Hello and welcome back to my blog.
You may have found me from my Instagram page budgetwithme1 . On my Instagram page I share daily savings updates, money saving tips, meal prep tips and much more. So please check out my page.
I haven’t posted on here in a while and its because life has got in the way, however I’m back and I am determined to write a blog post at least once a week.
If you are new to my blog then hello to you! On this blog I am going to be sharing money saving tips that I have learnt over the last 2 years, and my savings journey.
On this post I will be talking about 2019 and how this was my year!
A bit of an update:
I feel I should give a little bit of an update as I haven’t posted since may last year! 2019 was an amazing year for me, my savings were increasing every month and I loved every minute. And towards the end of 2019 I was also in the Sunday Times Money Mentor to celebrate my saving success. (you can read my story by clicking on the link above)
What went well in 2019?
2019 had its ups and downs for me financially. I learn’t so much about myself and how I was wasting money every month. So lets start with the positives;
- I was able to save £5,588.92 towards my house deposit
- I created saving pots with Monzo
- I learn’t more about my spending habits
- I cut many bills (saving a lot of money!)
Saving £5,588.92 last year was an amazing achievement, it made me realise that i can save money if I put my mind to it and work hard. I saved this money but not eating out as much, planing in advance for days out, holidays etc and completing paid online surveys every week. On average I was making £80 a month answering questions on a variety of survey apps.
I also cancelled many of the unused subscriptions that I hadn’t used in so long this saved me £100’s! Which allowed me to save more money in the long run. My biggest expense was my PlayStation 4 online access which I never used, this was costing me on average £30 a month, for something I never used.
Over all 2019 was successful however there were some fails….
What didn’t go well in 2019?
In 2019 I saved £5,588.92 towards my house deposit and this was a huge success for me. My original goal was to save £10,000 towards a house deposit however things didn’t go to plan. From car repairs, to buying new glasses the beginning of 2019 was an expensive one that I was not prepared for.
The worst thing was I didn’t have any emergency funds set up in May 2019 which meant I had to use my savings for my house deposit to pay for a lot of expenses. This set me back by nearly £1,000 which was very disheartening, I would have lost motivation if it wasn’t for the amazing community that I have found on Instagram.
I also had some family issues which meant emotional spending on food, clothes and items that I didn’t really need. I remember spending £80 on clothes that i didn’t really need nor did I wear most of them!
Have I learn’t from my mistakes in 2019?
I have learn’t that I do need emergency funds, I need to save more money for lives unexpected expenses such as car repairs and new glasses! That way I wont have to touch my house deposit savings. Since May last year I have learn’t that I need to have more self control over my spending and really think about how much I am spending and if I really need the items I am buying.
Overall I have realised that even though I made many mistakes 2019 was also a fantastic year of learning. I learnt how to save for different social events throughout the year, how to save money for Christmas, and how to meal prep like a Queen!
Thank you so much for reading this blog, my next post will be all about my 2020 goals and how I am going to achive them.
Speak to you all soon.
Hannah xx
Budgetwithme1 