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So I have to admit...there's something I'm really bad at.
So I have to admit...there's something I'm really bad at.
No wait...scratch that...
There are a lot of things I'm really bad at...like golfing, staying awake in movies and sometimes, I have no patience. Who am I kidding...I'm terrible at all of these things but the thing I am the worst at...like absolutely, without a doubt downright BAD is saving money. (Beau can totally attest to this...)
Newsflash: I have no will power when it comes to saving money.
I'll give myself a little bit of credit here...I am good at "cutting costs" by spending less on things like makeup (thank you, Elf!), hair products (thank you, Suave), clothes (thank you, Target), jewelry, etc... and I'm pretty good at not buying something if I don't "need" it even though the need/want devil and I bicker 24/7. (What? Why can't I "need" that pair of Ray Bans I've been lusting over? Sunglasses are a necessity, right? What about a new purse? No? WHY? Fine. No new sunnies or purse for this girl...)
Boo.
I just can't go without buying something...anything. Am I alone here? (Please tell me no.) Everything costs money (duh) and I refuse to sit at home every single day eating cereal in order to save a few bucks. I have a social life that needs tending to...
(You would think saving money would be easy for me knowing my husband is a flippin' financial advisor but then again, who wants to actually listen to their spouse...) ;) Kidding...kinda.
(You would think saving money would be easy for me knowing my husband is a flippin' financial advisor but then again, who wants to actually listen to their spouse...) ;) Kidding...kinda.
So here's my proposition...I beg you for ideas on how YOU save money and you leave me comments with your ideas. Deal? Yes-I'm begging you! We've got a mortgage coming our way in less than 6 months and an ENTIRE friggin' house to furnish...on top of all other expenses, vacations, holidays, etc...
...and none of this "grow a money tree" stuff. I've done research and they DO NOT exist.
...and none of this "grow a money tree" stuff. I've done research and they DO NOT exist.
You get mah drift...sister needs help like yesterday...
When you find an answer let me know!!! I am on the same boat and pretty much drowning. I can save for what I want but I can not save for the "just in case". I don't even have an emergency stash on the side! So don't feel to bad I feel ya girl :D
ReplyDeleteOn a specific date in the month (typically the night we get paid) we automatically have a certain amount transferred to our savings account. We don't actually have to click the button. It works out really well for us!
ReplyDeleteI've been using ImpulseSave for about 2 months to save toward a big road trip later this summer and I've already saved more than $300. It's super easy and actually fun. You have to have an invite to join but if you check out www.impulsesave.com and like it, I can send you an invite.
ReplyDeleteGirl, I feel your pain! Paying off student loans, wanting to take an epic vacation with my boo, and not wanting to turn down dinners with my girlfriends makes saving money HARD!
ReplyDeleteBUT! What I have started doing is quite simple: NO breakfasts or lunches out during the workweek. I used to be SO bad about this and then realized how much money I was spending. $7 x 5 days = $35 a week for just lunches! I could spend HALF that and eat better quality food that I bring from home.
I also just try to keep in mind the now vs later. Yes, I want to spend money on those shoes or go to that new restaurant, but I also really want to lay on the beach next to my boyfriend for 2 weeks. Soooo the beach with my boyfriend wins out. I just tell myself I'm saving the money for when I get to shop before the trip.
SORRY this is so long. Hope it helps!!
My husband and I have a joint account and also seperate accounts. I set up direct deposit and put over half of my check into the joint. The rest I give myself for allowance..say 100 bucks a week. We have no access to our joint as far as a debit card, so we are not tempted to touch it. Bills only(paid through internet banking), and savings go into that account. :) It works out perfect for us!
ReplyDeleteI'm literally trying to figure out how to save now and how to budget, at 27 years old. I'm an impulse buyer - and I dwell over not being able to buy the things I want. (aka: I'm a brat)
ReplyDeleteWith my mortgage, expenses, and what not - I'm just barely staying afloat. Share the info on saving, when you find. Future blog post, maybe? :)
For us, we transfer a certain amount of money into our savings account every 2 weeks or month... It's pre-determined and kind of unspoken of. And it's a hefty amount, which leaves little left to spend elsewhere. We don't talk about money often because we're both really good with it. Once you're actually living in your home, your priorities will shift. They will. Mine totally did... unexpectedly. You'll want it to be furnished and not empty. You'll find yourself in all of the home furnishing and decorating departments of stores and never in the clothing department. It's weird. But it's just too embarrassing to have a beautiful home that has nothing in it. It'll come naturally once you move into your house. Until then, I recommend setting a specific dollar number of what you want to put into savings... spend what's left. Or vice versa. I don't know... that was horrible advice. Haha!! I guess Bryan and I are just natural savers, so I never really think about how we save. But again, if you stumble upon that money tree, holler at your girl!!
ReplyDeleteKeep an eye out on Craig's List for furniture, you find some pretty awesome things that are gently used or some fun DIY projects for cheap - as far as furnishing your home goes. I pretty much suck at saving money too, but I am a deal shopper only!! For groceries I watch the flyers - no couponing for me, but I do price match! We have been saving up to $50 on groceries by doing this weekly!!
ReplyDeleteI got into really bad credit card debt two years ago my freshman year of college and I'm determined to pay it off by Christmas. The first thing I did was budget myself. I agree with you on the "I can't buy anything" statement. So I use Mint.com to budget my money and allocate a certain amount each month to spend on makeup, entertainment, clothes, etc. The website tracks it and I can see where I'm at. The other awesome thing about Mint is that you can set up savings goals for yourself and see how far you've come with those goals.
ReplyDeleteMy other tip is to stop using your debit/credit cards so much if you have any and switch to using mostly cash. I use cash shopping, getting groceries, going out to dinner, etc. and when I made the switch it made a huge difference! It's a lot harder for money to physically leave your hands than it is to hand over plastic. I still use my card to shop online and fill up with gas but I just make sure it goes into my budget.
Another thing I do is save some cash at home. I designate a certain amount of money from my paycheck I can use on anything I want but once it runs out I have to wait til the next check. So what I do is take like half to 3/4 of that amount and put it at home so I'm not tempted to spend ALL my cash at one place. It makes it a lot easier to save since I have a goal of paying off my credit cards by December but if you made a goal of having enough money saved for an emergency fund or something like that it'll motivate you to put a little extra from your check back each time! I hope I didn't overload your brain! Goodluck girl :)
Check out the blogs younghouselove and shemakescents. they have som good money saving tips in their archives! I have pinned stuff from them on my pinterest page-CynthiaMeyers. Good luck! One tip I have found helpful is to pay in cash as much as possible!
ReplyDeleteUSE CASH OR CHECK!
ReplyDeleteI do this and get made fun of but it works.
We get paid every two weeks, so I have scheduled all my payments to automatically come out on that Friday, including a 'payment' to myself. I also have an auto-transfer of an extra $100 into a savings account I don't touch, unless it's an emergency or something I've been saving up for (my DSLR, my latest treat to myself).
ReplyDeleteThis way you never have to physically do the task of transferring money, making a loan payment etc. The money is there and gone before you even know it - so you're not tempted to spend it.
That, and I've learned to wait and shop around - including using coupons. We all use promo codes when purchasing clothing, coupons for groceries are really no different...right? My boyfriend makes fun of me for using coupons at the grocery store - 'YOU are giving her the coupons, not me..' but we end up saving $20.
To make this comment even longer...haha..that money you save using coupons - throw it in a jar/stash/account or whatever and watch it build.
Do the same with your coins & $1 bills. Empty your wallet/pockets/purse every couple days. You'd be amazed how fast $100, $200 or more accumulates!
Eating out/money for drinks is our biggest money pit every month. Even just eating out here and there and drinks cost us $550 this month! (I just added it up yesterday). That's a lot for us and a pretty good chunk of change.
ReplyDeleteTo fix this, try to give yourself a cash allowance every week. When you run out, you run out. If you run out on Thursday, that means no going out for drinks on the weekend. We also looked at ways we could cut down on our satellite, Netflix, phone bills, internet, etc. Did we really need the HBO channels? Nope. Save $30 a month there. All of the little things add up!
Your priorities have changed, so your spending habits have to reflect that. Plus, with an amazing new house, you can host wine night and have everyone bring an appetizer to share :) Much cheaper, and FUN too!
I don't buy anything full price. I shop around first. I have a savings account at another bank from my debit. My direct deposit pulls money out each pay check so I don't ever see it or wonder where it goes. It adds up pretty fast. On top of it, I have to go to the physical bank to get any $$$ out which makes me never want to go! I HATE going to the bank.
ReplyDeleteOKAY! I give my self an allowance! thats right! EVERY 2 weeks I give myself a certain amount of ME money and I save whats left... Its normally a small amount like 40 buck BUT i buy myself whatever I want with it...I don't eat out through the week and if i do it comes out of that 40 bucks... if the hubs brown bags it so can i... And when i go shopping like "BIG" shopping I give myself an allowance for that too...i get it out of the bank in cash AND ONLY spend that much money.. You mentioned holidays vacations... I would get an envelope and put a certain amount in that every time you get paid and when its time you'll have the money... and EVEN a DECOR envelope... if put a certain amount in and when you get that amount go buy it! do all this in cash and what you have put in the bank for savings NEVER gets touched!
ReplyDeleteomgosh I am in the same boat!! I am working so hard on setting up a budget! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm terrible too. All our earnings go into a joint account which we use for household expenses and bills. We both have our "fun money" accounts though and we have a set amount that goes into them each week (a transfer from the main account). It is basically our "allowance" to use on all the things we don't HAVE to have (me=buying a coffee every day, clothes, shoes, makeup, pedicure, lunch out, etc etc). Anyway, all this to say, I'm still terrible. I never have that much $, haha. My husband is definitely the "Beau" in my story, haha.
ReplyDeleteOne way my husband and I save money is we have an automatic withdraw from our checking account to our savings account every week for $21! That means we save 1,176 dollars a year! We do dip into it to pay for bigger life things but it seems to work for us!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I hope you share some of the other great tips! Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteOh. I've also tried to be less of an impulse buyer. On the things that the "want/need devil" gets on my shoulder about...I try to say to myself, if I still want it this badly a week from now, I can get it. It's worked a few times :) I got that tip from Oprah, haha
ReplyDeleteHere's one thing I do to save money: At the end of the day I empty all my coins in to a piggy bank by where I keep my purse. It's like being a kid again with my lil pink piggy bank! And then after I empty my coins, if I have a few dollars floating around in my wallet or even a $5, I put it in a little container. (I empty my piggy bank in to the same container when it gets full.) I have no plans for this money I'm saving but it's nice to know that I have a little something for a rainy day. Try this! It's one small step that you can make that will lead you to bigger, more committed savings.
ReplyDeleteI try to just be a cheap ass...uh, I mean, frugal! It helps plus I transfer money to a savings account on each payday. Since the savings account isn't at the bank my checking account is at, I don't just see the money sitting there begging me like a teenager to take it to the mall. Plus I always think ahead to a goal. Like if I behave myself my savings account will take me to the beach or furnish my awesome new house!
ReplyDeleteOh girl I'm the same. Here's what I do.
ReplyDeleteDon't go into stores I have a problem with ie target like Mayr once a month. I just avoid it.
Come up with new outfits in my own closet is a fun game I play and sometimes I get compliments on 'new' shirts that are old.
Get into cooking so you're excited to eat at home.
Have a dinner party club with your peeps, rotate houses!
Ikea & Ross (y'all have that out there??) & home goods have great expensive looking home stuff. Same with kohls! They have all the kitchen stuff you'll need and always have 20% off coupons there.
I don't do well with a set amount to spend, I spend less when I'm not tied down.
I don't look at stores online bc that's when I start obsessing over stuff.
Good luck!!!
Coupons. It may seem dorky but I use them (I don't go overboard like the tv show because that is a LOT of time) but I do save about 20% on my grocery bill every month.
ReplyDeleteA few other people said this but we automatically have money transferred to our joint savings every paycheck. It really goes a long way.
Good LUCK! Let us know if you find that money tree!
By expensive I meant inexpensive ;)
ReplyDeleteUse cash :) It helps me to take out a set amount of cash each week and that's my "fun" money. Whether it's grabbing Starbucks, a cute shirt I spot at Target, etc... it's my money for the week I can spend on myself and not feel bad about it. When it's gone, that's it though. No cheating ;)
ReplyDeleteWe do our Budget the night before the 1st of every month. And we stick to it.
ReplyDeleteWith my husband being in the military we are lucky to have a steady income and know exactly how much he's getting paid and how much we can put into savings.
Also, pulling cash out for fun money really helps.
Use cash, or checks! Credit cards can get you in trouble! Like everyone else said saving can be hard sometimes but it's so worth it when you have everything you want for your house and you don't have to worry about having your house look empty! I like to take out money each week and put it into our savings account! Also try the "envelope system!" It keeps you from using credit cards and makes it easy to budget everything out! Label each envelope for the things you need, want, bills, food, gas etc. and don't steer from it! This has helped us a lot! We bought our house foreclosed and fixed it up only using cash and now we're debt free! You'll get there! It just takes time and effort! Plus you'll have a beautiful house to show for it! :)
ReplyDeletexo
oh just wait! when you move into your house it will be impossible to save money!! We saved for our house for a year (saved HARD!) so I was excited to start spending...and you kind of have to. Buying furniture and decor is fun but spending hundreds at Home Depot blowwwwwws
ReplyDeleteHaving a specific amount autodrafted to savings from each paycheck has really worked for us. We don't use any credit cards unless we are using it for rewards, but we immediately pay off the balance within days. That way after bills & savings if we don't have it, we don't buy it. Michael get's totally frustrated with this, but it's how we're able to have a house, go on mulitple vacations a year, and buy me nice things ;) kidding. sorta... Also, Wells Fargo has a program that for every time you use your debit card $1 gets transferred automatically to you savings. You think "oh cool, no big deal" but you will be surprised how many times you swip your debit card and how much you don't miss the money that's being transferred. Last month we added an addiional $75 to our savings account on the $1 tranfers! Something to think about! Hope that helps! LOVE your blog!
ReplyDeleteOf course you're not alone - I love buying stuff so much. I guess it's my fav activity o.o
ReplyDeletexoxo
have you ever thought about the envelope method? Where you have separate envelopes for different purposes. Like one for groceries, gas, eating out, etc. Everytime you get paid you put a certain amount into each envelope. Like $50 to eating out or shopping. That way you have a set amount designated and the liklihood of you going over your "budget" is smaller.
ReplyDeleteWe started our marriage with credit card debt (something I don't recommend)! We never had extra money for those surprise expenses, so we started depositing $50 a week in to savings. This isn't a very large amount, but it's what we can afford for now. We also set ourselves up on an allowance. My husband was spending a large amount of money every week eating out, so now we each get $40 a week to spend however we choose. If you have any money leftover you get to keep it for your personal savings (maybe for new Ray Bans? :))
ReplyDeleteI'm RIGHT there with you! I'm horrible at spending money too.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are opposite. I'm a saver, he is a spender. So I have access to our bank accounts, and give him a set amount (in cash) for the week, once it is gone, it is gone. He had no will power not to spend just cause it was there, so this works for us! I also put a little into savings every paycheck. I don't even count that money as our "income" in our budget, so I don't even notice that it is missing. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI have 3 separate bank accounts. 1 that I use for savings. 1 that I use for all my pre-authorized debits and 1 for regular spending. After I pay all the bills and transfer money to my other account for the pre-auth stuff, I give myself a set limit for 2 week (until next payday). Then I live within my budget. It works great. Sometimes I have to add more in, but I can save $500 a payday if the bills are low that time. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteI do the enevelope thing. Works pretty well. I can;t save either though it sucks. I do the whole saving and bargaining but stuff still cost and adds up. I can't stand to stay inside either. I love to go out and do things!
ReplyDeleteI say if you have self control use your credit cards if they have good reward points. I use this as a way to save up for Christmas. I try to put everything on my Visa (but know that I have enough money coming from my paycheck to pay it off) and then as mid November rolls around I cash out and get the visa giftcard from the bank, even if it's just $150, that's more towards Christmas than I had before!
ReplyDeleteGranted, I still have trouble saving! I pay my credit card off every month, but that little savings account I have is looking pretty pathetic!
Mvelopes-- it is an online budgeting system. It is like Dave Ramsey's envelope system but you can use cards. Set aside a certain amount per month that you can use for clothes, make up and whatever-- and stick to it!
ReplyDeleteAlso, you don't have to furnish an entire house right away... just the important stuff! Go to auctions, craigslist and garage sales! You would be shocked at what you can find.
There is a book by George Clason called "The Richest Man in Babylon". It's a quick read and has great tips for saving money. I suggest fattening up the savings account before the mortgage comes in because unless you plan ahead, costs and emergencies can add up and then you are using credit cards and then it's a never ending cycle.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I had to realize when we got our house was that it didn't all have to be done at once. We allowed ourselves to buy one big purchase when we moved in, which was our couch. The rest came as we saved amd were able to afford it. This was hard for me because I wanted everything done immediately. We have been there for 2.5 years now and still don't have a backyard. We spend more time inside the house so we chose to spend our money there.
It's all about prioritizing and being diligent with putting money away. You make a list of things you want/want to do and then rank them together. Once you have a good amount saved for backlog in case anything happens financially, whatever you save above and beyond that goes toward the next item on the list. The list will grow and change over time, but you will also cross things off of it too.
Good luck!
One other tip that I forgot. I have direct deposit for my paycheck and I have a separate savings account that I designate a certain portion of my check to. I never see it since it goes in there before my check goes into our joint account. Since it's not part of our joint account, I don't see it all the time so I don't think about it.
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