DO YOU SAVE MONEY??

helo7050

Banned
Mar 16, 2005
275
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I make around 60k yr and i'm single and i can't seem to even keep more than 2-3k in my bank account after paying all bills. i just can't seem to save money. I'm single and my expenses are lower than income. I just dont' understand. With the numbers I run i should save about 1k a month...WTF. Do you guys have problem saving money also??
 
Mar 19, 2003
18,289
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I don't save money right now, but that's probably because I don't have an income. :p

Stop buying crap that you don't need to, or something. ;)
 

kyparrish

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2003
5,935
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have you ever added up how much you spend on eating out, movies, CD's/DVS's, video games, gas and women?
 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
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i live at home and make 50k a year, lease a car (400 p/m) car insurance (100 p/m) phone (70 p/m) gym (30 p/m)

i put away about 1k a month.

400 cash
400 QQQQ
200 401k


no excuses.

im moving out soon to long island... paying 500 a month + utilities, what a steal, gotta adjust my budget
 

kami333

Diamond Member
Dec 12, 2001
5,110
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Yes, but then again I make 17k yr after taxes and my rent is $500 a month so it's not suprising.
 

helo7050

Banned
Mar 16, 2005
275
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I have a 2000month morgage...i know i have about 600/month going into equity but still. I should have saved about 15k upto today. . .Mabe i should go easy on the Amex card.
 

Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
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Originally posted by: kami333
Yes, but then again I make 17k yr after taxes and my rent is $500 a month so it's not suprising.

22k a year salary? whatcha do?
 

Dessert Tears

Golden Member
Feb 27, 2005
1,100
0
76
Maybe you should open another savings account to separate your longer-term savings from your month-to-month cash, then open an investment account after you have a good chunk.
 

kami333

Diamond Member
Dec 12, 2001
5,110
2
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Originally posted by: matstars
Originally posted by: kami333
Yes, but then again I make 17k yr after taxes and my rent is $500 a month so it's not suprising.

22k a year salary? whatcha do?

26k, I'm an intern in IT. The only good part is that I live in Europe.

This is after my 50% raise I got a month ago, before that I was making 12k after taxes.
 

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
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Originally posted by: kyparrish
have you ever added up how much you spend on eating out, movies, CD's/DVS's, video games, gas and women?

eating out adds up...my sister would have had plenty in the bank if she hadnt eaten out twice a day for a year straight

write down *everything* you spend for a month, youll probably be surprised
 
Nov 7, 2000
16,403
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get a couple different bank accounts. keep one just for rent/utilities, have another for savings (like an ING account), and another for spending. divy this up before it even gets into your hands. max out your before tax 401k contributions. you should be able to save 15-20k yr EASY. (if you want to ever own a house or retire, you need to)
 

z0mb13

Lifer
May 19, 2002
18,106
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use a budgeting software, you will know where ur money goes

microsoft money is pretty good
 

Dessert Tears

Golden Member
Feb 27, 2005
1,100
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Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
get a couple different bank accounts. keep one just for rent/utilities, have another for savings (like an ING account), and another for spending. divy this up before it even gets into your hands. max out your before tax 401k contributions. you should be able to save 15-20k yr EASY. (if you want to ever own a house or retire, you need to)
Good point about separating it before it gets in your hands - direct deposit should give you the option to allocate deposit/account for multiple accounts.

IRS max for 401k is 14k, so 14k savings should be a minimum, unless your company has more restrictive limits.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
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1. Stop using cash, use credit card for everything so you can track what you're spending money on.
2. At the end of the month, figure out what you're spending a lot of money on and spend less.
3. You bought a more expensive house than you can afford.
 

Jamie571

Senior member
Nov 7, 2002
267
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Started out at about 45k and saved about 1.5k a month sometimes more, I was 21 at the time. Most of the money I saved I invested in the market. Lived in a very small apartment with no new car. Eight years later I have a 250K house with 10 years left on the mortgage, fairly new cars (both of which are paid off), about 25k in the bank, and about 80k in 401k and Roth IRA. Now saving about 300-600 a month (making about 57k now), with kids its much harder to save money.


 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
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Originally posted by: Jamie571
Started out at about 45k and saved about 1.5k a month sometimes more, I was 21 at the time. Most of the money I saved I invested in the market. Lived in a very small apartment with no new car. Eight years later I have a 250K house with 10 years left on the mortgage, fairly new cars (both of which are paid off), about 25k in the bank, and about 80k in 401k and Roth IRA. Now saving about 300-600 a month (making about 57k now), with kids its much harder to save money.

:thumbsup:
So many kids get out of college, start making "tons" of money, and blow it all on nice cars, expensive stuff, etc. The first couple years of saving are the most important.
 

gigapet

Lifer
Aug 9, 2001
10,005
0
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most things i've read said that if you habitually save 10% of your income whether its a work paycheck or you sold something on ebay...you will be wealthy.
 

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,019
156
106
It's been said already, but you have to track where your money goes.

Deciding whether to change your spending habits once you see the results is a different story, but you first have to know what you're doing with your money. Without that you'll never understand why you are having trouble saving.
 

arcas

Platinum Member
Apr 10, 2001
2,155
2
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I usually manage to invest between $3k and $4k per month. It's one of the good things about being single :)

Seriously, though, before you can hope to come up with a workable budget, you need to understand where your discretionary income is going. Set up a spreadsheet or a money manager program to track your expenses for at least 6 months. Track every dollar you spend. Once you have an understanding of how much you're spending and on what, you can start planning your budget. Doing this is especially important if you find yourself living from paycheck to paycheck even though you make a good salary.



 

Freejack2

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2000
7,751
8
81
Have your job auto deduct money for your 401k every month, at least this way you'll have money when you get laid off 2 years from retirement.
 

archcommus

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2003
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Originally posted by: arcas
I usually manage to invest between $3k and $4k per month. It's one of the good things about being single :)

Seriously, though, before you can hope to come up with a workable budget, you need to understand where your discretionary income is going. Set up a spreadsheet or a money manager program to track your expenses for at least 6 months. Track every dollar you spend. Once you have an understanding of how much you're spending and on what, you can start planning your budget. Doing this is especially important if you find yourself living from paycheck to paycheck even though you make a good salary.
$36k to $48k a year? :Q Mind me asking how much you earn and what you do?