Good luck on your snowflaking! I too get excited by the small things. Every time our utility bill comes in a few dollars below what I budgeted, I send that money to our savings account. I log into IngDirect.com and schedule a transfer for that small amount to our savings account. Since I expected that money to go toward a bill, and it's now in my savings account, I'm not "deprived" of money that I normally would spend elsewhere, and I don't spend it when it's not available. =)
I also have a jar for change. I read in a financial planning book that we should use a small jar, such as an average sized mayonnaise jar, so that it will fill up more quickly. Also, emptying it once a month regardless of the amount gathered would allow us to regularly put some money away for savings. If it's getting interest, it's growing, rather than sitting in the jar for several months while I wait to fill it up. You'd be amazed how quickly our savings account grew even with small $5 deposits every two weeks!
You know, one thing I do is pay my bills electronically through my bank's website - that way *all* my stamp money can go to my snowflaking change bucket.
I agree, it's the little things that can add up big time! I save all my change too, since the vending machine at work is not a friend of mine :) What we also do is to budget our spending based on a set amount from our paycheques.
For example say I get paid $980.00 on payday but our spending plan was calculated using $950 then the "extra" $30 goes directly to our savings account or if you prefer towards debt. Doing this teaches us that we can truly live on less and that our potential future raises will always be saved and not spent and frittered away.
I also do this with all our spending categories, anything unspent immediately gets transferred to our savings. All our bills are paid via our bank on-line or via automatic deduction which are free. I've never had a problem banking on-line and I've been doing this for a long time.
I have a checkbook register that can cover the whole year (made by Dome) so I've written in when our paychecks will be deposited (we're paid every two weeks on Fridays) but I don't use the "real" amount that we'll get paid. I always write down $10 less than we'll actually get from each paycheck and then "correct" it (and the totals for how much is left) after we get paid. Then I schedule a transfer to our savings account for the "extra" amount.
In general, I sent $600 to our savings account every month, so I *know* we are living below our means. I'm sending money to pay off bills, however I'm slowly building that *emergency* fund. When we have 6 months of living expenses in our savings account, I'll start sending these payments to our mortgage to get rid of some extra principal.
It's hard to believe that I've sent over $25,000 to pay off credit card bills this year. Of course, the credit card balance wasn't that high, it's just that some of the payments were *eaten* by interest. I'm so glad that we're getting our credit card debt under control.
I totalled up our mortgage payments recently and was aghast at how much money I'm sending to the mortgage company each year. Out of my $800 mortgage payment, $100 goes toward principal each month, on a $100,000 mortgage at
Hello April,
Good luck on your snowflaking! I too get excited by the small things. Every time our utility bill comes in a few dollars below what I budgeted, I send that money to our savings account. I log into IngDirect.com and schedule a transfer for that small amount to our savings account. Since I expected that money to go toward a bill, and it's now in my savings account, I'm not "deprived" of money that I normally would spend elsewhere, and I don't spend it when it's not available. =)
I also have a jar for change. I read in a financial planning book that we should use a small jar, such as an average sized mayonnaise jar, so that it will fill up more quickly. Also, emptying it once a month regardless of the amount gathered would allow us to regularly put some money away for savings. If it's getting interest, it's growing, rather than sitting in the jar for several months while I wait to fill it up. You'd be amazed how quickly our savings account grew even with small $5 deposits every two weeks!
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished
Way to go April!
You know, one thing I do is pay my bills electronically through my bank's website - that way *all* my stamp money can go to my snowflaking change bucket.
All my best,
Danni
Hi April,
I agree, it's the little things that can add up big time!
I save all my change too, since the vending machine at work is not a friend of mine :)
What we also do is to budget our spending based on a set amount from our paycheques.
For example say I get paid $980.00 on payday but our spending plan was calculated using $950 then the "extra" $30 goes directly to our savings account or if you prefer towards debt.
Doing this teaches us that we can truly live on less and that our potential future raises will always be saved and not spent and frittered away.
I also do this with all our spending categories, anything unspent immediately gets transferred to our savings. All our bills are paid via our bank on-line or via automatic deduction which are free. I've never had a problem banking on-line and I've been doing this for a long time.
Best of luck,
Kassandra
Kassandra
"It is said that life has its peaks and valleys. The challenge is to accept them equally and experience them
Hello,
I have a checkbook register that can cover the whole year (made by Dome) so I've written in when our paychecks will be deposited (we're paid every two weeks on Fridays) but I don't use the "real" amount that we'll get paid. I always write down $10 less than we'll actually get from each paycheck and then "correct" it (and the totals for how much is left) after we get paid. Then I schedule a transfer to our savings account for the "extra" amount.
In general, I sent $600 to our savings account every month, so I *know* we are living below our means. I'm sending money to pay off bills, however I'm slowly building that *emergency* fund. When we have 6 months of living expenses in our savings account, I'll start sending these payments to our mortgage to get rid of some extra principal.
It's hard to believe that I've sent over $25,000 to pay off credit card bills this year. Of course, the credit card balance wasn't that high, it's just that some of the payments were *eaten* by interest. I'm so glad that we're getting our credit card debt under control.
I totalled up our mortgage payments recently and was aghast at how much money I'm sending to the mortgage company each year. Out of my $800 mortgage payment, $100 goes toward principal each month, on a $100,000 mortgage at
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished