Every penny counts

Today is our national government budget day, so I thought a post about money would be appropriate!
Do you want to know a secret? I haven't used a debit card in over two years. Not even once, I'm strictly a cash only girl. Why? Here's why...

A few years ago, I was going on holiday to Florida and took out a credit card to cover spending money. I took out a second card just in case the first one was maxed out before I got home. Hello? If you're going with kids to the home of theme parks and shopping malls, and you give yourself the opportunity to max out your card, you can bet your bum it'll happen! Twice! Financial mistake no.1.

When I got home, it was nearly Christmas, and as all my money was paying for cards 1 & 2, I took out card 3 to pay for Christmas. Financial mistake no.2.

It was getting stressful having to pay three separate bills, so I took out card 4 to consolidate cards 1 & 2. WHAT?? I know, complete idiot. Financial mistake no.3.

Well, now that all my money was going towards cards 3 & 4, I had no spare money for groceries and everyday living, so I (stupidly) started using cards 1 & 2 again. ARGH! It's all too easy, and all too familiar for most of us. What started as a little holiday spending money had spiralled into £15k of debt in the space of a year, and it was a nightmare. I didn't even have very much to show for it!

To cut a long story short, I worked hard, saved hard and over the next two years, I paid off every penny of my debt. I deliberately opened a bank account that had no debit card, just a cashpoint card, and have dealt purely in cash ever since. Hard lesson to learn, but I learned it for life!

Anyway, because I only ever use cash, it means that pretty much every purse, handbag and jacket pocket in my house has some change in it. I've got myself into a habit where every few months, I do a sweep of the house and gather up all the coins I have squirrelled away. This is what I gathered up yesterday...

It came to a grand total of £48.21! Hooray!

Another habit I've got into, is regularly gathering up my change and putting it away in my pot (shown in the photo at the top), so that we always have something put away for a rainy day. I counted all of that money yesterday as well, and separated it all into little bags, all worth £10 each. The great thing with this habit is, I can fill my purse with £10 worth of change each week and use this for those everyday expenses, like bread, milk and sweets for the kids. It avoids the need to take money out of the bank and means my pennies are stretched that little bit further.

Like I say, every penny counts! Hopefully, I'll pass on my careful spending habits to my kids, and hope they never get themselves in a state like I did. 

If you have budgeting or saving tips, please share them with me!