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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 3:24 pm
The other day I was reading an article that had tips about saving money. Everything from rounding up in your checking account book so that you are fooled into thinking you have less than what you think you do to arranging for raises in pay at work to go to your savings plan. One of them was about throwing change or loose bills into a "piggy bank" and being able to save for Christmas shopping or a vacation or something. I've seen that suggestion before a lot of times, but something just clicked and I thought, I can do that, it's got to be easy! We've got a checking account and a savings account, but I want to save money with the only reason being so at some point we can take it and go do something with it we wouldn't usually do. Darren and I talked about it and decided even with the way we count every penny there is no reason we can't take $20 out of every paycheck for our stash. He's also getting cash from the guys he drives to work now that can be dropped in each week. I save cans and recycle them, theres some money that can go in our stash too, and ever so often I'll pull $20 to spend and figure the change (however much is left) can go in. I thought this could be an interesting discussion. What are some tips others have for saving money, not for retirement or really with any specific idea in mind for how to spend it? Maybe we can encourage each other like in the exercise thread or stop smoking thread, to save it, "Wargod, do you really need to run by Taco Bell today, you can drop that $5 in the piggy bank and eat a bologna sandwich today." Hehe. Encourage each other to save fun money and then sit back and congratulate each other when we go spend that money on something we'd never have done otherwise. Anyone wanna join me? Or offer more tips on saving a buck or two here and there?
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 10:50 am
It is a great idea. I leave my credit cards at home unless I am going out to buy something specific.
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Rosie
Member
11-12-2003
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 11:23 am
I have "saved" my change for years. Began emptying the change to lighten the weight of the purse but it has turned into a fun way to save. Now, it isn't a lot of money but I cash it in and splurge on something that I wouldn't usually do or buy. P.S. Don't bother saving the change to use in Vegas. My last visit there, they take the bills not the change. And, I mean they take it!lol
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Vacanick
Member
07-12-2004
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 11:39 am
Rosie ... I do the same thing for my son. Every Friday I empty all the change out of my wallet and put it into my son's piggy bank. Once the amount get's large enough, we put it in the bank. It actually works out really well.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 1:07 pm
LOL last time we were in Vegas they'd pretty much switched over to giving you the tickets instead of money. Told Darren I missed the clang clang clang as a thousand nickles fell out into the metal trays! Maris that's a good idea! I don't carry a cc, we have one that we've had now for about 7 or 8 months, got it and stuck it in the saftey deposit box. At Christmas we set a limit, pulled the card out, used it, then put it back and paid off the card in January. We just want it to keep our credit alive and good. However, the atm debit card is one I could leave at home unless I'm going for something specific. I carry a checkbook and can use that if I'm out and desperate and don't have the atm card (I hate writing checks and only do that for paying bills so it's not likely I'd use it often.) We've been saving change for years. Sort of, lol. Both of us are in the habit of emptying our pockets, and whatever change is there goes in the ashtray of our cars. The problem with that is that I never really saved it. It'd sit there til I found a way to spend it (Oh, I think I'll stop and get a cup of coffee this morning I have some money in the car, or I think the kids will buy lunch today cuz I have a couple bucks.) That's the biggest thing I'm trying to get out of the habit of. Those silly little, do I really need to buy this purchases. Do I really need to send the kids lunch money when it's just as easy to make their lunches at home, and that 2.50 can be put away for later where we can do something fun we wouldn't normally do. I know there's tons of tips out there, big and little to help save money for vacations, a movie night or retirement. But what's the best way to do it? Here's one situation. Darren makes a ton of money on overtime pay. It's not unusual for him to work 10 hour days for weeks, then 9 hour days for a couple of days, then 12 hour days. Rarely does he only work 40 hours a week. Taxes were eating his paychecks. We'd see more than half his pay gone and it was getting to the point of not only being irritating and frustrating but downright depressing. When he works these long hours its not only him being exhausted but takes a huge toll on the rest of the family (I'm covering for both of us at home, the kids hardly see him, etc.) and in the end we had nothing to show for it. His paychecks weren't any bigger and we were still having to watch every cent and budget down to the dime. He was advised to change his witholdings (or exemptions?) for payroll. All of a sudden we started seeing more money on his paychecks and all those long hours were a little more worth it. But there's a drawback too, when we had our taxes done a few weeks ago our refund ended up being smaller because he'd changed his payroll stuff. It started us talking about which was better, a large check somewhere around March from taxes or a little extra money each payday. I like having the large tax check, lol, that's fun money, savings account money, and sometimes bill money, but at the same time I really like being able to say hey, lets take the kids, go out to lunch, hit a movie, and then go bowling once or twice a month too. It still leaves me wondering though, in the long run, which is the better option, having one large tax check, or 24 paychecks with some extra money on them? Which makes saving some a little easier and would we save more with one option over the other? I find myself almost obssessive about saving. If I can find a way to cut down on grocery bills or electricity I'm happy as can be. I put a couple (maybe 3 or 4 bucks) into my stash earlier and almost wrenched my shoulder out of the socket patting myself on the back, lol. It's not a lot of money, so far it hasn't been large sums, just a few bucks here, a 20 there, a few more bucks, but I know in time it'll add up, or at least I hope so! Darren and I both grew up poor kids. His mom was a single parent for many years while my step dad was a machinist for Lockheed, if he went more than two or three years without a layoff that lasted a year or so we were downright lucky. We weren't taught to save money cuz there wasn't any to save and I know for me the only discussions on credit I heard usually went something like, "shit, my student loan payment is due tomorrow and I can't afford to pay it," or "is that cc already maxed out????" We had to learn on our own, the hard way, about that stuff, and now we our better off than our parents were when they were in the same place. We have savings, we have good (not great, but good) credit, we may have to budget but we're not hurting. And we find ourselves now teaching the kids what we weren't taught. They earn their own money, half is saved the other half they can spend or hold onto if they want. We talk to them about the dangers of borrowing money and how to use cc's responsibly. It's only generic info now (conversations that go something like, yes we have a cc and we can use it to buy stuff, but the better way to use them is not to charge charge charge til you can't charge no more it's to decide what you're buying, spend only that, then pay it right off.)
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Jimmer
Member
08-30-2000
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 1:14 pm
What a great thread. One thing that I used to do that helped me save money was I never carried any change (coins) with me. So of course everyday when I bought something (say a coffee) I'd always end up with change that I dumped in a dish that evening. Then the next day there would be more change ... and so on. Doing it that way was relatively painless and it added up quickly.
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 1:19 pm
war, the thing to do about darren's check is figure out the difference and take the bigger check each week, but put the difference in a savings account. by doing it the IRS way, they're just keeping your money for you and giving it back to you yearly, without interest. why not get the extra interest by putting it in your own account?
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Heyltslori
Moderator
09-15-2001
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 1:19 pm
I'm not good at spending money on myself for things I don't really need. I rarely splurge. I've never had a lot of money and I guess I don't feel like I can justify buying stuff I don't need. However, when I am REALLY wanting something, one thing I'll do is look around my house and sell some stuff on eBay. When I sell enough stuff to buy my "luxury" then I don't feel guilty about buying it! My sister has started doing the same thing with her kids. Kids outgrow some of their toys pretty quickly. So when one of her kids is going on and on about how they want a new toy, she will have them pick out some of the toys they don't play with anymore and sell them on eBay. This works out great for them and it's really cute to hear my nephew talk about how his auctions are doing!
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Spitfire
Member
07-18-2002
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 1:32 pm
Great thread Wargod!! I will be going on maternity leave in June for 1 year and am not sure if I will be returning to work because the balance of 2 in childcare and what I make in a week is hardly worth it. Anyway.......before Christmas I started a new project to "save money." I am selling Avon on the side at a small amount. My goal is to try to make enough in a month to cover the cost of internet services. We do not yet have a computer or internet so this is one bill that hubby doesn't "get." So I figured that I would try to take this on myself by doing something totally on my own. Sorta the same....sorta different.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 1:41 pm
Spitfire, one thing to consider about returning or not returning to work is that the kids will be home or in childcare for only a few years. If you plan to go back to work after the kids are in school, then you will have to start over with your payrate. So if you did want to continue working once the kids are in school and keep your pay and raises, it might be worth the few years that you break even after paying childcare. Like, if you would clear, say $10 after paying the childcare every week, you might say, it's not worth it. But then when you'd go back to work, you'd likely have to start at a much lower pay than you'd have if you kept working... (Hope that makes sense.) But if didn't want to go back to work, then it doesn't matter.
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Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 1:52 pm
both dh & i have the maximum taken out of our checks and put into a 457 plan at work (similar to a 401). then we both have a certain amount direct deposited into the credit union for vacations. what is then direct deposited into our checking account i go ahead and take out all of the bills for the next two weeks (i use quicken not a checkbook). whatever is leftover is fun money for eating out, going to the movies, etc. what has helped us the most is not listening to the mortgage brokers and real estate agents. yes, we can afford to buy a house/car that costs $$$ but we didn't need it, so we didn't buy it. we don't want to spend all of our money paying mortgages and car payments. i'm not sure i have answered anyone's question though. LOL
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Spitfire
Member
07-18-2002
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 1:53 pm
It completely makes sense and is one of my struggles. There are many things besides just the money that make me wonder what I should do. Julieboo I think I will head over to your folder so we can keep this on topic.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 2:28 pm
That was one of the suggestions I read about in that article, Cnd. About maxing out your employee contributions to your retirement plan if you could afford it. We really can't afford to do the max, so when I worked, and Darren the whole time has done is to go in and up the amount taken out when annual raises come around. We figured it out and it'll be 3-4 years when he hits the max that they'll take out.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 9:10 pm
Oh, don't even get me started. I can probably live on less money than anybody here. That's how I take all these trips around the world. I am not in the least bit wealthy.
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Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 9:22 pm
you are probably right, juju. it's all about choices. do you really need a cell phone if you have a land line? do you really need internet connection? do you really need a cell phone for everyone in the family? do you really need a starbucks coffee every morning or any morning? do you really need to drive a $45k car? do you really need to live in a new home with all new furniture? is brand name that important? i could go on & on.
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Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 9:25 pm
we use bank of america for all checking & a regular savings account. they offered a new program called 'keep the change' a few months back. this is how it works. everyday when they go to post any activity of your checkcard or checks they transfer the amount that would round up each transaction to a whole dollar amount. the real kicker is that they will match the first 3 months of transfers. free money! love it. this also gives you a no service fee savings account that slowly builds up a few dollars a week at a time.
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Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 9:43 pm
simple things we do to save money are: 1. carpool to/from work. fortunately, we work within 6 or so blocks from one another. so, it works out nicely. only one parking fee to pay. 2. try to save up on errands and run them all on the same day, planning out the route before leaving. 3. rent movies after they come out on DVD instead of paying theatre prices. 4. use email as much as possible to avoid long distance charges. 5. pack our lunch for work. we have access to microwaves & refrigerators and other kitchen appliances. so, taking anything from leftover spaghetti to a chef salad is possible. 6. turn lights off when leaving a room. 7. keep the thermostat at the highest/lowest temperature possible.
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Jewels
Member
09-23-2000
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 10:02 pm
I could go on and on about our "system", but basically what we do is ALL cash. My DH's paycheck is cashed and put into a folder in envelopes that are broken down into categories, like housing, hygiene, pets, telephone, medical, christmas, vacation, etc... Each month an alotted amount is put into each category. If the cash isn't in the envelope when you want to buy something, then you don't buy it. There are exceptions, but very few. The amount put in reflects the need in each category, granted, we have been doing this for a few years and have changed the amounts numerous times, but we have it down pretty well as to what is needed. For example, we know that our telephone bill rarely goes over $5 (obviously not the real number) so we put in $5 a month...when it goes under $5 the balance is left in there to be available for when it goes over $5. If we find that our bill raises to $7 consistently then we adjust to reflect that. When we pay bills we take the cash out of the categories for the exact amount, deposit it in the checking account and write the checks for the bills. There is some leeway, we borrow from some categories to pay for unexpected things or if I have gone a little haywire on my shopping , but the ones in the hole pay back the others when they can. It sounds like a realy anal system, but it has been awesome. It took a long time to get used to and figure out to fit our needs, but we are far more better off than we were when we were pulling money out of an ATM on a whim and having no idea where it was going. I don't waste money like I used to. We put money in each month for Christmas....when Christmas rolls around what is there is what we spend and we are done. No credit cards to pay off through the year. I can't even remember the last time I used a credit card, unless I had to order something over the phone. If we didn't do it this way, I doubt I would be able to be a stay-at-home mom. I think there are probably alot of people who think they can't afford to stay home, but if you work at it and make some sacrifices, it can work. It sounds like a crazy system, but it will save you lots of money! When you figure out exactly where your money goes and your accountable for what you spend you will find that there is extra play money that you didn't even realize was there!
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 10:29 pm
Juju, get started! How do you save money and where do you cut it out (if ya don't mind me asking.) LOL, I don't need the internet, but I want it. On the other hand, I don't want my cell phone but I need it! I could do without the internet, but it's my window to grown up conversation when Darren's at work and the kids are in school. I have friends and family but I can't spend all my time running around and visiting. Even if I could, they couldn't. I would be happy without not only the cell but the landline as well. Unfortunately with kids in school and an elderly aunt in failing health it has to be easy for people to get ahold of me. Funny story about #6. We had a very hot October (miserable hot heat that month) and with running the swamp cooler and ceiling fans our electric bill was through the roof. Even though it was outrageous I think it was a good thing because it really made us stop and think about our energy use. November was cold and we sealed up the swamp cooler, bill went back down to what it normally is that time of year but Darren and I stayed on top of it, reminding the kids to turn off lights, tvs, stereos, etc that they were done with and reminding them to shut doors. Now a few months later it's second nature to them to turn stuff off and shut doors that should be shut. We start to remind them and both will pipe up with, "We know, we know...sigh." It's had a big payoff, our electric bill is a good $20-30 less than last year at this time. Now if I can just get the damn gas bill down cuz I'm horrible about #7!
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Tabbyking
Member
03-11-2002
| Friday, March 03, 2006 - 11:18 pm
hmmm, well we are flat broke right now and the pupster cost a lot of money (thank God, i can get up to 500 of it back because of the insurance coverage he got through the shelter for the first month. unfortunately, they only cover 500 for each 'incident', so even though kendall's illness has cost me over 800, there is a cap of 500). but we don't have any credit cards. we had the line of equity for my son's college bills and we weren't too badly in to it until we bought our second house. i thought we were so smart. sell this one for 500k, pay 270k for the new one. we could pay off our motorhome, the entire line of credit, the first mortgage on this house and still have some cash left over. not happening that way! we went through my husband's severance pay, then our savings, andlast week had to cash in dh's 401k for living expenses on two homes. just our mortgages (only a 70k one on the new home because we used 200k of our line of equity to put down on that house) total about 3,500 dollars a month. about 1500 of that is just the interest on the line of credit! not one cent to principle. my husband's retirement pays are very little above that amount and we pay 526/mo for medical insurance. we pay 6k a year for car insurance (i got it down from 8k by spending hours shopping around). we no longer have dental insurance, or vision or low-cost life insurance that my husband had through lockheed. we have always been pretty frugal. my car is a 93. my husband's jetta is a 2003, but he had to get it for his commute. he had put over 575,000 miles on two small pickups before that! the jetta has 100,000 miles on it already. i haven't had a new car since i bought a toyota pickup in 1981. the newest for me is my current suburban which was 4 years old when i got it. we only get a paper twice a week. we have basic cable for about 25 dollars a month. we never go to the movies. last one i saw at a theater was 'my big fat greek wedding' at a two-dollar matinee. we rarely eat out. we can eat beans and tortillas and salad for 5 days straight. we do our own yard work and house work and repairs. my dd comes home for lunch. we are fanatics about lights off, and use the heater only for maybe 10 minutes in the morning to take the chill off and turn on the gas fireplace (low flame and low fan) when we have an open house on a cool day. when we have an open house and the agent wants EVERY single light on in the place, including overhead and lamps, i about crap. i can hear the electric meter cranking! we do have cell phones, but that is the only phone ds has in san diego and our calls between the 4 of us are all free anytime with verizon. i cut our shared peak minutes down to 700 a month, which puts our bill at right about 100 dollars. it took about 30 dollars off to lower it from 1500 minutes and we leave most of the minutes for our son, since that is his only phone. he needs it to call his job, make medical and dental appointments, etc. we have all those low watt curly lightbulbs. i run errands once a week if i can combine them all. i just don't know where we can cut anything else. i buy all my clothes at walmart and k-mart. i haven't had a new pair of shoes in three years except for the new white tennies i bought to wear to the job that the doctor backed out on. i cut my own hair. if i don't have plans or company, i shower every two days instead of every day. i turn off the water while i shampoo my hair or soap up. i buy books at sales and thrift shops. unless there is a special, we change our own oil. since we only get paid once a month now, and i know what our mortgage payments are and have an idea of what the interest on the line of credit it, and can guesstimate what our cell phone, land line phone and gas and electric will be, i deduct that amount out on the first of every month (my husband sees there is money in the account and he thinks we HAVE that money. he doesn't see that on this date this is due and this much goes here and it's already more than accounted for). we are in the hole before we start! we put in french doors from the entry hall to the living/dining room and from the kitchen to the living/dining room. we closed the registers in that large room and we don't heat or air condition that area unless we are having holiday company. i don't turn on the a/c unless it hits 100 for more than 2 days. we put in a whole house fan and ceiling fans. i have no idea what else i can do to save money. i pick up pennies on the street ( haven't found a great piece of chewed gum on the asphalt for years and quit eating dirt when i was about 7 and realized i could call it a fudgesickle all i wanted and it still tasted like dirt). but i am happy with my life. just scared! years ago, when i quit smoking, i thought, "i could find 2.50 for a pack of cigarettes every other day. let's see if i can find 2.50 every other day and put it in a jar to save." well, good thing i did, because one of the kids always needed crayons and notebooks for school, or so many dollars for a field trip, or the book fair. it was always something, but at least i had the money when they needed it. i am going to sleep on this and see where i could possibly cut some expenses and put a little money aside. except that right now it would not be 'aside' since we are so in the hole! and sort of off the subject but along the lines of money: you cannot claim your 17-year-old on your taxes. most 17-year-olds are still in high school. do you know how much senior pics, senior ball, class trip to disneyland, cap and gown, standardized test fees, etc. add up that senior year?! and then i get shit from my family members who are 'disappointed' that my dd, ranked 4 out of over 500 students and with automatic acceptance to UCSD and UC santa barbara, elects to attend a community college for her R.N. well, first off, santa barbara does NOT offer an R.N. program and if my daughter can get the degree she wants for about 10k total between prereq's and the nursing program, why should we have to go into the poor house to pay 30k a year for university tuition and housing? i am proud that my dd realized she can do what she wants and live at home and work part time and not get stressed like her brother did. i feel so bad for her when my mom or my oldest sister tell her she is so much better than that. it hurts her. she is getting tired of trying to explain that she can get the degree she wants this way. and that damn FAFSA. don't even get me started. they say our expected family contribution for our kids' college is 33,411/year! anyway, i really am off to bed. i have a lot to do before our open house tomorrow at noon.
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Saturday, March 04, 2006 - 8:59 am
quote: do you really need internet connection?
Frankly, I"m shocked at this suggestion! harrumph! 
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Saturday, March 04, 2006 - 9:27 am
Wargod, one suggestion.. when you save $2.00 on a school lunch, you could let Kota and Caleb either use that savings or at least keep track of the savings that they've helped to make and then when you do something fun at some point you can give them credit for contributing that amount with their "sacrifice". Dad used to put all his pennies into our bronzed shoes on his dresser and then when they were full we got to count them and wrap them and we got the money.. I can't remember but I'm sure we had to save a portion of that. And yes, I really need internet connection 
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Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Saturday, March 04, 2006 - 9:54 am
karunna, i meant at home! i NEED internet. but can get my fix at the public library, at work, at Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples, and plenty of other places that offer free internet.
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Saturday, March 04, 2006 - 10:00 am
LOL, Cnd. How can we possibly encourage your TVCH addiction, if you can't be up all night posting, and clicking refresh compulsively?? 
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Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Saturday, March 04, 2006 - 10:49 am
well, i do know that a lot of folks have UNSECURED wireless in their home. and, i have known of folks to surf those UNSECURED wireless connections. so, that could be one way someone that was very frugal could get their internet. 
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