Savings Tips

[thechoson]

I am only 22, and am surviving on a meagre salary along with my live in gf. We try hard to LBOM, but it's been rough.

I thought I'd ask the wise sages of this board for some very simple advice, that has helped you in your own life, on tips how to save money each month.

 

[Cut-Throat]

Well, I was in debt up to my eyeballs until I was 30. Don't put to much pressure on yourself. It's better to be 20 and broke, than 80 and a Billionaire.

I think it's important to set a budget and make room for niceities in it. That way you have staying power. But enjoy life now. You'll only be in your 20's one time in your life.

 

[thechoson]

Well, I was in debt up to my eyeballs until I was 30. Don't put to much pressure on yourself. It's better to be 20 and broke, than 80 and a Billionaire.

I think it's important to set a budget and make room for niceities in it. That way you have staying power. But enjoy life now. You'll only be in your 20's one time in your life.

I really like that better to be 20 and broke quote. I think I will use that, if you don't mind.

Yea, sometimes it's so hard to keep things in perspective like that

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Actually, it's better to be 20 and broke than a whole
bunch of stuff I can think of. Good quote!

Elvis has left the building............................

 

[Mountain_Mike]

This makes me think retirement is all backwards....what if people retired in their 20s and then started working in the 50s until death

 

[Nords]

I am only 22, and am surviving on a meagre salary along with my live in gf.  We try hard to LBOM, but it's been rough.

I thought I'd ask the wise sages of this board for some very simple advice, that has helped you in your own life, on tips how to save money each month.

Well, you could study nuclear engineering for 16 hours a day on "shore duty" and then go to sea for three months straight. That worked miracles for me-- financially anyway. We're not sure what happened to the rest of my personality...

On a more serious note, the Naval Reserve is hiring college graduates. It's generally a weekend a month and two weeks a year unless you want more.

You can't learn frugality in one sitting, but frequent small doses are a big help. I've learned to dread those times when my spouse says things like "So, if this article is correct, can we do better with our insurance coverage?" Try subscribing to the Dollar Stretcher e-mail newsletter. If you're looking for some humor you can also subscribe to the reader's tips. For the first couple months you'll have five or six questions to research from every newsletter. Eventually that'll die off to one or two per year. Their archives are valuable for researching any major financial decision.

If you're more inclined to OD, then a couple of reference books that cover the whole gamut of personal finance are Eric Tyson's "Personal Finance for Dummies" and "Taxes for Dummies". I'm sure there are comparables in the "Complete Idiots" series. But borrow them from the library before you make a decision on buying...

 

[VoyT]

My humble suggestions:
Keep an eye on your expenses; it's those little expenses that can empty your wallet. Some gurus talk about the "latte factor" .. how a $3.50 coffee a day adds up to a whole lot of $$$.
Learn to cook (apologies if you already know). $50 in groceries can get you a lot more meals than the same $50 spent at restaurants.

I'd also suggest http://frugalliving.about.com. Plenty of articles that can give you some ideas.

 

[Helen]

VoyT,

You posted a link to the frugal living website, did you ever do the link to the $250 Grocery store card ? I'm wondering how much I'd have to spend to get the $250



-helen

 

[VoyT]

I've looked at that link for the $250 grocery card, but decided to pass. The only specific "offer" they mention is signing up for a Discover card (or getting a cash advance). That's a bit too much mystery for me....

 

[chris2008]

Hi,
for saving tips and to improve my relationship to money I find this very helpful:
www.slnet.com.
The forums are great!

 

[JohnR]

There's some good advice here. That said I couldn't make it work for me.
The phrase take care of the big things and let the little things take care of themselves comes to mind.

Spent most of my 20's learning trades, slaving hours & hours - often self employed, where I'd only get paid at the end but in lump sums that were easier to put away. If I were you I'd learn a trade anything from plumbing to programming, as long as you're confident on getting lots of work, preferably on the bigger projects. I'd also consider some working stints in low tax countries like Bermuda or Dubai, go out with a contracting firm. Down the road . . . people will even make a killing (no pun intended) working as contractors rebuilding Iraq.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

When I was a kid the mantra in our family was
"learn a trade". Not bad advice, but I never took it.
I did learn how to make money. Took a long time before
I learned how to hang onto any though

JG

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

It's better to be 20 and broke, than 80 and a Billionaire.

I dunno...my wife already said if I'm 90 and a billionaire, she'll let me marry anna nicole smiths grand-daughter.

Seems like a good deal to me. Certainly would make life a little more interesting...

 

[laurence]

yeah, but just don't let her talk! On those new commercials, she looks great , then she opens her mouth and screeches, "hey everybody, I'm baaaack!!". Nails on a chalkboard! Loved that skyscraper movie, though.

 

[MJ]

I dunno...my wife already said if I'm 90 and a billionaire, she'll let me marry anna nicole smiths grand-daughter.
Seems like a good deal to me. Certainly would make life a little more interesting...

Hopefully at 90, you'll still have decent vision to appreciate the sight of a beautiful woman, as I am not sure what else in your body will.

MJ

 

[Marshac]

Hopefully at 90, you'll still have decent vision to appreciate the sight of a beautiful woman, as I am not sure what else in your body will.

MJ

C'mon man, don't you ever check your SPAM folder? Lasik ($299/eye!) + viagra (best price!) and he's set!

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Obviously you are "younguns". In my experience,
the "noticing" part goes on long after the ability to
"follow through" has disappeared. The spirit remains
willing but the flesh becomes weak

JG

 

[charlie]

The tough part of getting old is when women pat
you on the wrong cheek.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'll check back in with you guys in 50 years to see how my 90's are going.

With a half dozen ED products kicking around today, I can barely imagine what we'll have available in the 2040's and 2050's.

You do need to really work hard to figure out what these products are for though. After watching all those mike ditka cialis commercials I thought the pill helped you play football better. Now I know why all the other guys on my team looked a little weird when I told them at halftime that I'd be right back, had to go toss down a couple of cialis...

Anna Nicole Smiths granddaughter can have a worse voice than she does for all I'll care. I'll just take out my hearing aid.

 

[laurence]

Anna Nicole Smiths granddaughter can have a worse voice than she does for all I'll care. I'll just take out my hearing aid.

SNORT! CHOKE! Damn, now I have chicken wing all over my monitor!

Back on thread, I live penny foolish, pound wise. I think LBYM is just like dieting, if you crash diet, you will binge at some point.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I started off looking at the pennies when I ER'ed. Those are mostly automatic monthly bills that drain the withdrawal funds and force higher withdrawals as inflation increases.

I dropped all the $5 this and that telephone features...changed my cable tv plans...looked for little deals and benefits...started buying stuff with coupons...only went out to eat when I was armed with a 2-for-1 coupon.

I can control the big capital spends by deciding when and where to make them. Small steady bleeds need to be stemmed.

Sorry about that chicken wing thing. Trust me, its better than shooting milk out of your nose. Which can get pretty weird when you realize that you werent drinking milk at the time.

 

[VoyT]

th said ..
You do need to really work hard to figure out what these products are for though.  After watching all those mike ditka cialis commercials I thought the pill helped you play football better.

Friend of mine reports that her 9-year-old, after seeing the commercials with Rafael Palmero, announced that "I don't need that stuff to play baseball."
Both mom and dad nearly busted a gut trying to hold their laughter in ....

 

[renferme]

Just an opinion, but I wouldn't worry about saving before the age of about 30. Just don't get into debt.
At age 30, you might be earning enough to begin saving and you have at least 25 years to accumulate wealth.
If you can save now, more power to you.
DON'T GET INTO DEBT , especially credit card debt. A house is ok though. But you don't want to be house rich and money poor.
Here's how I paid for my kids college education. About 5 years or so before the first one entered college, I began to save my yearly pay increase. Did that for about 10 years when both kids were done with college. It worked for me and I did not have to finance their educations. The same principle could be applied to you right now. Just don't spend your yearly pay raise - save it instead. At your young age, that might not be possible. That's why I say not to worry too much about saving until about age 30.

 

[Caroline]

I agree with all the live-below-your-means comments on this thread, and I do that -- bigtime.

But outgo is only half the equation, as you seem to be finding out. You've got to have income to live and save.

You don't say what you work at or what your plans are, but that's what I focused on when I reached my late 20s and realized that making $15K a year was not going to make it -- no matter how much good my non-profit was doing. I took myself over to Cal and got an MBA, and my income skyrocketed. (Being part of the IT boom didn't hurt either.)

Not that I recommend business school -- it's boring as hell. And I've seen people without the diploma making a lot of money by picking a good company and industry and moving up the ranks.

Whatever way you go, if you want to retire early you need a plan to generate some decent income, preferable at something you can enjoy, for the next 20 years or so. Saving crumbs is great, and they really add up over time, but saving whole slices of cake at a time is better!

FWIW,
Caroline

 

[thechoson]

Yea, I majored in Poli Sci at UCLA. Not a lot of options for a liberal arts major, so I am going to law school. i was lucky enough to get a scholarship at a nice local school. Hopefully that works out, and like you said, I can make inroads into increasing my income