Spent the last 5 months paying for bits for our wedding (this Friday) and paying off debts. It’s nearly all done now, however after 5 months of non stop graft I feel like I deserve a few bike related treats.

I don’t desperately need anything, just a few things I’d like, some riser bars, some Deemax wheels etc. However, if I buy them the cycle will begin again.

How the hell do you stop this? How do you save money? HOW? Is there some kind of jedi mindtrick?

No… I think Jedi just gets things for free. 😛

But seriously, I try to make myself wait 1 month minimum for things, if i still want them then they are least partly needed. If i’ve decided I want something else instead it was fancy and I saved myself money… kinda works…

What’s more important, havnig savings or Deemax wheels?

spend less than you earn

My favoured technique is to make it inconvenient for yourself.

Get yourself a savings account. Every month, on the day after your salary is paid in, get a standing order to take a load of money away into your savings.

That’s it, that’s the whole advice.

Tell yourself that you won’t spend that money. If you *really need* the money, it is there and you can get at it, but for every day purchases, you don’t have the money, you can’t afford whatever it is you wanted. YOU CAN’T HAVE IT, PUT YOUR WALLET AWAY.

HTH.

Dave

Stay away from E-bay, especially after beer!
You don’t really need that tandem trike MTB.

I put a spreadsheet alongside my monthly budget that takes into account every expense larger than £100 coming up in the next year (school uniforms, car service etc) and save piece meal as appropriate up to the required date. It’s the only way I can achieve it, I shudder when I think of the money I pi##ed away in my youth.

Step 1. Pay cash for things. This is cheaper and quicker than paying with money that you don’t have.

Step 2. Spend less than you earn.

cynic-al – that is the bloody question isn’t it. On one shoulder we have the devil saying Deemax, on the other a little angel saying savings.

2 years ago I would have bought the wheels by now. Then had a day of regretting it, then a few weeks of pride looking at the wheels. Supposed to be getting some money saved in preparation for a house move. I don’t think I can do a whole year of saving though, it will break me.

Don’t do this!

Assuming you have some cash in the bank to cover foreseeable problems, what do you need any additional money in the bank for?

Unless you are either saving for something in particular, or are preparing for the apocalypse, why are you bothering putting in the effort/hours at work just to have the reward lying in a bank doing naff all?

If spending your extra cash on bike bits is what makes you happy, then that’s the only good thing that generally comes from work (I certainly don’t get any happiness paying out all of my required outgoings every month!)

Usual rules of using common sense apply.

Thanks for the advice Dave. One question. Does that approach make you happy? I mean, (and I know this is a bit selfish) if I spend the money I’ll have some new wheels. If I don’t, well it will probably get spent on some new carpets. The wheels would make me happier.

Are you saving for something in particular?

Does anyone actually get a buzz out of saving money? I think my dad does.

If I need something that isn’t a consumable, something else has to be sold to either cover the cost or go a fair way towards it

Woody, I thought that was the safe middle ground. A 2nd hand pair would effectively be a “foot in both camps” 🙂

Does that approach make you happy?

Don’t forget to see the flipside of the coin… my savings arrangement means that the money in my bank account is effectively my ‘toy fund’.

Reading my previous post back, I missed a link in the chain. Me and t’missus have a joint account. Each month I pay an amount into that which will cover mortgage, bills and food. Then I pay an amount into my savings account. Everything that is left, I can spend guilt free 🙂

This makes me very happy!

Also, every now and then, when the savings are looking healthy, I feel like I can make a decent purchase – again, guilt free. Like a car, or a bike or something for the house. All without credit or interest.

I never dip the savings down to nothing (not even when we moved house), so they provide a nice safety blanket should one of us lose a job, or if some unforeseen emergency happens, or we just feel like a spur of the moment holiday.

Dave

I only buy stuff when u need it and can afford it.

Don’t be materialistic. Flash cars are generally a bad investment.

When you do buy anything, get it in a sale or discounted.

Other than a house, don’t borrow money to buy anything.

Peter, no cash in the bank to cover foreseeable problems, however substantial credit limits from previous borrowing (used O/D and credit card to secure deposit for mortgage) that could be used if required.

Been trying to be debt free (other than mortgage + car) for a number of years and now I’m there I’m sat here thinking “is this it?”

I only buy stuff when u need it and can afford it.

This, more or less. Very rarely do I buy something I don’t /need/. When I do I only buy something within my current savings. If I dn’t have the cash I don’t buy it, that’s why I don’t have stupid amounts of debt unlike most of my peers.

Ah, right, I see Dave. Missus has been pushing for a joint account for a while, might give it a whirl.

Thanks for the tips y’all

OP I am guessing you are younger than me – having some savings/a pension becomes important when you get older.

I’ve also realised that owning this year’s latest fastest lightest bike/parts bring me **** all happiness.

rocketman – Member

spend less than you earn

Woah! bizarre theory there, can’t see that catching on.

What Dave said, although my savings were originaly intended for something like traveling (or recession induced poverty, or both). The missus got wind of my plans and earmarked it as a house deposit grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

My savings tend to be in more lump sums as I’m not the type to spend every penny in the bank, so can trust myself to just transfer £xxk out of the current account every 6 months or so, but the principals the same, pay all the bills and essential, save some, and the rest is to be spent on me, otherwise what’s the point in going into work every day?

It has just dawned on me that I’ve never ever saved any money. Ever. I’ve always borrowed and paid it back. Think this is why there’s some psychological barrier.

That’s not to say I’m not good at paying it back, I am. I’m 38 and only got 18 years left on the mortgage (was a 30 year mortgage when I took it out 5 years ago) although that is likely to increase when we move. I suppose that equity is the closest I’ve ever got. Only got one year to go on the car loan and that’s it, everything else is paid for.

In other news, someone has just emailed me with some second hand Deemax… I shall discuss it with the OH tonight. If I have some good work news tomorrow I think it will be OK to get them. If not, then I won’t.

For me, it was stopping buying tat. Ask yourself, “if I moved house would I take it with me / miss it?” If no, it’s a bad purchase.

Buy with the right reasoning. Eg, if you see a magazine you want, but have another magazine at home unread / partially read, then it should stay on the shelf; so, now you’re mentally buying a magazine because you’re out of magazines rather than because you’ve fallen victim to its glossy sales pitch on the cover. This way you don’t end up with a pile of unread magazines and a hole in your wallet.

This sounds like small potatoes, sure, but once you’ve trained your brain to do this you start applying it to bigger purchases. Sure, you’d like a new wheelset, but is there anything wrong with your existing ones?

so, now you’re mentally buying a magazine because you’re out of magazines rather than because you’ve fallen victim to its glossy sales pitch on the cover.

I agree with this, also think about the fact that marketing doesn’t really work and you’ll save a bundle.

Reading my previous post back, I missed a link in the chain. Me and t’missus have a joint account. Each month I pay an amount into that which will cover mortgage, bills and food. Then I pay an amount into my savings account. Everything that is left, I can spend guilt free

Exactly what we do. We both have a Standing Order to transfer £1500 into the joint at the start of every month. Then all the bills, mortgage, child trust fund, nursery etc comes off that.

Makes it nice and easy to see what household bills you have if they are the only thing coming off one account.

Money left over in the joint builds up and either gets saved or spent on holidays / house stuff.

Money left in personal accounts gets spent guilt-free.

Never buy anything on credit (except car and house).

Technically speaking, no there is nothing wrong with the wheelset.

However… on the rear I’m currently running a really old (pre Pro II Hope hub) on an even older Mavic rim. This is the only 150mm spaced rear wheel I own so it ain’t gonna last forever and once the wedding is out of the way I’m gonna ride a lot of DH for the rest of the year (2 x Fort Bill trips already booked). Current wheel would be a good spare.

The front wheel is a Mavic 721 on a Hope Pro II which I’ve borrowed off another wheelset. The rear is 135mm spaced and gathering dust whilst the front is getting battered. Got this wheelset earmarked for my trail bike.

So, there is logic there!

Don’t go on internet forums where people with seemingly (note seemingly) endless pots of cash show off their latest mountain bikes and the kit they have bought to go with them.

spend less than you earn

spend less earn more than you earn your (soon to be) wife spends

I think it’s practice really. Like you I was a poor saver until I bought a flat and then started a family. The need to have some financial security is much more important, and after a year or so I just got used to being a lot more frugal. I would say in time that you start forcing yourself to spend money on things rather than trying to stop yourself. It does help to have specific goals and identified targets.

In all honesty, soon to be wife is bloody brilliant, she spends very little. Previous wife was a living nightmare. £700 handbags, £3k holidays, came from a well off family, it was a bloody nightmare trying to keep up. Always remember her hairdresser saying “I feel for your husband trying to keep you in the manor to which you have become accustomed”.

I’ve been going through direct debits today and being ruthless about things I no longer really need or are a luxury. So far up to £90 per month and still working a on a few things.

That said it’ll just pay toward the upgrade in car. Toot Toot!

+1 with jota180

I opened an online account with £100. I buy and sell bike stuff and forbid myself to ever top up the account. No money in account = no purchase. Luckily it doesn’t have an overdraft facility.

I opened an online account with £100. I buy and sell bike stuff and forbid myself to ever top up the account. No money in account = no purchase. Luckily it doesn’t have an overdraft facility.

That’s actually a really interesting idea. However the “forbid myself” is where most of us get unstuck.

I transfer £150 per month to a savings account for spending on whatever I want – but that’s it. The rest stays in our current account to pay for living. I also love the challenge to seek out good bike gear at bargain prices. Three-year old clearance bikes/frames, buying the cheapest groupset components with the best trickle-down tech, using direct sellers like Superstar, clothes off ebay etc. The only things I don’t scrimp on are tyres, wheels and bearings.

Don’t ask me – I invest in nice bike parts – they have a sell on value right? They unfortunately seem to wear out too!

Duncan Bannatyne Anyone Can Do It.