Tips and Tricks on Saving Money – Ali From Scotland’s Personal Saving Story

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their Personal Savings Stories and photographs.  I hope by sharing other people’s money savings tips here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all find new ways to save rock our budgets this year.

This week we are featuring some fun tips from across the pond. Ali from Scotland shares some fun tips:

Hi Mavis,

I’m Ali {I blog at Less Equals More.  }.  I’m a teacher currently teaching 6 and 7 year olds. I live in Scotland.  Scots have a bad reputation for being mean but that simply isn’t the case.  We just like good value for our hard earned money 😉

My life changed dramatically almost 6 years ago.  In a few short months I went from living a very privileged life in a large house in the country to having £5 in my purse and a quarter tank of petrol in my car.  I had no bank account and no credit cards.  I didn’t have a bad credit score, I had NO credit score.  I had always been the second name on every account and didn’t have anything of my own.  It took a whole year to sort out my finances and then another year to sell the family home.

I’m a single mum to 3 boys although I only have my youngest at home now.  He’s off to university in September (eek!) and I’ll be an empty nester.  I met my partner Ewan 5 years ago.  We had both come out of very long marriages and had so much in common.  He has 2 kids who live with him although he only has his youngest left at home as his daughter is in the army.  Luckily we have similar thrifty habits although we can disagree on where to save and spend money at times.  At the moment we’re running 2 separate households but that will change one day.

Food

OH {other half} and I are gluten and dairy free, for different reasons.  My son is a lifelong vegetarian and his son is a plain eater (no veggies!).  Luckily I love cooking and always cook from scratch.  Gluten free food is expensive so I stick to foods that are naturally gluten free.  A lot of my food is purchased once it’s been reduced.  I do like my yellow stickered bargains.  Depending on what I’ve bought it’ll go straight into the freezer or I’ll cook it first then freeze it.  I stock up on items I use regularly when they’re on offer.  I like to forage for free food in season and happily pick brambles (blackberries), elderflowers and elderberries.  I grow some fruit and vegetables and have just built a wee polytunnel so that I can extend our very short growing season and grow much more.  I also keep chickens and have a plentiful supply of eggs.

Entertainment

OH and I are home bodies.  Occasionally we’ll splash out and go see a comedian but mostly we spend weekends home based.  I don’t pay for any tv (except the annual license fee which is mandatory) so only watch Freeview channels. My son got Netflix from his dad as a birthday present last year and I got it on my laptop as the second user. To be honest I’ve not watched anything yet! We’re members of a university gym (much cheaper than a fancy gym) and go at least 3 times a week.  OH is superfit (he’s a third Dan in TKD) but I just work out to stay healthy and ward off future health issues.  OH loves his Groupon offers where you buy vouchers for activities at a much reduced cost.  In the last few years we’ve been on a seabird cruise, kayaking down a river, dolphin watching and a ghost walk in Edinburgh.  We rarely eat out due to our dietary needs as it’s no fun spending the next day hogging the bathroom!

Clothes

For the last few years I’ve allowed myself £10 per month so £120 ($170) per year. In my ‘old life’ I spent a lot of money on good quality clothes so I was able to make them last.  I buy good quality clothes from Ebay and charity shops and I get a lot of clothes passed on to me from my mum.  I knit and sew so can make some clothes and I’m happy to alter dresses and skirts.  I once made a traditional boned corset from an old kilt.  I was a member of The Refashion Co-op for a while but couldn’t keep up with the posting commitment.  This year I’ve worked out a new clothing budget of £500 ($700) as a lot of my things were wearing out.

I’m trying to buy more ethically and reduce my impact on the environment particularly when it comes to what happens when I’m done wearing it. OH doesn’t necessarily share my beliefs and calls me hippy dippy! Vive la difference!

Saving

I’m very lucky as I was able to buy my wee house with cash.  Having no mortgage really makes a difference to my monthly budget but I don’t have a big pension.  For many years I worked part time and my pension projection reflects this.  So I’m saving for my old age!  I am able to save half my salary most months.  I’ve done a lot of work to my house.  Luckily OH has an electrical background and we can both turn our hands to most DIY tasks for a fraction of the cost of getting tradesmen in.  It’s taken me 2 years to gradually renovate my kitchen but it has cost me less than £2k.  And it’s nearly done!

Holidays

Thanks to having savings, OH and I jointly bought a campervan.  We love it!  If it’s just the 2 of us we wild camp wherever we can park up for the night.  You can wild camp legally in Scotland under certain conditions. Just recently we had a weekend in Skye to celebrate my 50^th birthday.  The weather isn’t always kind but we’re very cozy and snug inside if it’s cold and wet outside.

For family holidays we pack an awning and any teenagers who come with us sleep in there.  We tend to stay in Scotland but last year ventured over to Ireland (the area where Game of Thrones is filmed!) and loved it so much we’re going back this year.  Thanks to our frugal lifestyles we can spend money on activities like coasteering and kayaking.  We take our bikes with us and cycle everywhere.  We’re always prepared for inclement weather so when it rains (and it does regularly) we don’t really mind.  Sunny days are a bonus.

My middle son works for Hilton so any time we need to be hotel based he gets us a room with his family discount.  We often get upgraded if the hotel is quiet.  In the last few years we’ve been to Vienna (for OH’s 50^th birthday) and Singapore (for a family wedding)  These were big expenses that we saved for and thanks to the discount didn’t cost us full price.

Pets

I have 2 black labs Emma (4) and Lucy (11).   My dogs are my luxury and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I work full time so I need to pay someone to walk them for me.  Due to my lifestyle now I wouldn’t have more than 1 dog so won’t get another one when Lucy is no longer with me. Here’s a breakdown of my monthly costs.

Technically my 3 chickens are pets too, but they at least reward me with eggs!

Education

Luckily in Scotland you don’t have to pay tuition fees for an undergraduate degree.  When my son goes to university in September to study to become a Diagnostic Radiographer he will only pay for his accommodation and food.  His dad will fund the accommodation costs and I will train him to eat well and frugally! He will try to get a job to help finance himself but I will do my best to make sure he leaves after 4 years with as little debt as possible.  He can apply for a student loan to help with his living costs which is only paid back when he is earning above a certain level.  It automatically comes out of your salary each month.

Top 5 things I can easily do without

1. The latest smartphone. I text and make calls on mine, that’s all. I don’t need internet access to know what celebrities are up to when I’m out and about (or at any time really!)
2. Cable and satellite TV. There are plenty of free channels that cover a wide variety of genres. You can only watch 1 programme at a time!!  And for family nights we watch DVDs or something we’ve previously recorded.
3. Eating out. OH prefers my cooking to restaurant food so it’s a no brainer.  For special meals we’ll splash out and buy steak or good seafood.  I love cooking for friends and family and can feed an army at short notice thanks to my full freezers and well stocked store cupboard.
4. A big luxury car. I drive a Honda Civic.  It’s low cost, easy to maintain and has an eco function that saves on petrol.  I’m seriously considering giving up my car as I live in the centre of a town and less than 2 miles to my workplace. Annually my mileage is about 4,000 miles
5. Fashion. I’ve never been a follower of fashion even when I was young. I prefer a more classic look with a quirky twist for work (blouse, skirt or dress with boots in winter/shoes in summer and a cardigan).  My favourite work dress is a vintage Laura Ashley dress that has survived paint, glue, glitter etc. Outside of work it’s usually jeans, t shirt and sweater.

I wasn’t always frugal and look back in embarrassment at some elements of my old lifestyle.  But I am genuinely happier now than I’ve been for a very long time and am content with the lifestyle I have chosen for myself.  I hope we’re passing on good financial habits to our children as their generation are going have difficulty getting on the property ladder in the current market in the UK.  The world is a very different place to the one we grew up in and I hope we’re sending our kids out there better prepared than we were.

Thanks for reading my personal story.

Many thanks Mavis,

Ali

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