Trying to squirrel away more $$

[AdventurerKat]

I am doing RPs and I just bought a new piggie bank for our change. Its the kind you actually have to break if you are going to get your dough out.

I also do eBay although haven't lately (I think I have run out of stuff to sell!!!) and I am going to participate in a joint garage sale this summer.

I will also stash away any bonus checks or extra checks (I get paid weekly so I have four "extra" checks a year) I have in savings for it.

 

[*Flower*]

I've been absconding (sp) with any change and $1 bills that DH manages to lay down anywhere.

So far I've got $691 in ones, and about $400 in change.

And, I deduct a certain amount of money from each direct deposit to our bank account. It grows before I know it!!

And- the best part is that DH has almost no clue what I'm doing!!

 

[AdventurerKat]

Originally posted by *Flower*
I've been absconding (sp) with any change and $1 bills that DH manages to lay down anywhere.

So far I've got $691 in ones, and about $400 in change.

Wow Flower. That's great!

 

[*Flower*]

It helps to have kleptomaniacal tendencies........

 

[dolphincrazy]

I put $800 of our tax refund in my INGDIRECT account and
will not touch that until June plus I'll keep adding my varying
amounts weekly or biweekly thru my paycheck and rewards programs. it sure is nice to see that HUGE lump sum sitting
in my account ,it makes me want to save even more If it were
not for some of you wonderful people I'd have a lot less in there,
you helped jump start my savings by signing up under me and I thank you, too bad we can't do the referrals anymore ,so many people were gyped on that and I'm sure alot of us still have some.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

Here are a few things I do:

1) I save all change. And if I have a few loose dollar bills in my purse, it goes into my vacation fund.

2) When I write out checks (for bills), I add an extra $5 for each check in my check register. For example, if I write out a check for $12.95, I'll record it in my register as $17.95. At the end of the month, I'll transfer all the extra $$$ into my vacation fund. I got this idea off of www.mousesavers.com.

3) I get child support twice a month. I usually squirrel it away in a savings account, unless I really need it.

4) Any extra money (tax refunds, bonuses, etc.) goes into my vacation fund.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Funny, I use our Home Equity line as a savings account. Any refunds, loose change, rounding off of anything, it all sweeps into twice monthly (regular payment plus an extra) payments on the home equity line, and not a savings account. We pay 3.75% interest, so reducing the amount on which we are charged interest saves us that rate. I don't know of any savings account that earns that kind if interest in the US; it beats inflation by a good bit too. And unlike a savings account, the interest we aren't paying (3.75%) on those amounts does not get taxed; compared to interest (at what, 1%?) does get taxed, so an even better savings.

Of course if our house were paid off or we rented, this would not be an option, but it works for us.

 

[CheapMom]

Originally posted by dolphincrazy
too bad we can't do the referrals anymore ,so many people were gyped on that and I'm sure alot of us still have some.

Why not- I still have referals left and I just got one a few days ago?

 

[dolphincrazy]

Originally posted by CheapMom
Why not- I still have referals left and I just got one a few days ago?

I know we can still refer people for the $25 if we have referrals
I meant too bad we can't do it on here like we were in December/January and making each other lots of money, aside from that almost month long thread I haven't had much luck
filling up my slots and still have quite a few. I had a request for one last night and the person opened an account so, I got my $10
YAY!! I 'm not sure where they got my name from though lol.

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by pumpkinboy
Funny, I use our Home Equity line as a savings account. Any refunds, loose change, rounding off of anything, it all sweeps into twice monthly (regular payment plus an extra) payments on the home equity line, and not a savings account. We pay 3.75% interest, so reducing the amount on which we are charged interest saves us that rate. I don't know of any savings account that earns that kind if interest in the US; it beats inflation by a good bit too. And unlike a savings account, the interest we aren't paying (3.75%) on those amounts does not get taxed; compared to interest (at what, 1%?) does get taxed, so an even better savings.

Of course if our house were paid off or we rented, this would not be an option, but it works for us.

I didn't take economics or accounting in college, so please forgive my ignorance. I don't understand this logic. If you are paying interest on a loan, how is that "saving" money? Even if you are paying extra on the principle, you are still paying interest.

For example:
If you take out a home equity loan in the amount of $5,000 and are paying 3.75% interest annually. The loan has a 5-year term and your payments are $91.52 per month. You will pay $491.18 in interest during that 5 year period. If you pay $150 per month instead, you will end up paying $288.33 in interest. From your point of view, you've "saved" $202.85. From my point of view, you've "spent" $288.33.

Now let's reverse that. I don't take out a home equity loan. I put $150 per month into savings account with 2% interest. I start with a zero balance and in 5 years, I have $9,468.42. Of that, $9,000 is the amount I put in over the 5 years and $468.42 is interest that I earned.

Maybe I'm taking a simplistic look at this. Could you please explain further how taking out a loan actually saves you money in the long run?

 

[CheapMom]

She is paying down debt therefore reducing the amount of interest she is paying. If she has $200 extra dollars she puts it on her home equity loan reducing the balance.
That is correct- it does not make sense to put money into a 2% interest savings account if you are paying 3.5% interest somewhere else. Best use of money would be to reduce the balance of the home equity loan.
However- very dangerous to think of equity in your home as a savings account.

 

[tikilyn]

All I can say is thank you all for all of your ideas!!

This is what I am doing.

1. Change Jar.(not as profittable as I want it to be)

2.Direct deposit into our Navy Fed savings Account. 50.00 a month

3. I have an *** Direct account. Where I stash money from ebay, Reward sites that pay cash via paypal and from our personal checking account.

4. I have my own way of charging myself fees for writting checks, paying bills. First, I charge my dh 10.00 per direct deposit (payroll), Then I charge 2.00 per check or online payment paid for our bills. Then the rest of the checks and debit card charges, I charge 1.00.

What I do is this. In the register I write the amount of the Deposit in the deposit colum and then I write 10.00's in the small Fee colum. I do the same when I write check. Write the amount of the withdrawl from the payment amount colum and then put 1.00 or 2.00 in the fee colum. That away I will be able to balance my check book.

Here is an example:

ck# transaction payment fee deposit Balance
600.00

ck175 walmart 75.00 + 1.00 = 524.00

Thanks to the IRS I am going to deposit a 1000.00 into my *** Direct account to use for our trip.

Were also going to have a huge yard sale and all of that money will go into my *** Direct account.


Thanks for the great ideas. You guys are the best.

 

[mad4themouse]

Thanks, Cheapmom. That makes more sense. I don't know why I was under the impression that pumpkinboy was taking out a home equity to pay for WDW and then considering that paying it off early is a savings. As Emily Litella would say...."never mind".

 

[CheapMom]

It is bit of pretzel logic- but it makes sense.
PS- even though I know it makes sense -I have a 2% savings account and I pay higher interest on my home equity loan. It is backwards I know but I am on a 10 year timetable for paying off that loan and call me crazy but I like having a savings account with real money in it.

 

[arminnie]

One of the things that I did when I had a car payment (yuck) was to add about $10 to the payment amount - after I was used to paying x+$10 for awhile I added another $10 or so for awhile and then repeated the process. I ended up paying off my car loan a whole year early and saved a lot of interest.

It was also a lifesaver not having a car payment when I ended up not getting a paycheck for several months. I had some complications after surgery and the company that had the disability policy did not pay me until 18 months (and lots of red tape) later. When I finally get paid I was able to save most of that money and that's what I used to buy my DVC points.

I do agree that we all still need some "real" money in savings for an emergency.

 

[frannn]

We are paying 30% interest on one credit card (DH's card from when he was younger). We never used it till we had car repairs that got out of control.... So now, we are earning interest of maybe 1% in our savings account, so we will most likely pay off the loan sharks...errrr ahhhh....credit card company from this account, and pay the 30% back to ourselves (maybe even give ourselves a lower rate).
Also utilizing the dollar store for everything possible.

 

[CheapMom]

Originally posted by frannn
We are paying 30% interest on one credit card

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by frannn
We are paying 30% interest on one credit card (DH's card from when he was younger).

Would it be possible for you to negotiate a lower rate or transfer the balance to a card with a lower rate while you pay it off? 30% interest borders on usury! I can't imagine paying that kind of rate!

 

[frannn]

I then told them I was going to pay off and cancel card. This company is horrible. It is Cross Country Bank. They charge an annual fee, and have recently started charging an additional monthly fee (called a participation fee). I think they are a business that takes advantage of people who have trouble getting credit cards. DH had that problem because he had to support his Mom and family in part when he was younger. We now have better credit. Is what they are doing in any way illegal?
I would love to see them have to pay some fees back to cardholders.

 

[mjal]

Unfortunately, what they're doing isn't illegal. I read an article recently that said credit cards could actually charge up to 40% interest!!!!
I would, as mad4themouse suggested, check on getting the rate lowered or transfer the balance to another card. If you now have better credit, there shouldn't be a problem with this. There's no way that company deserves to get that much of your hard-earned money!!!