Problems saving

[lokerspadokers]

Do any of you have trouble saving money despite an ok salary? Any good tips for saving in a way I'll actually stick to?

[jones74]

Thats a great question!! I am in the same situation.I also agree it has to be something easy to stick with. I can't wait to see what kind of replys will come in.

Carla :)

[stampinafwife]

When I decided to stay home with the kids (teenagers keep me super busy) we had to seriously stick to a savings plan to make it work and have "emergency money" laying around. I love to shop and that was our problem at first, I was used to being able to buy anything I wanted at anytime without stress. We now have a few things we do that work and we are very comfortable living and have a nice savings,

1. Do a budget ( i know comon sense but alot of ppl don't stick to it)
2. never grocery shop without a planned menu and list. STICK to the list and remember when you make it to add those munchies that sound good then.
3. start a christmas fund thru work or your bank, most all employers now a days have this option or your bank should. You never see this money and you can't access it so it helps tremedous around the holidays
4. start small with savings. If you cut a huge amount out in the begining to put away you will always be "tapping into" that fund. So start low and every 3 months increase it. Be strict and reward yourself when you have stuck to your guns on your decsion.
5. I have a vacation change jar. I use no coin change at all. I got a few old pickle jars, cut small slits in the lids, GLUE on the lids, and start saving, If something is 5.01 then I pay with $6 and BAM there is 99cents saved into the jar it goes. Last year in a 365 days period we saved $612 dollars. That amazed me.
6. If you are good with money then round up your check book. You will be amazed how much that little can help. Round to nearest dollar or 5 or 10. I now do nearest 5 in our family account and nearest 10 in my business account. Its nice when I balance to see the extra money that is piling up.

I hope this helps and feel free to ask if you need any help in any of it.

[YellowRoseTex]

One thing my husband and I have done for years is to pay ourselves first. That is, we take a certain percentage of each paycheck and put it in a savings account. We started out doing 5% and have increased it over the years. If you don't see the money you won't spend it. It has worked well for us.

The tip was recommended to us by our broker when we first signed up with him. Interesting to note, that this broker had written down where we would be in 5, 10 and 15 years after our first visit. We were really shocked to see that he was spot on!

[sagespot]

Probably the best habits my husband and I started for savings were:

1. Saving all daily change (I'm always shocked at how quickly that adds up.)
2. Returning recycling (in Iowa there are deposits you get by returning bottles and cans - plus you're helping to keep a healthy planet.)
3. Rounding up all our check book purchases to the nearest $5 (Also adds up super quick.)
4. Before making a purchase of over $100 we always wait one week (if possible)
5. Just realizing that to save money we have to spend less.

Sage

[Kate]

Check with your employer and see if they can automatically deduct money out for you when you get your paycheck. I know with my employer, we can have a flat amount deposited every paycheck into different accounts. This way, you won't even have to worry about putting it aside. It will always be done for you.

[batgirl9923]

The best thing I ever did was to have my paycheck made direct deposit. I designate a certain amount of money to be put into a savings account, with the balance going into my checking account. That way I don't even miss it - you can't miss what you never see.
I highly encourage people to do direct deposit & have even $10.00 put into a savings account - it adds up very quickly and it's painless!

[Kim308pl]

OK when you are talking about rounding up your checkbook I have a question, my mom does this, but there are something that confuse me.

1. When you are doing this, if something is 6.01, do you round to 7.00.
2. My mom does not balance her checkbook, but I want to balance mine, how do you do this.

Example, my mom will put 6.01 in the debit line and then in the balance column, she deducts 7.00. She does this so she cna have money saved as well as have an even number at all time in the balance.

How do you do it. This is something I want to do, but I want to be able to balance my checkbook out...lol

[loujill]

Hi all,

My husband and I are really trying hard to account for all of our spending. We use MS Money religeously. The hard part is that there are several everyday purchases that are really hard to track and we were driving ourselves crazy! We used to use our debit card for everything (so that we could track purchases) but then we always seemed to overspend on those types of purchases.

So what we decided to do was to every two weeks we give ourselves an allowance. (cash). This allowance is used for things like going through McDonalds with the kids, lunches out, contributing to co-worker birthday gifts, Starbucks coffee :) etc. All of the little things we manage to spend money on that isn't a major budget category. This "allowance" is a budgeted espense in our MSMoney program. What this does, is it gives us visual of how much we have left for small everyday expenses.

The key is to only use your allowance cash for these purchases. When the cas is gone, so is the spending until next payday. The amount of your allowamce can be specific to everyone and their budget, but just having a visual limit has really helped us. I can spend money on little extra and not feel guilty becaus I know that is already budgeted.

Hope this helps!

Jill

[AnAnomaly]

I'm also a direct depositer! I work in a career, (entertainment,) that is really UP or down, so I buy in cash, even my house!

What I did was I set up an automatic withrdrawel from my checking to my savings and I don't TOUCH that savings!

Wow, it takes willpower. I have to get creative if I run short. BUT, I feel safer!

I went to an investment councelor for some beginning goals at the beginning, and boy did I sound like a child! Still, she set me up with goals, and gave me great advice.
'
Now, that money stays in my saving no matter what. If I hit a snag, I make myself think of another way to get the money I need.

It gives me a bit of pride too! I do this with my husband's blessing and he does not interfer, even IF we share our income, this is my project!

Good, Good luck! I do know of what you speak1 I'll keep an eye open!

anomanly

[leslieak]

Hi,
I also round up the amounts of my checks so that there is always extra money in the account.It does add up fast,when I balance my check book I figure by the true check amounts,when I get $110 extra in I move 100 to savings[or buy something I've wanted] and start again.I haven't had a bounced check since I've started this,which is another bonus!!

[JenniferC]

Yeah, it disappears fast sometimes. We have opened a savings with ingdirect online. We have $50 once a month automatically transfered from our bank to there, and then we try and forget it. We can get to it if we need to, but it isn't an instant thing, so we really have to think about it. Usually we can leave it alone.

[AnAnomaly]

Yes, I round up too! Between a small direct deposit into my account, (checking to savings,) and rounding up, then depositing the small savings there monthly, I save money.
I buy A LOT of clothes being in the entertainment industry so I need to save there. I try to do my work in a "uniform," of sorts, which is levi's, and a top or dress over it, and spend my money on shoes, (which I take off anyway when dancing or doing choreography,) and spenging on good hair. (less make up is needed and saving time on hair) I then buy nice dresses for events and borrow from my friends who work in the same field so I can wear something new all the time.
*Also, if one is going to something that is being photographed by the press, often if you shop at the same store, they will let you "borrow," an outfit, or put it on your credit card, weat it to the event, and then return it the next day. If you have put if on your card, they will credit your card for the amount. It is best to practise this WITH the knowledge of the store, which is why it is good to shop at the same place!
AnAnomaly

[CocoinTX]

We use the Simple IRA accounts. It is directly taken out of the pay check and ours is sent to a broker firm and we can invest it however we like. This has been a great plan. You don't miss what you never see, except when you get your monthly account balance and see all the money you've got growing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CD's. It's great.