Money-saving tips and strategies

The better means of strategy is first creating & maintaining monthly spreadsheets to pinpoint exactly what is coming in & what is going out; this will give a clear picture of what needs to be done to save & what spending luxuries need to be lessened or stopped all together...I make a decent living at the heart of the city, but it can be an expensive venture if I wasn't strategic with how I use my income. Making money is the easy part, turning it into more money is a play on discipline, but it's where the advantage lies.

For those unsure, Micro$oft Excel for Windows is the best & easiest program to keep track of monthly expenses - many of the others out there are pretty graphically, but fall short on practicality.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

if you are going to eat out. try to eat out for lunch. most often places will have lunch specials where you can get a good meal for a decent price. also, take home leftovers, great for next day.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I agree with Alice's cash system to some extent. You do tend to get more disciplined when you see that bundle of bills dwindle down to nothing.

However, don't slam the plastic just yet. Don't cut up all your credit cards either. Having that option available is helpful in some situations, and it is a good idea to establish a good credit history. Having a very low utilization gives you a fair credit rating, which is useful when you're ready for the big stuff like financing cars, houses, and college.

Still, with credit cards, you must pay the whole amount off when it is due. Otherwise, if you only pay the minimum, the interest will become astronomical. Case in point: a credit card with an Annual Percentage Rate of 30%, will cost you 34.48% in interest (compounded monthly). It's even worse in the Philippines - a "low" 3.5% monthly-bearing credit card which translates to 51.11% annual interest.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yeah, I use my American Express card for everything I buy (unless it's something under, like, $5) so at the end of the month I get a complete statement and I know exactly where all of my money went and how much it cost me. Add in all of the perks you get with their card (free extended warranty, customer satisfaction guarantee, cash back/rewards, etc.) and I've found it to be a pretty good system. I don't even have to mail in a check at the end of the month since I can just go online into my account and pay the thing off in about 30 seconds. I always get annoyed when a place won't accept AMEX and I have to use my debit card.

Originally Posted by ElectricSheep

This is a huge money saver that a lot of people miss when it comes to over-the-counter medications.

By Law, generic over-the-counter medications must have the same dosage of the same medication, and must have the same efficacy in the same time interval as their name-brand counterparts. The only difference is in the inactive ingredients used, otherwise the medications must be the same or it cannot be sold.

I've also found that Costco has the absolute best deals on generic medicines ever. A normal 12 pack of Benadryl is a few dollars, yet I was able go get a jug of 400 pills which work just as well for $5.00. I use them as a sleep-aid nowadays when I know I have to wake up early the next morning because they're so cheap.

Originally Posted by Alice

That depends on what kind of car she gets and how much she drives. We spend $550 a month on gas, and that's just my car. My husband has a company car and the gas is on them, so we don't even have to pay for that.

Jesus woman, what kind of car do you drive? I drove from Pennsylvania to California cheaper than that.

I was speaking idiomatically.

It's a Toyota 4Runner, but I drive about 50 miles a day. So sad. So many books on tape.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

It's gotta be more than that since even at 15MPG you'd only be paying $300 a month for gas at $3 a gallon (and still about half the distance I drove when going from Philly to LA).

FELIPE NO

Well, that's just to work and back. I'm always running around everywhere with kids.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Alice

We have this whole sophisticated envelope system where, each payday, we stuff envelopes labeled "groceries," "gas," "haircuts," "clothing," etc. When we use all the money in the envelope, we don't spend any more in that category until the next pay period. Honestly, the first six months were the hardest, both psychologically and logistically, what with trying to figure out how much we really needed in each category.

My mother uses this exact system. She's been doing it for years. I was always confused by WHY she did it when I was little. She's on such a limited income, she HAS to see her cash in front of her before she goes and splurges on those used hiking boots for $30.

I tried this system when I was living on my own, and I can tell you I had one HELL of a time doing it. I could never properly anticipate each bill, I would need to take from one envelope to pay for another bill (heat was so outrageously expensive), and my deadbeat roomate never had HER share of the money, so I had to often pay HER way just to make rent in time.

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Doing this, we have paid off ALL of our credit cards and a huge chunk of our other debts (way more than we would have paid off before going to this system). It's been really tough, but it's the best thing we ever did. Now, when I need to go to the dentist or whatever, I just go to the safe and pull out my little envelope labeled "dentist," which I have been putting money into every pay period for however many months, and off I go.

How did you decide to divide everything up? I mean, it took you only 6 months to know how much you needed?

Do you own credit card accounts? Do you use plastic at all? I am just curious if I should try it all again. I know I could save a LOT more money - I don't have a very expensive lifestyle. I just buy a bunch of BULLSHIT like yarn, cat toys, and uncessary clothing. (Also shoes and bags god i am so dumb)

Jam it back in, in the dark.

My aunt used the envelope system when we were growing up too, so it definitely has some history - perhaps some magazine in the early 20th century popularized the method. After she died, my uncle was still finding the occasional odd envelope of cash for a couple of years.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

How did you decide to divide everything up? I mean, it took you only 6 months to know how much you needed?

Well, what we did was we estimated what we thought we were spending in each category and started with that figure, but for five or six months we kept running out of money in certain envelopes way too early and having money left over in others. We finally got it figured out, but there are still months when we run out of, say, grocery money before pay day. Now, we actually have a separate envelope for holiday meals that we use for Christmas and Thanksgiving, etc. when we know we're going to be spending more money on groceries. And also, we don't fund every envelope every month. Like that one, for instance. We put like $50 or $75 in it one time and just lock it away until we need to use it.

Quote:

Do you own credit card accounts? Do you use plastic at all?

Yes, we both have debit cards (I haven't used mine in almost a year, though) and we each have an American Express card, which I only use when I have to pay for something on Ebay or something like that.

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I am just curious if I should try it all again. I know I could save a LOT more money - I don't have a very expensive lifestyle. I just buy a bunch of BULLSHIT like yarn, cat toys, and uncessary clothing. (Also shoes and bags god i am so dumb)

Honestly, it's a complete pain in the ass to get the system set up and running properly. Once you've figured out how much you really need in each category it's easy, though. I would only recommend doing this if you're very undisciplined with money.

Oh, and we both have an envelope called "Don't Ask" which is basically spending money for stuff we don't budget in (cat toys, yarn, flower bulbs, etc.).

Most amazing jew boots

If you want to know the simple solution to everything either start logging all your transactions, OR what I prefer, just card everything (ie. digital logging). I even card at fast food these days.

At the end of the month GRAPH all your data. Over a period of 3-6 months you should be able to get a general feel of your ins and outs without changing your lifestyle, then you can play on your weaknesses accordingly.

It's all about the graphs. Statistics don't lie, and unless you're prone to a sudden personality overhaul, you should be kosher.

edit: Alice you are insane I'd shoot myself in the face if I ran that system. A "haircuts" env? Damn.

Most amazing jew boots

Something I came up with a while back, and has so far served me well:

Quote:

DN's Entry #162:

"When it is beneficial to be financially conservative in purchases, to ensure a degree of quality in the selection,
one should choose the second-from-least expensive priced product" - Dark Nation (Me), Febuary 13th, 2007

Simplified: "To save money, buy the second cheapest item"

Doesn't apply to everything obviously, but its a great maxim to follow when you're trying to save money, as per the intent of this topic.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Money saving?

All I do is reserve $100 per paycheck - don't waste it on anything. Yes, per paycheck. Put it on your savings account or your Money Market thing and never touch it. Best if in the Money Market though - the percentage allows your money to grow.

Years from now you'll reap your rewards.

Other than that, don't buy shit you won't need and cut down on luxury items. Hell, it's hard for me to do even, but it can be done.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?