Saving

GracefulStar · April 2014

Hi all, I've been lurking for some time. I have a ten month baby boy and work full time. I was wondering what are some ways you save and what are you saving for, if anything? We buy store brands, except ketchup lol, changed cell phone providers and are debating cutting cable (hubby wants to, I'm a little hesitant). We are trying to save for a house. It's real expensive where we live but I would love my baby to grow up in a house, especially with a yard/garden. Thanks!

chloebeth930 · April 2014

Call all your providers (Cable, Cell phone, etc) and see what type of discounts they have to offer. Sometimes if you hint at them that you are thinking about cancelling they will give you a promo price for services.

A great savings trick I read is the $5.00 trick. Every time you receive a $5.00 bill you put it away in savings. It could be the change you get back at the store, or out to eat, or for a gift. Every single one you put away.

Also, if your pay check is direct deposited work with the bank to have some money automatically taken out of your check and put into a savings account. Out of site out of mind.

jlaOK · April 2014

We are saving to build our emergency fund and will then continue to save for a down payment on our next "forever" home. We followed Dave Ramsey's plan to get rid of all debt besides our current house payment and have continued his plan for savings. The two big things we do is 1) have a written budget (and meet regularly to ensure we are sticking to the budget) and 2) use cash for purchases. Everything that is left after our budgeted items goes into savings.

jf198400 · April 2014

We have automatic monthly savings for our kids college funds and 401ks for retirement. We also directly transfer money from our checking to savings every week. We just have one general savings account that is our emergency fund and savings for a down payment on our next house.

We are trying to save more money b/c I am pregnant with baby3 and we are planning for me to SAH. I shopped around for our auto/home/life insurance and saved us about $150/month. We also paid off one of my student loans. I know that the biggest area where I can cut spending is on food. Right now with MS I am doing a terrible job of cooking and we've been eating out a lot. I think once I'm out of the 1st tri, I'll be able to get my act together and start meal planning and budgeting again. My other weakness is buying stuff we don't "need". I need to work harder on setting and sticking to a budget for these discretionary purchases.

emberlee3 · April 2014

I agree with @K3am. The biggest thing is living within your means. I don't use coupons. I try to only buy what we need. One impulse purchase can negate a month of couponing, KWIM?

We need to replace DH's car in the next 1-2 years. After that, I would like to do some major projects on our house. We already have an adequate emergency fund and are saving for retirement.

iverske9 · April 2014

When it was time for us to save for a house and maternity leave this last time (started a new job so didn't qualify for STD) we used the envelope system from Dave Ramsey. It worked like a charm. Other ways to save is meal planning, cut cable, shop around insurances again, and do not eat out, LOL.

DiveFrog · April 2014

We manage our savings in both conventional ways (401K deductions and auto transfers from paycheck), as well as, budgeting. But we also invest in real estate/rental houses (we have 2 currently). This grows our net worth, but not necessarily our current cash flow. They are a good long term savings avenue and they have reduced our tax liability so more of our money is working for us, and less for the government. Long term we also consider them our DD's college fund as they will be paid off and producing steady additional income when she enters college.

We generally have 1-2 large projects, or purchases that we plan for during the current year to take place the following year (and our tax return and our bonuses usually provide the majority of the funding) but we do save some toward these goals every month. Last year we planned to have our pool refinished and a safety cover installed this year. This year we are planning on purchasing a new vehicle and for a maternity leave (hopefully) for next year.

Also I will echo the pp about not necessarily shopping for bargins, and also staying out of stores. I do almost all of my shopping online, or in thrift stores/Craigslist/Mom2Mom type sales. I buy almost everything for DD second hand. I look for name brand and quality items that have been lightly used and generally save a TON. X-mas, birthday's. other gifts and items we need I buy online to reduce any impulse, add-ons, or unnecessary purchases I would be prone to if shopping in a store. I don't coupon. I buy in bulk all our staples which allows us to shop much less frequently (about every 8-12weks) and only shop for fresh produce and perishables every two weeks.

traveltheworld · April 2014

I hardly ever go to the mall. I buy almost all of DS's clothes on-line at end of the season (just save up for next year), and DH and I both buy most of our clothes at outlets once a year. We don't have cable or a home phone, and we only have 1 car.

kristennd · April 2014

traveltheworld said:

I hardly ever go to the mall. I buy almost all of DS's clothes on-line at end of the season (just save up for next year), and DH and I both buy most of our clothes at outlets once a year. We don't have cable or a home phone, and we only have 1 car.

Except for the outlets, we do (really, don't do) all of this as well.

Dropping back to one car can take a lot of planning and some lucky timing, but it's amazing what you'll save. Along with the reduced fuel, insurance, and maintenance, there are simply fewer opportunities to go places that would lead to spending money.

CarrieB. · April 2014

We also only have one car and DH and I both take the bus to work. It saves us a lot of money. Plus I can read and look at the internet in the bus and DH works.

justjinny · April 2014

Get rid of your cable! We turn ours on & off each year (we HAVE to have it for football season) and I really enjoy the spring and summer more that way since I'm not sitting on the couch zoning out to the TV. It's worth it to pay the $35 set up fee each year instead of keeping it around when we aren't even using it. Get a library card and you can check out movies & books for entertainment.

Don't go out to eat for lunch, or at least cut back to 1-2 times/month. Same goes for going out for dinner. I don't meal plan but am very conscious of using all my fresh groceries and using up leftovers so we aren't wasting $ on food that just gets thrown out.

Change your cell phone plan. We use Skype at home and pay $7 per month to be able to call landlines with it. I have a Tracfone instead of a regular cell plan. I spend $20 every 3 months on it and have yet to run out of minutes. If you can change your habits to calling from work or your home phone then you don't really need a full service cell plan.

Buy used when you can. I love to shop thrift stores and Craigslist for clothes & furniture. This leaves us extra $ to splurge on "new" things when we decide we need them and makes them feel even nicer when you do buy something "new-new".

Keep a shopping list going and only shop every 6-8 weeks. The less time you spend in stores the less you'll buy overall. We have a Target Red Card and order our diapers, wipes & formula for 5% off with free delivery to our house so we don't have to go to the store so often.

Set a savings goal that you're excited about. MH & I plan for a few large purchases each year (like a new TV or a big vacation next summer) which helps to deter you from spending a little here or there when you're debating about making a non-essential purchase. If you can think of a good reason to save that $10 or $15 each time, you won't feel so much like you NEED to make a purchase since you will be getting something better in return eventually.

EDIT: After making these changes we found out we could save a lot - almost my entire salary some years. It helped us save up for our adoption really fast and now we're so used to things being this way our next big goal is to pay off our house ASAP - maybe even in the next 7 years.

Katelobster · April 2014

We got rid of $100/month cable and got Hulu plus ($4/month) and Netflix ($10/month I think). As a bonus, it took the cable company 18 months to get around to unhooking our cable.

Stay out of the home decor aisles of Target (or whatever your impulse shopping weakness is) to avoid temptation.

Like a PP said, our biggest money savers are not cutting coupons or turning lights off when we leave a room, they are big things- small home with a small mortgage payment (could you consider renting a cheaper place?), old cars we paid cash for (just sold a 14 year old car to buy a 10 year old car from my grandma) and cheap vacations.

Also, IMO you should have a plan for savings. It's not necessarily a good idea to throw all your savings toward a downpayment on a home, especially if your employer has a 401k match that you're not taking advantage of. Retirement is important too.

KayteeGee · April 2014

We cut our cable at the top of the year (really, we just weren't using it) and for $30 or so we bought a digital antenna from amazon. All of the networks are clear as crystal and we have netflix and amazon streaming for anything else we need.
It was WAY easier and less noticeable than I had feared. We should have TOTALLY done it sooner.

GracefulStar · April 2014

Thank you ladies for your input! These are some great ideas. To clarify, we "own" an apartment but have a mortgage so the plan is to pay it off so that we do own it and have whatever we sell it for, when we do, be our down payment. I do have money taken from every paycheck for retirement. We recently started tracking what we spend and I spend a lot on groceries! Looking into how to meal plan better. I like the idea of no cable in spring/summer, we were looking into getting hulu. Hmm

cecilyandgautam · April 2014

Automating savings contributions and keeping our savings in accounts that aren't as easy to get into is how we do it for our cash savings. For retirement, that's automatically taken out of my pay check so it never enters my accounts, I don't even factor it into our "take home" income. For the 529, that's automated as well.

For building up our reserves for a particular goal (like a down payment), we automate a sizable chunk, whatever we definitely can afford each month, and then also bulk that up with whatever reimbursements we get through out the year. For example, I have a health savings & childcare savings account and my contributions into that are automatically set aside. When I submit the paperwork to get that money back, the amount goes into our savings account, not our checking. Some with travel reimbursements - we pay for the work related expenses that we can and when the reimbursement comes in through work a month or two later, that just goes straight into our savings as well. So there's a steady modest stream and then big waves a few times a year.

skibunny59 · May 2014

Honestly what helped us save the most was staying out of the stores. Period. We would always find something that we thought we "needed" and think we were saving money because it was on sale. The only shopping we do right now is groceries. We buy clothes for DD when she actually "needs" them and has outgrown her old clothes. I stopped buying clothes just because.

We also never eat out. Eating out and take out is a rare treat for us.

I would love to get rid of cable but these damn cable companies. We hardly ever watch tv but it is actually more expensive to have just internet than to have internet and cable. We have basic cable with internet right now because just the internet was actually more expensive. I've been contemplating getting rid of cable AND internet next year when I am on maternity leave because I will be home for 9 months and it will be tight. I mean people survived for many years without it right?

rodiesmum · May 2014

We have a set savings each month which is like what a PP mentioned, we consider as an expense.

Also, i try hard to meal plan, list grocery items, and stick to these. These helps me ensure that our grocery budget remains in place, as i have discoverd that groceries are the bane of our savings account.

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