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Wednesday, December 13, 2006 12:13 PM

Help a Mindless Spender!

by Kristen

I've lived with my OH (other half) for about eight months now, and it's been pretty great! I'd be lying if I didn't say that one of the best perks (besides living with the man I love, of course) is that we're both saving money. Our living expenses have been close to cut in half (although I would have never normally splurged on the 200 channels of digital cable, but he's happy so I don't rock the boat).

Since we aren't engaged or planning to marry anytime soon, we don't have anything "official" to save for, like the down payment on a future home or a even a wedding. So it follows that this in-the-moment thinking leads us to splurge--a lot--especially on dinners and nights out.

These tips are great for married couples, but I'm looking for more of a short-term solution to incorporate into a lifelong change. Please send your suggestions for everyday saving my way. I've already cut buying my lunches at work, and OH has switched credit cards to one with a much lower rate--but we still need help. I'm gearing up to start a Couples Road Test; for The Nest about a better way to save and need your suggestions. TIA!

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Comments

re: Help a Mindless Spender!

When making a budget, the most important thing that we've found is to pay yourself first. Take out whatever amount that you want to save per paycheck FIRST, before you spend another dime, and put it into a better interest-yielding account like a moneymarket fund. We save $250 per pay period, so $500/month. You definitely don't have to do that much (we're trying to save for a house right now), but even if you do $100/paycheck, if you get paid bimonthly you will have $2400 at the end of the year. Money-market accounts also yield a higher interest per month than a regular savings account (ours is 4% vs. 1%), but you can't touch your money as easily. We have a cap on how many times per month we can draw money from the fund so it's the perfect way to "hide" money from yourself. The nice thing is that after doing this for a while now we're earning nearly $150/month just for having the fund, letting us save the money we put in there and give ourselves an allowance using the interest to go out for special dates throughout the month or supplement our savings for that month.

Posted by Prairiedog729    Wednesday, December 13, 2006 4:55 PM


re: Help a Mindless Spender!

The best advice I can give you is to check out www.savindadvice.com. No, I'm not trying advertise for the site or anything. I just can't possibly tell you everything I have learned from the guys and girls over there. They are the ultimate penny pinchers!

Posted by eisor    Thursday, December 21, 2006 11:30 PM


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