Six Excuses for Not Saving Money

[SmilesSoSweet]

I found this article interesting.

link (http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/061009/19664.html?.v=1)

I try my best to put money into my savings accounts first, then paying off other things. I do have money automatically taken from my checking account that is then transferred to my savings. It's the only way I know I'm saving money!

[wordsmith]

I really don't earn enough money to significantly save right now. I do save, even though I can't really afford it, just not a really big amount. But it's what I can manage to do without. People can call bullshit, but I live on an amount many people couldn't live on, let alone save.

[WorkInProgress]

I read a similar article on MSN Money earlier this week/late last week.

Generally speaking, I think they're right, although not always.

On the up side, I got my statement for my 401(k) today, so I'm not feeling quite as poor as I've been feeling lately. And I'm kinda looking forward to retirement.

[yankeeyosh]

My excuse is that my rent is embarrassingly high. I was able to save more when I was making $26k than I am now.

[capella]

I started saving 30 bucks a month automatically through my ING account. It's not much, but until I have more debt paid down it doesn't make sense to be saving money that I could use to get away from the Interest Hounds. I won't earn enough interest to combat the credit cards or car loan with my savings account so I pay off what I can and try to save a set amount each month. After I pay my property taxes (2K this year *shudders*) then I can kick that 30 up to 50 a month. :( I really don't make a lot of money though. Honest.

[Fashionista]

interesting article

i know i am not saving how i would like to simply because my CC debt is out of this world. most of it is from debt that had to be charged off when i was unable to get employment. nothing i can do about that now but pay them as quickly as possible and get them out of my hair.

[SpaceMonkey]

Right now I'm saving a little over 20% of my gross income. It feels good, but I'm definitely sacrificing in other areas to pull it off. Mostly in my living situation--living with two roommates and sleeping in the closet-sized room to save $200 on rent compared to my roommates.

[PenforPrez]

I can't save for the best possible reason: I don't make shit! :) I can either go to St. Louis to see my therapist once every week or so, or I can save it. The damn gas to go up there costs as much as I pay my therapist, but it's still half as much as if I could find a therapist here. :idea: And I consider it a good investment.

I don't need to make an excuse to justify not saving money. Can't save what you don't have. ;)

Paul

[29 forever]

I really don't earn enough money to significantly save right now. I do save, even though I can't really afford it, just not a really big amount. But it's what I can manage to do without. People can call bullshit, but I live on an amount many people couldn't live on, let alone save.

Agreed, I think #1 IS a legitimate excuse. What about people who make minimum wage? There's no way in hell anyone making that can save.

[PenforPrez]

Agreed, I think #1 IS a legitimate excuse. What about people who make minimum wage? There's no way in hell anyone making that can save.

They did a study last year, I think, about rents and minimum wage. The government says you should not pay more than 30% of your pay in rent. So they did average rents for every county in the U.S. and compared them to minimum wage laws, and found that there are only THREE counties in the United States where you could pay less than 30% in rent on minimum wage. Two were rural counties in northern Illinois and one was a rural county in north Florida somewhere. I'll have to find the link for that now.

Just thought of that when you mentioned minimum wage.

Paul

[wordsmith]

They did a study last year, I think, about rents and minimum wage. The government says you should not pay more than 30% of your pay in rent. So they did average rents for every county in the U.S. and compared them to minimum wage laws, and found that there are only THREE counties in the United States where you could pay less than 30% in rent on minimum wage. Two were rural counties in northern Illinois and one was a rural county in north Florida somewhere. I'll have to find the link for that now.

Just thought of that when you mentioned minimum wage.

Paul

Care to share the two rural counties in northern IL? I bet ya a quarter one of 'em's mine.

Also, I assume you're talking about non-subsidized housing.

[LaFille]

They did a study last year, I think, about rents and minimum wage. The government says you should not pay more than 30% of your pay in rent. So they did average rents for every county in the U.S. and compared them to minimum wage laws, and found that there are only THREE counties in the United States where you could pay less than 30% in rent on minimum wage. Two were rural counties in northern Illinois and one was a rural county in north Florida somewhere. I'll have to find the link for that now.

Just thought of that when you mentioned minimum wage.

Paul

do you know if that was before or after taxes?

upstate ny is very cheap to live in. i know that the pay is less here than in more metropolitan areas, but when i see the rents that my friends in nyc, boston, dc, etc., are paying, i really don't think the pay increase for living there is worth it.

[Empressallie]

I live in a high cost area (Boston) and I live downtown. I only make in the low 30's but I think i live really well. I spend about 45% of my take home income on rent, which is a lot. But there are other areas where i can save (no car).


I am from upstate NY and I totally think Boston is worth it in comparison. I love upstate, but in my mid 20's i want to be in the action! I would raise a family in Saratoga County someday.

I read the article and I think so many people struggle with identifying a need vs. a want. i grew up middle class so I am used to going without, while some of my friends who grew up more affluent have no idea how to tell themselves no. Its sort of annoying, esp when they complain about it!

[wordsmith]

I read the article and I think so many people struggle with identifying a need vs. a want. i grew up middle class so I am used to going without, while some of my friends who grew up more affluent have no idea how to tell themselves no. Its sort of annoying, esp when they complain about it!

Totally. Lack of identifying, the way I see it, too.

[CTGirl]

I read the article and I think so many people struggle with identifying a need vs. a want. i grew up middle class so I am used to going without, while some of my friends who grew up more affluent have no idea how to tell themselves no. Its sort of annoying, esp when they complain about it!

Ugh, I have a friend who's like that about money, and he drives me crazy. He'll try to get me to go out shopping with him or something, and I'll say "no, I can't, I have no money" and he'll keep trying to convince me, because to him in his rich-boy world, the phrase, "I have no money" means "I've only got 30K in the bank" :googly:

[PenforPrez]

Care to share the two rural counties in northern IL? I bet ya a quarter one of 'em's mine.

Also, I assume you're talking about non-subsidized housing.

Bet me a quarter?? Sure than won't break your piggy bank?? :huge:

I'm going to look for that article here in a moment; I don't remember the counties offhand, but I don't think it was yours.

Edit. Found it. Took me all of 2 minutes. Nope Words, it's not your county. I win a quarter!! :razz:

In only four of the nation's 3,066 counties could a full-time worker making the federal minimum wage afford a typical one-bedroom apartment, the coalition said. Three were in Illinois: Clay, Crawford and Wayne counties; the other was Washington County, Fla.

http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/42/7933

Paul

[yankeeyosh]

They did a study last year, I think, about rents and minimum wage. The government says you should not pay more than 30% of your pay in rent. So they did average rents for every county in the U.S. and compared them to minimum wage laws, and found that there are only THREE counties in the United States where you could pay less than 30% in rent on minimum wage. Two were rural counties in northern Illinois and one was a rural county in north Florida somewhere. I'll have to find the link for that now.

Paul

Let me guess...the north Florida county is Gadsden, Taylor or Levy?

[PenforPrez]

Let me guess...the north Florida county is Gadsden, Taylor or Levy?

Look up, I posted it. It was Washington County, FL, north of Panama City.

[yankeeyosh]

Look up, I posted it. It was Washington County, FL, north of Panama City.

Ah, OK...I've been there. It's not exactly Palm Beach.

[wordsmith]

Edit. Found it. Took me all of 2 minutes. Nope Words, it's not your county. I win a quarter!! :razz:

Nope, sorry. You win nothing. Clay, Crawford, and Wayne Counties are all in SOUTHERN Illinois, not northern...disqualified!

[PenforPrez]

Indian giver!! :p :huge:

[Fashionista]

They did a study last year, I think, about rents and minimum wage. The government says you should not pay more than 30% of your pay in rent. So they did average rents for every county in the U.S. and compared them to minimum wage laws, and found that there are only THREE counties in the United States where you could pay less than 30% in rent on minimum wage. Two were rural counties in northern Illinois and one was a rural county in north Florida somewhere. I'll have to find the link for that now.

Just thought of that when you mentioned minimum wage.

Paul
no suprise to me
i know my local paper did an article on the rising rents here in NY and the fact that in order to only spend 30% of your income on rent you need to make at least $30,000 a year and most people if they are lucky make $20-25,000 BEFORE taxes.

its a shame really. there are many times i worry that if i get laid off i will be in a heap of trouble because it is nearly impossible to land a job here that pays $10 an hour or more. its pathetic and really stressful . i remember times when 80% of my income was going to rent :sad:

[LaFille]

no suprise to me
i know my local paper did an article on the rising rents here in NY and the fact that in order to only spend 30% of your income on rent you need to make at least $30,000 a year and most people if they are lucky make $20-25,000 BEFORE taxes.

its a shame really. there are many times i worry that if i get laid off i will be in a heap of trouble because it is nearly impossible to land a job here that pays $10 an hour or more. its pathetic and really stressful . i remember times when 80% of my income was going to rent :sad:
wow, do you mean you live in new york city? because if you do, that's crazy...

a little more understandable if you live in upstate...

[jrwilheim]

They did a study last year, I think, about rents and minimum wage. The government says you should not pay more than 30% of your pay in rent. So they did average rents for every county in the U.S. and compared them to minimum wage laws, and found that there are only THREE counties in the United States where you could pay less than 30% in rent on minimum wage. Two were rural counties in northern Illinois and one was a rural county in north Florida somewhere. I'll have to find the link for that now.

Just thought of that when you mentioned minimum wage.

Paul

One problem with this method...it's looking at AVERAGE rents. I'm sure the average apartment rental is geared toward someone who isn't making minimum wage. It doesn't mean that there aren't places in the country where people making that little can afford to rent.

[wordsmith]

One problem with this method...it's looking at AVERAGE rents. I'm sure the average apartment rental is geared toward someone who isn't making minimum wage. It doesn't mean that there aren't places in the country where people making that little can afford to rent.

Like I said earlier, I'm guessing this doesn't take into account things like subsidized/low-income housing, housing projects, housing offered to eligible people on a sliding scale.

[Fashionista]

wow, do you mean you live in new york city? because if you do, that's crazy...

a little more understandable if you live in upstate...
no i live an hour and a half away from NYC in the mid hudson valley. the funny this is after i made this post i was standing in line somewhere and this girl was saying that where i work pays good because it pays $11.50/hr(but you put up with a lot of crap and you don't get anything but a check) and by the way the convo was going they were speaking like it was $30,000 a year you are making.

although there are jobs that pay over $10/hr they are impossible to get unless you fit into the strict mold of what the comp is looking for

[yankeeyosh]

Upstate NY is really one of only a few parts of the country that never got a boost from the boom economy of the last ten or so years.

[LaFille]

Upstate NY is really one of only a few parts of the country that never got a boost from the boom economy of the last ten or so years.
mmmm :neutral:

hey, at least we got snow!

[Fashionista]

Upstate NY is really one of only a few parts of the country that never got a boost from the boom economy of the last ten or so years.
your not lying-all the prices have went on but wages haven't which makes it hard for people to live. where i used to live they were charging $750-800 for a studio. i paid $550 for a small ROOM. some one bedrooms are listed at almost $1000. i know a whole lot of people were nearly in tears when they found out that section 8 could not take any new people until further notice cause the rent is too high for the average worker.

property taxes are out of this world too. i know a older correctional officer who actually has the tax people on his lawn EVERY year and raising his school taxes although the property has not changed at all. then come to find out his local school districts voted on a less expensive budget only to turn around and basically say that what was voted on no longer stands and then tacked on another $3million on the budget. where do they think this money is coming from? the community raised hell about the higher budget so they just decided to keep it no matter what was voted in.

then the interesting thing is that they are always building stores, tearing down wooded areas for strip malls, so know the deer have no place to go but on the highway, but the jobs aren't paying enough and affordable housing is nearly non existant. they are gonna run all the poor and middle class people out of here

[winneythepooh7]

your not lying-all the prices have went on but wages haven't which makes it hard for people to live. where i used to live they were charging $750-800 for a studio. i paid $550 for a small ROOM. some one bedrooms are listed at almost $1000. i know a whole lot of people were nearly in tears when they found out that section 8 could not take any new people until further notice cause the rent is too high for the average worker.

property taxes are out of this world too. i know a older correctional officer who actually has the tax people on his lawn EVERY year and raising his school taxes although the property has not changed at all. then come to find out his local school districts voted on a less expensive budget only to turn around and basically say that what was voted on no longer stands and then tacked on another $3million on the budget. where do they think this money is coming from? the community raised hell about the higher budget so they just decided to keep it no matter what was voted in.

then the interesting thing is that they are always building stores, tearing down wooded areas for strip malls, so know the deer have no place to go but on the highway, but the jobs aren't paying enough and affordable housing is nearly non existant. they are gonna run all the poor and middle class people out of here

My family lives in that area. I honestly don't know how families do it. It has turned into a total bedroom community, with a lot of people commuting to Westchester, Rockland and the city to work. But I honestly don't know how they afford the commute either. Gas and wear and tear on the car or the ridiculous cost of the bus or train, not to mention over 20 hours a week spent commuting is just ridiculous. My sister loves her job but still has to have a roommate to pay her rent. She drives a car that looks like it's going to literally fall apart at any minute. And her job also doesn't offer healthcare benefits. She pays for them on her own, and she has a serious health condition. This makes my mom completely crazy. She also has yet to be faced with paying taxes since she gets paid off the books (trying to save up for this at the end of the year right now)......she isn't collecting towards Social Security at this point in time either (although who knows if that will be around when we will need it!).

[Fashionista]

My family lives in that area. I honestly don't know how families do it. It has turned into a total bedroom community, with a lot of people commuting to Westchester, Rockland and the city to work. But I honestly don't know how they afford the commute either. Gas and wear and tear on the car or the ridiculous cost of the bus or train, not to mention over 20 hours a week spent commuting is just ridiculous. My sister loves her job but still has to have a roommate to pay her rent. She drives a car that looks like it's going to literally fall apart at any minute. And her job also doesn't offer healthcare benefits. She pays for them on her own, and she has a serious health condition. This makes my mom completely crazy. She also has yet to be faced with paying taxes since she gets paid off the books (trying to save up for this at the end of the year right now)......she isn't collecting towards Social Security at this point in time either (although who knows if that will be around when we will need it!).

I remember you saying something about your sister before. God bless her because I don't know how she does it. Granted I am not much better off but at least I don't have a serious health condition. At least she loves her job.

I have tried looking out of the area for work on and off for years and it seems like the positions don't exist or are so competitive that over qualified people are landing the jobs. My friend who lives in Queens, NY was trying to get me to apply for a job at her company but they are barely paying more than what I make now and the relocation would not be worth it. She forgets that she has a boyfriend that she lives with who makes good money and has a grandmother she can hit up for cash if she has problems. With me it is sink or swim and I have come close to drowning so I rather play it safe until i can get something solid.

[NewMrs.]

your not lying-all the prices have went on but wages haven't which makes it hard for people to live. where i used to live they were charging $750-800 for a studio. i paid $550 for a small ROOM. some one bedrooms are listed at almost $1000.


That's insane! Southwestern PA didn't benefit much from the economic boom of the late 90's either. However, prices here are much lower. My first full-time office job out of college paid about $10/hr. I started at $18,000 and when I quit 3.5 years later, I was making $22,600. However, the rent on my one-bedroom townhouse was $380. This was in a decent part of town, too. The only real problem was that the walls were paper-thin, so in the winter my bills for the electric heating were about $200 /mo. When I moved to Pittsburgh, I had a one-bedroom apartment in a complex in an okay part of town for about $550. I can't imagine paying $1,000 / mo on rent, especially on what I made a few years ago.

[ywt]

That's insane! Southwestern PA didn't benefit much from the economic boom of the late 90's either. However, prices here are much lower. My first full-time office job out of college paid about $10/hr. I started at $18,000 and when I quit 3.5 years later, I was making $22,600. However, the rent on my one-bedroom townhouse was $380. This was in a decent part of town, too. The only real problem was that the walls were paper-thin, so in the winter my bills for the electric heating were about $200 /mo. When I moved to Pittsburgh, I had a one-bedroom apartment in a complex in an okay part of town for about $550. I can't imagine paying $1,000 / mo on rent, especially on what I made a few years ago.

It does happen. I run $1200/month for a one bedroom here in coastal NJ, about 40 minutes outside NYC.

As for saving, the only way I can do it is to have money taken out of each paycheck and put into a separate account that I never touch. If I didn't do that, I'd never save a thing.

[yankeeyosh]

It does happen. I run $1200/month for a one bedroom here in coastal NJ, about 40 minutes outside NYC.

As for saving, the only way I can do it is to have money taken out of each paycheck and put into a separate account that I never touch. If I didn't do that, I'd never save a thing.

I pay $1,100 for a 1-BR just south of boston (although my commute is still 45 minutes to an hour each way). I can't save much outside my 401(k) (which is really low), and if I had severe student loan debt and/or a car payment and/or were still paying close to $4K for car insurance, it would be really tough to live with this rent.

Only four payments to go, though

[SunDevil]

"The way I think about saving is I call it spending money at the freedom store," says Bennett. "Just like you buy a product or buy a service, you buy freedom. And every time you put money into savings, you are a little more free than you were before."

I like that quote from thae article.

I am free from the banks that charge me high interest rates to lend me money.

I pay 18.9% in my after tax money towards rent.