How do you save money?

FURET

anncoates wrote: »

I do plan for the future in some ways - have a pension, save myself and we also put separate savings aside every month for kids college - and I also budget in some ways. but I don't really believe in living 40 years of penury to have a relatively lavish retirement. I'd have no problem just having no mortgage, kids reared and educated, healthcare covered and enough for our holiday and a few pints/hobbies or whatever. I want to strike a balance between having having some kind of life now and not being strapped when I'm old.

You're right. There are a number of articles online profiling retirees (say, folks in their late 50s onwards) who spend very little by adopting various strategies including house-sitting for a few months per year (so you get lots of low-cost travel in if you like) in warmer climes plus moving to lower-cost countries. Minimalists in general don't need much money...they just need enough of it so that it doesn't run out.

The general principal is that you calculate a figure that you'd need in today's money in order to comfortably retire. You then work out by how much that figure will be inflated by the time your retirement comes about (generally taking an annual inflation rate of 2.5%). And you aim to withdraw no more than 4% of your entire retirement pot per annum. Properly done, this should mean that your money outlives you and you don't run out of funds in your dotage.

Here's a good video showing how to do the calculation (note the video is for expats who generally have no social insurance. If you have a guaranteed pension coming from the state, you'll obviously need to save less, plus with mortgages etc paid off, living costs will be lower for most people):

Calibos

Like 'DoYouEvenLift' I decided to save €300 every week.
















.....then I remembered that I only earn €300 every week

boardie100

ballyharpat wrote: »

You pretty much summed up my thinking here. I saved about 80% of my wages for 3/4 years when I was earning 'decent' money. I wanted to pay off a mortgage on my house when interest rates were 10%+
I got in the habit of saving so kept doing it, then I invested my savings after the first mortgage-stocks etc-to treat myself, once a year I would take some profits and buy something expensive.
I always buy good quality, in the sales if possible, especially clothes, I don't buy into latest fads or trends, just 'Quality never goes out of fashion'

I started a business and worked my ass off for 2 years, saved 90% of a lot of money, invested it. Came home, took a year off work, went back working on a low paying job, I work about 20 hours a week, I've been off for about 6 weeks now and still have money coming in from investments, I'm in no hurry to go back to work, I have 2 cars, and I can retire in 2 years -at 39- if I want, it was a matter of making a lot of sacrifices for a short time and now enjoying every day.....work smarter not harder, and then get your money to work for you.

HAve to agree with do not get into a relationship with someone that does not respect money, or someone that is materialistic, you 'will' end up working every day to keep them in their 'wants'

Not for everyone, but if you don't want to 'have' to work, it's a great way to do it.....

fair play, but i was very hard to get your money to work for you over the past few years with the economy the way it was...
How did you manage to invest wisely?

Menas

CarpeDiem85 wrote: »

My grandfather worked so hard for a retirement but died 2 years into it!

I will be so pissed off if having spent 30 years paying in to and managing my pension that I die shortly after retirement!
My wife, on the other hand, will have some help in getting over her loss.

Frigga_92

I have 4 savings accounts, they are all for different purposes. They are all linked up with my online banking so €x amount goes into each of them every week. I also have a savings box at home that I put any 50cent, €1 or €2 coins into every week and a big box that I throw loose change into - last year I got nearly €800 out of the two of these alone.
One of my savings accounts requires 21 days notice for withdrawals, that gets the biggest amount every week. Then another one requires 7 days notice, that is for a monthly expense I have that I put away money towards each week.

I make sure to put a reminder on my phone for payday of what exactly needs to be paid out because it's so easy to forget something and then you get into a hole.

FURET

boardie100 wrote: »

fair play, but i was very hard to get your money to work for you over the past few years with the economy the way it was...
How did you manage to invest wisely?

I realize this question isn't for me, but actually, even though the global economy has been in the doldrums since 2008, anyone who invested in early 2009 in broad stock market indices such as the S&P 500 or the FTSE Developed Europe index would have more than doubled their money today. Equity returns and national economies do not move in lockstep.

Wise investors generally recognize that equities (stocks) are an essential component of any portfolio and then diversify the risk and exposure by buying low-cost entire stock market indexes on a monthly or bimonthly basis, reinvesting dividends, holding a percentage not lower than 20% in fixed income (such as short-term high quality bonds), and seeing market crashes as buying opportunities, rather than reasons to panic sell. Such strategies generally average 9% compounded annually over longer periods of, say, 20 years or more.

illdoit2morrow

As mentioned by others in the thread separate bank accounts where it is not so straight forward to withdraw from. I have three accounts with my bank, my day to day account and two savings accounts. After pay day X amount gets transferred to one of the savings accounts. I haven't touched that in years. I transfer as much as I can to the other account and only tap that if I have to, sometimes I tap more than I put in for the month but the balance usually increases month on month.

I don't use my mobile phone a whole lot so I bought a phone outright and signed up to a Tesco mobile sim only plan, costs me €10 per month. I don't think that specific plan is available anymore.

I ditched sky and have gone down the saorview/free to air route which costs nothing month on month.

The previous two steps require a bit of initial investment (buying the phone and getting the set top box for the tv) but the saving come down the line.

I've got XBMC on a raspberry pi which allows me to stream tv shows/movies which saves a few quid...that one is a bit 'black market'.

Being a tight arse when it comes to turning on the heat used to work for me, but my g/f has moved in so that's a non runner now.

Off booze for the month of January as an experiment to see the savings. I knocked the smokes on the head a few year back which is a big saving.

Eating before going food shopping sometimes prevents buying tasty snacks while shopping.

My tip would be try and make a small saving to start and see how you go and if it works out. If it works out then try for another small saving. Don't worry if it doesn't work out one particular month/week. You can always give it ago the next time.

boardie100

FURET wrote: »

I realize this question isn't for me, but actually, even though the global economy has been in the doldrums since 2008, anyone who invested in early 2009 in broad stock market indices such as the S&P 500 or the FTSE Developed Europe index would have more than doubled their money today. Equity returns and national economies do not move in lockstep.

Wise investors generally recognize that equities (stocks) are an essential component of any portfolio and then diversify the risk and exposure by buying low-cost entire stock market indexes on a monthly or bimonthly basis, reinvesting dividends, holding a percentage not lower than 20% in fixed income (such as short-term high quality bonds), and seeing market crashes as buying opportunities, rather than reasons to panic sell. Such strategies generally average 9% compounded annually over longer periods of, say, 20 years or more.

most of that went over my head ... most of my savings sit in an account... i guess im risk adverse... although i would like to start some investing... any good resources out these to learn?

lau1247

i heart chewy louie wrote: »

This doesn't make sense. Unless you are implying that there is interest payable.

How does it not make sense? I don't know how to explain it any clearer..

Pretty much anything now days where any company/organisation offer you the chance to pay in installments are almost always being more expensive than if you are paying full upfront.

FURET

boardie100 wrote: »

most of that went over my head ... most of my savings sit in an account... i guess im risk adverse... although i would like to start some investing... any good resources out these to learn?

Sorry - let me simplify. When I say

even though the global economy has been in the doldrums since 2008, anyone who invested in early 2009 in broad stock market indices such as the S&P 500 or the FTSE Developed Europe index would have more than doubled their money today.

I mean that anyone who bought every single company that traded on the US or European stock markets would have doubled their investment. You know what a book index is - it's simply a list at the back of a book of all the important concepts mentioned in the book. Well, a stock market index is simply a list of the companies traded on a particular exchange. The S&P 500 index is a list of the 500 biggest US businesses - so you'll see Coca-Cola, Chevron, Walt Disney, Google, McDonalds, AIG, and Kellogs listed there. If you buy an investment vehicle that tracks the S&P 500 index, you are genuinely buying a little piece of each of those 500 businesses. There are similar indexes for France (the CAC40), UK (FTSE 100 and FTSE 250), Germany (DAX), and Ireland (the ISEQ index). The FTSE Developed Europe index would include the likes of Bayer, Nestle, Ryanair, Hugo Boss, Next, Swatch, Shell, SAP, Volkswagen, and Zurich.

You can buy such vehicles (equity ETFs) yourself, or through either a PRSA pension or by choosing an appropriate fund from your employer's plan (preferred for Ireland residents as it provides tax shelter). You can even buy vehicles that contain all of the above-mentioned indexes, allowing you to own thousands of businesses at once.

This is the fundamental way in which a great many pension plans and personal investments are built: a combination of equity index funds and bond index funds, with a smattering of REITs (real estate funds, i.e funds that contain dozens or even hundreds of businesses that own apartment houses, office blocks, and malls).

If your employer has a plan and matches your contribution, you should look at that plan to see if it's optimal for you (if it isn't, seek to change it) and then contribute the maximum that you can (because the employer's contribution is essentially free money). If the employer's plan is genuinely crappy (which generally means weirdly allocated and too expensive), see about setting up a PRSA (personal retirement savings account).

The key thing is to let compound interest do its magic. If the S&P 500 gained 13% in 2014 (which it did), this is through a combination of appreciating share prices of the constituent companies (driven by speculation in the short-term but earnings growth in the long-term) and dividends paid out (remember, you own a little piece of those businesses, so you are entitled to your share of their profits in the form of a dividend).

So if you lay down 5000 euros per year every year for 30 years, and if the average annual rate of return was 9% (which it is, approximately), your 150,000 euro (5000 x 30) would grow to 809,214.48 euro.

If you contributed 7000 per year for 30 years, your 210,000 (7000 x 30) euro would grow to 1,132,900.27 euro.

(This, by the way, is why the rich generally get richer; it's because they're invested in things that grow at a compounded rate. Every euro or dollar invested is like a seed that goes on to produce ever more euros and dollars, and so on and so forth until you eventually get an exponential effect). It just requires time and discipline - the more time, the better, which is why people should start investing as early as possible: because if you invested 7000 per year for 35 years instead of 30 years, you would be looking at 1,788,770.83 euros instead of 1,132,900.27!

The reality is that you will seldom be able to get the 9% average over your investing lifetime, for the simple reason that most pension providers charge a fee of around 1% per annum for administering your pension. So instead of 9%, you might only get 8%. That 1% difference sounds negligible, but it's not: your 7000 per annum for 35 years at 8% would grow to 1,406,212.45 vs. 1,788,770.83 at 9%.

Maddening actually that people have to go through pension providers when you should be able to build your own (it's really easy to do). Tip: If a firm called Vanguard start offering pension services in Ireland, go with them. Their fees are tiny compared with the likes of Irish Life, so going with Vanguard could end up saving you hundreds of thousands over an investing lifetime.

FURET

FURET wrote: »

I am a prolific saver and investor. I'm not stingy - wifey and I eat out twice per week and we went on a luxury holiday last year to the South Pacific - but saving is really important to me.

Here are the things I do to save more:

• Budget to save 63% of total income per year and implement that budget.
• Avoid all debts; borrow for nothing.
• Identify opportunities to invest intelligently and reinvest dividends earned.
• Avoid consumerism and excessive consumption.
• Use coupons.
• Increase income and invest / save the increases.
• Embrace a minimalist lifestyle.
• Keep a meticulous budget.
• Devise an ambitious yet realistic financial plan and aim for specific financial goals.
• Be very cognizant of the costs of certain decisions before you take them - such as starting a family, getting married, buying a home, etc.
• Recognize the power of compound interest in terms of its dangers (i.e. loans and mortgages) and benefits (i.e. investment return)
• Know the difference between an asset and a liability (hint, cars aren't assets)
• Maintain an emergency fund of 6 months living expenses
• Never lend money and minimize cash gifts to other people

One of the best steps anyone can take is to avoid prospective partners who are bad with money. You might be good with money, you might have finally nailed that job that will push you up the financial ladder, and the one thing that will torpedo it all is if you marry a credit-card-indebted clown who spends with impunity and hasn't a clue how to manage finances.

To be honest I'd rather save less, spend more, borrow to buy stuff (cars, a house etc) and really enjoy life rather than living a minimalist existence to have more money down the road and look back on all the years where I could have enjoyed life more.

I'm not saying don't save but often (apart from a small regular amount) I save whats left over after I've spent on enjoying life (within reason of course).

FURET

Jordyn Dead Liposuction wrote: »

To be honest I rather save less, spend more, borrow to buy stuff (cars, a house etc) and really enjoy life rather than living a minimalist existence to have more money down the road and look back on all the years where I could have enjoyed life more.

I'm not saying dont save but often I save whats left over after I've spent on enjoying life (within reason of course).

Well fair enough, I hope it works out for you. But it would be a misapprehension to suppose that minimalists deprive themselves...we just genuinely have no desire to accumulate as much stuff as other people and are happy doing stuff that doesn't cost anything. We see to it that we have everything we need and do things we enjoy.

FURET

FURET wrote: »

Well fair enough, I hope it works out for you. But it would be a misapprehension to suppose that minimalists deprive themselves...we just genuinely have no desire to accumulate as much stuff as other people and are happy doing stuff that doesn't cost anything. We see to it that we have everything we need and do things we enjoy.

I do try to save as much as I can but at the same time I wont sit in on a Saturday night or deprive myself of some new electronic item I want (even if I don't really need it) etc.

My income increased recently also so I can save a reasonable amount most months (this month will see almost no savings because of Christmas) while still spending more than I had been every month over the few years previously.

OldNotWIse

I was never really one for saving but now I see my parents in their sixties with no money put aside for an emergency and unable to change their car when they need to etc and it's really motivating me to not end up the same! I mean, my Dad worked hard and they have a lovely house etc but to have no money at your back? Relying on your kids to pay your mortgage? Madness.

eeepaulo

boardie100 wrote: »

most of that went over my head ... most of my savings sit in an account... i guess im risk adverse... although i would like to start some investing... any good resources out these to learn?

This is aimed at the uk investor but the basics are all the same

http://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

Kevhog1988

OldNotWIse wrote: »

I was never really one for saving but now I see my parents in their sixties with no money put aside for an emergency and unable to change their car when they need to etc and it's really motivating me to not end up the same! I mean, my Dad worked hard and they have a lovely house etc but to have no money at your back? Relying on your kids to pay your mortgage? Madness.

Still having a mortgage at 60 is madness to me!!

OldNotWIse

theemigrant wrote: »

Still having a mortgage at 60 is madness to me!!

I know!

Duiske

Dump the wife, hire a hooker, save a packet. Added bonus, during sex you never have to hear "the ceiling could do with a lick of paint, or, "this carpet is looking a bit frayed"

lisasimpson

Another small tip set aside ten mins in jan to fill up the med1 form to claim for medical expenses. Might be only a small amount but its something

pablo128

anncoates wrote: »

You know, when an anecdote requires this much torturous explanation, it's probably best to roll with a new one in future.

Thanks for the advice, and for adding to the thread. :rolleyes:

titan18

Buy most things on special offer. Makes your shopping easier too. No more choice, just whatever is on offer.

Also, take the money out of the current account and put it into an account that needs notice. It can still be used as a rainy day fund then as long as the notice isn't too long, whilst also cutting out any impulse buying

Seanf999

The simplest and probably the most solid piece of advice I've ever recieved is 'live within your means'.. And 'if you have to ask you probably can't afford it'
That last one is in reference to buying expensive items i.e a ferarri , unless you can buy the car without giving it too much of a second thought chances are you shouldn't as it is what it is. A depreciating asset.

Much better putting that money away/into stocks/property...

eeepaulo

VOIP -My mobile phone costs €3.33 per month, the cost of calls is free to landlines (for the first 120 days, then about 0.5 cent a minute until i top up my voip again) to nearly all developed countries and between 0.5 and 1.5 cent a minute to call mobiles, (again most countries).

This needs a smartphone and either wifi or at least a 'h' mobile signal, i live in the countryside and usually have a good enough signal.

I am with 3, top up €10, this gets 500mb data for a month, (voip uses data to make calls) when the month is up i use my credit to buy a 500mb addon, which is 4.99, so i get 3 months for €10. Sometimes i have to pay proper prices, when im out of data coverage, still saving a fortune. If i go away and might use alot of data i top up €20 which gives me unlimited data for the month, once you buy the addons this works out at €4 a month for 5 months.

I also did away with the eircom landline which was costing about €50-60 a month. Since mid october ive spent 4.50 per month for my phone number (well 2 numbers, i have a uk number as well as an irish one so the relatives in the uk can call a uk number) rental and about €5 on calls.

bnt

titan18 wrote: »

Also, take the money out of the current account and put it into an account that needs notice. It can still be used as a rainy day fund then as long as the notice isn't too long, whilst also cutting out any impulse buying

I know AIB has exactly the thing - a 7-day notice account - and other banks might have too. If you use their Internet banking you can create it on the website in minutes.

Voodoomelon

My motoring habit is a killer on savings. I spend €115 a week on all motoring costs and I live 5 miles from work. I'm soon to be within 2 miles of work and should really get back on the bike, but then trying to justify the motoring costs will be even harder.

Otherwise i'm very good at saving and budgeting and hate to hear of people wasting money or people with no self control. Its a basic skill to have and is very childish to have no control over your spending.

shruikan2553

I dont drive or smoke, rarely drink. Worked out I can live quite nicely on 11k a year. Although I would like to do something with some of the savings, would be nice to get something for them.

keeponhurling

Cooking at home is so much cheaper than restaurants.

Drinking at home, or at a friends house is a fraction of cost in a pub.

It's obvious, but if you do need to save money then it makes a big difference

ballyharpat

boardie100 wrote: »

fair play, but i was very hard to get your money to work for you over the past few years with the economy the way it was...
How did you manage to invest wisely?

It was easier to get it to work over the last few years-stay the course. I pumped money into stocks for 2008/09. they made great gains.....I bought an apartment and renovated my little house-the stocks were still gaining, so I bough another crap house, rented out my 'little house' and moved into the 'crap' house and am nearly finished renovating it, 12 months later, it's not for everybody and was hard work and living out of a suitcase, but it's a fantastic house now and all paid for, the money I made by renting the other house while living in crap, paid for the kitchen and heating system.
I have always believed in treating myself though, be it an expensive carbon bike, large tv, and latest, a vintage car, just so I do get 'toys' to enjoy and it's not all misery, but it's worth it when it all falls into place. A lot of the furniture I bought on donedeal/facebook, saved a lot and got great quality. What I see people doing is, oh I'm buying a new house, I need a new car, I need to eat out once a week in a fancy restaurant-go for lots of drinks, buy trendy clothes, laura ashley furniture-this is Pi**ing money away that you also have probably to borrow for, even my vintage car, while fancy, gives loads of enjoyment, but will also hold its value.....

fits

My biggest tip. Avoid getting into debts and loans. I own my car outright and have no other debts and it has made a huge difference. I really hope I never have to borrow for a car again.

Commute by bicycle if you can.

I do actually buy lunch at work but its my main meal of the day and it costs 4.85 for a balanced meal. Very hard to do better when living your own and not be eating the same thing for multiple days in a row.

Don't buy stuff if theres not a good chance that you'll use it... clothes, gadgets anything like that. I have just replaced a three year old smartphone. I have a payg sim. No cable TV, but I do have Netflix and spotify premium.

Pay yourself first and keep some easy access savings if you need to pay a big expense.

I'm not great tbh, my saving and investing is haphazard enough but at least theres a good base there.

syklops

shruikan2553 wrote: »

I dont drive or smoke, rarely drink. Worked out I can live quite nicely on 11k a year. Although I would like to do something with some of the savings, would be nice to get something for them.

You have savings. When you need them, they will work for you. If you mean putting your savings to work to make more money, you are in the wrong thread.

Thinly velied "I have money" post.

cloud493

Stopped smoking, don't drink, don't really socialise anyway. Save on the utilies much as possible. Shop online, look for discount codes. If I'm considering buying something, I do a pro and con list about it first, if its too much, I don't get it. Try to buy pre owned games, blu rays, what not, much as possible.

Tarzana2

ScumLord wrote: »

This makes a big difference. Cancel all TV, get rid of the TV altogether if possible to avoid the TV license to

Will soon have to pay a broadcast licence. :mad:

shruikan2553

syklops wrote: »

You have savings. When you need them, they will work for you. If you mean putting your savings to work to make more money, you are in the wrong thread.

Thinly velied "I have money" post.

A post about saving money in a thread about saving money. Nice work detective.

cabledude

fits wrote: »

My biggest tip. Avoid getting into debts and loans. I own my car outright and have no other debts and it has made a huge difference. I really hope I never have to borrow for a car again.

Probably the best advice that one can give. We have our mortgage and a small credit union loan <9k.

I intend on clearing off that loan over the next 24 months. Once that it done I intend horsing all my available cash into reducing the variable part of my mortgage. I recon that we can have it cleared in 10 years. The other part of my mortgage is tracker, so there is no hassle there. I'd be happy to have that hanging around for the next 25 years because its manageable.


PS. We will never take out another loan.

Ever.

Tarzana2

boardie100 wrote: »

they want the latest and greatest of everything

Aye. I'm probably going to get a smartphone sometime this year. It'll be my first. I just have an old Nokia. I always use the hell out of things before replacing them. People are like "Why the hell do you have the old thing? Do you not want a smartphone?" Me: "Yeah, I do WANT one at some stage, but I don't NEED it just yet."

ShadowHearth

Being Single again.

I **** you not, I dont know how it works, but I saved up more money ( and spent a ton on myself ) now on my own in 6 months, then both of us could in last 3 years. :eek: And she was earning way more then I did.
Thats even more puzzling as I was never going out back then and now I am going out almost every weekend.

CarpeDiem85

Tarzana, my advice would be to keep the Nokia. I broke my smartphone a few months back and found an old Nokia in the cupboard and started using it with a replacement sim. I honestly can't believe the time I used to spend on the smartphone looking up junk to be honest. When I go out and about now, I can see how addicted some people are to them. Their heads are down, lost in them. Yeah they're handy to do certain things like internet banking but I've saved so much money by not having one. Handy not to have internet shopping at the palm of your hand and I was charged for going over my data a good few times. Viva la Nokia!

eternal

Stop buying things. Live on fruit and veg and homemade dishes. Shop in Penney's and Lidl. It's not rocket science. Leave money aside for treats then like alcohol or whatever you want. Budget and don't borrow. Get a f*cking job and work hard.

Joe prim

UCDVet wrote: »

I find this really, really hard to believe. Maybe you're rich and you hung out with rich people. But regular people? Impossible.

A Ferrari is really expensive. And we said a 'flash' Ferrari - I'm assuming that means really nice/flashy or really fast? Either way, it's going to be insanely expensive.

Just buying a new Ferrari is going to be 200k. If you just lease one:
http://carleasingmadesimple.com/business-car-leasing/ferrari/

The cheapest I found on the first Google site was £2,747.07 per month plus VAT. I don't know how much VAT would be - but come'on - that is 3,500 euro per month.

And that doesn't include the VAT/tax/petrol/parking or insurance. I tried to find a site that would give me an estimate on the insurance for a Ferrari California - but I couldn't get a number. I'm sure it's ASTRONOMICALLY high though.

If you don't lease the Ferrari - you'd need 200k *before* you could start driving it at all. If you're taking home 30k per year after taxes, you'd have to save for seven years - WITHOUT SPENDING ANYTHING - just to afford that Ferrari. I don't see it happening.

3,500 is more than a lot (most?) people in Ireland make per month. TOTAL. I can't fathom how it's common for young guys to have that much laying around to spend on drinking, smoking and gambling. And we're not including insurance!

I saved a ****load by switching from my Ferrari to a much more economical Lamborghini, far cheaper to run and better MPG.....oh, and Aldi, shopping in Aldi...

strobe

I don't, I hemorrhage it unrelentingly like a diabetic self harming ebola patient (who are also awful at saving money btw).

Faith+1

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Being Single again.

I **** you not, I dont how it works, but I saved up more money ( and spent a ton on myself ) now on my own in 6 months, then both of us could in last 3 years. :eek: And she was earning way more then I did.
Thats even more puzzling as I was never going out back then and now I am going out almost every weekend.

I hear ya! Relationships cost a f*cking fortune.

Tarzana2

CarpeDiem85 wrote: »

Viva la Nokia!

My phone is on its last legs sadly, and Nokia is no more!

Electric Sheep

pablo128 wrote: »

For fcuks sake.

'A rich Arab.' He has lots of money, buys a Ferrari and drives around in it, but doesn't socialise or anything. In other words, doesn't fully enjoy his money.

Joe bloggs buys a boringmobile and spends the rest of his wages enjoying himself.

I would have thought that going to college you would have the intelligence to realise what I'm saying. And you can get a flash Ferrari for about 40k. It doesn't have to be brand new.

Or even a Ferrari.

It's all about your personal priorities, though. Some people like to drink and smoke and gamble, some would enjoy a flash car more (nobody said he is not driving a beautiful girl around in it), some would rather save the money for experiences like travel and adventure. Not everyone thinks that drinking, smoking and gambling are the way to enjoy yourself.

Paramite Pie

As already mentioned, some of the biggest expenses are the little ones that add up;

I was easily spending a tenner a day on lunch/coffee/snacks at college, so thats 50 a week!!

I not only make my own lunch (say I do a chicken stir fry one day, i put the leftover chicken in a baguette and add some teriyaki sauce for the next day -- tastes waay better than subway) but I also buy multipacks of crisps/chocolate add a snack to my lunch to avoid impulse buying.

It's easily a euro for a bag of crisps now but i can get a six-pack of tayto for 1.50 in Dealz or four snickers for 1.50.

If you've a microwave at work or college then you've no excuse. I bring my own soup and teabags cos I'm really broke!!:o

A little less time on the internet and more in the kitchen is good for your wallet.

Littlekittylou

better call saul wrote: »

Just curious as Im not living extravagantly yet still cant save much of the pay cheque each week!

If I want something I don't simply take the amount out of a cheque. I know I will want it in a few weeks or something. I save up for it. So let's say something is x amount. Even if I could take that out of my cheque I don't I save up. It's a trick that i would do even if I had a lot of money. If you want something save up for it instead of buy it right away. Most things are still there and if not no matter.

I don't drink alcohol. I don't take over a certain amount out with me.

I don't allow others to pressure me into spending. If someone else has more then they should enjoy that but I don't feel the need to keep up with them.

I will need to increase money coming in the next few years though. Working on that :rolleyes:

I am very very good at clever shopping.

Shop at lidl and polish shops etc. Or pound shops.

Whatever you want save up for. I put money away for nights out too. I will pass up things if I have no money. I prioritize.




If I can't have something I don't want it. If fact I don't feel good about having it. I would not enjoy it.

If you buy something you should enjoy it.

The main thing I think a lot of people need to do is stop comparing themselves to others.



I don't drink or smoke. But I am not perfect always room for improvement.

It's easier if you give up hobbies that cost money and take up a few that don't.

AVOID DEBT!!!!

I am miles better than I was a few years ago.

I have been debt free for a while now. Feels much better.

WoollyRedHat

Save some money, enroll on a top quality cookery class, then voila you have yourself a personal chef.

Oh and I think the government should promote more allotments and those who have gardens should grow a vefgetable patch, tastes nicer and is much cheaper, you can practically get all the veg you want from growing it in your own back garden, should you be lucky enough to have one that is.

DoYouEvenLift

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

Save some money, enroll on a top quality cookery class, then voila you have yourself a personal chef.

Oh and I think the government should promote more allotments and those who have gardens should grow a vefgetable patch, tastes nicer and is much cheaper, you can practically get all the veg you want from growing it in your own back garden, should you be lucky enough to have one that is.

Down the line I want to have a decent vegetable garden and also a hen house for eggs. Having the food fresh as can possibly be and putting in the little bit of work would feel very rewarding I'd imagine.

Littlekittylou

strobe wrote: »

I don't, I hemorrhage it unrelentingly like a diabetic self harming ebola patient (who are also awful at saving money btw).

Beauuuutiful expression ...just beauuutiful...erm may I steal it for a story??

Lingua Franca

Budget. Budget like a mofo.

Doesn't matter what you spend your money on, be it cocaine and hookers or rent and Asda Smart Price beans.

Start accounting for your outgoings (rent, electric/gas/debt, basic groceries) and everything else you spend.

Once you start watching your money you'll be more careful with it.

Areyouwell

better call saul wrote: »

How do you save money?

By not spending the particular amount I want to save.