Spend or save?

Question

Lets say it is pay day, what do you do with your money - spend or save it? if you save it how much do you save?

Answer 1

I pay myself first........

Compound interest is a wonderful friend to have......

Answer 2

Well, I spend what I have to on bills, gas, food, etc. I am not the best at money and it has gotten me into trouble in the past, but I am no longer using credit cards so I can keep out of trouble and only spend what I have. On a good month, I try to do the 10-10-80 rule - 10% to my church, 10% to savings, 80% to everything else. Sometimes I don't have enough to go around but that is what I'm aiming for. I'm a work-in-progress.

Answer 3

I spend half on bills (house, car, phone, cable... etc), spend a quarter on maintenance and upgrades for the house, save one eighth for my 401k and savings. The rest goes to life (but I need to cut down on life a bit to live better). The solution is always make more money than what you make now, so that way all of your savings and spendings become a smaller hassle.

Answer 4

Pay yourself first. Take 10% out of each check and save it for long term. However, if you have lots of bills (credit cards) pay them first. If you have a credit card at 20% interest you should pay it off. It's like making 20% interest on your money if you think about it. Rather than put it in your savings account at 2-3%.

Answer 5

When payday rolls around, I pay myself first. That means I put my savings away before anything else.

Next I pay all my bills. Then I set aside the money I need for gas, groceries, etc...

Whatever is left over is "mad money" -- I usually put some away for vacation and spend a little of it.

It kind of looks like this for my net paycheck:

Savings/401 K: 30%
Bills: 45%
Incidentals: 15%
Mine: 10%

Answer 6

i am happy retired now but when i use to have a paycheck the first person i would pay is myself -- 15% right off the top-- they made it easy when they came out with the 401k so i just insure that i have the max and any less than 15% i still put toward savings.. also the night before payday i always try to go out for a good meal, with let over money -- that made be feel like i was getting paid for what i was worth.!!!

Answer 7

I'm saving for a house deposit as well as other things like a car, holiday, husband's birthday gift etc.

So when my paycheck comes in the first thing I do is move:

40% - to the household account to spend on rent, bills, food, eating out, furniture, gifts etc.
28% - to savings accounts for the house deposit (this should be 30% but I can't manage it with our rent being so high)
12% - to other savings account for the smaller things I'm saving for. When I save enough I buy them and then save again for the next thing.
The remaining 20% goes on things like transportation, mobile bills and entertainment

Answer 8

i don't really have anything to spend money on! lucky me! i'm in a mad amount of debt, but have everything i need. so i say save. anything that you don't have already, you probably don't need. i guess save around seventy percent of what's left after mandatory payments have been released (i.e. bills). but then again, that depends on what you make.

but either way, save something, a base that you put aside every month or every week, even it's only ten pounds. oh! and have a book on your account instead of a card, then you're less likely to spend because it's just long to access!!

Answer 9

You should save at least enough to cover 3 to 6 months of living expenses in case of an emergency. Also, get into a 401K at work and contribute as much as you can, or at least up to what the company matches.

Answer 10

i would save it for the future, but if i want to spend some, i guess it depends an how much you get, but i would say about 20% of it goes to spending and the rest saving.

Answer 11

My money goes on the household bills .. mega boring but it is worthwhile .. every month i save 10% of incomes and put it in a savings account it is called the just incase fund