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An amazing way to save money

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Originally posted by: Sluggo
Good plan, the hard part is keeping up your good practices.

Most Americans are living way over their means. Tons of people are carrying second mortgages, and owe more than their home is worth, they refinance, but just blow any savings they get. They MAYBE paid off some CC debt, but did it by mortgaging their one and only home to the hilt, and probably half the time, ran the CCs back up.

The average CC debt has skyrocketed to about $8k, I know a few people who carry 10s of thousands of dollars of CC debt. People have placed CC debt on the same level as automobile debt, just considering it a "fact of life."

And of course the almighty car. People glean so much of their self-worth from a depreciating hunk of mechanical parts. How many times have you heard a friend say "the payments arent too bad", when you know in your head, they are coughing up $600+ a month.

But hey, they got a bunch of cool stuff right?
Click to expand...


I stopped buying on credit a few years ago, just too tempting...

Biggest problem is the regional bank that issued my debit card (that I abuse regularly) has problems clearing transactions, & I have to call the vendor about 30% of the time to ensure they double check & accept the card...

A friend just bought a $39K Suburban (It was such a deal, they got $16K trade for their Durango, and the monthly payments are only $300 something now...), my wife & I just looked @ each other & laugh about how they'll never get out of debit...

We , on the other hand have paid $3K extra on the principal of our mortgage this year😀
 
Boy you sound like my dad
rolleye.gif
🙂 He used to say really profound stuff like: Son

"It's not what you make but what you save"

and

"Son, you're either an asset or a liabity, choose now" at around 6-7 yrs old😉

and

"you're paid what you're worth"

Funny thing is now I'm saying it. Common sense is'nt that common.
 
Don't let the public know about this. If they catch wind of it, the economy will collapse! The scary thing is, I am not kiddin. Can you imagine what would happen if people started backing off credit cards?
 
Originally posted by: MartyTheManiak
Don't let the public know about this. If they catch wind of it, the economy will collapse! The scary thing is, I am not kiddin. Can you imagine what would happen if people started backing off credit cards?
Click to expand...

That is very true.
 
Originally posted by: Rkonster
This only works if your expenses are not equal to your income. 🙁
Click to expand...

Living within your means is important. If your expenses are more than your income, chances are you can cut your expenses more quickly than you can boost your income, but you have to be willing to give up some of the creature comforts like cable TV/Internet, car, pricey food, etc.
 
Originally posted by: Jzero
Originally posted by: Rkonster
This only works if your expenses are not equal to your income. 🙁
Click to expand...

Living within your means is important. If your expenses are more than your income, chances are you can cut your expenses more quickly than you can boost your income, but you have to be willing to give up some of the creature comforts like cable TV/Internet, car, pricey food, etc.
Click to expand...

I go to school, so I do not make much money, don't own a car, and eat canned soup. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Rkonster
Originally posted by: Jzero
Originally posted by: Rkonster
This only works if your expenses are not equal to your income. 🙁
Click to expand...

Living within your means is important. If your expenses are more than your income, chances are you can cut your expenses more quickly than you can boost your income, but you have to be willing to give up some of the creature comforts like cable TV/Internet, car, pricey food, etc.
Click to expand...

I go to school, so I do not make much money, don't own a car, and eat canned soup. 🙂
Click to expand...

It's a different ball game when you are a student. If you don't have parents/scholarships/grants to fund your way, there's really no way you can make it debt-free. 🙂
 
My epiphany happened when I suddenly realized that I didn't have to keep buying computer parts -- my computer was just fine even with onboard-everything.

When I think back at how much money I spent on computer parts, I almost choke.
 
We live to enjoy life by spending money that we go to work for. It's all a huge cycle.

Spend it.
 
Originally posted by: AndrewR
My epiphany happened when I suddenly realized that I didn't have to keep buying computer parts -- my computer was just fine even with onboard-everything.

When I think back at how much money I spent on computer parts, I almost choke.
Click to expand...

i'm still running on an athlon 650 and have no intentions of upgrading.
 
Originally posted by: Sluggo
Good plan, the hard part is keeping up your good practices.

Most Americans are living way over their means. Tons of people are carrying second mortgages, and owe more than their home is worth, they refinance, but just blow any savings they get. They MAYBE paid off some CC debt, but did it by mortgaging their one and only home to the hilt, and probably half the time, ran the CCs back up.

The average CC debt has skyrocketed to about $8k, I know a few people who carry 10s of thousands of dollars of CC debt. People have placed CC debt on the same level as automobile debt, just considering it a "fact of life."

And of course the almighty car. People glean so much of their self-worth from a depreciating hunk of mechanical parts. How many times have you heard a friend say "the payments arent too bad", when you know in your head, they are coughing up $600+ a month.

But hey, they got a bunch of cool stuff right?
Click to expand...

What is even worse, is that once they rack up that kind of debt, they end up paying interest on it the rest of their lives if they only make minimal payments. I don't think people realize how much money you lose from credit cards. 🙁 Debt is good only when it's an investment, like mortgaging a home (cheaper than renting, and then you own it) or paying for college (gets you better jobs). But there is no reason to use a credit card to buy a new TV or go out to dinner, UNLESS you already have the money to pay it back off immediately before interest kicks in. (to keep your credit rating high)
 
What good does that money do sitting somewhere unused? Buy yourself a new computer and you'll also be helping the economy!
 
Originally posted by: Jzero
Seriously, it is so easy to save money by just changing a few of your habits:

Stop eating out. Especially lunch. You can brown bag a lunch for less than $2/day.
Stop or reduce your drinking. Especially drinking out. Booze is expensive!
Actually stop drinking soda, too. Especially in a restaurant. In college, my friend figured out how to make his meal plan last the entire semester just by drinking water instead of soda!
Stop smoking.
Conserve electricity and other utilities to reduce the bills.

Seriously, I just did these few things and I'm saving $500 each month that I would have just pissed away. Cutting back on eating, drinking and boozing has also helped me lose weight in addition to saving money 😀
Click to expand...

My wife and I are doing the same thing. 😀 *high fives jzero*
 
Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Just um, don't spend it. It's weird, I used to always be broke well before payday, but the past couple months I haven't been doing that, I've just not really been buying many things, and hey, I'm like, rich! Ok not exactly rich (I make nothing compared to alot of people here) but I have over a months pay in cash, and I get paid in 8 days.

So there's my advice to saving money. Don't spend it. 😕
Click to expand...
Congratulations! 🙂
You have learned the first and most important financial lesson that separates the stupid poor from the intelligent wealthy. "It ain't what you make, it's what you spend."
Oh, btw, teachers traditionally have piss-poor credit. Not all, but a shockingly large percentage. It may seem amazing but then again, in my time I have met people with upper 6 figure incomes who still couldn't pay their bills on time. For some people, it doesn't matter how much they make, they just have a compulsion to blow it all. No willpower or self-control, I guess.
 
Originally posted by: SagaLore
Originally posted by: Sluggo
Good plan, the hard part is keeping up your good practices.

Most Americans are living way over their means. Tons of people are carrying second mortgages, and owe more than their home is worth, they refinance, but just blow any savings they get. They MAYBE paid off some CC debt, but did it by mortgaging their one and only home to the hilt, and probably half the time, ran the CCs back up.

The average CC debt has skyrocketed to about $8k, I know a few people who carry 10s of thousands of dollars of CC debt. People have placed CC debt on the same level as automobile debt, just considering it a "fact of life."

And of course the almighty car. People glean so much of their self-worth from a depreciating hunk of mechanical parts. How many times have you heard a friend say "the payments arent too bad", when you know in your head, they are coughing up $600+ a month.

But hey, they got a bunch of cool stuff right?
Click to expand...

What is even worse, is that once they rack up that kind of debt, they end up paying interest on it the rest of their lives if they only make minimal payments. I don't think people realize how much money you lose from credit cards. 🙁 Debt is good only when it's an investment, like mortgaging a home (cheaper than renting, and then you own it) or paying for college (gets you better jobs). But there is no reason to use a credit card to buy a new TV or go out to dinner, UNLESS you already have the money to pay it back off immediately before interest kicks in. (to keep your credit rating high)
Click to expand...


I agree 100%

The wife and I managed to pay off all of our debt with the exception of our house, it feels good not having a lot of bills to deal with
 
Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Just um, don't spend it. It's weird, I used to always be broke well before payday, but the past couple months I haven't been doing that, I've just not really been buying many things, and hey, I'm like, rich! Ok not exactly rich (I make nothing compared to alot of people here) but I have over a months pay in cash, and I get paid in 8 days.

So there's my advice to saving money. Don't spend it. 😕
Click to expand...

A penny saved is a penny earned. -Benjamin Franklin
 
Oh, my wife and I are, at last, credit card debt free after six years of having that monkey hanging over us. I still have massive amounts of student loan debt, but the CC amount was a huge burden.

Highly recommended!
 
Originally posted by: Rkonster
Originally posted by: Jzero
Originally posted by: Rkonster
This only works if your expenses are not equal to your income. 🙁
Click to expand...

Living within your means is important. If your expenses are more than your income, chances are you can cut your expenses more quickly than you can boost your income, but you have to be willing to give up some of the creature comforts like cable TV/Internet, car, pricey food, etc.
Click to expand...

I go to school, so I do not make much money, don't own a car, and eat canned soup. 🙂
Click to expand...

Canned soup??? Ramen, 10 for a buck.... you just need a friend to shake it up and pour it on you
 
Originally posted by: Alistar7
Originally posted by: Rkonster
Originally posted by: Jzero
Originally posted by: Rkonster
This only works if your expenses are not equal to your income. 🙁
Click to expand...

Living within your means is important. If your expenses are more than your income, chances are you can cut your expenses more quickly than you can boost your income, but you have to be willing to give up some of the creature comforts like cable TV/Internet, car, pricey food, etc.
Click to expand...

I go to school, so I do not make much money, don't own a car, and eat canned soup. 🙂
Click to expand...

Canned soup??? Ramen, 10 for a buck.... you just need a friend to shake it up and pour it on you
Click to expand...

and then when you have to pay for daily high blood pressure meds from all that salt you'll wonder where the saved money went
 
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