Archive through August 07, 2003
TV ClubHouse: Archives: How to save money.:
Archive through August 07, 2003
Babyruth | Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 07:56 pm     Fluff, don't shave your head against the grain! Try and get Squared to let you borrow Kyan for some skin care product advice. And do what Max said, 'cuz that's exactly what I would tell you, too. You won't spend what you can't touch. Bastable, I got your article in my email today (I subscribe ), and enjoyed reading some more ideas about flying au Canada. I've flown out of Toronto a couple of times before to get a better deal. It's a great way to save money! (umm, that's if you're spending it on travel to begin with, not on hair addictions) |
Zachsmom | Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 08:38 pm     What Max & Juju said is excellent advice and tips I use. You also need to devise a plan of where your money goes so you don't touch it and how you spend it. (BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET!!!) This is what I do: I have 2 checking and 4 savings accounts and they go as follows: I get paid by direct deposit on the 30th/31st and the 15th into the following accounts: Household checking: a percentage goes into this account and is used for household expenses ONLY! (Rent, utilities and any household purchases) Personal Checking: a percentage goes into this account for Zachary's daycare, Zachary's insurance,food and my credit cards. Personal Savings #1: a percentage goes into this account and is a back-up for personal checking account for emergencies and savings for clothes,Christmas,trips etc. Personal Savings #2: a set amount is transfered from my personal savings #1. This is a DO NOT TOUCH and forgotten savings. This money doesn't exist to me except once a year when it's rolled into a CD. Every year I re-roll my CD with what is currently in the CD and all but $500 from personal savings #2. Zachary's Savings: I transfer $50 per pay period from Personal Savings #1 into Zachary's Savings account. By the time he is old enough to make decisions of extra-curricular activities the money will be there for him. Household Savings: After rent and utilities are paid for I transfer whatever is leftover from my Household checking into a savings account. This is for emergencies/luxuries that have to do with the household only. Example I want to buy a new couch or coffee table this is where I save the money. Or I use it if I have an unexpected household expense. The most important factor in all of this is discipline. When you put money away into savings that are a DO NOT TOUCH account- you DO NOT TOUCH it! This plan works for me and I am able to save a significant amount of money thoughout the year. Normally I only use the checking accounts because those are the only accounts I allow myself to have ATM cards for. |
Sia | Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 09:23 pm     Great plan, Z'mom! I don't have mine set up with automatic deposits, so some paydays I don't make deposits to my kids' savings accounts, but that's the best way to make yourself save money. I applaud you!!!! |
Bastable | Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 09:39 pm     Don't smoke. Don't get HBO or other pay channels. Get a George Foreman grill and pack your lunch each day. Never eat past 7 p.m. (this is good for losing weight, too) |
Sia | Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 10:11 pm     Don't pay $1 or more for a soda when you eat out; ask for ice water because it's free and it's good for you and has no calories. Use coupons when you occasionally indulge yourself and buy fast food. Coupons make overpriced meals affordable. Examine your phone bill and see if you're paying for extra services that you simply don't use and don't need. Go to matinee movies rather than evening movies; the savings is significant! Don't buy snacks at the theatre; smuggle in a water bottle and some candy in your purse. Borrow DVDs and/or videos from the library for free rather than renting them from the video store. Borrow music-CDs and burn your own compilation CDs rather than plunking down a bunch of money for a new CD when you really like just a few songs on the album. |
Juju2bigdog | Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 10:47 pm     Oh dear! I do just about everything Bastable and Sia just listed except burn CD's. Hahahahaha!!! And yeah, one way to not spend a TON of money is not to smoke. Same for booze. Same for fancy tins of French pate'. Okay, just kidding about the pate'. But IF you manage to make it to Paris on a shoestring, just buy the pate' the residents are buying in the grocery store and not the Comtesse DuBarry in their foo-foo shop. Edit: Just thought of another one. Check to see if your town has a craigslist, www.craigslist.com. There's always good stuff for sale on there. Of course, only use it to buy something used you were going to buy anyway new. |
Squaredsc | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 04:20 am     dang yall just took all the fun out of life.  |
Ocean_Islands | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 04:50 am     I save give up the necessities and spend on the luxuries lol. Let me add, though, that a lot of you are talking about spending less money instead of saving money, as the title of the thread asks. As I'm sure you know, you can all buy at thrift shops and drink free water until you are blue in the face, but if you don't put that 'saved money' (which is not actually saved money but unspent money) into a savings account or an investment, then you have no savings. |
Aus10 | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 05:39 am     The easiest way to save money .......forgo the thought of ever having children! LOL I love my son.....but boy is he expensive! And I thought raising him was expensive but letting him go is even worse (think college tuition!) |
Fluff | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 06:30 am     Thanks everyone. I'm printing this stuff out so I can give my mom a copy as well  |
Twinkie | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 06:30 am     For years I've lived by this creed: Respect your money and your money will respect you. If your wallet is a mess you never know how much you are spending and don't even think about it. Keep your bills accordiing to denomination and all turned the same way. All 20s together turned face up, all 10s together turned face up, etc. I have found that I really spend much less by doing this and when I have to take the time to do this each time i get change it makes me know exactly where my money stands. Just a little thing but its worked for me for years. Also hubby and I get an Entertainment book every year for Christmas (requested) from his sister and we never go out to eat without a coupon. We save a great deal of money this way! OI, I LOVE the dividend reinvestment plan and I'm going to insist hubby does this! Thanks! Any company suggestions? |
Ocean_Islands | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 06:52 am     Exxon-Mobil is a good one, they have a good dividend payout. I'm researching other ones. |
Gemma120in2002 | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 07:08 am     Fluff, to be practical, first of all you need to assess how much your monthly expenses are. These expenses such as rent, water, insurance, cable bill, phone bill, etc. shouldn't fluctuate much. Then you need to look at how much you need to spend to feed yourself and also budget for transportation. After that you have savings money, emergency money, and disposable income. First you decide how much you want to save every month. Stick to it and DON'T ever short yourself in the savings department. Treat that money as though it's a monthly bill so that you don't miss it. Food is somthing you need, and it has to be healthy and nutritious, so figure out how much you need to spend per week on food. There are systems where you can make two weeks or a month of main course dishes in one day and it will save you a fortune. If you don't like the foods in these plans, you can always learn how to adapt your favorite foods to the monthly cooking system and then go from there. Just go to Yahoo and type into the search engine: Once a month cooking, and you will find a wealth of information. Your impulse purchases are probably what is trashing your savings plans. You need to budget your luxuries. Give yourself an allowance and decide how much of your money is disposable, and don't go beyond that amount. If there is something you absolutely must have but can't swing it all at once, put it on layaway. Save for it. Or if it's just a one-time-thing and you can't afford it, let it go and don't buy it. Learn to live within your means and learn to save so that you can have a reserve which will allow you to have enough money to afford the amazing "GOTTA HAVE IT" things. I know that sucks, but it's the only way to really save. Run, don't walk away from the credit card trap. The "I'll give you 10% off if you open a credit card account with us" lure is exactly that. If you put it on credit, you are more than likely not going to pay off the balance of the credit card. You will soon pay far more than 10% in finance charges on that credit card and actually pay more than three times the original amount of the item you bought on sale. Good luck! |
Lumbele | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 09:14 am     Write down every penny you spend and what for. At the end of the month go over it and since hindsight is 20/20 you will see the impulse purchases for what they are. Add them up. Kicking yourself over these follies will help putting the next temptation down and walking out the store. Hang in there, Fluff! |
Juju2bigdog | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 10:23 am     Ooh, Gemma, good one on the credit cards!!! Yes, if you are having trouble with a budget, stay WAY far away from credit cards unless you have lots of discipline. I have several credit cards but I pay every one of them off in full every month, wouldn't even dream of not doing that. And good point, Ocean_Islands, about the not spending vs. saving. For someone as young as Fluff, if she does what you say she will be WAY ahead of her peers when she wakes up at 55 and wonders about her retirement. I have MANY friends and relatives who are just now waking up to the fact that if they had paid a bit more attention when they were young, they wouldn't be facing an endless future of having to work now. Twinkie, I am going to put it on my calendar to buy an entertainment booklet next January. Just don't know whether to get Seattle or Vancouver. |
Wargod | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 10:49 am     We don't ever spend change. At the end of the day, we empty our pockets, change gets thrown in a jar and sits there until the jar is full, then we head to the bank to deposit it in the kids savings accounts. It's always fun to see the tellers face when you sit it down on the counter too, lol. For the kids, we give them allowance. Half of it goes straight to the piggy bank (which also goes to the bank when its full) and the other half they get to spend on whatever. Same goes for money they get from the family for Christmas and birthdays. They get to spend some of it, and put some away. It's great for them since it's teaching them to save money from a very young age. LOL, when I worked at the retirement home, several of my elderly people would save cans for me. Once I got so many, I cashed them in and deposited the money. Now that I'm not working, I still save cans, but it takes much longer to save enough to cash in. If you're buying your own food, make a menu, then make a grocery list from that. Make list for any stores you're going to and stick to them. Having money taken straight from a paycheck either for deposit or into some kind of savings plan is great. We never notice the money gone, and it sits happily adding up for later. And a nice side effect of my car dying, I can't believe how much money I'm saving from not putting gas into it, lol. I didn't drive it a whole lot to begin with, but even not taking the kids to school is saving alot. So, anytime you can, walk or ride a bike or the bus. Carpool to school/work with friends. Anything that helps is a good thing! |
Zachsmom | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 10:58 am     War...I don't drive. I save money on the cost of car payment,insurance,tags,gas & maintenance. I spend 37.50 a month on a bus pass and can go anywhere I want. With not having a car I tend not to go out and spend money..lol |
Twinkie | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 10:58 am     Thanks, OI!  |
Wargod | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 11:12 am     LOL, good point, Zmom. I used to walk everywhere, then got to where I thought I couldn't live without my car. The last few weeks have shown me I can. I walk to the kids school for volunteering, I put the kids on the school bus, dr's offices and even stores are in walking distance, and I do grocery shopping on the weekends when hubby's home and I can use his car. I'm saving close to 80 bucks a month on gas. And once I convince him to junk the car (he's fighting hard to keep it!) I'll save on insurance and constant repairs. And like you, I'm not going out and spending money just to go out. |
Pamy | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 11:24 am     Disney is another good div. reinvestment stock. It has double twice in last 25 years also. It is also a good one to help Kids start learning about investing, my 7 yr old, knows how to ck the stock price on my home page and gets excited to watch it go up(when it does! lol)BUt overall, it is a good stock. |
Bastable | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 11:46 am     I wouldn't invest in Disney right now. Its theme parks are tanking, and if it Pixar splinters off on its own, its entertainment division will tank, too. |
Pamy | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 12:28 pm     I still say Disney is a blue chip stock that has been around for 30 years. Also now is a GOOD time to buy cuz the price is down. |
Calamity | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 12:35 pm     I love these tips but have a dumb question - what exactly is a Christmas Club? Is it better than your average passbook savings account? I also need to learn more about investing. I have a SEP account and some stocks but to be honest I really don't understand how that stuff works. (This is very embarrassing to admit.) |
Juju2bigdog | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 02:20 pm     Maybe we should ask Goddessatlaw about investing in Disney ... |
Goddessatlaw | Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 02:43 pm     <mk> Disney, <mk> I would never invest in the systematic rolling of the American family. |
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