Saving

[Patrick Bullet]

Good grief, that is the most ridiculous thing i've read on here in 10 years, buying an item is an asset, buying an experience is a buying thin air, shakes head and walks away.

Depends on what you buy, what you mean by assets, and what your life goals are.
Most of the evidence out there suggests that happiness is positively associated with the so called 'thin air' stuff (i.e. life experiences) but less with assets (especially depreciating ones like plasma tellys and phones). If your life goal is to be as rich as possible then by all means buy (appreciating) assets but don't expect them to make you happy.

 

[sabre_ac]

Good grief, that is the most ridiculous thing i've read on here in 10 years, buying an item is an asset, buying an experience is a buying thin air, shakes head and walks away.

Buying a new Iphone ever year is an asset? Take another look at my post...Cheers for the drama though

Please refer below, this is actually proven

Depends on what you buy, what you mean by assets, and what your life goals are.
Most of the evidence out there suggests that happiness is positively associated with the so called 'thin air' stuff (i.e. life experiences) but less with assets (especially depreciating ones like plasma tellys and phones). If your life goal is to be as rich as possible then by all means buy (appreciating) assets but don't expect them to make you happy.

 

[Hellgood]

I think jozeph was making an ironic/sarcastic comment.

 

[Ghostwriter]

Depends on what you buy, what you mean by assets, and what your life goals are.
Most of the evidence out there suggests that happiness is positively associated with the so called 'thin air' stuff (i.e. life experiences) but less with assets (especially depreciating ones like plasma tellys and phones). If your life goal is to be as rich as possible then by all means buy (appreciating) assets but don't expect them to make you happy.

Refer to the thread topic cheif, its about saving not spending, if you spend your money on thin air experiences you've got nothing, at least a plasma has resale value, not sure where the joker who started the thread said anything about happiness.

 

[Ghostwriter]

Buying a new Iphone ever year is an asset? Take another look at my post...Cheers for the drama though

Please refer below, this is actually proven

Let's hope Cheif keeps you away from the chequebook, or else Bigfooty is in big strife.

 

[sabre_ac]

Refer to the thread topic cheif, its about saving not spending, if you spend your money on thin air experiences you've got nothing, at least a plasma has resale value, not sure where the joker who started the thread said anything about happiness.

Plasma has resale value? What the next day? Who buys TV's for resale value.

Spending is saving and my main point is it comes down to a balance between enjoying the now and saving for the present, to get specific I said spend more on experiences than things, which has been proven to bring longer term happines.

 

[sabre_ac]

Let's hope Cheif keeps you away from the chequebook, or else Bigfooty is in big strife.

Because I suggested that spending money on "stuff" that depreciates quickly and loses it's shine even quicker isn't the best way to save/spend?

 

[Patrick Bullet]

Refer to the thread topic cheif, its about saving not spending, if you spend your money on thin air experiences you've got nothing, at least a plasma has resale value, not sure where the joker who started the thread said anything about happiness.

My, what a disagreeable fellow you are - maybe you could use some thin air experiences. If you read carefully you will notice that i already posted twice on the topic. All I said after that was that it depends on your life goals. I dont think it's unreasonable to assume that happiness might be one of those and I felt your savings advice didn't really factor that in

 

[thedaz47]

Also, I'll tell you about one more 'cognitive trick' that I use to help me decide what to spend my fun money on. I always think about my fun money as being my reward for work. In my case, I work for 80 hours in a fortnight and give myself $400 Fun Money in that time. So each hour of work for me earns me $5 of 'fun'. When it comes time to decide what to spend my Fun Money on, I just ask myself how many hours do I have to work in order to earn this 'fun thing'? So, say a computer game I am considering is $50 on Steam. To decide whether or not to buy is, I ask myself, "Is this game worth spending 10 hours of my life at work for?" (or "is playing this game going to make up for the anguish I experience from 10 hours at work?" back when I hated my job) If the answer is yes, then I buy it, if it's no then I don't.

Following this logic, to earn myself:
- one pint of beer at a pub, I have to spend 2 hours of my life at work
- a burger and chips at Grilld', I have to spend 3 hours of my life at work
- a new jacket from Politix, I have to work 80 hours (a whole fortnight)
- a new pair of trendy shoes, I have to work 29 hours (almost a whole week)
- a return trip to Melbourne for a long weekend, I have to work 160 hours (a whole month)
- a movie in a cinema, I have to work 4 hours (6 with popcorn and coke!).

When you put things into these sorts of terms, you quickly realise how not worth it so many things are!

I'd suggest that you try this also, but use cash instead of a third account. The beauty of cash is two-fold in that it's a physical transaction (you actually have to hand over your hard-earned) and you can dispose of your loose change responsibly and save a second time. I like to do this, although it was not by design in the beginning. My wallet doesn't have a coin compartment, and I'm really looking forward to cracking the tin next year when I go on holidays and finding out just how much I have. In fact, I now see the prices of things rounded up to the nearest multiple of five.

I'd also suggest not making any purchase unless you've gone out with that specific purpose. This was a skill that I picked up in SE Asia. Being able to refuse in principle allows you to really cut down on the impulse buys. If you really want it, you go back the next day, but never in the same visit to the shops. You'd be amazed how little you actually need it when emotion is removed.

 

[Scotland]

I think I function the other way. If I have cash in my wallet, I know it's there and will spend it if want to. If I go to buy something with my debit card, I have to think about whether there's money there to pay for it (not that it's ever an issue).

I do save my loose change though. I have 3 separate jugs of gold coins, 50c pieces and 5s, 10s & 20s. Not saving for anything as such, they just annoy me being in my pocket and my wallet has no spot for them.

 

[paul22]

Pretty much what everyone else has already touched on. I know for myself having 2 seperate bank accounts (savings and spendings) has worked for me so far. I use to just have 1 account and it was just a normal transaction account so earning hardly any interest etc. 3 months ago I decided to open up an online savings account and i put 95% of my money in there and the remaining 5% in my transaction account. Then each pay day I set it up automatically that it transfers money from my transaction account into my savings account each pay day. On top of what im saving out of my own cash im earning 5.8% interest (thats after the recent rate cuts) which is still pretty good. Its abit like having a loan and the $ disappears out of your account and you dont really think about it, having an auto transfer savings plan is abit like that and after a while you will get used to only spending the $$ left in your account. I guess the key to it is to be stick to it and not dip into your savings for non emergency things. I still like to enjoy myself tho I dont believe in saving every single penny.

 

[xyakks]

Well first things first, you need a reason. Why are you saving? If you don't have a reason to motivate you, then you're not going to get the best result.

Step two, figure out a $ amount. This gives you something to aim for, best bet is to aim high as you'll almost always fall just short of your goal. The higher you aim the better your chances of ending up with what you actually need.

Third step, work out how long you'll be saving for. This will make it easy to work out how much you'll need to save weekly/fortnightly/monthly/yearly etc.

Step four and five, do the math. Break it down bit by bit until you have an idea of what you want to save each pay that you get.

Step six. The very first thing that you do when you get paid each fortnight is to pay yourself that money first. You move this money to a different account, one which you can only access via the internet. (You can use other methods, like Term Deposits, Shares, Investment Accounts, whatever, as long as it's not in an account that you can access other than via the internet.

~

1- Why are you saving? (For a house deposit. House value of around $400,000)

2- What is your total savings goal $ wise? ($200,000 or 50% of the house price)

3- What is your time frame for saving? (6 years)

4- What will you be saving each year? (200,000/6=$33,333 per year)

5- How much will you save each pay? (I'm paid fortnightly, there are normally 25 fortnights in a year. 33,333/25=$1,333 a pay)

6- Pay yourself first every time you get paid!

 

[CrimsonButterfly]

Also, I'll tell you about one more 'cognitive trick' that I use to help me decide what to spend my fun money on. I always think about my fun money as being my reward for work. In my case, I work for 80 hours in a fortnight and give myself $400 Fun Money in that time. So each hour of work for me earns me $5 of 'fun'. When it comes time to decide what to spend my Fun Money on, I just ask myself how many hours do I have to work in order to earn this 'fun thing'? So, say a computer game I am considering is $50 on Steam. To decide whether or not to buy is, I ask myself, "Is this game worth spending 10 hours of my life at work for?" (or "is playing this game going to make up for the anguish I experience from 10 hours at work?" back when I hated my job) If the answer is yes, then I buy it, if it's no then I don't.

Following this logic, to earn myself:
- one pint of beer at a pub, I have to spend 2 hours of my life at work
- a burger and chips at Grilld', I have to spend 3 hours of my life at work
- a new jacket from Politix, I have to work 80 hours (a whole fortnight)
- a new pair of trendy shoes, I have to work 29 hours (almost a whole week)
- a return trip to Melbourne for a long weekend, I have to work 160 hours (a whole month)
- a movie in a cinema, I have to work 4 hours (6 with popcorn and coke!).

When you put things into these sorts of terms, you quickly realise how not worth it so many things are!

I'm good with my money. I pay what I need to pay and I have fun afterward. I save 50 dollars a week and that turns into 100 a fortnight. I don't see the need to increase or decrease on this even if I make more money.

i've been working for over a year now so my money is building up. However, I dunno how you can have fun if you are worrying about every single little thing you are buying, it sounds like it'd drive you crazy with the over-thinking.

I mean, studying everything you want and wondering if it's worth a certain amount of hours worked? How much do you need to save per pay to feel satisfied and you probably earn more than I do as I'm 16 and working part-time retail.

 

[THRILLHO]

I think I function the other way. If I have cash in my wallet, I know it's there and will spend it if want to. If I go to buy something with my debit card, I have to think about whether there's money there to pay for it (not that it's ever an issue).

I do save my loose change though. I have 3 separate jugs of gold coins, 50c pieces and 5s, 10s & 20s. Not saving for anything as such, they just annoy me being in my pocket and my wallet has no spot for them.

If I have no cash in my wallet, I'll go upwards of a fortnight not buying anything (outside of petrol and groceries).

If I have cash in my wallet, it burns a hole in my pocket. Small purchases are a killer for me. Spend a fortune on food, coffee, papers, magazines, alcohol. Have recently cut back by trying not to withdraw money.

I'm good with my money. I pay what I need to pay and I have fun afterward. I save 50 dollars a week and that turns into 100 a fortnight. I don't see the need to increase or decrease on this even if I make more money.

i've been working for over a year now so my money is building up. However, I dunno how you can have fun if you are worrying about every single little thing you are buying, it sounds like it'd drive you crazy with the over-thinking.

I mean, studying everything you want and wondering if it's worth a certain amount of hours worked? How much do you need to save per pay to feel satisfied and you probably earn more than I do as I'm 16 and working part-time retail.

Try living independently first before you spout off about not over thinking about what you spend.

Pretty easy to save, even when your pay is lower, when you have no overheads (beyond a mobile phone bill).

 

[WeetBixKid]

2 bank accounts is a must. I also make my own breakfast & dinner most of the time which saves a lot. Also, with petrol as expensive as it is I use public transport if there's a reasonably direct route to where I'm going & try to use the car sparingly. Limiting alcohol saves you heaps too.

 

[Lyyynnnchy]

Also, I'll tell you about one more 'cognitive trick' that I use to help me decide what to spend my fun money on. I always think about my fun money as being my reward for work. In my case, I work for 80 hours in a fortnight and give myself $400 Fun Money in that time. So each hour of work for me earns me $5 of 'fun'. When it comes time to decide what to spend my Fun Money on, I just ask myself how many hours do I have to work in order to earn this 'fun thing'? So, say a computer game I am considering is $50 on Steam. To decide whether or not to buy is, I ask myself, "Is this game worth spending 10 hours of my life at work for?" (or "is playing this game going to make up for the anguish I experience from 10 hours at work?" back when I hated my job) If the answer is yes, then I buy it, if it's no then I don't.

Following this logic, to earn myself:
- one pint of beer at a pub, I have to spend 2 hours of my life at work
- a burger and chips at Grilld', I have to spend 3 hours of my life at work
- a new jacket from Politix, I have to work 80 hours (a whole fortnight)
- a new pair of trendy shoes, I have to work 29 hours (almost a whole week)
- a return trip to Melbourne for a long weekend, I have to work 160 hours (a whole month)
- a movie in a cinema, I have to work 4 hours (6 with popcorn and coke!).

When you put things into these sorts of terms, you quickly realise how not worth it so many things are!

Going with $10 for a pint of beer

You earn $5 an hour? Get a new job!

 

[ChrisFooty]

Following this logic, to earn myself:
- one pint of beer at a pub, I have to spend 2 hours of my life at work
- a burger and chips at Grilld', I have to spend 3 hours of my life at work
- a new jacket from Politix, I have to work 80 hours (a whole fortnight)
- a new pair of trendy shoes, I have to work 29 hours (almost a whole week)
- a return trip to Melbourne for a long weekend, I have to work 160 hours (a whole month)
- a movie in a cinema, I have to work 4 hours (6 with popcorn and coke!).

When you put things into these sorts of terms, you quickly realise how not worth it so many things are!

You must work as a catalogue deliver with Salmat.

 

[THRILLHO]

Try reading his post.

He gives himself $400 a fortnight of play money, or $5 an hour. That's not what he earns.

 

[nobulltiger]

I have a SAVINGS question and the flexibility of banks and if anyone knows if what i'm about to talk about exists.

I lack the discipline to not touch money I'm trying to save, I've tried the have a 2nd savings account and put money in it so its not linked to a card etc but i always go online and transfer it back. So got nowhere with that.

Because of lack of discipline I have called the big banks to ask if it is possible to open an account I named for myself "the goal saver", so say your goal is to save 40k, the goal saver account and agreement between me and the bank would be that i can transfer money into that account but not out of it until the 40k is reached. I know you can lock accounts so you have to go to the bank and sign something to authorize my money out of that account, been there done that. I want to make it impossible to remove money from that account until it is at the goal amount. you get the drift of what i'm saying.......does any banking institution offer something like this?

i dont even care if there is interest or not, i just want that goal to be reached, with a little help!!

 

[sammm]

I have a SAVINGS question and the flexibility of banks and if anyone knows if what i'm about to talk about exists.

I lack the discipline to not touch money I'm trying to save, I've tried the have a 2nd savings account and put money in it so its not linked to a card etc but i always go online and transfer it back. So got nowhere with that.

Because of lack of discipline I have called the big banks to ask if it is possible to open an account I named for myself "the goal saver", so say your goal is to save 40k, the goal saver account and agreement between me and the bank would be that i can transfer money into that account but not out of it until the 40k is reached. I know you can lock accounts so you have to go to the bank and sign something to authorize my money out of that account, been there done that. I want to make it impossible to remove money from that account until it is at the goal amount. you get the drift of what i'm saying.......does any banking institution offer something like this?

i dont even care if there is interest or not, i just want that goal to be reached, with a little help!!

there are term deposits or such like things where you can put in money but there is a penalty in taking out your money.

another possibility is to give the money to someone else (of course to someone you trust) on an ongoing basis and they open up an accoutn.

 

[ash_1050]

I have a SAVINGS question and the flexibility of banks and if anyone knows if what i'm about to talk about exists.

I lack the discipline to not touch money I'm trying to save, I've tried the have a 2nd savings account and put money in it so its not linked to a card etc but i always go online and transfer it back. So got nowhere with that.

Because of lack of discipline I have called the big banks to ask if it is possible to open an account I named for myself "the goal saver", so say your goal is to save 40k, the goal saver account and agreement between me and the bank would be that i can transfer money into that account but not out of it until the 40k is reached. I know you can lock accounts so you have to go to the bank and sign something to authorize my money out of that account, been there done that. I want to make it impossible to remove money from that account until it is at the goal amount. you get the drift of what i'm saying.......does any banking institution offer something like this?

i dont even care if there is interest or not, i just want that goal to be reached, with a little help!!

Get someone else who understands your desire to save (Mum, friend etc) and take them into the bank. Open a savings account and make the second person a signatory on the account. Make the account two to sign and hey presto, you are now saving in an account you cannot touch because you need two signatures to access the account and the second person knows to ignore your pleas.

 

[nobulltiger]

there are term deposits or such like things where you can put in money but there is a penalty in taking out your money.

another possibility is to give the money to someone else (of course to someone you trust) on an ongoing basis and they open up an accoutn.

Have thought about that but the fees are so minimal it wouldn't work for me.

Get someone else who understands your desire to save (Mum, friend etc) and take them into the bank. Open a savings account and make the second person a signatory on the account. Make the account two to sign and hey presto, you are now saving in an account you cannot touch because you need two signatures to access the account and the second person knows to ignore your pleas.

Have also thought of this, what if the 2nd person dies, such a pain to have to jump through the extra hoops. But, it seems like the best option and in fact the bank has recommended this as well. cheers

 

[cammania]

Hi there.
This post is more kind of to get stuff off my chest and possibly reading what I have written, will make me think more.

Once upon a time I was a great saver. Saved my guts out, lived freely.
Fast forward seven years. Live on my own in my own house,pay everything for myself, and pump every dollar I have into living.

Savings is my overtime a work. Or more to the point, what's left after I put money into the bills account. I still live freely but know deep Down that I still live a pretty free lifestyle.

What I mean by free lifestyle is I don't have anyone to answer to, nor control me and thus I do what I want when I want how I want.
Sure, it's good. But I guess the time has come to tighten my belt to achieve my goals.

My goal is a trip to the USA. when I said "once upon a time", that was 2005. Thought the right thing to do was save my guts out to buy a place for somewhere to live and you would have achieved something. And ultimately I have, but...........

Fast forward years and I start going "shit I haven't travelled, nor done anything hugely exciting in life for the life experience or stories to tell".
That time is now. And the fact is I'm not going to be in my twenties for much longer.

So to the saving part. I guess I have to knuckle down.
I'm going to say I'm a short time off where I want to be. I say that as my pay goes up in just over a month and again a month after that.
I can say i budget Each fortnightly pay, for shopping,house, car, private health and general spending.
Ultimately. Living off that my goal is to have whatever pay rise comes in, to be saving that for the next year. Plus I maybe getting a house mate.
With that comes 50/50 in bills and an extra 100 a week or so to be saved.
If I knuckle down, I could be looking at $250 after tax each week.

If you want to save, knuckle down, and you'll achieve your goals.
For me, the satisfaction will come sitting at Yankee stadium watching a Yankee game telling myself the last 21 months saving were worth it.

Glad that's off my chest now. I just have to take my advise and knuckle down and stress less

 

[raskolnikov]

My mum has always told me, "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves". I find this to be so true. A couple of years ago I sat down and worked out what I had spent that week on junk. I was staggered at the amount that just went on rubbish. Cut down on coffee, takeaway food, cigarettes, alcohol, newspapers. Anything you really don't need. Walk if you can. I was a lazy twat. I used to drive my car half a kilometre to my local supermarket. I halved my petrol bill by walking to the supermarket.

I also have an online savings account. As soon I get my pay I transfer a certain amount each pay to that account. I don't even miss it.

It's like diet or exercise. You have to work on it but it's very much worth it when you start seeing the results.

 

[bulldogsfan]

how do you save? I struggle so bad to save just after some tips or ways you save your money, thanks!!!

Read this - great tips, my girlfriend flicked it on to me. We're trying to save, and I told her "stop buying shoes!". Instead she sent me this.
http://womenintheblack.com.au/two-hot-tips-for-practical-budgeting/#.UJx9bOPZ-bI
I gotta admit, it's good ideas though.