Saving money

[BRoth]

I've had a couple consecutive months of successfully moving money from my paycheck into my savings account (yay!) but thanks to the vengeful gods that be, I'm not sinking more money than I should be into keeping my car afloat, which I'm saving up to replace. It's been tough the last seven or eight months between paying off credit cards and whatnot.

This delightful situation has got me wondering about what everyone else does to save money (especially in these tough economic times when we have to put on our rally caps). Is it cutting back on some things? Do you always put aside XX percent of your paycheck no matter what? Counting things like retirement as separate, what do some of you do to make sure you're getting cash into your savings?

 

[Trey Beamon]

Savings? What's that?

 

[JackReacher]

It all depends on your situation. Some people can't afford to put ANYTHING away after shelling out cash to pay the bills.

We try to take a little out of each paycheck and throw it into savings. Whatever's left is left. It seems like we're always saving for something...a house, vacation, other weekend trips, future unforseen car troubles, whatever.

Fortunately, we're able to save a lot more now than we used to. It's tough to stay consistent, but that's what my wife is for. She's waaaaay better and managing our money than I am.

 

[RickStain]

It's really, really simple. Spend less than you make.

In execution, that means you have to know exactly how much you are spending (down to the dollar) and being really, really tough on yourself if you need to cut your budget to get under it.

The key for me knowing what's really important to me. I watch a lot of TV on the internet, so I just cut out my cable. But I'd never cut out the internet. I taught myself some basic cooking, which is a lot cheaper than eating out while not just eating ramen noodles every meal. I focused on picking up inexpensive hobbies instead of feeling like I needed to drive out of town or go to the movies every time I was bored for the night.

In the last year, just following these rules, Mrs. Stain and I have gone from being thousands of dollars behind on our bills and such to having three months' expenses saved up in cash and growing every day. It's an awesome feeling.

 

[RickStain]

If you ever want some tips, go to thesimpledollar.com and read through their archives. I'd say 80% of what I've learned about frugality and saving, I've learned from that site.

If you think you can't save any money, go to boards.fool.com, register, and go to the Living Below Your Means Board. Give them a look at your monthly budget, and I bet they can find solutions that will have you saving money in no time.

 

[jps]

I got a second job.
:)

 

[doggieseatdoggies]

I like Dave Ramsey's plan...of taking things outside the house and utilities and putting cash into envelopes...once it's done, you've spent it.


Given this subject title, I think it would be good for people to suggest ways in which you can survive cheaper, like chunking spending money for expensive cleaning solutions and mixing ammonia and water. Stuff like that? Anyone game?

 

[RickStain]

I like Dave Ramsey's plan...of taking things outside the house and utilities and putting cash into envelopes...once it's done, you've spent it.


Given this subject title, I think it would be good for people to suggest ways in which you can survive cheaper, like chunking spending money for expensive cleaning solutions and mixing ammonia and water. Stuff like that? Anyone game?

The envelope trick worked for the first few months when we started budgeting, helped us stick to it. Now it's pretty automatic.

I bet most people's biggest money leak is food. If you want to save money, stop eating out. If you want to live longer, stop eating out.

Instead of trying to stock up on a ton of food every time you go to the store, plan on going 3-4 times a week. While you are there, buy nothing but fruits for snacks, vegetables for salads, and lean meats (like chicken or fish) to cook for suppers. A simple, non-sugared cereal for breakfasts fits in there well too, like Cheerios or plain corn flakes.

We cut our food budget in half that way.

When I lost my last job, this recipe basically saved the day:

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/04/homemade-bread-cheap-delicious-healthy-and-easier-than-you-think/

I adore fresh bread, so I ate this pretty much every day for two months. A loaf lasted me a day or two, and the ingredients at Wal Mart worked out to about $0.40 per loaf.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

In a lot of cases, it's just a matter of eliminating purchases you want vs. purchases you need.

Eliminate the extra stuff and you'll be able to save. For some, extras might be spending $20 per week on iTunes. For others, it might mean brown-bagging a sandwich instead of hitting a restaurant for a meal.

 

[Editude]

Mrs. Editude makes big pots of stews/chili/soups on Sundays that last a good week of eat-at-my-desk dinners. We split entrees at restaurants, cut way back on travel, use public transportation. Now, if only our dogs didn't need to go to the vet so often ...

 

[doggieseatdoggies]

We lived as a family of four on $50 a week for groceries for a month because we had a finanicial emergency to clean up. It wasn't easy. Rice, beans and lettuce. Oh, and potatoes. Bought milk on a radical sale and froze it (shake it up real good and let it all melt before you use it). And the bland cereals like cherrios. I felt better after two weeks of that diet and I wanted it to continue but drew the wrath of the kids.

Another cheap but good meal.

1 can veg-all.
1 can of chicken.
1 package of cream cheese.
1 pie crust pan, crust-pre made.

Best damn chicken pot pie I've ever had. Ever.

 

[doggieseatdoggies]

Splitting entrees eating out is not just thrifty, but reasonable. Up until the last couple of months, the portions were way overboard for a single meal. You've seen the portion cutbacks but it's still on average more than I'd eat at home for lunch.

 

[Lieslntx]

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.

 

[BYH]

I got a second job.
:)

Second...job?

 

[pressboxramblings07]

Savings? What's that?

Bingo.

 

[Lieslntx]

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.

 

[KJIM]

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.

 

[Moderator1]

Texans tickets? That's as sick as buying Nationals ticke **** oh wait.

The dollar in the box idea is good. I'm a change saver. When I drew a regular paycheck, I had 10 percent taken off the top. We did our budget on the difference, so we didn't miss that 10 percent.
When I start drawing more checks, I'll do the same thing.

 

[Lieslntx]

Texans tickets? That's as sick as buying Nationals ticke **** oh wait.

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. ;)

 

[Moderator1]

I saved all year for my two Nationals tickets and then bought two more.
Yeah, I should be shot.

I actually covered a number of Texans. I'd like to see one of their games.