Good ways to save money?

Oblivian said:
Have a decent amount going straight from paycheck to 401k or IRA. Put money into other savings vehicles like health savings or college savings accounts where there is a penalty for withdrawing for uses besides what they are intended for. Otherwise, just have some self restraint and live below your means.
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I definitely live below my means. I basically just work, go to BJJ, then go home. Sometimes shit happens though. An unexpected car repair at $500 is a doozy, as well as other sorts of things.
 
Once my car was paid for, I just took my monthly payment ($340) and considered that my monthly play money.

If I had something or non-essential things I wanted to buy, I would buy them but never spend over $340. If it cost over that amount, I would take it out of next months $340. If I had nothing I'd want, I would just let the $340 go into my savings.

If you get used to a certain way of living and are comfortable, just treat any new money coming in as savings. It adds up quickly.
 
Senzo Tanaka said:
Once my car was paid for, I just took my monthly payment ($340) and considered that my monthly play money.

If I had something or non-essential things I wanted to buy, I would buy them but never spend over $340. If it cost over that amount, I would take it out of next months $340. If I had nothing I'd want, I would just let the $340 go into my savings.

If you get used to a certain way of living and are comfortable, just treat any new money coming in as savings. It adds up quickly.
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I recently got a raise and plan on doing that type of thing with the difference. I'm paying off a few suits that I bought recently however. Can't wait to start banking though.
 
Don't smoke or drink. That sounds silly, but I know a lot of people who sit outside with a cigarette in their hand complaining they are struggling to make ends meet. These same people always seem to have money for a couple drinks each time they go out, which is not exactly once a month.

At your work, do you have an employee share plan? Something where if you buy shares, the company matches? Or for every 3 you buy, the company buys 1 for you? That's a great way to place fairly low risk investments to turn into money.
Others noted to have a % of your paycheck transferred automatically into a savings, and that's great advice. But you can one up that by transferring a %, 4,5,6% into an employee share plan, whereby all of your money goes in, but your investment is upped by the support of your company by way of them contributing as well. So not only are you saving, you're also profiting.
 
jmac98 said:
Don't smoke or drink. That sounds silly, but I know a lot of people who sit outside with a cigarette in their hand complaining they are struggling to make ends meet. These same people always seem to have money for a couple drinks each time they go out, which is not exactly once a month.
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I do neither and it's unreal to me the amount of money people spend on both. I have friends that are going out every single Friday and Saturday racking up $50 bar tabs every time. Another friend who is in debt up to his eyeballs but will gladly fork over $25 a week to smoke. These things add up.

thaifighter541 said:
Buy foods in bulk whenever possible
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I haven't had the best experiences with Sam's or BJ's but if you have a Costco within driving distance then you should get all groceries there. They're starting to get more and more organic items in stock and their prices beat anyone else by far.
 
I'll be getting a nice raise with my next check and then another in May when I go over 20 years . . . if we can make it fine on what I'm bringing home now I'm hoping to deposit my raise into our savings account and not touch it unless we really need to.
 
where do you live? here in canada we have tfsa's tax free savings accounts ... you can put up to 5500 a year and any interest you make is tax free ... are you looking long term or short term? they probably have something like that in your country ... max out and invest well ... you can even take the money out with little penalty, in case you wanted to spend or re-invest in something with a better return
 
OT Response: TS sounds like he is circling the drain financially.
 
I always just throw all my change in this little bucket. When it gets full I take it too the coinstar. After like a month it adds up to around 100 bucks. Maybe try that?
 
FlowWithTheGo23 said:
I got a big raise, but things just always seem to keep coming up. Makes saving money hard. Was wondering if anyone had some clever ideas for how to set up a nice little nest egg.
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take x amount out and set it aside. if you've been living on what you had before your raise, take the $ you got in your raise and put half towards saving and the other half towards whatever. an "oh shit this just came up" account I guess. if its just stretching bucks and budgeting then here..

make a grocery list after youve eaten a big meal so you wont be writing down $200 worth of chips and cookies. get your essentials. milk, bread, sandwich meat, etc. go shop. fine tune this list so its what you use for a week and you dont have a bunch of excess. try going the same day each week, maybe saturday am or friday evening if your both able. shop in such a way that you can take food to work and maybe you only eat out 2-3 times a week if you normally go out 5 times a week. dial it back a little at a time. after you know what you like to have at home each week, keep your list and know what you spend on groceries. then keep a grocery list. now you have what you want each week and you have a total per week. now take that amount of money out when you go home for the weekend after youve been paid. if you get paid twice a month obviously take 2 weeks worth of $. i get my $ for groceries and gas each week on my way home friday and usually shop sat. when the moneys gone at the store, you get no more groceries since the cash is gone.

credit cards/other debt
if you cant afford the item, dont put it on a credit card. credit cards just are so fucking hard to get out from under. we had cards, paid them and just got away from them.

the other debt. if you have a bill for $200. one for $45. another for $938. and a last one for $110, take care of them smallest to largest. knock out the little shit then tackle the largest together and chip away at it as you can.

savings
you can never have enough. but if you have none, its a great idea to have a "sinking fund" savings or seperate "emergency savings" fund. if you know you will have $1200 in property taxes at the end of the year, divide that up by 52 and take out that amount each week. dont try to pay all 1200 at tax season when the shits due. it'll kill you. and if you know you only have a year left in that water heater, try to sock away 100 a month to make sure you have the means to pay it when its time. same with a vehicle going out. put some aside each week so you can make a down payment if need be. big tundra payment each month? dont try to make your $500 payment the day its due. take $125 each week to make that end of the month payment easier.

i will add more as i can. im no expert. im just trying to give some insight and i hope this helps.

also try mint.com. swanson88 suggested that site.
 
FlowWithTheGo23 said:
I definitely live below my means. I basically just work, go to BJJ, then go home. Sometimes shit happens though. An unexpected car repair at $500 is a doozy, as well as other sorts of things.
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Do you have an emergency fund set up? If so, these expenses don't seem like a big deal at all. Having an emergency fund is one of the most important financial aspects IMO.
 
bcordova said:
I always just throw all my change in this little bucket. When it gets full I take it too the coinstar. After like a month it adds up to around 100 bucks. Maybe try that?
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We saved up almost $900 in change . . . over about 3 years.
 
Anytime you have an urge to buy something wait a month an see if you still want it
 
Quit smoking and drinking alcohol.

I don't do either and laugh at people when they cry about savings and shit. People spend a fortune poisoning themselves and do nothing about it while I have good savings from just not being a dumbass alone!
 
LC Shepard said:
Quit smoking and drinking alcohol.

I don't do either and laugh at people when they cry about savings and shit. People spend a fortune poisoning themselves and do nothing about it while I have good savings from just not being a dumbass alone!
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its terrifying how many friends of mine have no savings or retirement whatsoever. you gonna work your whole gd life? you expecting a financial windfall?
 
well considering i go to college monday through friday and i only have a part time job, i don't have a lot of room to spend money, so i just try and save when i can and not go out to eat often. Also having a roommate that pays me rent helps
 
fuck saving.

Have a ball while you are living bro. When you are dead, you're dead.
 
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