organised person. I never do anything last minute. For example, when a special occasion is coming up I buy the lovely card and a gift in time and wrap it all nicely. I never paid attention to price when shopping for gifts (unless it's something REALLY expensive). Ever since I am on budget, I have a different mindset.
Make the most of seasonal sales.
Write out a list of birthdays, occasions and even perhaps Christmas gifts and potential presents you'd like to buy for each person. During the year as the sales go on pick up couple of things off your list for half the price!! This is a great way to save and you'll be sure to have things done on time.
Discover your local surroundings
A great way to feel like you still have a life, is to get outside and make the most of your surrounding areas. The only cost involved is petrol for travel. Make a list of cute, little places to discover, go for a walk or have a picnic. Speak to your friends, word of mouth is the best marketer and these days social media will tell you everything! For example, I live in Co. Kildare - there are so many manor hotels, cottages and little parks to go to where you can have a great day out, perhaps bring a picnic or if the weather is crappy you can enjoy a cuppa in the nearby cafe. This will not break the bank and it will de-stress you! There are plenty of bloggers who go to such places, you can follow my Instagram for photographs or Snapchat for live updates (joanna.stich). Another amazing blogger to follow for such places around Dublin is Catherine - Dainty Dress Diaries!
Get Active on Social Media
There are plenty of special offers out there and many free events, you just need to know where to look. And I know what you're thinking - subscribing to hundreds of emails and that does not have to be the case. For the best deals in your region all you have to do is sign up to My Deal Page and this is a service of all the discount websites combined in one neat email you get every morning. You can personalize it to your interests & hobbies as well as location.
Another great thing is to like all the local organisations/businesses and local council on Facebook as that's where all the free events are advertised.
**I buy many scented candles in glass jars and once the candles are all burned out I clean the jars and use them for random things, such as my savings!
I hope you found this helpful, and if you have any more helpful tips, leave them in a comment box at the bottom of the homepage!
As always,
Lots of Love
Joanna xoxo