How do you save moeny? (mortgage, sell, money, financial)

[Howard Roark]

I had only $1000 in savings about 25 years ago and needed to save. So I started a Christmas Stocking account at my credit union that would only allow me access to the money for a few weeks starting in November. Then close up again. When I got raises I added to the account. I deposited monthly. It was "pay myself first."

Six years of that discipline was enough to make me start in stock mutual funds with automatic investments.

You either live for today or live for tomorrow. But I do know tomorrow may never come.

[galaxyhi]

MuffinBang:

What do you mean "it's always been a day dream?"

Do you mean: A} that you don't make enough to save? then get a second or third job or both. Improve your income.
B} that you don't budget so you don't know where your money goes? Then work up a monthly budget, and re-work it every week as bills are paid and money comes in!
C} that you 'can't save" {lacking discipline?} Then put it into auto-mode. That is- set up a christmas account at the bank or credit union and have EVEN just $10/pay period put into it automatically..that is $520/yr for weekly pay you'd save annually without trying and you don't ever touch it or see it! Then put into a Money market account if you can for emergency cash account and DO NOT TOUCH unless emergency arises..and NO A SALE at Bloomingdale's is NOT an emergency! An emergency is losing your job, being out of house and home {if you lost it by fire or other means}, or other such!
D} do you mean that you blow every penny coming in? then do as above in "B"--budget and in "C" with a higher dollar amount and then YOU CAN'T spend it!

We need more info from you to tell you what/how to make that day dream of yours become a reality!

We have 3 income streams{one steady, two variable}...all three get "auto-deducted" each, to investments or to a special account like a christmas club. It is 10% of our income. Another 5% I do manually just 'cause as someone said, I like the "feeling of doing it myself",though it will shortly get auto-deducted too...AT LEAST that much gets saved per month.

I budget every month In advance {I am budgeted out to July and August already, too much further and it can be somewhat unrealistic as things may change}. Then rework weekly as the bills get paid, and the money comes in {monthly for one, bi weekly for the second, and weekly for the third.} I re-work the budget as needed also.

I allow for $400 of "miscellaneous" or "other" expenses that MAy crop up per month....that way I don't have to dip into savings if we get a special medical bill or other random bill that is not in the regular budget. IF any of it is there at the end of the month, it goes directly into savings.

WE rarely eat out, if we do it comes out of that $400 odd amount as a "Other expense".

Both our cars are paid for-One brand new, one is now 9 years old and will be kept another 5-6 years, then a replacement bought IF NEED be. There is a "car fund" account with a "payment amount" {to ourselves} put into it so that when a new/newer car is needed we have the money to buy it outright, or reduce the debt crunch on a new/newer one.

Any raise gets banked. as long as it can, as prices do go up, so will pay.

Any extra left at the end of the month, besides the $400 odd, is put into savings.

Besides a cash account for emergencies, we have also laddered CDs, rolling them all over. Right now better interest than just sitting in savings. We can always cash one in {with a penalty IF urgently needed}, but haven't yet. We started laddering with just the lowest amount the bank or Credit Union would allow {usually $500 could be higher requirement at your institution}, then add to it and roll over again and again and again, adding in the interest we earned too.

We have other auto-deducted investements NOT included in our 'cash savings" and as cash builds up above emergency, we look where it can go for better return. {IRAs for example- you can start one too!}

WE Re-Evaluate our bills, annually- when the natural gas heat went up, we turned down the thermostat! When the A/C cost went up, we turned up the thermostat or left it off for awhile. We think we are paying too much for cable now, and in MAY if we can't get another "deal" we will drop TV stations or TV all together.

We shop around and try to avoid just doing the 'net shopping {my one down fall} as it is too easy to sit in your easy chair and "point and click" your way into debt!

Hope these {and the same/other suggestions by others here} help you to realize your day dream! Its really not that hard.
JUST GET STARTED with auto-deduct and go from there!

[armory]

When I was young I tucked a $50 bill away each week until the first of the year when I put those 50 $50 bills in the bank. It would start again until the next year and back to the bank.

When I got out of school and began my professional career I learned about employer fund matching my 401. I started putting 10% in - pre taxes - and did so for years until it went to 17% even when getting pay raises. I got rid of credit cards years ago and to this day only have a debit card. I am retired now and have always been frugal. I have driven my truck for 22 years and only buy used cars for cash. I don't budget as I don't spend. I don't buy tons of crap at the grocery store; only what I will eat in a few days. I shop at Aldi.
My wardrobe is very casual so no need for a closet of business/office attire. I buy jeans at the local thrift stores; if you look them over you can find practically brand new ones for $5. I buy good quality shoes which last years. I have a simple Trac phone I carry for emergencies as I have no use for a $$$$ contract smart phone. I had one once and it is a waste of $; I have no need to look at FB or anything else during the day. I buy minutes and usually carry an average of 16 hrs of talk time. I don't email/text or anything from the phone as that eats into minutes. I have a simple DSL home internet connection - FIOS can bite me.
I bought my current TV from some guy on CL a few years back. It's a big 200 lb 34" Sony WEGA with flat screen CRT. I don't have cable/satellite but have an antenna on a mast. I receive 50+ stations but rarely watch TV save for the morning news with my coffee. Direct TV was $50 a month when I had it years ago. That is money which never leaves my checking account.
I quit pushing a mower around my 1/2 acre lot 25 years ago and have a 25 yo John Deere I maintain myself. I buy parts for it and my truck on the internet and do my own work. The savings are noticeable. The crazy part is my truck gets better mpg than the mower - It takes at least a gallon to mow the lawn whereas the truck gets 20 mpg. It still beats pushing one around in the hot sun. Never again.
Though on a limited income I still save money I can draw on if need be. Live way below your means and don't try to keep up with what your family, friends and/or marketers urge you to do. Do you truly need a $$$ yearly vacation? No. Accept that and you will save lots of cash.

It's a lifetime commitment.

[mapmd]

Originally Posted by MuffinBang

I am so curious to know how you'll save money? It is always a day dream to me...

Don't spend so much. That is literally the ONLY way to save money.

I went from roughly $0 at 14 to having $100,000 at 22. Never made more than $40/year. It can be done.

[ccm123]

We always live under our means, invest automatically (401K, monthly savings), got a great job (with a great education, of course) and managed our finances carefully.

[Thulsa]

The previous posters who mentioned automatic deductions are spot on. If you have a plan at work, do that before anything else. It's called "paying yourself first".

Step one to saving money is "don't have kids", lol.

Joking aside, the main step is to know exactly what you are spending money on. You should be able to account for every dollar in and every dollar out. In truth, I only accounted for things like cokes and candy bars from the machine at work for a while until I had a good handle on where my pocket cash was going. Eventually we (my wife and I) cut down on using cash for the reason that it is hard to track.

I use Quicken because with that I can download all my credit card and bank statements directly, and Quicken is fairly intelligent about categorizing the items. When we first started doing that we had some surprises, such as we spent more money on books than clothes (and we had two kids).

Look at the cost of everything you buy as what is the cost over a year.
Once you see how big a bite cellphones, coffee, and coca cola takes over an entire year, you'll find a way to cut those out.

We use credit cards for almost everything and always (for the last 30+ years) paid the bill off in full. We also avoid having much pocket cash because it so hard to track.

Pay your credit cards off in full every month.

If you feel the need to carry a credit card balance for a large purchase such as replacing your roof, then you will be better off getting a short term loan from the bank for that.
If you feel the need to carry a credit card balance for a large purchase such as 60 inch TV and sound system, don't. Buy it next year with a check.

Some of the other tips people made are good to remember.
Don't eat out is a good one. Eating out is a good one to avoid until you're rich.
We almost never ate fast food except on vacation. There is No fast food as tasty as a baked chicken, rice, and beans you fix at home. Or a BLT with some tomato soup. I've never had a hamburger as good as the ones from by backyard grill, and my wife claims my grilled chicken with BBQ sauce is better than any she's had at a restaurant. My ribs, not so much, but she'll never say that out loud.

And again, think of all of your spending in terms of how much does that cost over the whole year, not a month.

[slowdude222]

stop buying crap

[Shutout]

I don't buy anything except food, gas, and bills.

[crf450ish]

Originally Posted by MuffinBang

I am so curious to know how you'll save money? It is always a day dream to me...

Pay your basic bills, excuse me, ONLY have basic bills to pay, then your transportation needs, then your food(don't eat out, just don't do it if your asking how to save) then anything else leftover put in the bank. I know it can be extremely difficult to not spend your extra money but you have to separate your wants from your needs. allot of people in america these days don't need an iPad, an iPod, fancy clothes to impress people, fancy rims on car, stereo system in car....these are all things that the majority of people with poverty incomes think they need or want but fail to realize the long term financial implications. I apologize for getting off on a tangent but thats how i make a point.

[s1alker]

The key is to study an in-demand field that has a high rate of return on investment. Then you get a career that pays well above-average, live below your means and you can probably retire a millionaire. Too many people live way above their income levels.