Good ways to save money?

Phelly2 said:
I purchase everything I possibly can on a credit card, then pay it off before the end of the month (to avoid paying interest).

The reason I do this is because many credit cards offer cash back rewards. My Chase VISA offers 5% back on qualified purchases. So like, for example, they often offer 5% back for gas station purchases. So you fill up your car on that card. Spend $100 on gas and get $5 off your bill. Free money.

Builds credit too. But it requires discipline. I often leave my credit card/money at home when I go to work so I'm not tempted to buy an energy drink or fast food.
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this is very good if you can actually manage to pay it off monthly. the big issue is most people get cards with this intention then buy a bunch of shit they want then get into the partial payments groove. then before they know it, its maxed and theyre paying less than $100 a month on a $6000 balance because they went nuts and don't have extra to pay it off.
 
Phelly2 said:
I purchase everything I possibly can on a credit card, then pay it off before the end of the month (to avoid paying interest).

The reason I do this is because many credit cards offer cash back rewards. My Chase VISA offers 5% back on qualified purchases. So like, for example, they often offer 5% back for gas station purchases. So you fill up your car on that card. Spend $100 on gas and get $5 off your bill. Free money.

Builds credit too. But it requires discipline. I often leave my credit card/money at home when I go to work so I'm not tempted to buy an energy drink or fast food.
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This man here knows his finances, each time that you buy with cash you're losing money.

The issue here, as the horse said it, it's the discipline required to pay off monthly so you don't generate interest, but having this one issue solved, you have a cash back program that can fund some nights at hotels, hobbies, home purchases, or whatever you might need
 
thetruth2709 said:
A lot of people see money as something you get to buy things

I see money as something that helps you sleep better at nights. The more you have in your hands the better you will sleep, and its not about how much you make. I used to work minimum wage and I always slept well at nights.
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Nice insight.

I was on the edge about 5 years ago, new baby, new house (in midtown Toronto so kind of stretched to buy it), and a boss whom I constantly clashed with.

Now the kid is in school meaning $500/month rather than $1,900/month in daycare, house has about $600k in equity if we ever need it, and the boss got her fat ass fired lol, and a couple of raises for me and the wife since then.

I sleep well now.
 
SammyPops said:
Nice insight.

I was on the edge about 5 years ago, new baby, new house (in midtown Toronto so kind of stretched to buy it), and a boss whom I constantly clashed with.

Now the kid is in school meaning $500/month rather than $1,900/month in daycare, house has about $600k in equity if we ever need it, and the boss got her fat ass fired lol, and a couple of raises for me and the wife since then.

I sleep well now.
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Daycare is that high brah? Wow.
 
Jesus, you guys get some killer cash back rates on credit cards in the U.S.

Both my cash back cards are just 1% cash back on all purchases.

I have one that is 1% on all purchases but they give me a bonus of 50% on all cash back I got for the year. That's pretty much the best I could find.
 
Best way to save money is to not spend it.

I lol @ people who need special savings accounts to save money. I mean you really can't help but spend all your money unless it's in a different account marked "savings"?

Grow up. It's adult time now.
 
If you still have a land line phone drop it.

Drop cable and/or satellite tv and just stream internet to your tv or watch your computer for entertainment.

Don't buy food at any restaurants, just buy food at a grocery store and prepare your meals at home.

I know people who always seem broke, yet they go to drive-thrus or restaurants almost every day. It is obscene how much money they waste on this.

If your work has a 401k check it out, if they offer a good match and you can afford it, max out your contribution. I have worked for a few companies that matched me dollar for dollar.
 
RSmith47 said:
Best way to save money is to not spend it.

I lol @ people who need special savings accounts to save money. I mean you really can't help but spend all your money unless it's in a different account marked "savings"?

Grow up. It's adult time now.
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You get interest with those.
 
RSmith47 said:
Best way to save money is to not spend it.

I lol @ people who need special savings accounts to save money. I mean you really can't help but spend all your money unless it's in a different account marked "savings"?

Grow up. It's adult time now.
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With all the debit card fraud going around I feel a lot safer having my money in a separate account that couldn't be accessed through my card.

Ditto on the credit cards. Every bill and necessary expense should be put on credit cards so that you can earn rewards and consistent credit. You're gonna spend it anyway might as well get something back from it.
 
Bay Area said:
You get interest with those.
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The amount of interest is so miniscule. What is it like $1-2 for every $5000 in your account or something like that? I'm talking about the "I'm going to put $50 in my savings every month" paycheck to paycheck people.

Just don't spend all your fucking money. It's real simple. How in the hell do people magically wind up with no money at the end of every month? It's not like they're making exactly what their bills require. People just mentally cannot seem to leave their money alone and then go around playing the "I'm broke" victim.

People with all these extravagant "Get ____ credit card because it has ____ rewards". That's a fools way of saving money UNLESS you're already good at saving money. If you aren't, you're just going to get a credit card thinking you're doing yourself a favor, when in all reality you're just going to spend more to get rewards and then not pay the card off at the end of every month because the system says you don't have to.

1% cash back on all purchases. So you spend $1000 on shit for the month and get $10 back. Or....you could just not go to Chipotle once and you've already made up the difference. People don't want to change their lifestyles at all so they'd rather go and sign up for a credit card that is more likely going to be more dangerous for them in the long run....rather than just not eat a burrito once a month. It's crazy.
 
RSmith47 said:
The amount of interest is so miniscule. What is it like $1-2 for every $5000 in your account or something like that? I'm talking about the "I'm going to put $50 in my savings every month" paycheck to paycheck people.

Just don't spend all your fucking money. It's real simple. How in the hell do people magically wind up with no money at the end of every month? It's not like they're making exactly what their bills require. People just mentally cannot seem to leave their money alone and then go around playing the "I'm broke" victim.

People with all these extravagant "Get ____ credit card because it has ____ rewards". That's a fools way of saving money UNLESS you're already good at saving money. If you aren't, you're just going to get a credit card thinking you're doing yourself a favor, when in all reality you're just going to spend more to get rewards and then not pay the card off at the end of every month because the system says you don't have to.

1% cash back on all purchases. So you spend $1000 on shit for the month and get $10 back. Or....you could just not go to Chipotle once and you've already made up the difference. People don't want to change their lifestyles at all so they'd rather go and sign up for a credit card that is more likely going to be more dangerous for them in the long run....rather than just not eat a burrito once a month. It's crazy.
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but those burritos taste so fucking awesome.
 
I think as with most things in life, there is no one size fits all approach.

If you're the type that needs to work in a strategy of forced savings then I don't see anything wrong with that if its yielding positive results. For you.

as with CC's, obviously you still need to exercise discipline. That 1% cash back means nothing if you're just racking up thousands of dollars in debt.

For me personally, I've always been more of a saver but I still like having separate accounts just to keep track. Like we have a vacation fund, emergency fund etc that are all funded via automatic transactions from our checking account. Our emergency fund is sitting in a tax sheltered vehicle so we have no choice but to have that account separate.

We're also trying something else out. My wife is going to be on maternity leave as of June, her maternity benefits will pay roughly 60% of her regular salary. So for the past few months we've been banking that difference just to see what it feels like with that reduction in income and in the end saving some more cash.
 
Sonny said:
I think as with most things in life, there is no one size fits all approach.

If you're the type that needs to work in a strategy of forced savings then I don't see anything wrong with that if its yielding positive results. For you.

as with CC's, obviously you still need to exercise discipline. That 1% cash back means nothing if you're just racking up thousands of dollars in debt.
For me personally, I've always been more of a saver but I still like having separate accounts just to keep track. Like we have a vacation fund, emergency fund etc that are all funded via automatic transactions from our checking account. Our emergency fund is sitting in a tax sheltered vehicle so we have no choice but to have that account separate.

We're also trying something else out. My wife is going to be on maternity leave as of June, her maternity benefits will pay roughly 60% of her regular salary. So for the past few months we've been banking that difference just to see what it feels like with that reduction in income and in the end saving some more cash.
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yeah. you don't drive 20 miles from your current location because gas is $0.06 cheaper there.
 
RSmith47 said:
Best way to save money is to not spend it.

I lol @ people who need special savings accounts to save money. I mean you really can't help but spend all your money unless it's in a different account marked "savings"?

Grow up. It's adult time now.
Click to expand...

There's more than 1 way to accomplish a task. If a second account works for people, there's no harm in this. If they have their paycheck deposit 'x' amount of money into an account they never look at and operate off a single account on the day to day, then they're effectively doing the same thing you are in using 1 account accordingly.
The difference is, they have a second account they pay no attention to nor effects their daily. So they just work within 1 account, but are building a savings almost unbeknownst. It's not a big deal. Just a different way of achieving a result.
 
Not that's it's some huge amount but I average about $75-100 a month saving ALL of my change. The only thing I do is separate the pennies. It's in a polar water jug that I empty once a year (or so) and its usually anywhere between $700-1100.

Good lesson for Rico Jr too.
 
jmac98 said:
There's more than 1 way to accomplish a task. If a second account works for people, there's no harm in this. If they have their paycheck deposit 'x' amount of money into an account they never look at and operate off a single account on the day to day, then they're effectively doing the same thing you are in using 1 account accordingly.
The difference is, they have a second account they pay no attention to nor effects their daily. So they just work within 1 account, but are building a savings almost unbeknownst. It's not a big deal. Just a different way of achieving a result.
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I agree that it's just as effective. My stance is just get a grip on yourself if you can't save your money because it's all in one account.
 
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