I need tips on Saving Money

Consider cancelling (or not renewing):

cell phone plan

cable TV

magazine subscriptions (use the library)

store-brewed coffee

consider shopping:

at thrift stores

at grocery stores at markdown (especially meat)

from a list

driving slower does not save gas.

I got to admit it, my girlfriend costs me so much goddamn money. Between dinners, movies, etc. WTF?? I don't complain though. Why? Because I'm an idiot. I'm well aware. If there are any chicks reading this do you realize how easy you have it?

My bigest saving came from bringing my lunch to work and not eating out for dinner. I use bike (sometimes run) to work, but I have to drop off my son at daycare now, so that no longer works for me. It may work for you

chuck d wrote:

driving slower does not save gas.

Actually, yes it does. Each mile per hour that you drive over 60 mph burns extra gas.

Next time do some research before you spout off at the mouth.

- NUTZ

Hey Nutz!Easy on the attitude. Of course driving faster burns more gas. The question isn't about fuel consumption it is about fuel efficiency. In other words, how far are you getting for every liter of fuel burned? Most average sized vehicles attain maximum fuel efficiency between 40 and 60 mph.Driving at 15 mph is far less efficient than driving at 55 mph. You are correct that over 60 mph fuel efficiency again begins to drop.

Numb NUTZ wrote:

Next time do some research before you spout off at the mouth.

- NUTZ

Best advice I can give is to set up a plan where a certain amount of money gets transferred from your checking account to your savings each month (or twice a month) automatically. It might hurt a little at first, but after a while you'll just consider it another expense and you won't miss it. You'd be surprised how quickly $50-100 / month (or more) adds up.

Better yet, enroll in a DRIP (dividen reinvestment plan) so your money can grow.

If your job has a 401k plan, contribute as much as possible, or at least to the maximum matching amount that your company offers. It's basically free money!!

"my girlfriend costs me so much goddamn money."

Join us here in the year 2004. I have never dated a woman that would have let me pay for anything beyond the first few dates. You have a girlfriend who is content to let you pay for everything? Ditch the spongey bitch.

Designate one day each week when you do not spend a single dime. Prepare all your meals from home. Do not buy a coffee or newspaper. Go straight home after your run and skip that happy hour with the buds. Use yesterday's gas tank/metrocard/whatever for transportation. Over a three-month period, this adds up to almost two full weeks that you don't spend any money. It may not seem like you're saving much, but that is a budget booster, and gets you in the mentality of watching what you spend.

I also have occasional $5 days. I will spend no more than $5. That might be a piece of pizza, a newspaper and a coffee. A sandwich. A beer. Your choice. Just make sure that the sun rises and sets without any drain on your acccount beyond $5.

When going out on the weekend, eat dinner at home and show up a little later, joining everyone for drinks after dinner. Get a glass of water after each beer to slow yourself down. A lot of your hard work goes to hell on Saturday night when you get a few in you and forget that you are on a budget, or decide that "life must be lived and I don't give a sh@t." Avoid this, and you will save yourself the unanticiapted $12 cab ride across town to pay the $10 cover charge for the half-empty club that your boys want to check out, followed by the $14 late night burger/nightcap stop.

Things like coffee add up ridiculously. In NY, you can easily pay almost four bucks for a latte or cappucino. A large coffee at Starbucks is $2. If you do this once a day during the workweek, that's more than $40 a month... on freakin' coffee! Figure out where you are pissing away money you don't need to spend and eliminate a category or two, or at least find a cheaper substitute. Much of spending money is about habit. Once you identify the trouble spots, you can change the habits.

This life sucks, but you can still manage to enjoy yourself, have fun, improve your running and occasionally take a woman out for dinner. Good luck.

Best option is to invest into a 401K and make sure its not tied to your own companies stock. Find a good diversified group of mutual funds. But only invest up to what your company will match. If you want to invest more then put it into a ROTH IRA. You will be better off than putting it into an unmatched 401K.

A savings account is good for paying bills, but don't keep large amounts of money there. Its not going to grow in comparison to a 401K or ROTH IRA.

It's amazing what you can save by ditching convenience items and the like. My wife and I saved the downpayment for our house like most on this thread have suggested. Try these also:

Stop going to movies and join Netflix (Unlimited DVD rental for about $20/mo. I only go to the cinema to see something epic like Lord of The Ring which really should be seen on a big screen)

Stop eating out at "junk" places (We avoid fast food joints and chain restaurants. Once a month, we will go to a very nice restaurant and do it up right. You will find that two people eating at some joint like Chili's or TGI Friday's will run you $30+, multiplied by X times per month adds up fast - and most people eat that way)

Use coupons for groceries (Dorky, but it saves cash)

Buy Gatorade POWDER not pre-mixed bottles

Buy generic vitamins

Stop getting the newspaper (Most news can be had on the Internet for free)

Dating? Most women are impressed with men who can cook, or surprise them with a picnic, or have good taste in wine, etc. (Any schmuck can pick up a dinner tab - a little pasta, salad, a good bottle of wine, and a chick flick from Netflix will save you cash and score you points)

Go to a bookstore and read the first few chapters of The Millionaire Next Door. Then put the book down and walk out without paying. The author's might even salute this scummy behavior in their next book. Kidding aside, great read and worth the purchase.

Long term solution:

If you are a renter, consider buying a home/condo/mobile home. You will have fork over a downpayment as well as upfront closing costs. However, as the years go by, the equity you build more than offset the tens of thousands you would have spent on renting.

drink cheaper beer, not less, just cheaper. go to the 40s if you have to. they're not that bad.

instead of trying to save money, why don't you try and make some money. I hear there is a good market for whoring yourself out. easy money if you don't mind a shot in the mouth.

Here's an idea. Quit worrying about money. We spend our whole lives centered around money...how to get it...what to do with it...how to save it. Don't let it run your life and you will be much happier my friend. The most important thing I have learned is that the "stuff" you have just doesn't matter. You don't need it...they just make you think you do. Until you realize this you are useless.

Let your dad beat the crap out of you, rob a pizza parlor, get caught, run hard and train while you're in prison, get released, find a good oregon coach, train for the '08 Olympics, get lots of press coverage and the $$ will start flowing in the streets for you man.

Love Jon

Shit dude, a $5 day is a big spending day for me.

I don't own a vehicle, a television, or a computer. I don't have any use for any of them. I use the computer at work and/or school, never watch tv, and usually run or take the bus everywhere. I haven't driven since 1999.

I might buy about 2 prepared meals per month. Those are my $5 BIG SPENDING days. I cook all of my meals at home. I eat pancakes for breakfast every single day, because I like them and they're cheap. I just bought 21 pounds of pancake mix at $1.50 per 3.5 lb bag. That's $9 for about 2 months worth of breakfasts. If I bought another box every week, regardless of whether or not it was on sale, it would probably cost $30 for the same thing. I also just bought as much spaghetti as I could carry at $1.50 per 3 pound box. It'll last me for a couple of months. I bought 60 pounds of rice back in February at $5 per 20 pound bag. I still have about 40 pounds left, and its mid May now. I might spend $30 on groceries on some weeks, but on those weeks, I get a couple months worth of stuff, and end up not going back to the store again for a while. I probably average, in all seriousness, about $40 - $60 per month on groceries. No shit.

You should move to Africa dude. You'd get along just fine there and probably drop any PR you ever had. Unbelieveable regimen.