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so this is the first month when my dh and i have decided to put money away. we have four saving goals: House down payment, wedding in august, car fund (for when ours dies), and emergency fund. this pay period we will be able to put $25 in each of the funds! also we have decided that if we have extra from what we've alloted for gas/ food/ spending etc, it will go into our fun fund...i'm also ghostwriting a story for my mom on the side, and it pays 75$ a month... i am going to forget about that money and put it into an rsp... it's not alot, but it's a start.
my mom is extremely frugal, and has managed to save about 100,000 in the last 10 years since leaving my dad. she is my role model, and i want to emmulate her saving/investing strategies.
one of my biggest fears is to end up like my dh's family... in their late 40's and still living paycheque to paycheque, with no savings and nothign contributed into an rsp... i promised myself that i would not let that happen. it's my biggest motivator.
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That's great! Right now we're lucky if we put $40 a month in our savings - but it all adds up...eventually!
GL on your wedding - I know we did ours for way less than $5000 - so if you need any tips.
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Great news and good work! You are not only helping your own situation but you are inspiring others that it can be done!
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Fantastic plan. Please don't feel obligated to answer but can you tell me about how old you are? ie early 20's, late 20's, 30's? I'm just interested to see when "the light" finally goes on for people to be financially responsible.
I'm 38, and although we've owned our own home for about 10 years, have our cars etc. I can't say we've really been responsible until the last year and a half. That is when it really clicked in for me.
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Good Job.... Do not ever say it is just _____ amount of money every single CENT counts!!!
For example I have saved my change & some dollar bills as many as I can in a jar and I just counted 24.30 so far...... seems like not alot but every cent counts!!!!
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good for you!!!
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Good job!! That's great.
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Great work. Glad to hear you are so excited about saving. It is hard but, as you see the money add up it becomes addicting to find more ways to save.
Good luck on your wedding plans. You will have no problem having a wedding under $5000.00. My dh and I did it and we loved our wedding, wouldn't change a thing about it. $5000.00 was more than enough when you get creative. Good for you for setting a budget, so many people go into debt to have "the" wedding. Also, congratulations!!
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That's awesome!! Good for you!!
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I'm also trying to save money for the first time. After going into a bit of debt we realized we did not want to continue renting and the horrible cycle that can be. I always rented as a child and don't want the same for my children. We figured that if my husband works hard at work and I work hard to do the best I can at home, preparing meals for one instead of eating fast food has saved a lot of money already.
Also, try not only the freebies and samples, but contacting companies about products you like. I have had great success at getting very good coupons this way. That and shopping around for products. When a grocery store is having a meat sale for instance, stock up and freeze the items.
Good Luck