Do you spend and save? if you save, whats your good advice to control spending?

Answer 1

My husband and I have a rule. If you can't pay for it, don't buy it. We never use credit cards because it's so easy to use and before you know it, you have spent so much and don't realize until the bill comes in. That's why we refuse every credit card offer that comes our way. The only bills we have, are utilities and mortgage because we don't buy unless we can pay for it. We use coupons, go to the stores that offer the best deals etc. If you try, you can save a lot. Just shop around.

Answer 2

Here's what I have been doing recently in order to help myself out:

Total the bills and other expenditures (gas, groceries, ect.) I expect to pay in each week. Half the remaining money left over I put into a savings account while the remaining balance I take a cash withdrawal (I am saving madly to prepare for closing costs for when I get into a house). I know that that is my spending money. That's it. A little self discipline on not using my check card and all is well. Things come up and I have had to take bits and pieces out of the savings but it has worked VERY well for me.

Answer 3

Make a plan before you get your check - plan where every dollar will go and try to stick to it.

For a week or two write down everything you buy - including sodas at work, road tolls, Starbucks, everything. Then you can see where your money is going and what you need to cut out.

Also get rid of those da-- credit cards. Pay with cash and you'll cut back on your spending. Think about being in a clothing store (females) or an electronics store (males). You buy $200 worth of stuff and put it on your credit card - hey no problem - it doesn't hurt until you get the bill. Now imagine counting out that $200 in cash. Everytime you plunk down a twenty it will hurt. You eventually start to think of it as representing an hour (or two) at work. $200 = 10 (or more) hours at work!!!

Paying cash has been a budget saver for me.

Answer 4

We spend and save.

We judge purchases on do we NEED it or do we WANT it. Big difference. If we want big ticket items we save up for them.

We use a credit card for all purchases and pay it off at the end of the month. Free 30-day loan and we get cash back and make money off the cc company.

Answer 5

It's pretty simple. Tons of places you can shop and save, SO MUCH! At any store, sale and clearance racks. Grocery stores, look for sale flyers, and coupons and deals. Ooh, coupons are amazing! Lastly, secondhand stores and dollar stores help out alot for just anything you could think of. From furniture to toys.

Answer 6

write down and total every dime you spend.

my wife and i did just that for over a year. we used a db program and had lots of daily, weekly, monthly, and category totals available to look at.

of course, this fails totally if you won't write down the spending.