Best ways to save money $
 

After reading a post about refinancing his Z, it got me to thinking about easy proven ways to save $ that we can pass on, to help others.

I was raised on the premis that if you can't pay for it at the end of the month you can't afford it!
There are always exceptions of course, mortgage, autos etc.
But in every circumstance you want to pay as little interest as possible!
That's why you pay off your credit card every month, 15 yr. home mortgage etc.
Interest paid gets you nothing, that said don't ever be afraid to say " I can't afford it now" you'll be a lot better off in the future, I promise.

What are your tips?

Don't be impulsive. If you really want something, give it a week or two and see if you still REALLY want it. Learned the hard way with this and spent a lot of money on things I hardly ever use.

Save and pay cash.

No car payments ever again.

Take advantage of 0% interest for a year credit card offers. Transfer some of the debt there to lower interest paid. Then cancel the credit card in a year.

If you have equity in a house, get a secured line of credit using house as security. This way you get lower interest. Use the credit line to pay off portions of the house and increase the limit every year as the equity increases. Eventually transferring all of the mortgage to the credit line. Credit lines are not front loaded for interest like mortgages, so you pay off your house sooner with less interest paid.

PS. This thread will get moved, as this is not Z related. :-)

Don't live in California.

idk man. if i didn't live in california i'd have twin turbo'd my Z already
15k that fast intentions wont see until i move :rofl2:

keep the highest deductible your auto financer will allow, and keep that much in reserve in savings in case you ever need it. Also, if you have a mortgage, go for a high deductible, and never make a house claim unless its catastrophic. One small claim on your homeowners insurance can make them drop you.

Also, I have a Sam's Club mastercard. It gives 5% back on gas, 3% on travel and dining and 1% on everything else. I use it for everything and pay on it about once a week so it doesn't get out of control. Keep a zero balance every month and last year they gave me about 1200 cash back.

I created a spreadsheet of all my routine expenses, such as car payments, mortgage, credit card payments, internet, electric, etc., so I know how much I have left. I then set up an allotment for a reasonable amount to a savings account (not to include retirement) so I have a somewhat fixed amount to play with every paycheck.

My wife and I recently returned to Germany from Guam so my monthly compensation went down about $1K. It's just how it is, we get paid based on rank, marital status, and location. The cost of living in Germany is simply less compared to Guam so we really have to be mindful of our expenses.

It all boils down to:
1) Don't waste money.
If you don't need it, don't buy it. Don't pay extra for a popular brand - if you have to impress people with your possessions, especially if it puts you in a bind, finance is not your problem. Wanting something is not the same as needing it.

2) Don't spend money you don't have.
Yes, you will more than likely have to borrow for a home and a car, but keep all other borrowing to a minimum. You may want to keep a low balance on a few accounts, but don't pay a lot of interest.

Quit smoking and drinking.

Find ways to save on the things you use most every day! It doesn't matter if it's toilet paper, gas, food, electricity! On of my biggest expensives is gas /got a cash back card.
My brother smokes/ got a machine .. Rolls his own.
Make your am coffee at home/ no Starbucks
Anytime u can use a coupon and get it on sale.... It's a double dip !!

Rember ... The Money is better in your pocket than someone eleses!
Once you get ahead of the debt curve life becomes sooooooo much easier!

when I was in the Navy, I would wait until I got to work to take my morning poop! saved $$ on toilet paper at home!

ROFLMAO That's one of the very few things I'll spend extra on. And you can't have too much of it in the pantry.

When you see the word Sale :eek:


Remember there's always a Sale going on 365 day's a year somewhere :tup:


-Clifford :tiphat:

I gave up drinking , women, Zs....WORST 15 MINUTES OF MY LIFE:eek:

Now that's funny:icon18:

Got to agree with that:icon23:
My old saying : when the sh-t hits the fan you'll need something to wipe it with:excited:

Agree with majority of what is said already. Another one for us was reducing how much we ate out. Not saying never go out, but it's amazing how a little for lunch, few drinks for happy hour, dinner here and there, add up over a month.

and eating out a lot.

Don't visit the "For Sale" section on this forum lol

:iagree:

OTOH, I encourage my wife to go at work because "There is nothing better than being paid to poop."

There is - to be paid to play sports (companies hockey team, playing during work hours).

When I was still working. We had a saying. You sh!t on company time, and sweat on your time.We also had guys who only showered on company time at the end of the shift. And wore company uniforms all the time. That's the only clothes they owned. :shakes head:

One more thing I'd like to add is don't buy sh!t just because it's on sale. What's the point in buying something cheap if there's no need for it? My wife is particularly bad with this, so we have stacks of notebooks when neither of us are currently in school; boxes of coloring books when we still don't have any children; mannequins (fawking mannequins!!!) when we don't have a clothing store. I'm not talking about the oddly attractive mannequins, but the creepy ones with one arm, missing head, etc.

As much of a pain it can be dealing with all the people, do your grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, and buy their brand whenever possible. Wal-Mart does not have any production facilities of their own, so everything with their store brand was made by someone else, likely in the same facility as a name brand product. For example, a few years ago there was a peanut butter recall for both Peter Pan and Great Value since they were both made in the same ConAgra facility.

As for avoiding the usual crowd at Wal-Mart, I usually go around 6:00 AM on Saturday to do the weekly grocery shopping. The store is well-stocked and there are few people to deal with.

I spend less when I don't see the money. So, I max out my 401K. Since it is tax deductible, it is like making 25% guaranteed return for the first year.

Not necessarily. If your interest rate is less than what you would get by investing the lump sum into something conservative, use the dealer's money.


You might be better served by keeping the card open and using it responsibly. Closing the card can ding your credit, especially if you've had it for a while.

This is true.

And I thought my girl bought some weird ****.. :confused:

No. Just keep the card for the offer period. Having several cards actuall lowers your ability to get credit, if you ever need it. The balance, even if you don't use it counts as debit against you.

Thanks guys, I (we) can only hope these common sense,& proven ways will help some brothers & sisters hold on to their cash!
As all of us realize, in life, it's way easier to spend $ than to save it.

It all depends. Closing a card isn't always a good thing.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Closing Credit Cards | My Money | US News

Maybe banks in Canada look at it differently vs the banks in US.

I had four or five cards at one time and when I went to purchase a real estate property, my bank said that all these cards I have limit the amount of loan I can get because they are considered a liability even if the balance on them is zero. They told me to close the cards I do not need to increase the loan amount. Which is kind of the opposite of what the link says.

That very well could be the difference. Here, it can ding you. It's a screwy system.

Another thing to watch out for. When something goes on sale. Like tires or what ever. Buy 3 and get the 4th one free. It ain't so. The month before, you could get all 4 tires for the same price as the 3 tires this month. They jack up the price of the tires to cover the cost of the free 4th tire. In the end, you pay the same price this month for 4 tires as last month for 4 tires. I worked for Goodyear a lonnnng time ago. I seen it done by other companies too. It's just not only tires.

That's why large purchases should never be an impulsive buy, but researched thoroughly, so that one knows when a deal is truly a deal.

Similar thing here when I went to buy a second place. I figure my good standing on my credit cards was a good thing. Closing, and consolidating (at low interest) turned out to be the way to go.

It's likely a weird Canada thing; not sure how it goes with our American friends to the south.

They give credit to anybody in the states. Thus the recent economical crisis. And none in Canada.

Sadly, that's pretty close to the truth. :rofl2:

It is kind of an interesting observation.

A bunch of my former coo-workers (me included), are trying to create an oil company and are looking for investors to put money in. Canadian lenders expect a return on all the companies they invest in, so they scrutinize everything much more thoroughly and will not give you money if they perceive any small risk, where as American investors fully expect that 75% of their investments will fail. they are looking for that 25% that wil make them big bucks. Much easier to find investment money in the States.