Any tips on saving money...?

Question

Hi, I am a 24 y/old...I really need some advice....Whenever I have some extra cash left on me I always seem to spend it...on any dumb little thing....I wish I could just put it away, save it, pretend it's not there so that later on I can invest it on something valuable or use it to go on a nice vacation (which I've been planning for a while) but due to my spending habits I haven't been able to. Any tips on how to take the anxiety away and save my cash!!!!!

Many friends of mine seem to know how to save, or know how to control their spending habits...

Any tips???

Answer 1

Pay yourself first by:

1. Put money into tax free and tax deffered retirement accounts.

2. Put money into a long term CD for future purchases.

3. Put money into US Savings Bonds.

Do this before you get it.

Answer 2

You just described me at 24yrs. I'm 29 now and I can only tell you this. In my line of work I see the effects of poor spending habits and little thought about the future every single day. My clients are desperately seeking a quick solution to the issue. You will get many answers to your post regarding
"paying yourself first"
"budgeting"
"CD's and mutual funds"
And while that is all absolutely true there is only one thing you can do and that is to sit down and write this question down on a piece of paper:
"Why do I feel the need to spend every last penny that I earn?"
The only thing you need to do is try to end just 1 month with a couple hundred bucks in your account. The day you get paid you will see an amount that is higher than usual. The next paycheck you will see an even higher amount. I did it and the feeling was amazing. I immediately felt powerful and that I was moving in a positive direction. The 1st 4 months were the hardest because I so very much wanted to spend it on stupid crap or eating out or at the bar. I just decided that I didn't want to be poor anymore. It's kind of like working out at the gym. The first couple weeks are the hardest.
You are not alone though, our entire country has an embarassingly low savings rate because we are just taught to consume, consume, consume.
At 24yrs old you have the ability to be a millionaire by just starting to save and invest now without even earning big money. Don't wait until you are 30yrs old to start, do it right now. I encouraged my little brother to start investing in a retirement account at 18yrs old and he is already on his way to having 4 million in the bank by 65yrs old just by having a little discipline early on. You can do the same thing. Just suck it up and will yourself to do it. You won't die if you don't, you'll just stress a lot more than you have to.

Answer 3

The magic formula is you. You have to change your spending habits or no tip in the world will help you.

I automatically transfer money into my savings account every pay. I think of it like a bill. Once the money is out of my checking account I consider it spent even though it's available in my savings a count.

Stop using your atm and start carrying a fixed amount of cash. Impulse buying is a lot harder if you have no atm on you.

Change the way you think about money. All this spending makes you feel better in the short term. Everyone loves to buy stuff. It will not help you down the road. You will never save money or get ahead of your bills unless you change your spending habits now.

Get yourself on a written budget. Believe me it will help. List your essentials first like housing, utilities, food, clothing. Then list your debt. Add a vacation entry. Add a savings entry. Add a blow entry.

I know I'm going to blow some money every pay, so I just include it in my budget.

Answer 4

Don't carry extra cash. Direct deposit your paycheck into more than one account leaving the amount you wish to save in a separate account then only spend your spending money not your retirement, vacation, home down payment, and emergency fund money. Base your budget so 60% covers you basic cost of living and 10% goes to each of the 4 savings accounts.
Then you won't have to worry about the savings being the leftover money but they will have a prime spot in your life.

Answer 5

I hate to say get another person involved, or intervention, so try to think of motives to encourage yourself.

I'll give you my example :

i opened a new bank account, and it was only free checking with a debit card, I barely use it. I use this to save and hide money.

every month I know my budget, so i take out EVERY PENNY I don't think I'll use and dump it in my free checking. the new account doesn't pay anything, nor is it helping any other than to earmark a separation.

Since you're not very responsible or experienced in saving, I wouldn't suggest investing, saving outright with nothing additional would be a big leap for you.

E-mail me for any other questions, I'm about your age and I can do it, so I think I can help you too (no cost, no brainer, no pain).

Answer 6

it never ceases to amaze me how folks know how to make money but never know how to manage it == here is one way -- you need to form a habit and to do that every payday if you buy a $25 dollar savings bond -- you can not cash it for a year but you will have at least something to say i have some money saved == after six months you should have the habit built up strong enough that you can move out of the baby step investing/savings into the real world of savings -- good luck!!!

Answer 7

Don't carry cash around because you'll spend it for sure. Deposit it in the bank and use your debit card. You could also start a saving account and add a bit every month. Just don't spend your money on stupid little things that you don't need.

Answer 8

get $500 together an invest in a certificates of deposit and or cd's

Answer 9

there's a group called debtors anonymous that teaches things like this. don't know if that's helpful or not. . .