$1 at a time

This is a thread for people who are saving up for something, or who want to start saving up for something.

Could be a new gadget or toy.
Could be for your retirement.

Saving money is similar to managing your weight.  If you want to have more money (fitness), then you have to spend (eat) less than you earn (burn).

So we'll talk about

• ways to spend less money on the stuff we need
• how to figure out if something is a need or a want
• (legal) ways to earn more money
• practical strategies for saving
• safe places to put our money (hint: not Nigeria)
  

and we'll encourage each other and cheer for each other for however many dollars we've managed to save.  And we'll profusely congratulate you when you manage to reach your savings goal.

(I will probably be the only one in here.  ::giggle:: oh well!)

*amazed at rachd's savings of 3 months expenses*

My spreadsheet only goes out 10 months...I'll have my car loan paid off, at the latest, by early next year (I am never taking that much out to buy a car ever again!).

...and then it will be time to buy another car. :D

Cptbunny:  Savings accounts are simple.  Here's what you do:  Go to bank.  Talk to bank person.  They will tell you the annual rate (for big, brick and mortar banks, however, the return will be puny for a basic account), and, depending how much you can save, they might have other, moderately higher rated options for you.

Online savings accounts (with significantly higher rates) are easy, too.  Call them up and ask them all the questions you want...they won't treat you as if you're stupid since they want your money (all the account reps I've dealt with are more than pleasant :D).

Original Post by kathygator:

Yeah it ain't a thyroid condition - it's an absolute love of food. :D

 KG -- This would make a great bumper sticker.

On the way to work today, I discovered another means of saving money:

Drive safely.

Drove too fast around a curve and then hit an ice patch on top of that...smacked a curb.

Money down the drain, at least partially due to my own stupidity!  :D 

that is good advice dr. thonx.

sorry to hear about your morning...

i had a similar experience during the icy weather we had in january.  wasn't going too fast, but the roads were just very icy and my employer doesn't care.  but in my case, there was no curb, so my car just slid off the road and it was a low shoulder.  so when I turned the wheel to get back on the road, i messed up my alignment, which is another $75.

the place i take my car has a deal where you pay $150 for unlimited alignment adjustments for 3 years... my tires seem to come out of alignment at the slightest whisper, so I'm thinking about getting that deal.

Thought I would share this article to inspire (maybe) the savers.

Couple pay off $46,000 debt, throw party

We're saving for..... A HOUSE!!!! :)

We have our budget all set up with an Excel spreadsheet.  We save all our receipts and make sure we stick within our very strict budget.  We anticipate as long as we keep this up...we'll have $30,000 to put down as a payment in four years! woooo!

...also....another english bulldog....so, it's kind of a 2fer...I want them both but have to have one before I can get the other one! :)  Good luck everyone!!! 

Saving can be difficult, but it's SO worth it!

I am single with no major financial burdens except to pay of my 07' Chrysler sebring...  bad car to invest in, damn you Chrysler!!!

But I am always looking into ways of saving an investing my money, if someone could explain how a roth ira works and what would be the best way to go about setting one up that would be awesome.  Otherwise I am doomed to frivolously spend my money on useless consumer goods

I'm sure dnrothx can explain it better, but this is my understanding of a roth.

A traditional ira is pre-tax (like a 401K). A roth is post-tax. So it comes out of your pay, after taxes, but when you withdraw it (or what it's become when you retire), it doesn't "contribute" to your income, tax-wise.

My opinion is that it's good to have a mix - you should have your 401k or your work's equivalent, and if that isn't available, get a traditional ira. But once you've done that, also have a roth.

There are limits to how much you can put in a roth - 4 or 5K/year, I think? I'm sure if you google it, you'll find the current limit. And there are income restrictions - if you make over x amount (it's over 100,000) you can't contribute, or if you are married, then number is higher, but includes your spouse's income. If you file separately, the income limit drops very low, so don't bother with a roth in that case.

What I did was find an online investment place (my case, vanguard) that had a good option for a target retirement fund - one that I can enter the year I'll retire (or closest 5yr) and it will give me a distribution based on that. Vanguard offered ones that had a low expense ratio, and no fees (if you do everything online), so I chose it. I have a certain amount automatically taken out of my savings acct the day after pay day (although I think you can have it done straight from your paycheck) and deposited into my roth ira acct. It's not doing great now, but hopefully, it'll pay off in the long run.

 

Also, I'd recommend reading David Bach - I read "Smart Women Finish Rich" (I don't think most of the advice in there is particularly gender specific) and it really helped me have the courage to get involved in planning my financial future - nobody was going to do it for me.

I've also read The Wealthy Barber, but didn't like it as much - just a style thing.

Thanks you very much for the info, my work already offers something like a 401k that I am investing in so I think I am going to look into setting up a roth ira.  Thanks again