Need money saving tips

[skw444]

Im starting too!
I'm sooo bad with saving money, I love to spend so I will join you guys!
maybe this is a stupid question, but where do you keep you keep this money?
I need to find a piggy bank with no opening at the bottom! LOL
THe 6 dollars from this week are due this coming weekend or were due this past weekend?

thanks

I have my money in a piggy bank that you have to cut open so I don't cheat and take the money out. I put my money in on Friday just because that is payday for me every 2 weeks so it makes it easier but you can put the money in at any point during the week.

 

[davedmaine]

Also, some basic budgeting tips that I frequently come across in my line of business (I have 12 years experience managing folks in the Loss Mitigation/Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention department at a couple financial institutions) are calling your cable company to renegotiate your pricing which would help lower your monthly bill and as long as you are not accident prone, increasing your deductible on automobile and homeowner's insurance policies which sometimes can dramatically lower your payment. Another budget friendly strategy is to Transfer balances on higher interest rate cards to lower interest rate cards if you carry credit card balances and refinancing a vehicle with equity to include any unsecured debt in the new loan. Doing this secures the debt with your vehicle which drops interest from double digits in most cases to single digits, reducing the amount in payments you are paying out to your creditors each month while reducing the amount of interest you are being charged. Credit Unions - if not some banks - often allow you to go up to 125% of a vehicle's value in a refinance to pay off other debt obligations.

Finally some actual tips.. Good stuff

 

[Marionnette]

Also, some basic budgeting tips that I frequently come across in my line of business (I have 12 years experience managing folks in the Loss Mitigation/Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention department at a couple financial institutions) are calling your cable company to renegotiate your pricing which would help lower your monthly bill and as long as you are not accident prone, increasing your deductible on automobile and homeowner's insurance policies which sometimes can dramatically lower your payment. Another budget friendly strategy is to Transfer balances on higher interest rate cards to lower interest rate cards if you carry credit card balances and refinancing a vehicle with equity to include any unsecured debt in the new loan. Doing this secures the debt with your vehicle which drops interest from double digits in most cases to single digits, reducing the amount in payments you are paying out to your creditors each month while reducing the amount of interest you are being charged. Credit Unions - if not some banks - often allow you to go up to 125% of a vehicle's value in a refinance to pay off other debt obligations.

It might be "budget friendly" but why would you consolidate unsecured debt (credit cards) into a secured debt (car loan)? The interest rate might be lower but if you get into trouble handling the payments, they repo your car! If you miss your credit card payments, they might call you repeatedly, tack on late fees and interest and make life generally unpleasant for you, but they cannot take your vehicle.

 

[sweetdana]

I like the take money out you don't see option..
I like budgeting
I like rewarding for umm good behaviors.


This is what DH and I agreed to do this yr.

This week, we started Dir depo DH pay checks into a "savings" account, and are going to try and not use it. If it isn't in my "checking", I won't use unless I HAVE TO.

I also joined a no spending thread and have accepted I have a problem online spending.. so I am only buying in Feb what I HAVE to have, and cutting everything esle. So far 1 amazon shipment (med sup for DD8.) and nothing else. no chips/bottles water/paper prod/clean supl/easter toys/art sup ect.. I am going to work hard to budget food/supplies and make lists/plans to help cut costs, incl cutting going out to.. gettng lit ceasers instead of pizza hut, and eating grilled cheese or soup or something on hand, instead of carry out red robin when tired.

I think it will work out very well. We agreed to budget to live on just my income, but DH said if we can do it, and I can pay for a 4th trip for NYE .. we will go to Disney 4 times as a reward.

DO IT!

 

[cluvsdisney]

I saw this posted last month and I still think this idea is crazy.

How many people are going to be able to put $49 away on week, followed by $50 the next week, followed by $51 the next week and the cap it off with another $52? That's $252 in that last month of saving! And the month prior to that requires you to put aside $186. Almost 1/3 of your savings is done during the last 8 weeks of the year. If you can manage to save at that rate in the last couple of months, you could do it now and have a lot more money set aside.

I felt the same way so I just divided the $1378 by 26 (number of pay periods) and have that amount transferred to my savings account. It's not exactly a game that way but it's still being saved, more money in the account sooner means more interest income which is nominal but still. Plus the bulk of the savings is during the holiday season when I use more cash for gifts & entertainment then other times of the year.

 

[bigmamimia]

The best way to save money for your trip is to do all the math. Figure out all the costs. Then decide when you are going on the trip. Divide the amount of money you need by the number of pay periods between now and then. That is the amount you need to save each week to afford your vacation. Can't save that much each pay period? Then book the trip further out.

 

[garnetandblack]

I was going to start doing the cash only/envelope system to avoid overspending. But it was too difficult for me and I honestly prefer using a debit card. So we set up a second checking account. We went through all of our bills for several months and saw where we were spending our money. We came up with a budget on what we can and should live on for gas, food, fun, gifts, etc. Every 2 weeks when my husband gets paid, that amount for 2 weeks gets deposited into a separate checking account. If we want something extra, we save up from that account.

It has been so much easier and it's amazing how much money we have saved by not having "access" to those other accounts. The only debit card we carry is the one tied to that account.

I have also started making freezer crock pot meals. When chicken is on sale I make a bunch of chicken recipes, etc. I just take something out of the freezer, dump it in the crock pot and cook it. We still eat a fresh salad with every meal, but we always have something that we can eat at home and it's so easy. I can make 30 meals that feed my small family twice for under $100 - and they are healthy, whole foods!

 

[sweetdana]

I was going to start doing the cash only/envelope system to avoid overspending. But it was too difficult for me and I honestly prefer using a debit card. So we set up a second checking account. We went through all of our bills for several months and saw where we were spending our money. We came up with a budget on what we can and should live on for gas, food, fun, gifts, etc. Every 2 weeks when my husband gets paid, that amount for 2 weeks gets deposited into a separate checking account. If we want something extra, we save up from that account.

It has been so much easier and it's amazing how much money we have saved by not having "access" to those other accounts. The only debit card we carry is the one tied to that account.

I have also started making freezer crock pot meals. When chicken is on sale I make a bunch of chicken recipes, etc. I just take something out of the freezer, dump it in the crock pot and cook it. We still eat a fresh salad with every meal, but we always have something that we can eat at home and it's so easy. I can make 30 meals that feed my small family twice for under $100 - and they are healthy, whole foods!

 

[vinmar4]

I have my money in a piggy bank that you have to cut open so I don't cheat and take the money out. I put my money in on Friday just because that is payday for me every 2 weeks so it makes it easier but you can put the money in at any point during the week.

Thanks!
im going to look for one of those, Im also thinking of dividing the money into 26 because I also get pay every 2 weeks, that way I will have to save that much every two weeks, no matter what!.
thanks again

 

[FortForever]

Need some good information to save money on a Disney World trip for 3 adults and 2 children. Any advice is great.

As a general rule, packages are more expensive. If you are going at a time that has free dining plan, it may be worth it, you would have to run the numbers to be sure.

It never makes financial sense to pay for the dining plan if it isn't free. Even if it is free, consider how much you would spend on the resort, tickets, and food separately to see if it makes sense. Keep in mind that Disney servings are large and the dining plan includes dessert. DH and I always split counter service meals and have never ordered dessert.

It is also a good idea to eat breakfast in your room. All the rooms have a fridge where you can keep milk, juice, etc. If you don't have a car, there are a couple of places that will deliver groceries to your hotel. With your order, get a case of water so you can carry a couple bottles to the park with you.

Keep in mind that you can order ice water free at any counter service place in the parks instead of paying for bottled water.

Park hopping is an expensive option that is not really needed in most cases. It takes a lot of time to travel between parks and that cuts into the fun. The only park that closes early and most people do in less than a day is Animal Kingdom. On the day you do that park, consider going to explore Downtown Disney or maybe spend the afternoon at your hotel pool. Even riding the free Disney transportation around to explore other resorts is a fun thing to do.

Try to book your vacation during the off seasons when rooms are cheaper. Always shop for current promotions and discounts. Always dig deeper into Disney's website looking for deals. If you book from the first page, you will always being paying rack rates. They won't automatically give you a discount, even if one is running. Find the info yourself before booking.

 

[crisi]

On similar notes...pack in snacks. Decide what meals are really worth it, character meals are expensive, but might be worth it for your family as an opportunity to see characters...many meals at Disney are really not worth it. I find buffets in general to be really overpriced as we have three reasonable eaters and one fourteen year old boy who eats constantly, but not to excess at any one meal.

There are great bargains to be had offsite, but remember that means renting a car (if you don't drive down) and paying for parking.

There aren't a lot of good deals on tickets, it a pretty big expense. No hopping (I adore hopping myself) makes them a lot cheaper however.

Consider driving rather than flying, unless you live in a great airfare city or have frequent flyer miles. The added advantage is the car will give you flexibility in eating and staying offsite.

 

[RedsDrew]

It might be "budget friendly" but why would you consolidate unsecured debt (credit cards) into a secured debt (car loan)? The interest rate might be lower but if you get into trouble handling the payments, they repo your car! If you miss your credit card payments, they might call you repeatedly, tack on late fees and interest and make life generally unpleasant for you, but they cannot take your vehicle.

In the event of missing payments, you are absolutely correct. But keep in mind credit card companies can garnish wages or put a subordinate lien on your personal property after getting a judgement should it get to that point. And when refinancing unsecured debt into secured debt, the newly increased balance is usually re-amortized back out over the original term and not the existing (depending upon the options available). This not only reduces the amount paid in finance charges by as much as $2500 to $3000 in some cases but also reduces the amount of monthly payment obligations in those cases by 50 to 66%, creating more disposable income each month.

Specifically, someone with an average credit card interest rate of 19% and a total credit card balance of $5,000 for example would save quite a bit of money when absorbing that debt into a secured auto loan at a rate of 3.99%. In this example, because of the equity attained after one year of on-time payments, and a re-extension of the term back out to the original loan length of 60 months, the new auto loan payment would increase by less than $100.00, where as individual credit card payments (depending upon the number of cards carrying that $5,000 debt and their respective rates) may easily total $250.00 to $300.00 a month.

And if someone's credit score at the time of refinance is better than it was when the loan was originated, they could save even more money if the refinanced interest rate is less than their existing auto loan interest rate. Also, someone with a static credit score could still save more money if rates are cheaper at the time of refinance than what they were at origination.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

In the event of missing payments, you are absolutely correct. But keep in mind credit card companies can garnish wages or put a subordinate lien on your personal property after getting a judgement should it get to that point. And when refinancing unsecured debt into secured debt, the newly increased balance is usually re-amortized back out over the original term and not the existing (depending upon the options available). This not only reduces the amount paid in finance charges by as much as $2500 to $3000 in some cases but also reduces the amount of monthly payment obligations in those cases by 50 to 66%, creating more disposable income each month.

Specifically, someone with an average credit card interest rate of 19% and a total credit card balance of $5,000 for example would save quite a bit of money when absorbing that debt into a secured auto loan at a rate of 3.99%. In this example, because of the equity attained after one year of on-time payments, and a re-extension of the term back out to the original loan length of 60 months, the new auto loan payment would increase by less than $100.00, where as individual credit card payments (depending upon the number of cards carrying that $5,000 debt and their respective rates) may easily total $250.00 to $300.00 a month.

And if someone's credit score at the time of refinance is better than it was when the loan was originated, they could save even more money if the refinanced interest rate is less than their existing auto loan interest rate. Also, someone with a static credit score could still save more money if rates are cheaper at the time of refinance than what they were at origination.

While all that's true, it doesn't take into account the fact that total money available to pay bills is not static in most housesholds these days. We have to deal with the uncertainty of the possibility of unexpected expenses related to a host of causes. (The most common are medical expenses and unemployment, although I'd guess natural disasters are pretty high up on the list.)

Because of that uncertainty, most people cannot take your advice, even though it would save them money if nothing unforseen happened in their lives.

 

[danjoealexis3006]

Look at the website www.couponingtodisney.com! She has wonderful ways to save money. I am following her and Yesterday I saved $170.00 a month just by calling my phone and cell services and asking for the best deal possible! You really need to check her out!

 

[arihillfarm]

I was going to start doing the cash only/envelope system to avoid overspending. But it was too difficult for me and I honestly prefer using a debit card. So we set up a second checking account. We went through all of our bills for several months and saw where we were spending our money. We came up with a budget on what we can and should live on for gas, food, fun, gifts, etc. Every 2 weeks when my husband gets paid, that amount for 2 weeks gets deposited into a separate checking account. If we want something extra, we save up from that account.

It has been so much easier and it's amazing how much money we have saved by not having "access" to those other accounts. The only debit card we carry is the one tied to that account.

I have also started making freezer crock pot meals. When chicken is on sale I make a bunch of chicken recipes, etc. I just take something out of the freezer, dump it in the crock pot and cook it. We still eat a fresh salad with every meal, but we always have something that we can eat at home and it's so easy. I can make 30 meals that feed my small family twice for under $100 - and they are healthy, whole foods!

Do you have a website that you get your crockpot freezer recipes from? I like the idea of making everything ahead and throwing all of the ingredients in at one time.

-Astrid

 

[garnetandblack]

Do you have a website that you get your crockpot freezer recipes from? I like the idea of making everything ahead and throwing all of the ingredients in at one time.

-Astrid

http://lovingmynest.com/learning-activities/freezer-crock-pot-cooking-day/

http://baked-inthesouth.blogspot.com/2012/08/crockpot-freezer-meals-part-2.html

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/09/slow-cooker-freezer-meals-make-8-meals.html

http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/02/freezer-cooking.html

http://www.aturtleslifeforme.com/2011/06/freezer-meals-on-cheap.html

http://whenthedinnerbellrings.blogspot.com/2011/06/super-easy-way-to-getting-meals-ready.html

http://onceamonthmom.com/whole-foods-april-2012-menu/

http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/02/freezer-cooking.html

These are some of the blogs that I had pinned - 2 of them aren't crock pot specific, but they still have some great ideas.