Thrifty Thinking #JanuaryJoy

Money. I'm more than happy to spend it but I don't really like talking about it. Today's #JanuaryJoy on Florence Finds blog is about finances/ budgets and so there's a lot of blog talk today, and at the start of 2013, about how people manage their household spends.  

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We are a household of three: Me, M and our awesome cat, Jacques. We have a joint account where all bills and household spends come out (and Jacques' pocket money, naturally), a joint savings account, and then we each have our own personal account. Our salaries go into our own bank accounts and then we each put a significant portion  into the joint account, leaving a little to spend or save ourselves each month. 



I've got to admit, I don't think I have or will ever be good at sitting down and 'doing the budget'. If there was ever a time to try this it was our wedding and, on reflection, I don't think we did very well at sticking to our wedding budget. It didn't matter, to be honest. We used a 12 months 0% interest credit card and paid it off as soon as we could, just as if we'd had the extra month or so to save for the wedding. That being said, I do want to try to be more mindful of where I am spending my money.

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When I look at my own account, I've noticed that I am a chronic fritter-er. £2 here, another £1.67 there. I also love a good bargain. The problem: My love for a good deal combined with my fritter-y habits mean that I often end up with unnecessary bags of Home Bargains' finest or voucher deals that I could happily go without. Worse still, I often forget about voucher deals that I have bought and then they expire. Not such a good deal after all!

Over the coming months I am going to try to make a conscious effort to cut down on the wasting of pennies. We just got an EngerySmart meter. I don't think this will help us cut down our bills dramatically, but I hope it will make us think about how we use power in the house. On top of this, I pledge to: 

1. Use Shoestring Splendour's finance spreadsheet to get a better general picture of where our money goes.

2. Be deal savy.

3. Make greater use of my Quidco account, which gives you cashback for online (and some in store, including Cineworld) shopping.

4. Take greater advantage of the free local music and gallery events.

5. Plan meals more often and take my own lunches to work . 

How do you plan to shake up your own finances? Have you got anything big to save for?