A rainy-day fund can help when things get tough - By Home At Rose Cottage

We've partnered with Jill, blogger at 'Home At Rose Cottage', who shared her lockdown story and how having a savings account with Progressive helped her throughout the past year.

"Hello there!

Well what a year it has been at Rose Cottage with the lockdowns having brought many ups and downs for us. the big increase in family time together has been so lovely and we’ve really soaked up every bit of wee Harry, the memories made with him will never be forgotten.  As Ash works in non-essential retail he has been off for over 6 months of the last year!! (I remember him taking 3 weeks off for our wedding and he thought that was far too long!)  Ash absolutely loves his work and is counting down the seconds until Friday when he returns!

However, what the last year has also brought us is uncertainty in employment, sleepless nights and then redundancy.  I managed a Day Centre for Adults with Learning Disabilities which closed due to Covid and didn’t reopen.  I won’t lie, it was a rough time, but one thing which helped us through the uncertainty was our ‘rainy day fund’ which we had started together when we got married.  In 2013 we never would have imagined what would be ahead of us in 2020/21 but knew having a little put away in a nest egg could see us right if needed.  I remember going into our local Progressive Building Society and the staff being so helpful and encouraging when we chatted through the range of saving accounts available to us.  

Thankfully, my period out of employment didn’t last too long and I was able to add to our Savings with a redundancy payment, which has allowed us to start on the exterior of Rose Cottage. The plans are big (!!!), and we are starting with fencing our entire outside space, levelling the garden and putting in some hedging as the initial stage.  More saving will be needed to complete the entire process and we plan to continue to save long term for the future and the rainy days.

Saving for the outside hasn’t taken us quite as long as for the inside.  I suppose not being out and about as much has helped.  I’ve really cut down on impulse purchases and resisted the temptation to spend money on things I don’t really need.  As parents, Ash and I really want to instill these same values in little Harry, just as our parents did with us.  The money we are putting away for wee Harry now could make such a difference to him in his adult life.

If this last year has taught us anything, it’s to prepare for the unknown; I would really encourage you to consider saving a little bit each month from your monthly income.  Have a chat with the staff at your local Progressive Building Society or go online to find out about all the Saving Account options; they will keep you right with which one would be best for you.

Hope you enjoyed reading, as much as I enjoyed writing!

Jill