anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

We have budget for the month for spending and I seriosly go over every month.WE DONT DO ANYTHING I swear!! yes we order out maybe once a week but still I feel like i alwasy go over.We want to start looking at houses soon and I feel like we cant untilwe figure out what awe are doing wriong here.Once we have house we cant just dip into an emergency fund anymore like we do now. TIA

Message edited 3/5/2009 8:43:41 AM.

Re: anyopne else feel likle they shouyld be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

When we were planning for our wedding, we saved so much money in such a short amount of time. We completely amazed ourselves.

Well.. that of course was when we lived with our parents. We didn't have even half the bills we have now.

Life happened. We now have a large rent payment every month & we have a babysitter to pay since we just had a baby 6 months ago. Not to mention bills up the whazoo! Formula & diapers are NOT cheap!

Its soooo much harder to save now, and although I wish we could, its just not feasible at this time. We have done some major spending cutbacks though. We would like to save more, but with this economy we are just happy that we both have at least our incomes coming in. We are riding out this recession as best we could given the circumstances.

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

For the whole month, both you and your DH should write down everything you buy (EVERYTHING, even something that is a dollar) and how much it costs.

At the end of the month sit down and analyze where all the money is going. Either your budget isn't realistic or you're spending more than you realize on 'misc stuff'.

Sure, you budgeted 5 dollars a day for lunch - but is it 5 dollars everyday? Probably more like 8 or 9 dollars. That's an extra 80 dollars a month - and if you did it for both of you, it's 160 dollars a month 'missing'.

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

I just stopped spending money... aside from gas & occasionally food.

We also dropped some extra services on our cable etc...

I can't control DH's spending, but I made a huge leap in 2 months when I just stopped purchasing things unless they were ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY... I agree with a PP, write down EVERYTHING you spend... it really helps.

I *just* started to save... (aside from a few thousand in a CD account and DS's 529 account)

It's scary, but I'm destined to make it work.

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

I'd recommend the book, "Smart Couples Finish Rich" by David Bach. He has a lot of useful information and tips in there!

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

Do you cut coupons and look through the weekly circulars for the best deals? I have recently started doing this and feel like a fool from all the $ I have thrown away over the years. Last week I got $84 worth of groceries for $32

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER by Dave Ramsey

it's changed my life.

i had heard of dave ramsey years ago, but i wasn't "into" saving then. Beth re-introduced him to me.

i bought the book late last summer. since then, i got rid of the husband and his debt , i've paid off ALL of my consumer debt, i'm still working on a budget, and i've been able to start a REAL emergency fund. i'm 20% into my emergency fund.

although i'm very scared of how life is right now... mortgage, work, lay offs, economy... i'm also feeling very strong and powerful that i've been able to do this ALL BY MYSELF.

if you have any more specific questions, fm me or beth (i know she'd be very happy to help, too)

good luck

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

The biggest way DH and I were able to save money was by doing the following two things:

1. Wrote down EVERYTHING we spent for a couple of months and analyzed it to see where we could cut back.

2. Instead of using our debit cards, we take out a set amount of cash every Sunday. We each get a set "allowance", which covers eating out, lunch if we choose to buy, my nails, etc. If it's gone by Friday, it's gone and there's no taking more out. It helps us control our spending so we have the money to go out to dinner on Saturdays.

Other things to do: CUT COUPONS!, join BJs or Costco, pay off debt using the snowball method, bring lunch, make a menu for the week and only buy what you need, stick to your food shopping list, cut out cable services that you don't need (like movie channels), review your cell plan to make sure you're not paying for a ton of minutes you don't use (and make sure you're differentiating between anytime minutes and free minutes on nights, weekends, and mobile to mobile because there is a huge difference), buy store brand (usually the same ingredients but smaller price tag), stock up when things are on sale, and force yourself to save by setting up automatic transfers to your savings.

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

we don't really shop all that much... we both wear clothes for forever, and when i do buy new clothes, i ALWAYS make sure its stuff i'll wear a lot. i don't buy specific outfits, but i buy stuff that will go with a lot of other stuff i already have.
also- we stock up on groceries and things when they're on sale.. i have a few big things of toilet paper stored that i bought on good sales. we also buy meats on sale and then freeze it in freezer bags. every sunday, we plan out our meals for the week, and make a specific list of what we need to buy to make those meals- it really cuts down on buying "extras" at the grocery store.
i try not to be wasteful with cleaning products and stuff, so i don't have to buy them as often. lately i've started cleaning with just vinegar and water- a HUGE bottle of vinegar is like $2, and when you mix it with water it'll take you forever to go through a bottle of it! and my hair only needs to be washed every other day, so a bottle of shampoo/conditoner will last me for months!

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

set up direct deposit or an automatic transfer to a separate account. If you can't see it, you can't spend it.

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

I am a big proponent of the 60/40 rule for those that own a home already. ( I found this once on msn money but don't know where the article is).

If you don't own a home, and want to own, then its better to save even more than the amounts set forth below. However, I think these figures make a good jumping off point.

Here goes: 60/40%

60% of your take home pay should cover all of your living expenses and ALL of your debt obligations (getting it under 60% is even better but it should not be more than this).

The other 40% is broken down as follows:

10% retirement account

10% long term savings (hopefully, never to be touched. The kind of money you need when there is a medical crisis, layoff, disability, etc.)

10% short term savings (to use for big tickets items many people use credit for, like a car or home improvements).

The last 10% is your spending money. Take that amount out of your account in cash when you get paid and that's ALL your spending money for the week. This covers lunch or dinners out, gifts, donations, clothes and other misc. purchases. If you want to spend more then you have to make more to raise the 10% rather than just taking it away from the other categories. When you run out of Cash then you have no more money until you get paid again.

Now, the saving % are just minimums - the goal is to get the long/short/retirement amounts to more than 10%.

Good luck and Happy Saving.

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

i know it is a pain to do but if you want to save money you have to keep track of everything you spend. think of it this way every good business manages and allocates money, budgets and forecasts spending. You are doing the same thing with your paycheck. The only way you will save is when you see what is going out so you know what you can take in, hope that makes sense.

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

i have found that making it "automatic" definitely helps... Look at your savings account as an actual bill, something that must be paid each month. For me personally, the ing direct interface was really user friendly and made it easy for me to slowly start putting away money each month automatically and from then after I found that I became used to have an $xxxx a month bill. Pay yourself first, whether it be IRAs, savings, debt whatever.

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

Message edited 3/6/2009 6:40:04 AM.

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

when we started going "over" the budget- dh took out a yellow lined pad of paper. each day we wrote down the expenses- down to the cent.. He put the info into Excel and saw where we were under/over spending... It really helped to wake me up and be alert more

Re: anyopne else feel like they should be saving soo much more? Need money saving tips

So your long term savings is your "emergency fund"? And would you use your short term savings to pay for a house downpayment, or is that considered part of the 60%? Or even a different account?



Right, your long term savings is the emergency fund.

This system works best for people who already own their home. If your saving for a down payment, you need to play with these numbers a little.

I would do it this way: Everyone should have an emergency fund and contribute to their retirement accounts - so the 10% for each of those is non- negotiable.

If your renting, your living expenses should be below 60% of your take home pay. Let's say you can get it down to 40%. You can bump up overall savings by this extra 20% and add this to your short term savings for a down payment account reflecting 30% of your net.

Also, you can decrease the 10% you have for spending money but that seems impossible to me no matter how much I try to cut out misc expenses. I always spend to the last dime.