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Saving money

carjakester

carjakester

macrumors 68020
Original poster
how do you guys save money?

I used to put all my money in a savings account and took out what i needed, but that never really worked out for me. Recently i switched to chase with just a checking account and i have been taking out 60-100 dollars each time I've gotten paid this year and putting it away into a jar.

Call it old fashioned but it works, once the money is "gone" you don't miss it or realize how much you have saved. I now have over 1200 saved up that i probably would have ended up spending.
 
Im only 15 so I dont really spend money. I just take all the money I get from birthdays and stuff and put it in this toy bank thing. I dont even know how much is in there. But now I am making money on YouTube...I got a whole $1.09... so I getting a little money now.
 
carjakester said:
how do you guys save money?

I used to put all my money in a savings account and took out what i needed, but that never really worked out for me. Recently i switched to chase with just a checking account and i have been taking out 60-100 dollars each time I've gotten paid this year and putting it away into a jar.

Call it old fashioned but it works, once the money is "gone" you don't miss it or realize how much you have saved. I now have over 1200 saved up that i probably would have ended up spending.
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At the moment, I'm in a position to be able to think about how to spend my savings. Which is good and bad… but it's a long story.

To get to your point… My late wife and I set up several accounts at our bank. One for the house, one for travel, and then each our own personal accounts. Then we set up automatic monthly transfers from our personal accounts to the house and travel accounts. When we wanted to travel we looked to see how much was in the travel account. All common household expenses came from the house account - mortgage, food, repairs, utilities, etc. We set the monthly transfers into the house account higher than necessary. Whenever there was a surplus we popped it onto the mortgage as a privilege payment - which helped pay off our mortgage early. (For us, the best 'saving' strategy was being debt free.) Neither of us carried credit card debt. Sometimes one of us would 'borrow' some money for a month from the travel or house account to pay a credit card bill. Whatever was left in our personal accounts after the monthly transfers was ours to do as we saw fit.

Obviously there was some flexibility in this system. Sometimes we'd each contribute extra funds to the travel account if there was trip we wanted to do that cost more than the balance. We regularly assessed the monthly contributions to the accounts, and based our contributions on our ability to pay rather than matching each other. That is to say, however was earning more contributed more. We didn't have a formula or anything - we just talked figures until both of us were happy. Sometimes if we each had a personal surplus we'd contribute to the house account and put another privilege payment on the mortgage. See above for the 'best' saving strategy.

Probably more details than you wanted… but it's a version of the money in the jar strategy, except it is automatic and of course risk free.
 
I have a checking and savings account, and every paycheck, have $150 of it directly deposited into my savings account (my employer allows split direct deposits). It's really for short term savings, used when I want to buy something big, and a safety net in case I should find myself out of a job. It's nice, because I never see it in my checking account so I never realize it's gone. I've been doing it for so long that I've gotten used to the fact that my paycheck is just $150 less than normal. Probably should up that number a bit though since I'm making more than when I first started.

I have a 401k for long term savings.
 
Always pay yourself first. No matter how small an amount, just do it.

Years ago I set up an account with a mutual fund (an IRA). Each month the fund withdrew $50 from my bank account and purchased shares. Dividends were always reinvested. I never missed the $50 and those shares are now worth a nice chunk of change.

In addition to that, when my direct deposit check arrives at my bank each week, $100 is deposited to my savings, the balance to checking. When a thousand or so accumulates in my credit union savings, I electronically transfer it to an online bank which offers better interest rates.

Pay yourself first.
 
I only use fives, tens, twenties, and higher. If I get ones, or any change, I just toss it to the side and stick it in a coin purse. It adds up.
 
My wife and I have 2 accounts at our bank. One is for expenses and one is a slush account. When money is deposited into our expense account, 20% is automatically moved into our slush account. Our slush fund is not tied to our debit cards so we can not just spend it on a whim. We must physically go to the bank to withdraw from it. Makes it an inconvenience, which makes it easy to leave alone.

Our slush account is for emergencies and overages if needed. At the end of the year all monies left in our slush account are handed over to our financial broker to be invested into retirements funds.

We also have an automatic debit of funds removed from our expense account each month that goes to our financial broker to invest for us. My saving is really done with me only paying attention to it so that the correct amounts are in place.

Once or twice a year my wife and I sit down with our broker and move our funds around if required and watch it grow. I never leave money in the bank in large amounts, here in Canada, as it is the worst way of earning money on your money.

All money with our broker can easily be had if we require it within a few days. But again another inconvenience, which makes saving it easy.

Similar to what yg17 is doing, but I invest mine later and forget about it till retirement.
 
Saving was instilled in me as a young child by my grandfather. He would give us money when we saw him every week. Would always offer you $5 (good money back in the early 70s) for spending money or $10 if you put $6 in the bank. My momma didn't raise a dummy. 😀

Today, I max out my 401K to take advantage of the company match. My financial advisor grabs $1,250 a month for retirement and I put $200 a month in an online savings account. My direct deposited paycheck has $250 put into savings account.

As others have said, pay yourself first.
 
Every month, an automatic withdrawal takes $350 out of my checking account and puts it in my retirement account. It also puts $100 in my son's education account (and I add more when more is available).

If my checking account gets bigger than about two-three months' worth of expenses, I siphon the rest out into my savings account. If my savings account gets over about six months' worth of expenses, I wait until it hits a certain amount over and siphon that off into a mutual fund. This is after I pay some extra towards the mortgage or put more towards paying the car off.

While I sometimes have to transfer back in to checking from savings if an employer doesn't pay an invoice for several months (happens more than I'd like), I haven't had to withdraw out of any investment accounts in almost 10 years. I also haven't even used a credit card except in one extreme circumstance or by accident (yep) in probably 6-8 years. I'm surprised by credit card company hasn't dumped me.

Of course, this all takes having a salary that affords it. I can't expect someone making $20k a year to put away too much.
 
Saving money

If you have to hide the money to save then do that. I know a lot of people that do that. Start a retirement fund ASAP and contribute as much as you can. Pay off debts as fast as you can to avoid paying high interest rates. You are saving money indirectly by paying off your debts.

Learn to cook for dinner and pack a lunch for work. You'll spend more money on food in your lifetime than anything else.

EDIT: I do all of the above except the hide money part.
 
MrX8503 said:
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Learn to cook for dinner and pack a lunch for work. You'll spend more money on food in your lifetime than anything else.
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Agreed - I see people at work spend $4-5+ each day on lunch. I bring my own and it costs me about a dollar per lunch. Over days, weeks, months and years, that adds up big time.

Also, if you drink, make your own drinks at home. It isn't that hard and saves a lot over going to bars.
 
c073186 said:
Agreed - I see people at work spend $4-5+ each day on lunch. I bring my own and it costs me about a dollar per lunch. Over days, weeks, months and years, that adds up big time.

Also, if you drink, make your own drinks at home. It isn't that hard and saves a lot over going to bars.
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Yes indeed.

Lunch with the guys $8 to $10 a day.

Did the math and cheaper to brown bag it.
 
I will say its extremely difficult to save money in this day and age, probably harder now then the last 30 years. More so if you're married with kids.

The cost of living has been going up so much, yet my salary has not. Buying cold cuts at my local supermarket, I saw ham being sold for 11 dollars a pound, that's down right ridiculous. Milk is over 4.50 a gallon.

Having kids which is a great blessing, means there's a lot of other expenses that have be dealt with. My point is there's so many things looking to take money out of my checking account that its a struggle to shove any $$ away.
 
firedept said:
My wife and I have 2 accounts at our bank. One is for expenses and one is a slush account.
Click to expand...
slush fund
noun
a reserve of money used for illicit purposes, esp. political bribery.
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I suppose you can't say what it's used for. 😉

I've been transferring $1,500 to Savings monthly for years, via automatic debit and credit. This serves a combination of purposes, such as having enough at the end of the year for property taxes. It is also my car payment, to myself. When I need a new car, the money is there, and I go buy one. Saves a ton of interest by not taking out a loan.

I also have retirement savings. If you start soon enough, by the time you retire, you can have $500,000 or even $1 million to live off of in retirement. A person who starts saving even $20 a month at age 22 will be better off at 65 than someone who starts saving $200 a month at age 40.
 
Gregg2 said:
I suppose you can't say what it's used for. 😉

I've been transferring $1,500 to Savings monthly for years, via automatic debit and credit. This serves a combination of purposes, such as having enough at the end of the year for property taxes. It is also my car payment, to myself. When I need a new car, the money is there, and I go buy one. Saves a ton of interest by not taking out a loan.

I also have retirement savings. If you start soon enough, by the time you retire, you can have $500,000 or even $1 million to live off of in retirement. A person who starts saving even $20 a month at age 22 will be better off at 65 than someone who starts saving $200 a month at age 40.
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Maybe I should have used a different term, like emergency funds. "Slush" (emergency) fund goes to a legal Financial Broker who invest it in my portfolio. Portfolio consist of minerals, plus we buy and sell legit currencies. No laundered monies. I also invest in Real Estate.

Very good point. Most people do not even realize what kind of money they need saved when they retire to live a decent lifestyle. Even $500,000 is not enough for most people in the higher middle income bracket. Heck sometimes, even $1,000,000 may not be enough.

People forget about the taxes they still have to pay on that money after they retire. Plus most people still have regular bills rolling in after retirement. I gave up a lot of things when I was younger because I knew I could never work for a company large enough to offer a pension. Always worried about just becoming a number.

If I had not had it instilled in me by my parents to save for retirement when I started working, I dread to think where I might be today. My parents struggled a bit because they started mid life.

Some very good advice being given here in this thread. But it also takes someone who is willing to takes that advice and put it to good use. As you stated, especially while you are young.

Give up that one or two party nights a month. Take a lunch to work, I do. Buy a house if you can, never rent. You are just paying someone else's mortgage. Tuck money in a savings account and forget about it. Invest some money wisely, not high risk stocks.
 
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Everything with my banking is automated.

National brick and mortar bank checking account.
CapitalOne 360 (formerly ING) savings account.
Ally online savings account (2).
Vanguard Roth IRA

I have two jobs - one that pays on the 15th/last day of the month and one that is bi-weekly. I can get by with all my expenses with the semi-monthly paid job, so those direct deposits go into my traditional checking. The second job's direct deposit goes into my CapitalOne 360 savings.

Every single week I have deducted from my traditional checking account:
$30 - Ally #1 - Auto expenses. This typically is just for insurance every 6 months, but if something were to arise, there would be cash on hand to cover that.
$73.50 - Ally #2 - Education expenses. I started going back to school part time in the evenings for a second degree at a community college, so this adds up to cover tuition/expenses.

Then I also have every week taken from my CapitalOne 360 account:
$48.07 - Roth IRA for a total contribution of $2,500/year. Any gains/dividends are set to reinvest in the fund (Note: I'm 25, opened it at 24 with my tax refund)

The rest pools in my CapitalOne 360 account and I occasionally dip into it to pay off outstanding student loans early from my first degree, but keep the balance at a minimum of $1,000. Part of me believes I should invest more of that extra cash on hand in my CapitalOne account, but the remainder of my loans are higher interest (4.5-6.5%) that I'd really like to pay off, but at least in the past year I would've received a greater return in investing the money instead. It's a tough decision. I don't want to over-extend my savings into retirement because I have it hard wired that any money that goes into my Roth IRA is untouchable until retirement.
 
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I pay into my pension each month which is matched by my employer.
When we finished our mortgage we carried on having the same amount deducted each month. This goes in a high interest savings account. At the end of the year we transfer this (and any other surplus) into isa's (tax free saving).
I never borrow money.
I nearly always take my lunch to work.
I hardly spend anything on clothes.
 
Good timing on this thread! I closed my last B&M account last week and I'm online-only now for everything. I re-evaluated my priorities and made a few changes to my goals based on what I want to get out of life for the next few years. FWIW, I'm 25.

1) Primary checking account for direct deposit and spending at Simple.
2) Online Savings account at Ally for general saving.
3) Money Market account with checks and a debit card, also at Ally, with 3-months of living expenses. This is my emergency fund.
4) Self-funded Roth IRA at Vanguard, maxed out for 2013 and 2014.

I also have a significantly-large CD at Wells Fargo from my grandparents. I'm planning on getting married within the next 2 years and then buying a house shortly after, so the CD will sit until it's time to sign the papers on the house.

I've been pretty bad with saving these past few months thanks to a costly move and some other expenses, so I'm working my way back up to saving more each month.

I'm fortunate enough to carry no debt, so I have a lot more free income than some other people. I bought a new car in cash 2 years ago. I originally planned on taking what I would have paid in car payments and putting that into savings, but I got stupid and bought things I didn't need. I'm starting that in June now that I have it a little more in-order.
 
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A few ways:

Automatically transfer a specific amount from checking to savings every payday. If I can transfer more the night before a payday, I do.

And where possible, I save 5 dollar bills (when I think about and at the end of the work week.) It's amazing how fast that adds up.

Walking when possible to save on my commute.

And 401k and such at work.


I could put a lot more away if I brought my own food to work so I have to look at that and my budget.
 
Saving for a Student

I'm a PhD student - doing it part-time as cannot afford fees so saving for me is difficult. What I find works best is putting €10 every two weeks into a jar - it quickly adds up 😀
 
Main things is make a budget and try to stick to it. Mint.com save my life and has made me a ton of money. Its also free !!! You can make a budget it tells you if you are going over it and even tells you how to save money or if a bank/credit card charged you a fee(call the company and they will remove the fee 90% of the time unless you are always late)

Saving really depends on what you are comfortable with and how much you make. I graduated college a few years back. I started paying off student loans and a apartment which was hard to save. I was working for a CPA firm making 40k before bonuses(In Boston its not much money). My boss told me he would match up to 5% of my 401k contributions so that I should put in at least 5% to get $2,000+ free a year. I decided to put in $3,000 a year in my 401k so my boss would given $2,000. It added up very quickly especially as the market grew big time.

Around that time the market crashed and the banks were paying basically 0 interest. In college I started investing and I wanted to be a stock broker but the market had crashed. I got paid weekly and would invest 50 dollars a week in my share builder account that would buy mutual funds weekly for me for free. (not a great investment but hey better than a bank). Weekly I would receive 550, of that 700 was rent of the month, 200 for car lease + insurance, 250 to my sallie mae bank account they give real good interest, 500 to salliemae for student loans, the rest to try and pick up girls at the bar/food.

That job gave me big bonuses and pretty big pay bumps every time but I learned to live comfortably at 40k fine with roommates which made everything cheaper but when I would get a bonus I would invest it in the stock market, when I would get a pay raise I would just have them add it to my 401k. I paid off Sallie Mae in 2 1/2 years. Had to eat a ton of mac & cheese dinners but it got done.

Now I am at a investment firm and make way more money but kind of do the same thing I have done since college. While not as easy because I am engaged now and in grad school I budget myself and its working out great. I put 25% of my annual salary and max my 401k. Have my fiancé do the same and we both have roth IRAs every year that we max out, as well as heath saving plans that we max out. Time to save now while we are young because when we have kids we are screwed.

My banks
-Bank of America - everyone ***** on them but if you have over $30k with them they let you buy/sell 30 stocks a month, give you bank interest, free checking, basically hand jobs when you call them on the phone or just click call me on the website and they call you 🙂
- Sallie Mae Bank - I hate Sallie Mae for being an angry bitter ex wife and trying to charge me 10% on my loans then asking me why I am paying her off so quickly but the bank that it runs gives really high interest. Think its 1% or .9% either way not bad
-Capital One - Use to be ING direct. Not as high of interest as Sallie Mae
- Tradeking and Sogotrade - before BOA started letting me invest my money for free these were my two go to places to buy and sell stock
 
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