Savings

[Honeycomb]

I'm curious about your financial situations. Let's talk about money. 
How much do you have in savings?
How do you save money? How much do you put aside every month?
I haven't developed the best strategy yet. At the moment I just try to maximize working hours and minimize my spending. It's a little boring, but helpful.
I would also like to plan a monthly budget, but somehow I can never stick to it for a longer time.

[TwistedRiver]

I currently have no savings to speak of, but I've just started getting regular money after going so long without that it's been tricky to try and stick to a budget. I still have a shopping list of 'things I NEED, as well as things I want' but I hope to by the new year at the very least start being able to set some money aside for a rainy day.

[Princess Lala]

I have a hard time putting away monthy savings... xS but I always put 100% of my tax returns in my savings! Although I worked for it tax returns feel like 'free' money to me, even though its not, so i have it deposited every year and leave it alone unless someone in my household had a dire medical emergency, humans or animals.
 Sometimes in the past its wasnt  much at all... once I only got back a few hundred but hey its something, right!?

Every single day since i moved to Texas I seem to find at least one coin on the ground!! Every year after new years I go to the bank and deposit all of it into savings. Youd be surprised even for a daily copper abraham lincoln how much it builds up!! Plus sometimes I find dollar bills and dimes! 

What helps me save money, even if I do not save it up LOL, is to always grocery shop as if you are BROKE. Ramen noodles, 88 cent bread, cheese slices, canned vegetables and fruit, rice, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, etc. Usually my monthly grocery shopping is usually only around $40 tops. Thats excluding candy.... LOL!

[wlyteth]

I'm not employed, but I wasn't much of a saver when I was working. I don't even know where it all went since I wasn't collecting at the time! I want to start saving though, it scares me that I don't even have $100 as a backup.

[zombienixon]

I keep track of all of my purchases, but I don't really have specific spending limits other than not spending more than I make each month. I get some of the cheapest food I can and avoid eating out, I try to avoid doing a lot of driving if I can, and I wait to spend on things I want until they go on sale.  I really only pay more for the important things, like car parts (and even then I get what I can from a junkyard). It also helps if you learn to repair things yourself, especially if you have access to a lot of tools. 

Instead of buying things new, just look for people who are getting new things and want to unload the old one, and are willing to let it go for a good price. I was able to get all of my living room furniture including a 42" plasma TV for less than I would have paid for a new couch, all off of Craigslist.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I'm hoping to get out of major debt within the next five years.  We have a heavy balance on our Visa which is crippling but once we can get it down to just the monthly bills, then we can work on some kind of savings plan.  Of course once the CC payments stop sucking my soul, then we have family members to pay back!  Just got a lump sum of retroactive tax refunds so about $8500 gets to go on the CC this week alone.  It's a good feeling watching that scary number suddenly get MUCH smaller. 

I am really hoping to work on the food portion of our budget but I feel it's a losing battle.  No matter what one does to cut back, prices go up, portions get smaller, produce goes bad faster...  I am not at the age where I can live on Kraft Dinner (mac and cheese for you southerners) and packaged ramen anymore, plus with a small child, you just have to deal with paying for quality food.  Do we have a thread on the Arena for food budgeting and cooking and meal planning?  I know we have one for weight loss!

[aquamarinemolly]

I didn't respond to the poll because I don't think there was an option for student loan debt. I'll be paying those off for another 8 years but beyond that, I'm credit card free. Hubby and I have some small retirement savings and a nest egg for a down payment on a home, hopefully next year!

My pony budget is strictly limited to my discretionary income, trades and gifts. It's restricted, but that just means that I'll have to wait to acquire my Lavender Dream Castle or any other high value items until after we've acquired our ACTUAL dream castle apartment. We have an agreement that any side projects or extra income either of us earn is discretionary, but I've been spending my summer nights sipping spritzers with friends and taking weekend trips instead of buying ponies. Priorities are (sort of) in order? hahah, money is always complicated.

[DazzleKitty]

Ya know, I was just about to make a thread about this in the WYP area because I suck at managing money and I need to rant about it.

I am a spender, and many times I spend first, cry later. I am an impulse buyer who likes instant gratification. I have a couple of medical bills I need to pay off and a credit card, and I'll admit I haven't been great with that. My car is paid off though, which is nice. But it's getting old and crappy and may need to be replaced soon.

I have no money to speak of in savings. I just have a hard time saving money. I like to spoil myself. I eat out a lot, and I know I shouldn't. I live at home with my parents and I KNOW I should be saving money, dang do I know it. But my money goes to food, ponies, and sometimes even gambling (yes, I am ashamed to admit it). I also like to go out a lot and have drinks, so that takes money too.

I wish I could manage my money better, and get all my bills paid off. I also have almost $200 worth of monthly meds I have to buy, which really sucks. I wish I didn't have to be on these medications.

I almost need someone to take my paychecks from me and hide the money to start building a savings account. I am trying to get a higher paying job and hope that the extra money goes into savings instead of being spend on food or toys.

I need help.

[LadyMoondancer]

I have quite a bit at the moment, partly because I'm saving for a house. A lot depends on your income, since the more money you have coming in the more you can save.

Also depends where you live.  Housing is crazy expensive here so almost half my income goes towards my rent.

To be honest I am not as thrifty as I should be when it comes to food;  I eat out at lunch almost every day.  I also go for organic and pasture-raised food, and again that's more expensive.  But I have lived off $30 or $40 a month for food in the past, when I was in school, and I could do it again if I had to.

I really don't collect pony toys any more, I'm content with my G1 collection.  So I don't have a pony budget.  When I was in my 20s I blew so much money on ponies, and to be honest I regret it now.  What was the rush?  I had the rest of my life to collect them.  I'm a little sad that I don't have anything left to hunt for now.

I get paid twice a month, same amount each paycheck, so what I do is put a certain amount of the first paycheck into savings as soon as I get it, leaving enough for necessary bills (electricity etc) and some discretionary spending.  Most of the 2nd paycheck goes towards rent.

I've got about $4000 left in student loans, but no credit card debt.   If I don't have enough money for something in my bank account, I don't buy it.  I pay off my credit cards every week.  I only use them because they give me discounts on certain things and are 'safer' than debit cards for big purchases.

If you need help making a budget, I recommend Mint.com.  You can link all your savings accounts, credit cards, and bills to it so you can keep track of everything in one place.  It's run by the same people as TurboTax.

[Rainbowrific Renia]

Well, my fiance and I just bought a house so a huge chunk of our savings went towards that.  We both have student loans to pay back, but my fiance works for the government and may be able to have his loans forgiven through a certain program.  He said if all goes well with that, he'll help me to save up for my own car (used to have a car, don't anymore, so we just have one car between us right now) so I can focus on paying back my student loans.  At the moment I'm having them deferred until next year.

He's an economist, so his money saving methods are amazing and I'm hoping they'll rub off on me because I suck at saving money.

Luckily I don't owe much more on my student loans, just a couple thousand, I think.  I did the calculations and figured out how long it'll take me to pay that all back if I send them x amount of money each month.  I get paid twice a month, same amount each pay, so that makes it easy to figure out how much needs to go where.  I do have opportunities for overtime as well, so that helps.

Now that we have a house, we're trying our hand at budgeting and using discounts and coupons whenever we can.  We were terrible when it came to groceries while we lived in an apartment.  Soooo much money wasted... ugh. 

Right now, I'm setting aside so much money a month for ponies, Pokemon, etc., some for more important things, and the rest goes into my savings.  I try my best not to spend more than I have and I always make sure I never fall below a certain amount in my bank account between paychecks.

[kaoskat]

Broke. Always.

[Ivaness]

I tell myself I'm broke all the time, even if I'm not. I had a GREAT savings set aside, but life got in the way and then I bought a new car. And now we're going to the beach this weekend and I have some money set aside for that. I live with my mom, so it's rent free. I took over my own car insurance because I wanted it to come straight out of my account instead of theirs.
Now that I have to be an adult (lol), my budgeting needs to get better. A lot better.
My downfall is food. I love eating, but I need to stop that too! I don't need to eat every single time I'm bored.

On the upside: It only takes $25 to fill up my gas tank now and it lasts a lot longer! /highfive

[melodys_angel]

I...don't think it wise to talk about any financial situation..but that's my personal opinion <3

[Ivaness]

I...don't think it wise to talk about any financial situation..but that's my personal opinion <3

Maybe not in straight dollars and cents.
But, I don't think tips on how to save more would be unwelcome.

[mlp4me]

Money, what money?