why is so hard to save money can anybody here tell me how to save money????

[guanaquito79]

i make ok money about 1200 every week but is hard for me to save money?

[cloudsoup]

$1,200 a week? wow, if you don't mind my asking,
what kind of job do you have?

i wouldn't say that i'm a great money saver, but i do
little things along the way that help me save...

the first thing you need to do is write a list of every
single thing you spend money on, and once you've
accounted for everything, you need to separate the
list into necessities and luxuries.

if you're making that kind of money, it should be rather
simple to figure out where you're wasting money
that you could be saving, once you break everything
down.

[Lis1964]

Agree with doing the breakdown, but would also add that you have to look at things that fall in between too.

For example, you may categorize your Cable television service as a necessity.  But, really - I would say that it falls somewhere in between a necessity & a luxury.   It might be necessary to have cable access in your area, but can you downgrade to a lower package with less channels or is there a way to bundle your service with your phone and/or internet service to lower your monthly cost?   There is often ways to lower the cost of your necessities.   Can you downgrade your mobile phone plan to less minutes to lower cost, by taking a close look at your actual usage?   Can you up the deductable on your car insurance to save money on that bill?     

Also, one good way to save money is to go by the motto ... PAY YOURSELF FIRST.    As soon as I get my paycheck, I deposit a certain amount into saving and forget about it.   Then, I force myself to live off the rest.    Start small if you are not comfortable with ..... like $20 per paycheck ... and increase the amount as you get accustomed to having less to spend.    The trick though is to train yourself to NOT consider your savings as free cash to spend on regular expenses.   

[oldbuddy]

The only way money is of any value to me is when I SPEND it, so instead of depriving myself with all these saving exercises, I would rather just go make more so I can not worry about spending it. With the Internet available to anyone, that can be accomplished very simple in the United States. There are more ways to get free money here than you realize. It makes me wonder what people did when they retired in past years?

[dreamyxo]

Get direct deposit if you don't already have it then set up a separate account with an online bank for an account you want to start saving in.  I have several different account I use for different savings goals.  Have a part of your money transferred to that account every month (or week).  It doesn't have to be a large amount say $50 or whatever you think is ok. 

First you need to look at your spending habits and I agree with another poster that you need to track every single penny you spend.  Get a small notebook to carry around with you and write down every single cent you spend every day.  Do this for a month and you will get an idea of where your money is going.  Are you spending too much on food, eating out, shopping?  Writing everything down will will be a wake up call to you to see what money is being wasted.

Do you have an emergency fund of at least 3-6 months living expenses in case some thing happened like you lose your job, car breaks down, etc?  If not you need to start one.  You need to get into the habit of saving and once you do it will be easy to save.  Pay yourself first.  Pretend you are a bill that is due every month.  Try to start with 5% then increase it over time. 

Some small things you can also try is just saving your change in a jar every day.  When you buy things only pay with paper money when you get the change back put that in a jar. Every couple of months take it to the bank and deposit it.  But seriously if you are making that kind of money why are you even on this site making pennies?

[Azanne07]

i try and save my change but then something always seems to come up like we need something like daipers or milk. something that we can go without. I had almost $100 saved up once but we need something. I have 4 jars one for each kind of coin. I have started again but i got maybe a total of $20 until i need something that we cant live without again!

[rcbrad]

Years ago, I remember reading an article about watching where you money goes.  It talked about spending $1.00 for a cup of coffee each day.  I guess by now most coffee cups cost more than that unless it is a very small cup.  Anyway, if you spent $1.00 a day on coffee, that would be $365.00 a year just on coffee.  Do you really want to spend that much on coffee?  Yes, we do need to treat ourselves, but I sure would not want to spend that much on coffee! 

I remember reading too, that people are in a rush to get a part time job, but if they just cut out wasteful spending on nonsense or non essentials  they could cut out their part time job.  Some would still have money for fun extras!

A big way to save money is take advantage of store sales and coupons.  I get so much free or very cheap food and household items.  As an example, I get ALL of my name brand cereals for .50 cents to .75 cents per box period.  I never pay for shampoo, toothpaste, razors, body wash, deodorant etc.  It's all free if you are smart with coupons and or rebates along with store sales.  It is very easy to do.

Just because you want something, it may not be something that you really need now or ever.  You have to exercise self discipline.

I have learned to live with less heat and air conditioning.  I do not always have to be 100% perfectly comfortable.
I just put on another layer, or use fans.  So many times in the winter, some homes are so hot and stuffy, yet they are paying alot for heat.

I cut way down on my cable bill.  I rarely watched all those channels anyway.  Why pay for them. 

Part of the problem is that we always want more and more and better and better.  When does it stop?  Cutting back on things is just a matter of changing some habits. (many for the better)

[southernhorizons]

I make a budget, writing down weekly expenses for everything from the most important to the least. Right from the start I always set aside a certain amount to put into a savings account, so this money is already accounted for and can't be allocated for anything else. Then I look at what I am spending and how much, and figure out whether there is a cheaper way to go or what is unnecessary. Also, if for example I set aside 50.00 for gas and I only use 40, i still keep that money in the gas folder. So sometimes I get quite a big buildup in some of the other folders, which I then put into my savings account to boost that. Or you can use that for impulse purchases, so it won't come out of your savings or other necessary folders.

[Ariost]

I have a separate bank account with an online bank. It helps since I know that if I want the money in that account, I'd have to wait a handful of days before I could even access the money, and then a couple more business days until it transfers to my primary account. That's usually enough to get me to thinking if the item(s) I want are worth the wait.


They usually aren't. Heh.

[abeyta87]

Wow. i agree with what everyone else. Make a list of all your financial obligations  if there is something on there you don't really need cut it from your budget that will leave some extra money. Once you cut and trim your budget open a savings account and put all extra in there and when you do get an atm from the savings or make it where you have to physically go down and take it out so your not tempted if you get an atm card but it in water and freeze it then you will have to thaw it to get to it and you won't be tempted to pick at it and your money will start adding up. good luck