Financial Challenge

[Monqiue]

Hello everyone, anyone want to take a financial challenge with me?

I have already started my own financial challenge but i wanted to know if anyone wanted to join. I started because 1) i don't make that much money and 2) I always ended up broke at the end of the money.

Here are the things that i do in my challenge:

1) find out where you are losing all your money :-P . Don't include bills. Most people spend more money one bills than anything else anyways. Do you spend your after bill money on clothes and stuff? For me i spent most of my money on fast food. I would take 10 or 20 dollars out to buy one burger and this was happening everyday.

2) Elimate the money drain. I stopped going to Burger Kind or any fast food joint for that matter. so if you are spending your ends on clothes stay away from the malls, if it is on hair supply stay away from the beauty supply.

3) Open up a savings account. When you open up a savings account make sure that a certain amount gets desposited every week or every 2 weeks depending on how you get paid. I use ING Direct and have them take out a small amount of money every pay day. If you never see it you won't spend it.

4) keep track of your spending. Use your balance book. I notice that i have a better contol over my spending now that i write every dime i spend down. I feel bad when i over spend and think twice about buy and how much it cost.

5) cheat yourself. Instead of writing down exactly how much money bring home. under estimate a few dollars. I cheat myself by 10 dollars every pay check (may night seem like a lot but it makes a difference). I also round up with i take payment out of my count. If the bill or purchase was for 16.95 i subtract 20 from my checkbook. I makes the math easier and it also helps you save money.

6) when ever possible write a check. It is much easier to keep track of your money if you write a check (especially if you have duplicates). if you use your atm card stick the recipt with your checkbook.

Those are the 6 things that i have done, and when i looked at my accounts i was shocked. I haven't had this kind of money saved in a long time. I have only been doing this for a couple of weeks. I mainly started to save up for an ipod, and even though it will take me like 3 months to get the money i am proud of myself (and i know i won't feel guilty about making such a large purchase). I don't get nervous everytime a bill is do.

Anyone else game. :coffee

[W8N2XHL]

I may take you up on this challenge. The DH and I need all the help we can get.

[jorjeni]

I am game.

I have started putting money in my 401k at work and I have put myself on a budget I am allowing myself a set amount of money out of my check each week and that has to pay for my gas, food and extras. The rest of my check going in the bank to pay bills anything left I don't pay any attention to LOL!!! My plan is to be out of debt in 12 months.

I am also gonna start back doing some of the things like you are doing such as rounding up. I also spend most of my money at fast food places. Or I don't want to eat what I have on hand to make so I end up going to the store and spending another 20 here and there when I have enough food at home. I have enough stuff to make tacos but I want chilli stupid stuff like that. I also buy to many magazines. Something else I need to stop doing.

I have gotten rid of extras on my phone service call waiting and caller ID for starters.
I also got netzero for the internet
I got rid of cable(have read 6 books since getting rid of cable, house much cleaner also)
Got rid of my cell phone also
sent back funiture I was paying 180 a month for went dumper diving got a great couch and 2 chairs that just need to be covered cause they ugly but good solid pieces will last a long time.

[Monqiue]

welcome aboard jorjeni and W8N2XL (if you decide to join).

i love your suggestions jorjeni. i too need to stop buying magazines, I usually only buy them for one article anyways so i don't really need them. luckly my i still stay with my mom so i don't have to worry about cable and funiture bills.

Now for my cell phone (since i don't use it all that much) i got a prepaid by virgin moblie (i have had it for 2 or 3 years now) i only pay like 20 dollars a month since i don't even use it everyday.

another thing that gets me is clothing i just realized that last night. So, i decided to put my self on an awards system. If i do well on my budget throughout the month, i am allowed to buy one article of clothing. Since i am cheap when i come to my clothes anyways (always buy discount) i won't go broke by doing this.

Anyone else want to join

edited to add: you can modify this program in away that will fit your needs. We don't all have the same finanical situations or goals. So if you have to change it a little go head. and share your ideas with use.

[BestNatural]

I might also take you up on this challenge.

Let me just add that outlets for clothes are grreat!!! I was up in NJ visiting my family and they live near the outlets and I was able to pick up a nice pair of dress pants and a nice linen shirt and a designer turtle neck for like for like 22 dollars total. Let me say that 'ain't no one gonna know that you spent that much on it". Put some assessories with it and ...bam...go ahead Diva Child!

[W8N2XHL]

Okay, I'm in. I have to look around and at my check book to see where I'm burning my money. This could take ALLLLL weekend. When I do that, I'll come back with my challenge.

[Resse]

OH HECK YEAH!!!

I still have cable b/c of the DH.
i hand wash as much as possible.
i have a 503k plan. But need to save money to put in a CD and a statement savings account and don't touch. Need to save money for a house. Need to get rid of credit cards and personal loans and so on. Will post later.

[DazeOff]

Those are great tips, Monique. I'm def. in! :) I looked in my account and I had -39$. NEGATIVE!?

[Resse]

DAZEOFF, I TOPPED YOU. -720.00. I made a huge mistake. My husband and I sat down and we both had to agree on each bill and what ever we decided one person, which is me, is to pay the bills from now on. I don't touch or handle money or pay bills any other day but on a designated day. So I don't go over again and not so many hands in the cookie jar.

[Monqiue]

i'm just checking up on how everyone is doing?

I had to borrow 55 dollars from myself. I didn't plan to well. I had to pay my car note and buy food so i needed a little extra money. but i have and excess of about 100 dollars (including the 55) in my account, this hasn't happen in a long time. but other than that i am doing really good.

so how about you?

[NianmaNappi]

Well I am in and for me those tips Monqiue are going to be helpful cause I have to have a serious yard sell.....to jump start my savings but i am in cause I am a BCS (brokecollegestudent) I will check in to let everyone know my progress...

[tran68]

I just wanna pay off my car!

[Monqiue]

tran68 i feel the same way.... this is something that my teacher told me but i don't know how true it is.... if you pay your bill twice a month (half each time) you lower the amount of interest you have to pay and therefore you will pay it off faster.
Another thing that i am going to do is go online and pay the company 20 dollars a week becasue it will shave 1 month off my payment plan (this year alone). let just hope it works out like i plan.

[tran68]

I only have 5 payments left and it's taking everything in me not to just take my next paycheck and pay it off...there's no interest anymore but I've gone 8 yrs w/o a car note before I got this car and I soooo want that great feeling again!! :)

[Monqiue]

i wish i had only five more months to go... i have about a year and a half.... it sucks....

[macgirl]

I really need to give this a try. My plan has been to start a savings acct in November after my car ins (MAIF-those in MD know what I'm talking about) goes way down. I've been working a lot of OT so I may start in Sept by putting the OT $$ aside. I didn't have it before right? And the OT hours will end in a few weeks so I need to get all I can while I can. This month I'm getting school supplies for 3 kids.

[Nubiyan]

I'm in. I actually started doing this at the beginning of the month. I'd always heard that if you kept track of every dime you spent for a period of time, you'd find out where your financial drain was. Like many of you, mine was in dining out (and Starbucks :)). I now limit myself to no more than one meal out per week (and that's at lunch, when prices are more reasonable at restaurants). Other than that, I bring my lunch from home. I just bought a new laptop that I'm working to pay off and have about 20 more payments on my car note. (I've already started paying a payment and a 1/3 each time. I just cancelled out my very last payment slip because I've made it up!!)

Also:
-- I save all my spare change and roll it. I deposited about $20 last month from doing that for a few weeks.
-- If there is something I really want ... I make myself wait a week. I was just eyeballing some hair products, but I just made myself close out the browser window without buying anything. I have more than enough products. I need to make myself happy with what I've got.

[Lagina]

For those that know they will need a car in the next 3 to 4 years and currently don't have a car payment, start saving 350 to 450 a month now or close to it in a mutual fund with a 6% return. Without adding the interest in 4 years @ 350 a month you got 16,800 that you use for a car. No need for a car payment ever again! Unless you like to pay the car man the interest :duck

Also stress the importance of financial literacy to kids they are never to young to start!

[mochacaremel]

Originally posted by Lagina@Aug 21 2004, 06:01 PM
start saving 350 to 450 a month now or close to it in a mutual fund with a 6% return.


Lagina,

Girl, point me in the direction of this mutual fund! This is the one tip I hear from financial gurus all the time, this "at 6% interest", but the truth is, we can't guarantee that whatever mutual fund we are in will give us 6%. We can't guarantee it in the short or the long term. I never understood why people tell you to find a mutual fund with this kind of return as though it's just something you look up and find.

You woulda been hard pressed to find any mutual fund making 6% in 2000. Just my observation, just wondered if you had any insight as to why this is always made to sound so easy, maybe I have missed the boat.

Mocha

[MissMick]

I'm on the road to financial fitness. YAY!

[Monqiue]

welcome aboard miss. mick

[sweetnes]

I'm on board! I'll have to wait until the weekend to figure out where I lose my money. I just got out of school and have a real job with a real apartment and real bills and I want to set myself straight early.

sweetnes

[Lagina]

Mochacarmel, there are funds out there with rates of returns at 33%. There are millions of funds. I would have to say the catch to some of them is that you have to have maybe like 50,000 to invest in them. Check some of vanguards funds for example. Also I know they changed now ( I believe) but there was a time when Merril Lynch didn't want any investors unless they had 500,000 to invest. Now getting a fund to give you 6% let me see here vanguard's Windsor II Fund (0073) as of 8/27/04 YTD return is 5.46%. For those greedy folks, the vanguard Energy Fund is 14.56% as of 8/27/04 (fund number 0051). The mimimum inital invest in this one is $25k. Now this is only vanguard stuff cause I'm with them. I know T.Rowe has stuff just has good as well as fidelity and some of the other "Known" firms. They do have funds with lower mimiums like $500.00 they can still get you returns of 6% or more! You just have to look hard and research. People are not going to say here is free money lol :duck If you want it bad enough you have to read investing magazines and "The wall street journal" is a bible sometimes I do declare. A lot of funds did drop on their rate of return around 9/11 but the good ones picked right back up! Happy investing 8)

[Hypnotizze]

Ladies,

This is so inspiring! I really do need to start accounting for EVERY penny - I'm tired of that broke feeling.

*starting today*

[whitney]

i definitely want to join. i looked at my finances over the past 16months and i've spent at least $230 on food, and i mean like twizzlers and gobstoppers nothing necessary. i've also spent a lot of $ on clothes. I bought a $90 bathing suit and i've yet to go to the beach, so i'm keeping that thing for the next five years. What i'm going to do is put my finances on excel and save so i can look at my budget and see how i'm doing month to month. i really have to keep myself in check if i want to reach my financial goals. This was a GREAT idea. :thumbsup

[Nymphe]

Instead of mutual funds, how about opening an online discount brokerage account to purchase stocks and closed-end funds with yields over 6%.

I am in and the credit cards are frozen. I use Quicken to keep track of finances and they are not looking too hot.

[Monqiue]

i just wanted to update everyone on my progress. I looked at my account today online and got a good suprise. no matter what my check book says, i have more extra money in the bank than i have had in a long time. :-) i am so happy.

Since i have only about four or five bills that i pay. I pay one bill a week, since i get paid every week. and so far everything has been going good. i also have calulated how long it takes my car insurance company to get and desposit my check so i know when to sent it off and still have some money in my check book.

i have also tried to limit how may transcation i do a week. i try to only do about seven a week or one everyday. This includes the weekly automatic payment into my ing direct savings account and any bill i pay that week.

the only problem that i am having now is that, i know longer carry money on me, so i never have any money to get snacks and little stuff. But that is good an a way at least for my waist line.

anyone else want to share their progress and any tips that you have.

[nottyfreedom]

i think this is great and i am going to join in as well. im going to open up an 'official'' savings tomorrow. im excited.

notty

[MissMick]

OH YEAH!!
Update: I got my finaid check recently. 75% in a checking account to be spent on NEEDS only. The other 25% put into a savings account for a) a rainy day, b) to be invested later, c) summer classes if I have to take them, or d) to pay off my credit cards.


D is the most likely of all the choices because... yeah, I want NO DEBT (except student loans which are at a reasonable rate in comparision to those DANG credit cards).

[londongrrrl]

I'm in! I overspent a bit this summer (went travelling and wanted to indulge a bit) and was on a strict budget end of August+ September. Now that I'm back on tracks, I want to work on my short term and long term financial goals...

[mama-mia]

:app Good challenge! I definitely should have been over in this discussion and NOT in the products discusion :lol .


I need to do some real organizing to help me beat my overspending. I waste alot of money on food. I work full time, go to school full time and I'm married so I need to due some pre-planning so I can pack a lunch and eat in more.

Okay if I'm going to due this then I'll start now. I guess I won't be placing that order for Greg's Juice after all :rolleyes .

[ronbett]

Ok ladies I'm in too.
A few tips I have come up with. I love magazines & books...
I got to the bookstore every month and read the new mags that I would normally subscribe to. This keeps me from spending on stuff like that.

Rent movies & check out books from the library..or try used bookstores for your books.

I have learned to take the debit card out of my wallet after I make my montly withdrawal of spending cash. Now that I get paid monthy its the only way I can make it.

Finally I would like to say give to others...weather its a smile, hello, advice (when asked) or donations of clothes etc. You get what you give and I can think of numerous times people have done nice things for me that didnt cost me a penny & I think that is b/c I try to give....I fell off on this but I'm trying to get back into the habit of being generous.

Best wishes to everyone :)

[footsiee]

I really want in. I'm getting ready to go to law school in the fall of 2005 so I am trying to take this year to get ride of a lot of stupid bills that I have acquired since graduating. Thank the Lord that my father decided to sell our house in St. Croix (I was upset for a while) and he's going to send me money to pay off my car note ($310 in my pocket monthly). And since I'm going to school in a year, I'm planning on selling my house and downsizing to an apartment. I'm going to start putting money is a CD (if I can find a mutual fund that would be even better). I can't wait to get on my way to financial freedom. When I saw this post I was like, I NEED to check this out. Thank for presenting this challenge.

[brnize4u]

I'm in on this challenge.

I have a high behind car note that will be paid off in June 05. Thank God!

I have about 6 old bills that total about $7000.00.

My plan is to have all of these paid off by June 05.

I CAN DO IT!!!

brnize4u 8)

[EarthyDiva]

I'm on board with the financial challenge!

ED

[footsiee]

I was just wondering how everyone was doing on this challenge. Sad to say, I haven't made any real progress :doh How is everyone else doing??

[EarthyDiva]

Footsiee,
Sorry it's not going well. Do you think you set out too many or unrealistic goals for yourself? I know that sometimes gets me. Whatever it is I hope you figure out how to make it work for you.

My dh and I chose a couple of things to change and will make more changes gradually.

The 1st thing we did was open a savings account through ING direct (2.2% interest currently more than many cds we saw :dance: . A certain amount is taking out each week so we don't even see it. :thumbsup

2nd we're saving all of our receipts for month of Oct so that we can see where our $ actually goes. :-? :shock

At the beginning of Nov we'll convene to decide our next steps. I love all the suggestions keep them coming! I'll kepp you all updated.

p.s. I read this book abt homebuying and one of the questions he asked people saving or complained they didn't have enough for a new house "Do you want X (Pringles (box , gourmet coffee, mink coat, car) more than your new house? If not weigh the purchase. Ouch! Lord increase my faith. i'm not quite there yet, but I hope to be.

Ciao,
ED

[Azure]

I'm currently in my last semester of college and I'm trying to get an early start.

My first steps are:

1. Automatic saving of half my check. I get paid every two weeks, and I've paid for school and rent already so this is feasible.

2. I got a check register today and I plan to write down every dime I spend. Plus, my personal book will 'clear' before the bank's, keeping me from being surprised when I see my balance.


Azure :cow: