Saving money

The only money at this point that I'm putting into my savings account is what gets put in there automatically with the Keep the Change program at Bank of America. For anyone not familiar with it, they round up every purchase on the debit card to the next dollar and put that into the savings account. So, I always make sure that when I fill up my gas tank, I let it go over to say $25.01 so that I get the extra savings. It doesn't add up to much, but it's still something.

The other thing I do is that I never spend a $1 bill. I have a box that is locked (and I've thrown away the key) that has a hole in it. I put all my ones and loose change in there. Once it's full, I get to cut the lock off (and then put a new one back on) and use the money for something special. Like a small trip. The average family (two adults) will save $2000 a year this way. The ex an I used to average about this much, but now that I'm single and it's just me, I am closer to about $350-$400 every 6 months. Still, it's enough for me to do a little something special for myself without cutting into my budget or having to scrimp on bills or food.

 

Second...job?

 

Bingo.

 

Another thing. I was determined to still be able to afford my Texans season tickets this year. What I did was look at one thing I could cut out that over the course of 6 months or so would equal the $700 I needed for my tickets. I cut out eating out at lunch and out of the vending machines at work and at school. I spent one week figuring out what I was spending doing that and it came to a cost of at least $25 per week. Now, I buy my chips and other snacks in bulk at the grocery store and make sure that I have leftovers for lunch or make a sandwich. I have been pulling this $25 out ever since in order to have my tickets paid for before the start of football season.

 

I manage to save on a Peace Corps stipend; it can be done.

Pay yourself first. Have it automatically taken out and put into a savings account if you have to.

Make a budget. Stick to it.

 

I knew I would get a little heat for that. But knowing how much you love the nationals, I figured I could stand a little heat for being a Texans fangirl.

 

Read the Millionaire Next Door. Frugality starts from the very beginning.

We have cut back substantially on the eating out (used to do Fri./Sat. nights easy) and it has been a boon.

Suze Orman says start with the big items before getting stuck on the nickels and dimes (although they help.)

 

um ... yeah.
?

 

We've tried to cut out on that stuff. Instead of eating out two or three times a week, we'll just cook -- yes, WE -- during the week. It's good that way because it also gives us leftovers for lunch the next day. My work has a great full service cafeteria, but it's way too damn expensive.

This saves us money on dinner and lunch. We still treat ourselves on the weekends to a lunch or dinner somewhere....lately, that's been at the ballpark.

I'm intrigued by the idea of taking 5-10 percent of my checks and having it directly deposited into our savings account.