Money Saving Tips?

ChicagoBlue2

ChicagoBlue2

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I have been trying to find a good reliable way to actually save some money, and everything I've tried so far hasn't worked, and I've decided it's time to get some real feedback, and see where that leads me to.

Now, I've never been a great budget person, but I want to try and change that for the better; it's because I have a feeling that I'm gonna need it, and if that event arises, I'd better be prepared, so that's why I need some useful tips. Any tips are welcome, and if you have any good links you know of, you can post those, too. I just want to make sure I have a plan in place.
 
The budget is never easy until you control the money. As i am not sure what your life style looks like...

Do you use debit card lot than the cash in your wallet? If yes, then that normal for everyone have no sense emotion because no see cash ... just card... but then the last wipe card went decline that where emotion start...

As our parent who intro them to use the debit card as use plastic card that where we look up the parent example. No one is perfect, but we always learn the mistake and better the next time.

The budget can get you idea the quick start if you are in good hand...

Real Debt Help - Get out of debt with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Plan - daveramsey.com and use each envelope system

That one will help you the idea where your budget with life style... Out there the church offer that class for free but you will need resource which cost 100 dollars to get there which include DVD which provide interpreter, subtitle, and so on. One left problem is no discuss where the deaf community can express and improving our budget struggle.

Again, take time and look at Dave Ramsey Homepage - daveramsey.com that will tell you many thing, but if you are not interesting by reading the book. It will awesome if somewhere Deaf community where the vlog can talk relate about Dave Ramsey. People think that Dave Ramsey help us to be rich, but its not. It about our control over the money. Do not let thing control you, you are in the charge. You are the one decide the need, change, and improve.

I am going look back to this and hope someone have suggest. I only can think is Dave Ramsey about this because plastic card have no visual cash while money cash on your hand is response and not plastic card.
 
Wirelessly posted (ZTE X501 Phone)

zerodog said:
The budget is never easy until you control the money. As i am not sure what your life style looks like...

Do you use debit card lot than the cash in your wallet? If yes, then that normal for everyone have no sense emotion because no see cash ... just card... but then the last wipe card went decline that where emotion start...

As our parent who intro them to use the debit card as use plastic card that where we look up the parent example. No one is perfect, but we always learn the mistake and better the next time.

The budget can get you idea the quick start if you are in good hand...

Real Debt Help - Get out of debt with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Plan - daveramsey.com and use each envelope system

That one will help you the idea where your budget with life style... Out there the church offer that class for free but you will need resource which cost 100 dollars to get there which include DVD which provide interpreter, subtitle, and so on. One left problem is no discuss where the deaf community can express and improving our budget struggle.

Again, take time and look at Dave Ramsey Homepage - daveramsey.com that will tell you many thing, but if you are not interesting by reading the book. It will awesome if somewhere Deaf community where the vlog can talk relate about Dave Ramsey. People think that Dave Ramsey help us to be rich, but its not. It about our control over the money. Do not let thing control you, you are in the charge. You are the one decide the need, change, and improve.

I am going look back to this and hope someone have suggest. I only can think is Dave Ramsey about this because plastic card have no visual cash while money cash on your hand is response and not plastic card.
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I actually use the cash more than the debit card, as I mainly use it for paying bills online and not much else.

Thanks for the links. I'll look at them, and get back to you.
 
For me, I eliminate what I don't need like cable. I don't get cable because I rarely watch tv so why bother and it's overpriced. Instead I get the cheaper alternative - Netflix. $8 a month.

I only spend what I can afford.

Buy things only on sale. When I go grocery shopping, I look for coupons online or in the newspapers and wait until it's on sale for double savings. The best savings is when your grocery store such as Jewel has a buy one get one free, you can go to Walmart instead and price match it and get that item cheaper for buy one and get one free for even more savings. Walmart accepts competitors for price matching.

Every little thing counts and adds up to your savings.
 
For me, when I get paid...first, I pay my bills and then whatever cash I have left over for that pay period, I split it into thirds and put 1/3 of it into savings. Like if I have $200 left over, I divide it by 3 which is $66.67. I round it down and put away $65 in the savings. I have done that for 2 years and my savings really has grown.
 
Sometimes Family Services or VR or other agencies offer free budget planning help with a counselor.
 
shel90 said:
For me, when I get paid...first, I pay my bills and then whatever cash I have left over for that pay period, I split it into thirds and put 1/3 of it into savings. Like if I have $200 left over, I divide it by 3 which is $66.67. I round it down and put away $65 in the savings. I have done that for 2 years and my savings really has grown.
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That's something I could certainly consider. This just might become useful to me someday. 1/3 equals what, 25%? Not a bad idea.
 
MangaReader said:
For me, I eliminate what I don't need like cable. I don't get cable because I rarely watch tv so why bother and it's overpriced. Instead I get the cheaper alternative - Netflix. $8 a month.

I only spend what I can afford.

Buy things only on sale. When I go grocery shopping, I look for coupons online or in the newspapers and wait until it's on sale for double savings. The best savings is when your grocery store such as Jewel has a buy one get one free, you can go to Walmart instead and price match it and get that item cheaper for buy one and get one free for even more savings. Walmart accepts competitors for price matching.

Every little thing counts and adds up to your savings.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Eliminating cable IS on the table, but if I do that, then I would need to find other ways to watch what I want, and Netflix I could do, for just $8 a month, which isn't that bad, considering that my cable bill is over $90 a month, and if it reaches the $100's, that's the end of the line.
 
ChicagoBlue2 said:
I have been trying to find a good reliable way to actually save some money, and everything I've tried so far hasn't worked, and I've decided it's time to get some real feedback, and see where that leads me to.

Now, I've never been a great budget person, but I want to try and change that for the better; it's because I have a feeling that I'm gonna need it, and if that event arises, I'd better be prepared, so that's why I need some useful tips. Any tips are welcome, and if you have any good links you know of, you can post those, too. I just want to make sure I have a plan in place.
Click to expand...

long term or short term?
 
Jiro said:
okie dokie. the financial planning will depend on few factors - how's your income? steady and sufficient?
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I wish it were. I don't have a steady job, and I collect government checks, and for the most part, nearly all of that money goes to pay my bills. To give you an idea of how I pay my bills, here's what I pay for each item:

Phone: $66.20

Cable: $92+ (The last bill was $94.52, the one before was $93.13)

Hotspot $34.99

Rent: $381

Medicine Under $10

Now nearly all of these I pay on time (the only one I don't is the medicine, because it's so low), and the totals add up quickly each month. This does not leave a lot for myself.

As for steadiness, I'd like some of that. I can't disclose my government totals on here, but I'll give you an estimate-- it's under $750, and the last time I paid my bills last month, nearly all of it went to what I paid above. I also use cash sometimes to pay for food when necessary, usually about $45 worth. And my personal needs depends on what I need.
 
ChicagoBlue2 said:
I wish it were. I don't have a steady job, and I collect government checks, and for the most part, nearly all of that money goes to pay my bills. To give you an idea of how I pay my bills, here's what I pay for each item:

Phone: $66.20

Cable: $92+ (The last bill was $94.52, the one before was $93.13)

Hotspot $34.99

Rent: $381

Medicine Under $10

Now nearly all of these I pay on time (the only one I don't is the medicine, because it's so low), and the totals add up quickly each month. This does not leave a lot for myself.

As for steadiness, I'd like some of that. I can't disclose my government totals on here, but I'll give you an estimate-- it's under $750, and the last time I paid my bills last month, nearly all of it went to what I paid above. I also use cash sometimes to pay for food when necessary, usually about $45 worth. And my personal needs depends on what I need.
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ah perfect. thanks for giving me a more detailed expense overview.

since you don't have a steady income and you're collecting government payments... I would strongly recommend you to stick with necessities... that's medicine, food, utilities, etc....

and you'll have to get rid of cable + hotspot but keep only internet. these are not necessities... these are luxuries. you don't need that for now until your income gets higher. and if you mostly cook and eat at home.... good. very good.
 
Jiro said:
ah perfect. thanks for giving me a more detailed expense overview.

since you don't have a steady income and you're collecting government payments... I would strongly recommend you to stick with necessities... that's medicine, food, utilities, etc....

and you'll have to get rid of cable + hotspot but keep only internet. these are not necessities... these are luxuries. you don't need that for now until your income gets higher. and if you mostly cook and eat at home.... good. very good.
Click to expand...

Getting rid of cable HAS been on my mind for a while now, but the hotspot I can't get rid of. Why? It prevents my phone's battery from running out too quickly than it would if I only used 3G. That's why I must have it.

As for cooking at home, yes I do a lot of that, and I rarely eat out much these days. It's just common sense.
 
Your list doesn't include food and that can get expensive per month. Good thing you don't drive which eliminates costs of having a car.

You could look into a cheaper plan for a phone. Mine's $50 for data only plan, unlimited.

$90 dollars for cable??!? OMG, on a limited income I would never consider cable!!!
 
MangaReader said:
Your list doesn't include food and that can get expensive per month. Good thing you don't drive which eliminates costs of having a car.

You could look into a cheaper plan for a phone. Mine's $50 for data only plan, unlimited.

$90 dollars for cable??!? OMG, on a limited income I would never consider cable!!!
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That's because I have extra support to handle food, so that does not need to be listed here.

As for why my phone is so expensive, that's really easy. If I'm bored on my home visits, and don't have anything to do, I can just activate my phone's hotspot and call friends and do stuff, therefore keeping me busy. That's why I have it like that, because I need to have a hotspot for home visits, but yes, I DO need a cheaper data plan, but the problem is, the phone I want to get has more GB, but the same plan as my current phone.

Cable is a must-have.... I know it's pricey, but I can afford it. Like I said, I get over $700 in government income, which allows me to pay for necessary things so I don't get bored to death. If you have another idea for cable, I'm all ears. You must understand though-- my house already has Internet by Comcast, which itself isn't paid for by me, but by the owner of this house, and that's likely why my cable bill is so high. I previously was paying just $50.65 a month for the same service, but the person whose name my cable box was under moved away, and he transferred the service to me, and now I'm responsible for it.
 
You could see if you can get a low income rate on your electric bills, if you get any kind of public assistance you my be qualifies to pay less $$. If you eat out a lot cut back on this , and try not to buy junk food if you do. If something is on sale check out the prices to see if you'll really be saving money . Some stores will have a sales for 2 boxes of food etc for $6.00 or whatever and people will buy one box thinking it will cost $3 00 . They could end paying the full price for the one box . This happen to me at Petco they had sign up saying sale 2 boxes of dog cookies for $6.00 so I brought one and cost $ 4. and some cents . The sign did not say one box will cost the full price . I got the box for $3.00 . This may sound like small change but it can add up if you get over charge a lot , so always check your sales sale receipts before leaving a store. I do and I had gotten back money a lot of times .
 
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