The Saving Money Thread

[RavenStarr]

I thought it would be neat to have a thread, where we could give each other advice and encouragement on saving money.

See, my problem is when it comes to saving money, I have no disciplinne, or willpower. It's like I get it in my head that I have to spend money. Then I end up broke and regretting it later.

So what I'm going to try and do is cut back on my spending. Even if it means putting only a dollar in the jar at the end of the day, I'm going to try my hardest.

If anyone has any advice please share.

[Bright_Star]

I have a jar on my nightstand that whenever I get spare change it goes in. You'd be surprised how much you can save by putting your spare change in a jar.

[cinema guy]

When I was short of money, I used to get out cash that I could spend. And once that cash was gone I could spend no more till payday.

Now I have several separate savings accounts for various things, and when I get paid, I transfer money into those, so when my car tax comes up once a year, I have the money to pay that and so on.

There is helpful guide to reducing spending here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/pro...budgeting-tool

[bookworm]

My biggest spending issue is eating/drinking out. I'm not even talking about going to a restaurant, just my daily lunch run to McD's or wherever. I've been trying to be good about bringing my lunch to work, or having cheap boxed dinners here, but it doesn't always happen (as I sit here eating Taco Bueno for lunch....)

[Mr. Rager!]

Start with a savings account that you don't have easy access too. I have one that's through ING Direct. It pays a decent amount of interest, it takes on average 2-3 days to get your money.

Thing is, don't invest your life into it because it isn't handy for emergencies if you need money STAT! I started off saving $50 per paycheck. It's growing as my income has. When you start seeing the money grow, you want it to continue to grow.

I had to buy a new vehicle, I thought I was going to be sick when I wrote the down payment check. I don't like spending large sums of money anymore, it actually makes me feel sick.

[draggar]

I have a jar on my nightstand that whenever I get spare change it goes in. You'd be surprised how much you can save by putting your spare change in a jar.

I have an old quart sized sports bottle for the same. Last time I rolled it up there was over $80 in there. It's getting up there now.

We cut our home phone. Cell phones work just well and if they don't - I know the RF engineer and the field ops people who handle the network here.

I have a vehicle for work that i drive to and from work - work pays for gas. My wife uses my car when she doesn't need the van to save on gas.

Thermostat - daytime 79, morning / evening - 75, and night 74.

Water heater at 125 degrees - hot enough to really clean the dishes but not raise the electric bill.

Two words: Ceiling fans.

My bank also offers "keep the change". I charge $10.17 on my debit - they take out $11 (rounded up to the nearest dollar) and put the "change" ($0.83) into my savings account. That's also great for balancing.

[Rapscallion]

Gatekeeper recently got me to make some soup to her recipe. I've adapted it somewhat since then (the curried sweet potato and carrot soup was in its most recent incarnation chicken and sweetcorn, but the base is very similar in approach). The way I ended up making it gave me about eight portions of soup for very low cost, not to mention low (from what I can work out) calories. Also worth noting that it's pretty damn tasty.

Rapscallion

[The Gatekeeper]

Don't forget it counts as two servings of veg and is only 1 Weight Watchers point.

[Jester]

See, my problem is when it comes to saving money, I have no disciplinne, or willpower. It's like I get it in my head that I have to spend money. Then I end up broke and regretting it later.

Those very words could have come right out of my mouth!

If anyone has any advice please share.

I have recently come up with a personal savings plan that I think will work, but keep in mind, it will only help others who either make tips or make money daily. It will not work for people who get weekly or biweekly paychecks, though I am sure someone can probably adapt it to such a situation.

My plan? Wednesday money is untouchable. I'll explain.

I tend bar at The Bar four days a week, and often wait tables there one day a week. I usually have Sundays off (for me), and I am not scheduled there Wednesdays, as a few months ago I started doing magic every Wednesday night at a local restaurant. That restaurant pays me a flat amount (in cash) every Wednesday, and any tips customers give me are mine to keep. (I don't shill for tips, but I don't refuse them either. But since I am paid a fair amount, I have no problem telling guests that are worried about the cost of the magic that it is provided by the management for their enjoyment. We don't like them to feel pressured to tip me, you see.) And sometimes on Wednesdays, I will get conned into working a day shift at The Bar, as long as the next one in comes in early so I can get to the magic gig on time, dressed professionally, and not a sweaty bartending mess as I often am after working at The Bar.

So my new plan, effective today, is that any money I make on Wednesdays goes into savings, and I cannot spend it. Making me use my money from The Bar to cover my bills and such, so if I have to limit my nights out to do that, I will.

Today, between my magician's fee, the tips I received, and a rum tasting event I did at The Bar (not a normal bartending shift), I am off to a good start. If I continue on a reasonable pace, by the end of July I will have saved about what I figure I need towards my planned move back to Arizona (which is what I am saving for). Of course, if the economy in Zona is still in the tank next summer, I may have to simply continue to save and stay hunkered down, stranded here on my tropical island. (No, it doesn't suck.)

Will this plan work? I'll find out soon enough.

Start with a savings account that you don't have easy access too.

Thing is, don't invest your life into it because it isn't handy for emergencies if you need money STAT!

A note on this: It may be different for me because my bank is a credit union (and I love them!), but my checking account actually gets a better interest rate than a savings account would. So for me, I am thinking of opening a second checking account purely for savings, without the restrictions of savings account, and just putting my saved money in there (see above). That gives me saved money AND access to it if I am in dire need or an emergency rears its ugly head.

[AnaKhouri]

I agree on the spare change thing; Husband dumps spare change on his night table (and I sort it...). Last time I got everything rolled up and convinced him to take it to the bank, we had enough to buy a Wii!

[BookstoreEscapee]

I have a jar on my nightstand that whenever I get spare change it goes in. You'd be surprised how much you can save by putting your spare change in a jar.

I almost never use change; I always break a dollar if I can. When I get home, whatever coins I have in my pocket go into the can on my dresser. I used to use a medium-sized Yankee Candle jar (from a scent appropriately called "Harvest" ), and it held about $80; the can I have now is approximately the same size, I think (haven't cashed it in since I started using it). When it's full I take it to the bank and dump it in the machine.

I need to open an ING account or something; I currently have a credit union account that I haven't really touched in a couple years, but it doesn't earn much. There's about 8 grand in the savings account; maybe 200 left in the checking. The checking account I actually use has too much in it; it doesn't earn interest so it doesn't make sense to let all my money sit in there, but I haven't gotten around to doing it yet. But my paycheck is direct deposited, so it just piles up (assuming some huge expense doesn't pop up; last month I put $1100 into fixing my car, and I have to get a filling replaced with a crown, which will cost me another $1000 even with my insurance).

I'm trying to be a bit more disciplined when it comes to buying random stuff I don't really need.

[Jester]

I forgot about the other part to my savings plan, which will also help me get back in shape.

No, seriously.

I have been talking about getting back to bicycling. Unfortunately, it has been all talk and no bicycling. So soon (probably Saturday), I am taking Amanda (my bike) in to get her tires pumped up, and I am going to do my damndest to start riding every morning, minimum of 15-20 miles or more. On days when I work a day shift (4-5 days a week at present), this means I will have to be waking up early, so I can ride, get showered, get dressed, and get to work by 10 (when our day shifts start). My current motivation is the Smart Ride they do from Miami to Key West every year to raise money for AIDS. Every year I say I am going to do this, and every year I don't. Well, it is coming up quickly in January, and while 2 months is barely a scratch, it will be something if I get that much riding under my belt. Plus, I am getting--there is no way to say this politely--larger. I am getting thick in the middle, and slowly morphing into the way my father looked in his forties, which is a small guy with a big gut. A human pear, if you will. And I am NOT going to let that happen, damn it! (I really need to get a picture of my father late in life, with said belly, from my mother to tape on my wall--it will motivate me in many ways.)

So, how will this help me save money, you may be asking? Well, if I am waking up at 7 am or so every morning, my night life will be somewhat curtailed, as you can only go out drinking late into the night and riding early in the morning so many times, ya know. And so I will have a choice to make on many nights....go home and get some sleep so I can ride in the morning, or go spend money and get silly. There will be nights when I get silly, no doubt. But I hope that once I get into a regular schedule of this, those nights will be less common, and thus, I shall save money.

Yes, it does make sense. At least to a drunk like myself!

[bookworm]

I agree on the spare change thing; Husband dumps spare change on his night table (and I sort it...). Last time I got everything rolled up and convinced him to take it to the bank, we had enough to buy a Wii!

We went on vacation a couple years ago using our spare change. We use 2 liter pop bottles for everything but quarters (use a juice bottle for that). It takes longer to fill up, but we literally got almost $800.

[Cat]

For the mast few months I've been putting some my paycheck in to a savings account, and not touching it at all. By keeping my checking account lower, its tricks my brain into thinking "You have no $$$, do not spend!!!" Kinda works, lol.

[trailerparkmedic]

I like to use Mint.com to track my spending. I think your bank has to have online banking for it to work, and you have to trust the site enough to put your banking login information on it. The cool thing is that it not only shows individual transactions from different accounts/credit cards/etc in one spot, but will show you where your money is going (groceries, utilities, etc). It also sends you e-mail alerts if you spend more than you budgeted in a specific area (like restaurants). It's much easier for me to track my spending this way than by looking at receipts that I always lose!