Saving money for the upcoming year

[spainy79]

Seen this floating around the ol' facebook and it got me wondering what I or anyone else could do with this money at the end of next year. Would you use it to buy Christmas presents with or buy yourself something nice? I think for the first couple weeks I would put all that money down at once and not mess with it again until a few weeks into it or start with the high amounts first then work down towards the smaller amounts. Good idea? Yes/No?

 

[hoosierdoc]

Dedicated budgets and savings plans are always a good idea. If you aren't debt free, take the excess and become debt free.

pay cash for everything and put loose change and all dollar bills in a jar. Deposit that monthly and you'll smoke this plan.

 

[heavyhitter1k]

Loose change jar. And wife and I take any $5's we get as change and save them with change jar. That adds up fast but u don't miss the $5 here and there either.

 

[Turf Doctor]

Seen this floating around the ol' facebook and it got me wondering what I or anyone else could do with this money at the end of next year. Would you use it to buy Christmas presents with or buy yourself something nice? I think for the first couple weeks I would put all that money down at once and not mess with it again until a few weeks into it or start with the high amounts first then work down towards the smaller amounts. Good idea? Yes/No?

As hoosierdoc said, a dedicated budget and plan. Pay cash for everything and put loose change and all dollar bills in a jar.

Your question, "Would you use it to buy Christmas presents with or buy yourself something nice?" With a budget and plan you could do both if you are not in debt.

I think if you do the "52 Week Money Challenge", start small and go big. If you start out big and go small, you may think it's only a few dollars I can stop contributing here.

People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan.

www.daveramsey.com

Dedicated budgets and savings plans are always a good idea. If you aren't debt free, take the excess and become debt free.

pay cash for everything and put loose change and all dollar bills in a jar. Deposit that monthly and you'll smoke this plan.

Great Advice..

 

[PistolBob]

If you smoke, stop smoking and drop $5 a day into your savings.

 

[JimboCX]

I personally use a credit card for all purchases and pay it off at the end of the month. You don't nickle and dime yourself when you have cash. You get an itemized list of purchases and it allows you to see what you do buy. You have to be disciplined though. I have not revolved a credit card payment in 20yrs. You have to make sure that the current credit card is paid off though. I think if you see what you nickle and dime yourself on, you will cut those out. The best way to save is "save first" and spend what you have left over. Pay yourself.

 

[dangar]

Wife and I did this in 2013, and it obviously adds up. If you're disciplined about the weekly transfer, you get to the point where you don't notice the "missing" money from your checking. My dilemma now is do I start over in 2014, maintain at the December level, or keep bumping it up each week. With holiday bills, I'm tempted to start again from scratch.

 

[dangar]

We do the same thing, Jimbo. Plus, we earn points (cash) on our card. If you're using the same card for all purchases, auto-bill pays for utilities, etc. (and paying off at end of each month), those rewards points also add up quickly. But if you're not paying off monthly, those rewards aren't going to offset the interest charges.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

What in your financial situation is going to change so drastically in a year that you can only save $10 in January but can save $202 in December?

 

[spainy79]

If you smoke, stop smoking and drop $5 a day into your savings.

Been thinking about this for awhile. I figured up my rate at a carton every 10 days (basically a pack a day) and my usual cost is $58 and some change for that carton. If I just round it up to $60 (to make it easier) then I save $180 a month and at the end of the year I'll have $2160.

It's funny that some others mentioned a change jar. Recently at work they removed the majority of the vending machines that take actual money. It's now done by scanning the item you want at a separate machine that stores your account info and by scanning your thumbprint it deducts money that way. This has been in place since the beginning of December and all my loose change from other cash purchases is really starting to pile up. Before all the change would be used to buy my Mt. Dew at work for the day. I just went and checked my dresser and there's $16.10 in change that's built up over the last month. As for pennies I have a bank that I've had for a very long time and all of the pennies make their way to this bank. The last time I cashed it in I got somewhere close to $58.

 

[Turf Doctor]

What in your financial situation is going to change so drastically in a year that you can only save $10 in January but can save $202 in December?

I don't know that anything would change drastically. However, when the savings start low for somebody that is not used to saving, they can see the small amounts adding up making it more rewarding as they move forward.

 

[Gadgetmonster]

I have done the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class ... possibly the best basic financial education money can buy. Snowballing bills and other guidance really works. No Hocus Pocus.

As far as budgeting I upgraded a few years after Dave's class to Quicken. It is a bit daunting at first categorizing everything you think you will spend and then dropping every dollar spent in a category, but it really enlightens a family as to where the money goes. I use my debit card for almost all purchases and that allows a direct download from the bank into Quicken so I have to enter almost nothing. It categorizes automatically. The knowledge it gives you helps keep you from over spending. Today is a great time to start this. I just revamped my entire 2014 budget last night. Not hard.

Then when you do have some funds to save I agree with Dave's advice... invest in only two areas. Real estate and mutual funds. Period. Long term investments only, no get rich quick schemes.