There are some big goals I'm hoping to accomplish in 2018, and I am wanting to crack down on saving more and spending less. Anyone have any special tips aside from general stuff? I'm already pretty naturally inclined to not buying a bunch of stuff or spending tons of money, but there's always room to improve.
I've been investing for the past 6 years and having money not only "tucked away" but continuing to grow gives me great peace of mind. Mutual funds and exchange traded funds are great if you are new to investing and don't want to dive in head first. Stocks with high dividend yield are the foundation of my net worth. As far as budgeting goes I don't believe I have any worthwhile advice as I believe everyone has a different situation and budgets can and do vary widely. Maybe someone wiser than I can help here. The best advice I can give is to not be impulsive with money and don't just keep your money locked up in a bank. The interest you'll gain from keeping money in the bank will pale in comparison to actively investing your funds in dividend yielding stocks.
Thanks for the tips! I'm really not very good with stuff like investing. All of those numbers get way to complicated for me. But I'm sure my husband will look into this someday. He's good with that stuff.
Bring only the amount of money (in cash) you want to spend going into the store and a list of priorities. Also, a calculator. This will make sure u only spend what you expect going in... No Ooh I Want this Or This! It ensures you get what you need.
Yes, I've heard of him. I'll check out some of his stuff. Thanks for the offer! I actually just made my budget for next year and I'm pretty happy with it. Now I just need to actually stick to it.
Separate necessities from delicacies. It’s crazy to see how cooking food vs buying already-prepared food can limit costs
I forgot to add that when it comes to investing, we all need to beware of the bullshit artists. Familiarize yourself with body language, learn to spot a lie and pay attention to certain buzzwords people like to use to try and sucker you in. There's plenty of scumbags looking to take advantage of those who mean well and there's an endless sea of garbage advice out there. I would avoid all of the youtube "personalities" and self help gurus like the plague. Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, Benjamin Graham and Peter Lynch have all given terrific advice, and more importantly they know what they're doing.
Already done! It's insane how much money we should have leftover at the end of the year if that's all we spent our money on. So it's clear that we are spending wayyy too much on crap we don't need. I'm very strongly considering that, at least temporarily. My ultimate goal is to not have to have a job at all, so this would be the hardest sacrifice. But it would get me a lot closer to the point of being able to quit my job altogether and do more valuable things with my time. Definitely going to be doing this. I really wish I could have a yard sale right now, because I feel like that's the easiest way to do it all at once. But I need to just find some time to put stuff up for sale online. You can usually get more money for stuff online anyway. This one I don't necessarily agree with. I think you should put your extra money toward whatever loan has the highest interest rate. I only have like three loans right now anyway. One for our phones, which will be up in a year or so, one for my car which will but up in like 3 years, and then our home loan. The home loan has way higher interest than either of the others though. But idk, that's something to think about, if it would make sense for us. I've heard of this, the snowball effect. It does seem logical, in some ways, unless you aren't paying interest on the smaller loans at all, and you're paying tons of interest on your higher loans. Then it doesn't really make sense. Well... no, not necessarily. I'm not sure where that number comes from, but it depends on how much you have in loans. We don't have a lot of loans or very high loans in the first place. But obviously, yes, we would be saving more per year if we didn't have either of those smaller loans at all. Thanks for all the tips! I've heard a lot of good things about Dave Ramsey from The Minimalists. I don't always agree with The Minimialists on financial issues, though. But these are good tips.
Also, I think for me, one of the biggest things I need to do is keep my goals in mind and remember how attainable they are. For a long time that was making it really difficult to save money, because I felt like I was depriving myself of things for no reason, because there's no way we were ever going to reach those future goals. But now, I don't think that's true. We've looked at things more realistically and it seems that our goals are a lot more reachable than we thought. So that's motivating. Because I would much rather have those future goals than a drink from Starbucks or something.
I have some backwards advice for you. I’d encourage you to come to love what you have rather than try to impose more forms of control on yourself. I mean, self-control is a virtue for sure, but contentment saps the desire away that would need to be restrained with self-control. Come to appreciate the beauty of lack and hunger, how sweet water is when you are parched and how filling some rice and beans are when you are faint. Find fulfillment in the things that are free, and therefore priceless. Then, not only will your wallet be fuller, but your heart too.
In Debtors Anonymous they have a tool called Pressure Relief Groups where you meet with a couple of people, preferreably one male and one female to sit down and discuss your finances. The general idea is to have some numbers to see what your pattern is and work with that, along with goals. You could conceivably do this with other people outside of that context if they are focused on it and are not going to gloss over details, though one thing about that is there is already a common language/lingo and way of framing things. BTW they recognize deprivation as "self debting" so it isn't all about paying back your debt even in that context, sometimes it's recommended to pay things back slower so you're not just eating ramen all the time or something and have a workable standard of living at least.
I think I'm already pretty inclined to appreciate the small things and be content with what I have. I already live a pretty simple life, and I'm very frugal and minimalist. For me, my goal isn't to have a bunch of money so that I can have more stuff or a bigger house or a nicer car or something. It's not about materialism. In fact, it's exactly the opposite. I hate the fact that I spend so much of my time on this earth doing relatively pointless work just to make money. I want to be free of that so that I can spend more time doing the things I love and contributing to the world in a more meaningful way. So ultimately, my goal is to get to the stage of financial freedom in which I would no longer have to have a conventional job. Right now, regardless of the fact that we spend far less than the average person and are very careful with our money, we just aren't at that point at all. We still have a mortgage and need food and need to pay our other necessary bills. So I would like to work really hard for a few years so that we can pay off some of those bigger monthly expenses and invest in real estate for some passive income, so that hopefully I can quit my job and focus on the important things in life, rather than feeling like half of my existence is just to make money, spend money on necessities, rinse and repeat.
Hey! You sound a lot like me! Ever considered just going for what you want now rather than being a slave to some meaningless position just to get by? Even from a minimalistic approach, there are ways to take things farther if you really want something bad enough. It does need some prioritzation though...like, if you had to choose between your house and your dreams, which would you pick? As example, right now I’m renovating my sisters house in exchange for rent. The living conditions are far from ideal, but I work when I want and as long as I keep up a decent pace I have all kinds of free time to pursue the desires of my heart. Another way of alternate living is going homeless. Right now, even in the middle of Canada, I’m prepared to go live in my car. Of course, with a husband and a potential family that becomes difficult...but alternately, with the right kind of vehicle and a little creativity you could have a cheap mobile home to camp out from until your dreams take off. I’ve heard of people doing this with small families. Imagine your mortgage payment just your pocket in exchange for having to sleep a little colder and shower at the YMCA? After that it’s just cutting things like internet and phone. A cheaper burner phone and wifi hot spots can work for the most part. Then you’re just left with food. If you’re frugal, you’re probably cooking all your own food right? Imagine your life with just food cost + gas to travel + a gym membership so you have access to a shower lol. It’s unusual, but if your dreams are important, why not? Google up alternate living, get creative, go barebones and put your heart into it
