Sorting out my Life Goals with GiffGaff Gameplan

All opinions are my own. All photos in this post are provided by GiffGaff Gameplan.

The end of university life is nigh. It’s time to sort myself out for a life after university. The most important part of that is sorting out my finances.

We really don’t talk about money enough. It’s a topic that people are really private about and in all honesty, I really wish we weren’t. I really wish that at school we had have had classes that taught you about real world things like budgeting, finances, taxes, mortgages etc. I’m going to write another couple of posts about this and some advice for students with money! So keep your eyes out for them!

Now that student life is coming to an end, adult life is coming at me fast and hard. I’ve already moved in with my boyfriend which is a big step in itself, but now I’ve got to start planning my finances according to adult life. That means being even more aware of my budget than I was as a student as there are more bills to pay and more goals I want to achieve.

That’s why when GiffGaff invited me to their GiffGaff Gameplan Workshop, I accepted immediately. If there’s anyone who needed an evening with financial experts it was me!

The workshops were hosted by top money bloggers offering tips, advice and tasks on everyday savings, building your credit score and applying for mortgages. Their app is launching in January so keep your eyes out! But in the meantime, if you’re interested in learning more about your credit score then click here to go to the GiffGaff Gameplan website. 

Everyday Savings with Eileen Adamson of Yourmoneysorted

eileen adamson yourmoneysorted blog workshop

One thing I really love about being a blogger is getting to meet other bloggers! Blogging events are definitely the reason why my confidence has improved. Since this workshop, I’ve been reading Eileen’s blog, YourMoneySorted ever since and joined her Facebook group that talks all about money and I’ve been getting even more advice from the group.

Eileen got us thinking about ‘What is my big why?’ – What is the reason why you want to save? Do you want to fund your retirement? Go Travelling? Look after your kids? or maybe you just really love shoes! Whatever your big why is, you’ve got to remember it and keep it close whenever you do anything with money.

The Everyday Savings Workshop Tasks

giffgaff gameplan budget bingo money bloggers

I really enjoyed this workshop! I was a little nervous to talk money but fortunately it wasn’t so in depth and personal that I had to reveal too much about my spending habits! We started the event off with playing Bingo! It was quite interesting seeing who in the group met each of these and I was so surprised when I got Bingo! ( There’s a nice wee bottle of prosecco chilling in the fridge now!).

Tip 1: Cut your Food Shop.

We then moved round and started discussing meal planning. It’s something I’ve tried to do on and off and never had much success with. I think that’s because I’ve been cooking for 1 person and struggled to eat 3 leftover portions of the same meal etc. But now that Rob and I have moved in together, cooking has become far easier and more exciting! We’ve come up with our meal plan for this first week and are going to keep sticking to it for as long as we can- I will keep you updated!

Did you know meal planning can save you £800 a year?

That alone has me creating a meal plan in my bullet journal. We also wrote down tips together and at the end the pad was full of ideas from everyone. Other tips included bulk buying, write a list, and buying extras when on offer.

Tip 2: Loyalty doesn’t pay. Shop around and haggle with service providers.

I struggled a little bit with this one (  I didn’t get one of them right whooops!) but then again I don’t have any bills yet that are as big as home insurance, car insurance etc! By switching suppliers and checking deals online, you can save around £725 a year! Make sure to check comparison websites for advice.

Tip 3: Use any App or Website to make or save money that you can.

We went on to write down a list of websites/apps that allow you to make money or save it. Some that I’ve tried out since are TopCashBack, Studentbeans, My UniDays, the apps Yolt and Chip. I’ll tell you more about them later, but I do recommend you give them a Google!

As a blogger, I do use affiliate links which is a great way of getting little bits of cash here and there too. Do you have any websites that you know help you save/make money? Leave them below!

Mortgage Advice from The Mortgage Advice Bureau

Now that Rob and I are living together, we’re starting to seriously discuss the big questions in life a little bit. The main topic of discussion at the moment is the house. Redecorating it and putting our mark on it mostly, and hopefully one day, purchasing it. It’s got lovely gardens, a decent size to it, it’s in a lovely area and is the perfect house for us right now, possibly for a long time.

But in order to buy it, we need to get a mortgage.

I walked into the GiffGaff Gameplan Life Workshop with no idea how to get myself ‘mortgage ready’. Fortunately, I left the event with a much clearer idea thanks to advice from The Mortgage Advice Bureau and their handy first time buyers guide– download it here for free!

We chatted with the advisors seperately at the end and got even more advice tailored to us which was great. It’s going to take years to get ourselves completely mortgage ready and I’ve already got my plan in place! It feels so good having this helpful knowledge.

I’m super grateful that GiffGaff invited me to this event, as my head feels so clear when it comes to talking money now. It was always a topic I avoided talking about and would always make a joke about how bad I handle it.

I’ve now got a little spreadsheet of savings goals, and Rob and I have a better understanding how we’re going to plan out our savings and spending.

Remember to keep your eye out for the GiffGaff Gameplan app launching in January!

Do you have any money saving tips?

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All opinions are my own. All photos in this post are provided by GiffGaff Gameplan.