Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Saving Money vs. Splurging Money..

The new year has approached and there are a lot of things that I wish to purchase, spend money on, etc. Sam and I want to take several trips, update the condo, and eventually plan a wedding and have children. And if you're reading this, you know how expensive wedding and children are, good grief! I know I have my monthly bills every month, but somehow I always end up spending the rest. I know it's considered my "spending" money, but I really want  to do a better job this year of saving. I want to put MORE in savings, so when I do want to purchase something large or significant, I can. My finances are in a good place at the moment, (thank goodness for my parents teaching me how to budget in college! ) I know it's hard to save money, but I also know how HARD it is not to use that shiny piece of plastic. Luckily, I have zero major credit cards. I know that sounds nuts, but I had one in college that I RANNNNNN up the bill, and I mean rannnnn it up... I thought my mother was going to put me in the ground....Seriously.. After my parents paid it off, I refused to get in that kind of trouble again. I've seen the problems it causes people. My motto is this, " If you don't have it, don't buy it." It sounds crazy, but we live in a world where we are CONSTANTLY trying to keep up with the "Jones es." It's so easy to get in credit card trouble. It's also easy to get them! If not everyday, then every OTHER day, I am getting something in the mail about opening a credit card. I always throw them in the garbage, but I am amazed... Don't get me wrong, I'm not the first person to give you advice on finances... I've had my trouble with them in the past and still have months where I pinch, but I have learned to just manage better..... Although I don't have trouble with credit cards, I let my cash flow dwindle down to nothing! So with a new year starting, I plan to change that.... I will take my "spending money" each month and put more back.... I would love to get to June and have all kinds of "extra" money to play with....If you have any advice or tips on how to manage and save money, PLEASE share. I would love to know what you're doing! 2013 was the year for me to get my health and body back, 2014 is a year for me to see more " greeeeeeen." :)


6 comments:

Kristin said...

i read somewhere about an envelope system. figuring out how much you need for groceries, bills, etc and dividing them up into envelopes. then whatever $$ you have left over is your "free" money to spend on whatever you want!

Sunkissed and Southern said...

We do envelopes but have 401k and our savings taken out directly into separate accounts first so we never even see that in our checking. It's kind of fun having the physical cash to play around with. I think we definitely started saving on going out to eat, groceries and all the extras...like Target trips and coffee :). It adds up fast!

Georgia Glam said...

I too RAN up a credit card bill in college! Luckily my parents were gracious enough to pay it off and I still have it and use it occasionally. Save? Budget? Those are dirty words but this year I'm taking baby steps to introduce them into my vocabulary. I'm doing the 52 week money challenge and are somewhat practicing the "envelope" system. Here's to being better this year!

Katie Elizabeth said...

I'm doing a money challenge in 2014 that by the end of the year, will amount to a savings of around $1500. For week 1 you save $1, week 2 you save $2, week 40 you save $40, etc. if that makes sense. We are pretty good at saving but half of my husband's salary is commission so we save at random times. This is an extra easy way to save each week and have it add up by the end of the year!

Kristin said...

We use the envelope system with cash!! Except at the end of the month whatever is left over, we put toward the next month's allowance, so we don't have to pull out as much the next month from our accounts. Or we move that into a savings acct.

It's worked awesome!

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