206 replies to this topic

[sat]

That's insane! We spent less than that on buying a used car. At that rate we could have a new (used) car every year!

I know, but, see, we have learned! When I think back at the money wasted, just to have a shiny new car, it kills me. Oh well, live and learn.

[mylo]

Then you look at the insurance cost difference between a $6k used and $26k new car, for an additional savings!

[Sonny]

Yeah I would say a good rule for cars is to pay cash. If you don't have enough cash saved up for a new car than buy something used. Also probably still better to buy something made in Japan.

[Sandman]

direct deposit from paycheck into savings - that way you don't see it, it goes right in and starts earning interest

I highly recommend checking out ING Direct - they pay the best interest rates on savings.

Way too conservative..... Savings rates (2-3%) are historically some of the lowest rates on your return. With the rate of inflation these days your almost loosing money at those rates....Your better off putting that money into a CD (5-6%), or mutual fund. I never keep more than 5-10K in savings just for a rainy day.

[ChipShot]

I know, but, see, we have learned! When I think back at the money wasted, just to have a shiny new car, it kills me. Oh well, live and learn.

I disagree, sort of. Life's too short to drive something dumpy and unreliable. I just bought a new car (not something used with all the unknowns) and couldn't be happier. There's a price I'll pay for quality, peace of mind, reliability to take road trips, and all the newer state-of-the-art bells and whistles. Hey, to each his own.

[Dave Burrell]

Way too conservative..... Savings rates (2-3%) are historically some of the lowest rates on your return. With the rate of inflation these days your almost loosing money at those rates....Your better off putting that money into a CD (5-6%), or mutual fund. I never keep more than 5-10K in savings just for a rainy day.

I'm getting 4% (plus) on my savings at ING Direct

and unlike a CD or mutual fund, I can access it if and when I need to.

[Dave Burrell]

I disagree, sort of. Life's too short to drive something dumpy and unreliable. I just bought a new car (not something used with all the unknowns) and couldn't be happier. There's a price I'll pay for quality, peace of mind, reliability to take road trips, and all the newer state-of-the-art bells and whistles. Hey, to each his own.

well no wonder you can't afford to go out for good sushi (just kiddin' dude)

(off subject) what'd you get?

[sat]

I disagree, sort of. Life's too short to drive something dumpy and unreliable. I just bought a new car (not something used with all the unknowns) and couldn't be happier. There's a price I'll pay for quality, peace of mind, reliability to take road trips, and all the newer state-of-the-art bells and whistles. Hey, to each his own.

Trust me, I would love a new car with all the bells and whistles, but for now, this is how we save our money. We are the original owners of the two cars we have, so we know the reliability. Both of our cars are only five- and six-years-old, so it's not likely they are going to need anything major but routine maintenance for a while (hopefully!). Besides, I drive a Honda...it will probably outlive me!

[cw68]

I'm getting 4% (plus) on my savings at ING Direct

and unlike a CD or mutual fund, I can access it if and when I need to.

I get 4.93% on my etrade savings account.

[cw68]

The new car thang is crazy. My husband's car and mine are both paid off. Mine is over five years old, his is eight and we have no plans to replace them anytime soon. They both run really well. My husband crashed my car over the summer and we had to have the read liftgate replaced. Can't tell you how many people said, "Man, I'd just use that as an excuse to get a new car!"

[ChipShot]

I give up a little in exchange for liquidity/access. Beware of internet savings/investment/money market accounts, no matter how "big" their name is.

[brown]

We found that the easiest way to save money is simple planning - we chart out all of our expenditures, bills, etc. for the next 3 or 4 months on a spreadsheet and plan it out. I found that having 2 tiers of savings works best - put some in one account for emergencies and the occasional extravagance, and put some in another account which we consider untouchable.

Once everything is planned out, it's just a simple matter of sticking to the plan. Numbers don't lie so there's no surprises.

Another great thing to use if you can is a dependent care account - between my wife and I, we put 8k per year into our accounts, and pretend that it's not there, which is easy to do since it comes directly out of the paycheck. Every now and then we submit a reimbursement form, and voila, it's like free money.

[Deb aka Resume Lady]

Many of the ways we save have already been mentioned above, so I won't reiterate those points.

In addition to driving cars until we have to get rid of them, my husband does most of the work on them. I can't even begin to add up the money we've saved over the years living with what we have and taking care of repairs ourselves.

We do most projects around our house ourselves. My husband and I are currently putting in a new front yard (no lawn -- just native, drought-resistant plants). He built the raised garden area and is getting ready to pour concrete for a small patio/sitting area, too. For a finance guy, he's very handy and has breathed new life into our washer and dryer on more than one occasion. I paint and wallpaper.

I save money by cooking, mostly from scratch. I will buy canned tomatoes or beans, but I don't ever buy frozen or canned meals. I do most of my shopping at WinCo (where I'm guessing groceries cost about 40% less than other stores, and for the same brand names) and Costco, but there are gourmet items and certain produce items that I buy at Raley's or specialty stores. I buy most of my spices in bulk at Indian markets; a typical bag of a spice might yield 4 - 5 times or more what you'd get in a brand name bottle for less than what you'd pay for that same bottle. I don't buy much that you would call junk. We'll sometimes get tortilla chips, but other than that I just don't buy snacky (junk) things, cookies or soda (unless we're having company and I think that's what they drink). My husband and are very light drinkers, so I'm sure we spend significantly less on alcohol than many others.

I don't color my hair, get my nails done, or shop for designer labels. In fact, I really don't do much shopping for myself at all unless I really need something.

We've taken some great vacations, including two three-week cross-country driving trips. We typically do not splurge on hotels; I don't need fancy where I sleep. We've taken camping vacations, which are very inexpensive.

My husband does our pool chemistry, I put out ant bait when needed instead of contracting for someone to spray chemicals everywhere, and we take care of our own yards/lawns.

I save on gas by lumping my errands together and driving in a gas-saving way. Cracks me up when I see people gunning it to race to a red light or stop sign!

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that while it's good to pay attention to how you invest money and plan for savings, there are many things that can be done on a daily basis to be able to put more of your money toward that end.

[banana]

Easiest way to become an overnight 'saver' is simply to refinance all of your debts into your mortgage.

Then you can walk around saying you have no debts, just a mortgage payment.

My recommendation is that you ask people who have no debts and are millionaires. Read the Millionaire Next Door to get some sage advice.

[ChipShot]

Financial Maturity....A lost art. If ya can't afford it, don't buy it. Learn how to admit to yourself "I can't afford this". Oh, I forgot, we're in a "I-need-it-now-I'll-figure-out-how-to-pay-for-it-later" society. Sorry. My mistake.