Why is saving money so hard?

[Red Squirrel]

I find the easiest way to save money is to have an automatic transaction every pay that puts money into another account. That way you just see it like another bill that comes out. Still requires some discipline though as nothing stops you from going into that other account anyway. I have one to buy RRSPs which TBH I only do for tax purposes (I end up paying taxes at end of year if I don't buy any), and one to simply transfer to my TFSA account, which I can take out of any time I want, but I don't. I try to manually put money into the TFSA as well. I consider that my emergency fund. I only have like 3k in it though, I started this maybe like a year ago. Governments these days seem to only do negative things, but recently they broke that trend and increased the TFSA contribution limit from 5k to 10k per year, so that's pretty nice. I was not putting more than 5k per year anyway but it's still good to know I can put more. I heard rumors we're getting a HUGE raise, if that's really the case all the extra money will probably go into savings.

I make really good money and I don't really have an excuse to not have more money into savings, but I tend to spend a lot on hobby stuff. I have a bad tendency of going on spending frenzies, where I don't think twice before clicking "check out" on online sites. Recently bought a weight bench but could not find a barebell locally so bought online. With shipping it came up to like $600 for just the barebell and the weight bench was about $350. That's a lot of money spent just like that. Not that long ago I also spent like $400 bucks at Digikey as I'm learning electronics as a side hobby (that has gotten expensive, and I'm not really that much into it yet!). I have to stop spending so much though.

I need a new patio door and front picture window too, that's going to be a lot of money. I really should save up for that.

 

[JackBurton]

I stopped reading there, because it became clear you are not to be trusted.

lol

 

[ponyo]

Make more money. If you can make money faster than you can spend, you'll automatically save money. You won't even have to balance a checkbook.

 

[master_shake_]

Wow... children are cheaper than I thought.

Hopefully, it was $1,400 for a new son......

 

[MongGrel]

Make more money. If you can make money faster than you can spend, you'll automatically save money. You won't even have to balance a checkbook.

Problem solved.

 

[Engineer]

Make more money. If you can make money faster than you can spend, you'll automatically save money. You won't even have to balance a checkbook.

Haven't balanced my checkbook in over 10 years.

 

[brianmanahan]

Haven't balanced my checkbook in over 10 years.

that's crazy talk

i know if i stop balancing mine i'll get ripped off

 

[Engineer]

that's crazy talk

i know if i stop balancing mine i'll get ripped off

That's what online banking is for.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

that's crazy talk

i know if i stop balancing mine i'll get ripped off

In the 21st Century we have computers that manage finances for us. I've never even bothered to learn how to balance a checkbook because its a useless skill.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm not even sure exactly what balancing a checkbook involves or really means, I've never had to do it. I heard about it but did not figure it was still something people did. I just login to my bank every couple days to see what things came out and make sure nothing weird is happening, and when I get paid I check to see how much went in (I work shifts so it's not always the same) and if I have anything on my credit card I also pay it off at that time. If there's not enough money in the account to buy something, then I don't buy it. I put a lot of stuff on my credit card but I pay it off each month.

 

[Engineer]

I'm not even sure exactly what balancing a checkbook involves or really means, I've never had to do it. I heard about it but did not figure it was still something people did. I just login to my bank every couple days to see what things came out and make sure nothing weird is happening, and when I get paid I check to see how much went in (I work shifts so it's not always the same) and if I have anything on my credit card I also pay it off at that time. If there's not enough money in the account to buy something, then I don't buy it. I put a lot of stuff on my credit card but I pay it off each month.

Before online banking and all of this computer stuff, people had to log their checks and debits manually into the checkbook register. You would receive a statement once a month and you would then go through all of your transactions vs theirs and make sure that once the differences (checks that hadn't cleared yet, etc.) were accounted for, the two amounts were the same. I have found mistakes from several checks over the years (incorrectly taken out the wrong amount) but more than likely, I forgot to book something that caused me to have less than I really had. Now, I just charge it all on the credit card (monitor it often) and pay it off at the end of the month. Rarely write checks any more. No need.

 

[Jumpem]

Before online banking and all of this computer stuff, people had to log their checks and debits manually into the checkbook register. You would receive a statement once a month and you would then go through all of your transactions vs theirs and make sure that once the differences (checks that hadn't cleared yet, etc.) were accounted for, the two amounts were the same. I have found mistakes from several checks over the years (incorrectly taken out the wrong amount) but more than likely, I forgot to book something that caused me to have less than I really had. Now, I just charge it all on the credit card (monitor it often) and pay it off at the end of the month. Rarely write checks any more. No need.

I still do this routinely using Excel. Online banking often lags what has actually been spent. I usually have a check for day care, a handful of bills paid online, and several debit transactions outstanding. The balance shown on my bank's website is incorrect more often than not.

 

[Engineer]

I still do this routinely using Excel. Online banking often lags what has actually been spent. I usually have a check for day care, a handful of bills paid online, and several debit transactions outstanding. The balance shown on my bank's website is incorrect more often than not.

I have even got past that point. I log my checks and that's it. No debits (I don't use the debit card for anything other that about once a year for an ATM withdraw). I just keep enough in there to cover everything and then about another month's worth on top of that (unless I know something like college tuition is coming up). If, on the rare occasion I need more, I do an online transfer between bank accounts (another savings bank with better rates).

 

[Fox5]

Step 1: Never eat out. Not even fast food. You can do it cheaper and healthier on your own.

Step 2: Since you're eating healthy, you'll be healthier. Combined with exercise, you should need far fewer doctor visits. Thus, choose cheaper insurance.

Step 3: Don't buy things. Seriously, you don't need them. Do you really need more than a couple pairs of jeans, a week or two worth of undergarments, a single suit, and a few nice shirts? You should be able to fit everything you need to live in a suit case.

Step 4: Really, don't buy things. Like watching movies? Plenty of free stuff online. Like playing games? Make sure to beat the old ones first. Take up free hobbies, like playing outside.

Step 5: Don't listen to me, I'm horrible about saving money.

 

[TheGardener]

Forget about saving money. Think big. Marry it! Already married? Upgrade.

John Kerry did it. Dumped a wealthy wife for an even wealthier wife. Made him the richest man in the Senate. (She got her money by being a golddigger to the Heinz fortune.) Gave him enough money to run for POTUS. Of course he failed. But that had nothing to do with money. He's limited to being street smart as a gigolo.

 

[Engineer]

Step 5: Don't listen to me, I'm horrible about saving money.

In reality, my wife is....er.....I am too!

I could save at least 10% of our gross income just by cutting back on the crap if I would just do it. I'm not talking about cutting back everything in life that's fun...just useless crap that we just don't need and ends up on a shelf with no purpose other than the eventual landfill.

The hot deals forum and sites like SlickDeals might have something to do with this....eh VirtualLarry?

 

[brianmanahan]

In the 21st Century we have computers that manage finances for us. I've never even bothered to learn how to balance a checkbook because its a useless skill.

not totally, it keeps me quick at addition and subtraction

 

[stlc8tr]

That's what online banking is for.

Maybe we have different definitions of what "balancing a checkbook" is but what good is online banking if you don't balance your checkbook?

 

[JackBurton]

Maybe we have different definitions of what "balancing a checkbook" is but what good is online banking if you don't balance your checkbook?

1st, you quit writing checks. 2nd, you use a bank card instead of checks. 3rd, let online banking balance your account.

 

[Engineer]

1st, you quit writing checks. 2nd, you use a bank card instead of checks. 3rd, let online banking balance your account.

This (especially 1st item). Balancing my checkbook at this time of life is not needed.

 

[brianmanahan]

just decided to do a staycation this fall instead of visiting england

boom, saved 2000$ or more!

 

[kranky]

One caveat to letting online banking serve as a account balancing tool - if you make a deposit that for whatever reason doesn't show up in your account, there's nothing in the online transaction log to alert you to a problem. You'd have to notice the absence of the deposit.

 

[Engineer]

One caveat to letting online banking serve as a account balancing tool - if you make a deposit that for whatever reason doesn't show up in your account, there's nothing in the online transaction log to alert you to a problem. You'd have to notice the absence of the deposit.

I had this happen once. Did a smartphone deposit that didn't show up. I called and they had no record of it and told me to manually deposit the check. I did and two days later, the smartphone deposit showed up (double deposit). I called them and they took care of it.

I always keep my deposited items until I've verified them and then shred them (about two months after verification). I generally check my online account about once a day. Same with my primary credit card account.

 

[DrPizza]

How to save money:

Just yesterday, I was showing my son my new pneumatic framing nailer. "What'd you and mom do? Win the lottery?" "Yep. You and your brother got jobs and moved out. Same thing as winning the lottery." Granted, we're not saving as much as we could right now - we're in the middle of some major remodeling work. But, we're still saving money.

 

[stlc8tr]

1st, you quit writing checks. 2nd, you use a bank card instead of checks. 3rd, let online banking balance your account.

Ah. Yeah, I don't write a lot of checks but there are a few places that wants checks (or charge a processing fee for credit cards) so I keep my checkbook around for those. I balance using Quicken so it's not that big of a deal.