No sparing?

Avatar for itsmylife2001
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-17-2003
No sparing?
5
Sun, 01-22-2006 - 11:00am

I'm getting used to the idea of needing 3 years to get out of debt, it's frustrating, I'd like so much to start a new debtfree life as soon as possible, but well I'll live with it.
Now I have a question : in the meantime, if I want to be realistic I won't be able to spare. If I do then I'll really have nothing left for leisure and eventually I'll need to buy clothes or go to the hairdresser or buy someone a birthday gift... all kind of things I do with my "fun" budget.
Every month I spare 1/12 of all the bills I have to pay in the year so I should be fine with that. I'd feel better if I had spare money somewhere but I guess I'll have to do without.

What do you guys think? Are some of you also not sparing at all? Are there potential issues I haven't thought of??

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Avatar for cl_beckymk
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
In reply to: itsmylife2001
Sun, 01-22-2006 - 1:56pm

I just need some clarification...what are you planning on doing with your spare money?

Avatar for itsmylife2001
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-17-2003
In reply to: itsmylife2001
Sun, 01-22-2006 - 2:06pm
Thanks for your insight; let me clarify what I was saying : I put on my spare account 1/12 of all the bills I have to pay in the year (taxes, insurance, car maintenance etc...). When this and all the rest (house rent, car, electricity, gas, phone, credit cards I'm trying to pay off etc...) are paid, it leaves me with about 150$. If I want to spare for emergencies or just for sparing's sake (which I'd love to!), I have to take this out of those 150$. But with these 150$ I have to buy clothes, shoes, any gift I'd have to make, and pay for sports, hairdresser sometimes, eating out (wich I do only when I'm invited to join friends or family, othewise I always cook and brown bag) or any other leasure stuff. When I'm not budgeting and paying attention, I spend much more on this, so I think taking 50$ out of this for sparing and doing this all with 100$ is unrealistic. And on the other hand I'm worrying about not sparing anything...
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: itsmylife2001
Sun, 01-22-2006 - 5:18pm

When you use the word "spare," do you mean "save"? If I reread your posts replacing the word "save" for "spare," it makes a lot more sense to me.

If this is in fact what you mean, then I strongly recommend saving. Even if it means taking a little bit extra time to repay your debt, or trimming down your "fun" money some. The reason is that if you don't save, and then you have a sudden expense (which will happen), you will have to create debt to cover it. And if you have to create debt, you will get frustrated and it will feel harder to be motivated to keep paying off your debt.

Besides, it's just a good habit to be in, and a good frame of mind. It's nice knowing there's money set aside somewhere. We have $1000 we do not, under any circumstances, touch. It is there for MAJOR emergencies, like enormous medical expenses, job loss, disability, etc. We have other savings accounts for more ordinary expenses, like car repairs, dental expenses, routine medical expenses, etc. This way, even when we've used up all our savings for one category or another, there is always money sitting somewhere else. The only thing that would change that is if we had a major financial blow.

There will always be "surprise" expenses, and the only way not to be surprised by them is to always have some money set aside for them. Once our debt is paid off, we will increase our emergency, never-touch savings to equal twelve month's expenses.

Anyway, that's my two cents. I hope that adresses the intended question!

Blessings,

Heather

Avatar for cherfer
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-11-2003
In reply to: itsmylife2001
Thu, 01-26-2006 - 10:07am
What does "sparing" mean?
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
In reply to: itsmylife2001
Thu, 01-26-2006 - 11:07am

I do save a little bit out of each paycheck to put towards an emergency fund. This covers car repairs and unscheduled maintenance issues (like when my mechanic said my car was due for it's 30K tune-up at 25K miles due to the wear on the car...).

I wouldn't leave yourself so strapped in your budget that you end up charging to pay for emergencies. Leave a little wiggle room if you can.

Pat :-D