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Post by td on Feb 16, 2015 11:19:03 GMT -5
I've never made a thread before but I wanted a space to talk about finances, financial struggle, and savings goals.
Work and financial worry seem to dominate my life & the lives of most of my friends these days. I'm a 28 year old librarian & archivist assistant. Due to austerity cuts at the university where I work in 2013, my hours were cut from 40/hrs a week to 29/hrs a week. In 2014, I was told to brace for further cuts. I went back to a second job at a local cafe to prepare. When the cuts didn't come, I knocked out ~$5,000 in credit card debt in 6 months! Now I'm diligently trying to save money so that I can feel more secure and maybe travel, buy a nice bike, a used car, and/or put down a down payment on a house. As I inch toward 30, I'm increasingly concerned about money and financial security but also feeling more lost & clueless by the day about what direction I want to take my life.
Regardless, saving for the next steps in life seems to be of the utmost importance. I felt like I did really well with knocking out my credit card debt, fueled by a motivation to reach a goal. My idea is to set other goals & use this thread to talk with other folks setting goals to offer each other advice & encouragement in what is often a difficult & discouraging effort: saving money.
Right now, I have $2,900 saved.
I work 29 hrs / week at a $10 / hr library job. I take home ~$400 every two weeks.
I work 17-30hrs / week at a $6 / hr cafe job. Tips bump me to $7-$10 / hr, depending. I'm taking home a ~$200 - $250 pay check every other week plus a little cash in my pocket at the end of every shift.
I make $35 / week walking a dog plus additional sporadic income from other dog / cat / house sitting engagements.
I pay $300 / month rent. I pay $25 / month for health care. These are my only fixed expenses. After rent, I spend most of my money on food, entertainment, and going out.
My goal: By April 1st, I want to have at least $4,400 in the bank.
That means saving $1,500 over 3 pay periods.
What is your goal?
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Finances
Feb 16, 2015 17:15:24 GMT -5
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Post by Bryan on Feb 16, 2015 17:15:24 GMT -5
I need to sit down and really plan out my finances. Right now I have like $900 in my bank account which is a lot for me cause before I started working I was at like $50 to $100 lol. But I need to work on spending less in order to save up more. Also I do have a savings account that I need to start putting more money in. Basically I need to get my life together lol. But I wish I could find a place with $300 rent. I could afford that probably if I took on more hours at work. But it seems like every place that's in the area I need to live in is $450+
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Finances
Feb 16, 2015 17:30:34 GMT -5
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Post by JC on Feb 16, 2015 17:30:34 GMT -5
But I wish I could find a place with $300 rent. I could afford that probably if I took on more hours at work. But it seems like every place that's in the area I need to live in is $450+ Right? I pay $625 a month :/
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Finances
Feb 16, 2015 22:54:42 GMT -5
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Post by Jgrubl on Feb 16, 2015 22:54:42 GMT -5
I have around $7000 in the bank but am constantly concerned about spending money (idk why). I try not to spend it it pointless stuff. I pay $350 a month for rent, $280 car payment, $150 other bills, along with groceries, gas, etc. I make roughly $1700-$1800 a month
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 22:56:19 GMT -5
I have around $7000 in the bank but am constantly concerned about spending money (idk why). I try not to spend it it pointless stuff. I pay $350 a month for rent, $280 car payment, $150 other bills, along with groceries, gas, etc. I make roughly $1700-$1800 a month Help a Brotha out, I need about tree fiddy
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Finances
Feb 16, 2015 22:57:58 GMT -5
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Post by Joey on Feb 16, 2015 22:57:58 GMT -5
I'll put it this way, ten years ago we had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Well now I can confirm to you, I have no job, no hope and no cash. I'd end this with an LOL but it's actually quite sad.
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Post by td on Feb 16, 2015 23:30:59 GMT -5
I need to sit down and really plan out my finances. Right now I have like $900 in my bank account which is a lot for me cause before I started working I was at like $50 to $100 lol. But I need to work on spending less in order to save up more. Also I do have a savings account that I need to start putting more money in. Basically I need to get my life together lol. But I wish I could find a place with $300 rent. I could afford that probably if I took on more hours at work. But it seems like every place that's in the area I need to live in is $450+ Bryan, I totally understand. Before getting serious about paying off my credit cards & saving, I was living pay check to pay check. I usually had $30 - $50 after expenses to get through a week. Last August, I moved out of a house that I loved in order to reduce my rent & live in a room at my friend's house and save money. I actually recently got offered a $200 basement apartment in a co-worker's house but its...rough. I decided to stay here at least for now but its good to know that its a fall back option. I just opened a savings account today! I moved $2,000 into it. Even though it only earns .01% interest, its still something and this means that the money won't be spent which is the main objective. Bryan, you don't have to answer these questions here if you don't want to share publicly but generally, I would ask these quesitons: What's your finances break down? How much net income do you earn each month? What fixed expenses do you have? What can you cut? How much would you need to save to cover your fixed, necessary expenses for 3 months, 6 months, 12 months? The way I'm thinking about it right now is setting savings goals by specific dates. How much would you want to add to your savings account by April 1st?
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Post by td on Feb 16, 2015 23:34:53 GMT -5
I have around $7000 in the bank but am constantly concerned about spending money (idk why). I try not to spend it it pointless stuff. I pay $350 a month for rent, $280 car payment, $150 other bills, along with groceries, gas, etc. I make roughly $1700-$1800 a month That's really good! You have more than enough to cover 6 months of those expenses that you listed and you're not far behind from having enough to cover a whole year! And yeah, not spending on pointless stuff is important. Being able to evaluate & determine what is necessary and what isn't is the trick. Seems like you're in a pretty good spot!
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Post by td on Feb 16, 2015 23:50:10 GMT -5
But I wish I could find a place with $300 rent. I could afford that probably if I took on more hours at work. But it seems like every place that's in the area I need to live in is $450+ Right? I pay $625 a month :/ That's rough Do you live alone or have housemates? I want to try to work toward my own apartment or maybe even a house but for now I find that the easiest way to save on housing is to share space with a number of roommates. Three of us here plus my friend's boyfriend who basically lives here (has a key, is constantly in the kitchen, sleeps here every night) but maintains his own shared house, too. Come August, he's officially moving in so there will be four of us. At my old house, there were five of us. Full houses can be challenging but it keeps the rent low!
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Post by JC on Feb 16, 2015 23:51:35 GMT -5
Right? I pay $625 a month :/ That's rough Do you live alone or have housemates? I want to try to work toward my own apartment or maybe even a house but for now I find that the easiest way to save on housing is to share space with a number of roommates. Three of us here plus my friend's boyfriend who basically lives here (has a key, is constantly in the kitchen, sleeps here every night) but maintains his own shared house, too. Come August, he's officially moving in so there will be four of us. At my old house, there were five of us. Full houses can be challenging but it keeps the rent low! There's four of us but we all pay $625 and that's just rent. They get away with charging this much cause it's right off of my college campus, students are gonna have to pay it regardless. It's crazy.
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Post by td on Feb 16, 2015 23:59:20 GMT -5
That's rough Do you live alone or have housemates? I want to try to work toward my own apartment or maybe even a house but for now I find that the easiest way to save on housing is to share space with a number of roommates. Three of us here plus my friend's boyfriend who basically lives here (has a key, is constantly in the kitchen, sleeps here every night) but maintains his own shared house, too. Come August, he's officially moving in so there will be four of us. At my old house, there were five of us. Full houses can be challenging but it keeps the rent low! There's four of us but we all pay $625 and that's just rent. They get away with charging this much cause it's right off of my college campus, students are gonna have to pay it regardless. It's crazy. Dang! Yeah, I live in a college town, too. This house is right down town but its got a lot of issues so that keeps it cheap. Landlords in a college town can get away with murder.
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Finances
Feb 17, 2015 8:58:55 GMT -5
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Post by Jgrubl on Feb 17, 2015 8:58:55 GMT -5
I have around $7000 in the bank but am constantly concerned about spending money (idk why). I try not to spend it it pointless stuff. I pay $350 a month for rent, $280 car payment, $150 other bills, along with groceries, gas, etc. I make roughly $1700-$1800 a month That's really good! You have more than enough to cover 6 months of those expenses that you listed and you're not far behind from having enough to cover a whole year! And yeah, not spending on pointless stuff is important. Being able to evaluate & determine what is necessary and what isn't is the trick. Seems like you're in a pretty good spot! Yea that's the hard part. I would have more but just booked a vacation lol. I always try to at least save a few hundred a month. I need to move some of my money back into my savings account Cuz it's all in my checkings now.
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Post by td on Feb 17, 2015 9:07:55 GMT -5
That's really good! You have more than enough to cover 6 months of those expenses that you listed and you're not far behind from having enough to cover a whole year! And yeah, not spending on pointless stuff is important. Being able to evaluate & determine what is necessary and what isn't is the trick. Seems like you're in a pretty good spot! Yea that's the hard part. I would have more but just booked a vacation lol. I always try to at least save a few hundred a month. I need to move some of my money back into my savings account Cuz it's all in my checkings now. Its important to budget for things like vacation, too. I want to be able to do that at some point. I had been hoping to take a bike trip this summer but now I'm worried that I'm just getting started with saving and it might be detrimental to take time off & spend so much when I'm just gaining my footing. Gotta have something to work toward & look forward to, though. Yeah, savings accounts seem to make a lot of sense. My Chase account only has a .01% interest rate and I know that there are better rates at other banks but I don't know if I trust those online banks: www.forbes.com/sites/robertberger/2014/06/18/where-to-find-the-best-savings-account-rates-the-answer-may-surprise-you/
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Post by Dewie890 on Feb 17, 2015 9:34:40 GMT -5
I have around $7000 in the bank but am constantly concerned about spending money (idk why). I try not to spend it it pointless stuff. I pay $350 a month for rent, $280 car payment, $150 other bills, along with groceries, gas, etc. I make roughly $1700-$1800 a month Is that what you net a month after your bills and taxes?
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Finances
Feb 17, 2015 10:35:46 GMT -5
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Post by Jgrubl on Feb 17, 2015 10:35:46 GMT -5
I have around $7000 in the bank but am constantly concerned about spending money (idk why). I try not to spend it it pointless stuff. I pay $350 a month for rent, $280 car payment, $150 other bills, along with groceries, gas, etc. I make roughly $1700-$1800 a month Is that what you net a month after your bills and taxes? No I wish lol. I bet around 400-600 depending on what I purchase that's unnecessary during a month
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Post by td on Feb 17, 2015 11:22:41 GMT -5
Has anyone here ever put money in to a Certificate of Deposit (CD)? If / when I reach my April 1st goal of having $4,400 on hand, I will have surpassed building a 12 month emergency fund ($325 fixed monthly expenses x 12 months = $3,900). I'm thinking at that point, it might make sense to take some portion of available funds and put them in a CD. Even if for just a short period of time to start out. Like maybe trying a low amount one month CD at a .02%, the lowest option offered by my bank. I've never done this before though and I'm curious if others have experience & advice that either affirms or counters the talking heads. apps.suzeorman.com/igsbase/igstemplate.cfm?SRC=MD012&SRCN=aoedetails&GnavID=84&SnavID=20&TnavID&AreasofExpertiseID=22
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 21:58:58 GMT -5
But I wish I could find a place with $300 rent. I could afford that probably if I took on more hours at work. But it seems like every place that's in the area I need to live in is $450+ Right? I pay $625 a month :/ Currently I pay $533 but next school year I will pay $416. Freelancing last summer looked good at the time but killed my taxes. I try to save around $150 a pay check for rent then the rest goes towards bills and rowing
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Post by td on Feb 19, 2015 8:29:37 GMT -5
Just spent $40 on new glasses because I broke my regular pair on accident. An unexpected expense like this so early on makes me nervous about reaching the goal by April 1st. My margin for error / extra spending is *tight*. I just feel so behind in building a secure life for myself. I'm trying to save aggressively to catch up to where I feel should be by this point in my life. Its just hard.
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Post by td on Feb 19, 2015 9:05:06 GMT -5
I've been reading a lot of financial advice columns lately and one idea repeated on a few is to live on half of your income, save the rest.
I just got my W2s from last year. ~$16,000 total which is waaaay more than I've made in the past. I think I could live on $8,000 earned income but it will be much more comfortable boosted by cash tips from the cafe & dog / cat / house sitting money.
That means I can spend ~$666 / month ($8,000 / 12 = the Devil's money). $666 - $325 rent & health care = $341 / month discretionary spending plus any added income from tips & odd jobs. Doesn't sound so bad.
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Post by td on Feb 19, 2015 11:46:58 GMT -5
Me at the end of the year:
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