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Are you a good saver?
- Thread starter Monica
- Start date
Me too! I try but something ALWAYS comes up to where I have to spend the money.
Same here. Same ole story over and over again.
I'm definitely getting wayy better at it. I do monthly budgeting and I keep the receipts so that I can cross check between how much we THINK we've spent vs what we've ACTUALLY spent. It took me a while to get the hang of a budget but now that I've molded it to what works best for me I love it. I save sooo much more and I'm thinking more long term now.
For example, before if I wanted something I would just go out and buy it. Now before buying anything I think of my main financial goals (and for me it's to save for home repairs and a car) and I think to myself would I rather have security knowing I have money for home repairs if anything were to happen and would I rather a vehicle rather than this purchase. If the answer is yes then the decision is easy. I save the money and I keep going.
Another thing I used to do to is spend my money on things that would never give anything back. Such as a coffee or random nicknacks. And now I spend my money on things that will give back like for example: a home, not only will it do something for me today, it'll do something for me tomorrow too. I think of what I want my future to be and if that's what I truly want then there are sacrifices that I'm going to have to make now so that later I don't have to
Anyways, long thing short, yes I am good at saving money. I wasn't before, but I am now.
For example, before if I wanted something I would just go out and buy it. Now before buying anything I think of my main financial goals (and for me it's to save for home repairs and a car) and I think to myself would I rather have security knowing I have money for home repairs if anything were to happen and would I rather a vehicle rather than this purchase. If the answer is yes then the decision is easy. I save the money and I keep going.
Another thing I used to do to is spend my money on things that would never give anything back. Such as a coffee or random nicknacks. And now I spend my money on things that will give back like for example: a home, not only will it do something for me today, it'll do something for me tomorrow too. I think of what I want my future to be and if that's what I truly want then there are sacrifices that I'm going to have to make now so that later I don't have to
Anyways, long thing short, yes I am good at saving money. I wasn't before, but I am now.
Yes really good at saving
I've been practicing saving since last year. I'm doing pretty good. My grandmother had to sit down with me and she's teaching me a lot on how to save. It's working for me. I'm getting to the point in my life where I don't want to spend as much.
No. I simply don't make enough to put anything aside.
I'm always plugging holes on this sinking boat.
I'm always plugging holes on this sinking boat.
After reading the book “The richest man in Babylon” I learned a lot about saving and investing money. Whenever I get paid I make sure that I save first before anything else.
I think I'm pretty good at it. My only weakness are my sons, I give them almost everything they ask for. (Not everything, lol, but too much even so, probably). For myself, I rarely buy anything new, only when I really need it. I will have one pair of shoes to wear to work, 2 pairs of pants (so I can launder without having nothing to wear), etc. Only when something is really worn out, I'll replace it.
I'm pretty terrible at saving lol. Like, I'll have these great intentions - "okay this month I'm definitely putting away $500" - and then something comes up. Car repair, friend's birthday, or I just see something I want and convince myself I "deserve it" after a tough week.
I do have some money automatically transferred to a savings account, which helps because I never see it in my checking account. But it's not nearly as much as I should be saving. I'm one of those people who's great at budgeting on paper but terrible at actually sticking to it in real life.
The worst part is I know all the advice - emergency fund, retirement savings, compound interest, blah blah blah. I just struggle with the delayed gratification thing. It's hard to get excited about money sitting in an account when I could use it for a weekend trip or new clothes or whatever.
I've gotten slightly better with age though. Used to spend literally every penny I made, now I at least have a small cushion. Baby steps, right?
The people who are naturally good savers amaze me. Like how do you just... not spend money that's sitting right there? Do you have some kind of superhuman willpower or is there a trick I'm missing?
I do have some money automatically transferred to a savings account, which helps because I never see it in my checking account. But it's not nearly as much as I should be saving. I'm one of those people who's great at budgeting on paper but terrible at actually sticking to it in real life.
The worst part is I know all the advice - emergency fund, retirement savings, compound interest, blah blah blah. I just struggle with the delayed gratification thing. It's hard to get excited about money sitting in an account when I could use it for a weekend trip or new clothes or whatever.
I've gotten slightly better with age though. Used to spend literally every penny I made, now I at least have a small cushion. Baby steps, right?
The people who are naturally good savers amaze me. Like how do you just... not spend money that's sitting right there? Do you have some kind of superhuman willpower or is there a trick I'm missing?
I think it's in part in your nature. My oldest spends not nearly as much money as my youngest, and I spend less than my brother. I would say my sons are raised approx. the same.
In part, it may also be how used you are to getting things. When younger, I nearly never got anything I wanted - not what I want for my sons - but I guess it helps in not expecting much stuff, in using the stuff you have until you really can't anymore, and if I want something, I wait a while and only buy it if I still want it later (that goes about things I *want*, not if I *need* new shoes because the current ones have holes in the soles).
