Supportive Saving

[g8ergal83]

I need some support for saving money. i paid all my bills and am trying to save $1000 a month to pay for a wedding, honeymoon, emergencies, etc. I make about 2500-3000 a month so saving that amount is feasible, but now that its the holidays its almost closer to 2000-2500 because of all the days off from christmas and thanksgiving, etc, and not working saturdays. anyway, i just paid all my bills the other day and dont get paid again until next wednesday and i've got $150, instead of 2,150. (i transferred the 2000 into savings on the same day just to be sure i saved it) and now i really want to go buy stuff, like early christmas presents, etc. i should go to shoppers annonymous. lol i guess i just need some support. i've saved $2000 already right? whats another $2000? i feel like an idiot!

[AshleyJordan]

That's a huge amount to save a month-- about a third of your income! Congrats. What I do is schedule automatic transfers from checking to separate savings account with no ATM card. . . it's also a good idea to make it a high-interest, online account.

[jrwilheim]

How are you saving that much? When I was working, I made $2200 or so a month and could save, between my IRA and my emergency fund, all of $300 or so.

[Nelzie]

wow, there is no way I could save that much! I earn about 2000 to 2200 a month and can only save $200, and actually this year I might have to put some of that toward Christmas presents.

[wordsmith]

Yeah, I can seriously save a couple hundred a month, and typically do end up using that at Christmastime.

[SmilesSoSweet]

You've already mentioned that you're saving so much so that you can afford to pay for a wedding and stuff.

Is their any way you can save a little less for the next couple of months and use that money toward Christmas gifts?

I'd probably write a list of who I'm giving gifts to and what I'm getting them so that you can set you spending limit on the gifts and not go over budget. Then after the holidays are done, you can go back to saving what you usually save.

[yankeeyosh]

I assume she means post-tax...net of benefits too. So $2,500 to $3,000 a month would be in the ballpark of $45-50,000 a year (even though Fla. has no state income tax). Depending where you are in Fla., that's a hell of a lot of money...I was doing fine on $17-18K there as a grad student. So I don't think it's that hard to save $1,000 a month.

[CTGirl]

Good for you! There's absolutely no way I could save nearly that much each month!

[sondra_finchley]

Is that $2000 in a savings account accessible though through your bank cards? I used ING so i KNEW I couldnt count on that money being around- really worked! If its too tempting for you to still access it, then move it to something like ING. Otherwise well- can you buy all your christmas gifts on $500? Then you only have one month of $1500 savings and can go back to the $2000 again right away.

[MollyMe]

I used to just put all extra money into my savings account. Now I have specific savings goals every month. It works out better. It is best to make realistic, specific saving goals for me.
I have two seperate savings accounts at my bank. One for long term savings and one for short term. I want to save X per month for a new car in a few years, X for a house downpayment, etc. That type of stuff goes into long term savings. I have a projection in Excel of how much money I will have in the future in this account. I also put more money into my short term savings account for things like vacations, gifts, misc. Anything that I plan to spend in a year or so and is not put towards a specific goal. The money in the checking account covers bills; anything extra goes to short term savings. I don't take money out of the long term savings account.

[arrow]

I don't know if you're reading these replies anymore, but I wanted to let you know it's possible. Seriously. You just have to be very conservative with your cash... food is a big expense so do all that bringing lunch to work stuff, eat at home, don't drink much at the bar. I always split meals with my bf when we go out and that helps. Get into the habit of not buying things. Think of it as being less materialistic and that makes it easier... you can focus on other areas of your life instead.
Of course I'm extremely stingy almost to a fault, so be careful that you don't become like me and give yourself an ulcer every time you have to buy anything that's $30 or more.
But I live in nyc and I save almost 1000 a month with a bi-weekly paycheck of around but less than 1200. It is possible. And no, my boyfriend doesn't support me. We split everything 50/50 (although he makes like 3x more than I do)

[vxmike]

I don't know if you're reading these replies anymore, but I wanted to let you know it's possible. Seriously. You just have to be very conservative with your cash... food is a big expense so do all that bringing lunch to work stuff, eat at home, don't drink much at the bar. I always split meals with my bf when we go out and that helps. Get into the habit of not buying things. Think of it as being less materialistic and that makes it easier... you can focus on other areas of your life instead.
Of course I'm extremely stingy almost to a fault, so be careful that you don't become like me and give yourself an ulcer every time you have to buy anything that's $30 or more.
But I live in nyc and I save almost 1000 a month with a bi-weekly paycheck of around but less than 1200. It is possible. And no, my boyfriend doesn't support me. We split everything 50/50 (although he makes like 3x more than I do)

This is true. Living expenses can vary tremendously. For example my total monthly cost is only $600. I save about $5,000 per month...

[PenforPrez]

I don't know if you're reading these replies anymore, but I wanted to let you know it's possible. Seriously. You just have to be very conservative with your cash... food is a big expense so do all that bringing lunch to work stuff, eat at home, don't drink much at the bar. I always split meals with my bf when we go out and that helps. Get into the habit of not buying things. Think of it as being less materialistic and that makes it easier... you can focus on other areas of your life instead.

I can't save. I make $800/month after taxes. I very rarely buy anything extra for myself, I pay my bills on time, when I can't afford to go to my therapist I don't, and I go out once or twice a week to get away from my parents. That's not a luxury anymore in my situation; I HAVE to do that. But there's *nothing* left after all that. I'm worried about being my age and not having a dime to my name.

Paul

[pisces2473]

I can't save. I make $800/month after taxes. I very rarely buy anything extra for myself, I pay my bills on time, when I can't afford to go to my therapist I don't, and I go out once or twice a week to get away from my parents. That's not a luxury anymore in my situation; I HAVE to do that. But there's *nothing* left after all that. I'm worried about being my age and not having a dime to my name.

Paul
Paul, you know damned well from the posts on these boards that you are not alone. It'll all work out in the end.

[PenforPrez]

Paul, you know damned well from the posts on these boards that you are not alone. It'll all work out in the end.

I'm just really sweating it right now. I don't know why, either.

[pisces2473]

Every now and again, I'll start to sweat it, too. Most of the time I'm okay.

[PenforPrez]

Every now and again, I'll start to sweat it, too. Most of the time I'm okay.

You obviously haven't lived with my parents. ;) You'd sweat more often if you did. People ask me how I've done it this long, and I have no answer at all.

Paul