Increasing your savings/investment rates

ratAphooey said: "I need to try and put away more money automatically. My expenses are sort of high though. What ideas or suggestions can you guys think of to help me boost my savings rate?"

Rbreb13 said: "Pick one thing you can do without. Maybe pack a lunch instead of buying lunch 1-2 times a week."

ratAphooey said: "Okay. I can do that. I will give up my least favorite thing."

1997zj said: "What's your break down of weekly expenses?"

FirefighterB said: "Trim from the little things. If you do eat out or have food delivered often, pick it up and you'll save the few bucks you tip the server/delivery driver. Cut out extra morning coffees, sodas, etc. and just drink water. If you need coffee that badly, buy it at the grocery and bring it with you in a mug/thermos. Same for soda. Start buying non-name brands. Frosted Mini Spooners are just as good as Frosted Mini Wheats, you'd be surprised how good Generic soda can taste, does it matter what label is on your green beans? Never spend any change. I always keep all of my change throughout the day and toss it in a mug at the end of the day. It's not much, but you'd be surprised. Stop carrying your credit cards and debit cards and just run off cash, budgeting yourself a set amount daily. You'd be surprised how much extra you buy when you have credit cards around. If you want to get really extreme, don't carry cash, either. Just a checkbook. Most grocery stores will let you write checks for $50 over your total for cash back. Being that it is so much more of a PITA to get money instead of just handing over a piece of plastic, you'll start keeping an eye on what you're spending. If you go the cash route cash your paycheck/take out of your bank when your check is deposited what you've budgeted for your bills and put it in envelopes. I tallied up all of my bills and broke down what I needed to save each week to have enough to pay them when the come around. So, I've got little separate folds of cash that are each of my bills. I know a subway pass is $76 each month, so I put $20 out of each check. Which brings up another point. Always round up in your expenses. If a recurring bill is $61 a month, put $20 a week away when you're setting aside your cash. That way, you'll feel like you have less extra to spend, you won't be surprised if the bill goes up, and, if nothing happens, you've just saved money. Just a few things I have used to try to budget. I'm normally pretty bad with my money, especially when it comes to hitting up the bars. I'll go out and just start tossing my credit card around like a moron. It's harder to think of the consequences of buying all your friends a round of shots when your drinking, but if you only have cash on you, it's impossible to do."

lil dickie said: "Those are good tips FireFighter. If you eat at restaurants DONT. It is much cheaper to eat at home."

Airelon said: "Very good tips that Firefighter has. It's amazing how much you can save, but just cutting out one thing I usually make sure my fridge is stocked with A) Guinness and B) JW Dundee Honey Brown. But two years ago, I cut back on the volume, and cut back on how much I drink. I usually bought around 3 packs each per week. I always have a lot of people over the house, and take the responsiblity of being a good host very seriously. But I thought I'd cut back. Not buying 1 pack of Guinness a week, and 1 pack of JW Dundee a week. So only 2 packs of each per week. That saves me $14.88 a week. $63.00 a month. $756 a year. I tried just doing that with a lot of things. I [i]like[/i] my lifestyle. So I figured rather than just cutting stuff out completely. I'd cut back. So rather than perhaps just cutting out eating at restaurants period? Just figure out how much you spend, and cut back by like 50%. That way you still get to enjoy the things you love to do? But you still save money. I'll say "ditto" to all of Firefighters comments as a matter of fact. I love to travel. Loose change provides an excellent "loose cash" fund, for when I get on vacation. I know other people that do this too. A good friend of mine had over $460 for a weeks vacation in Florida - as just loose spending cash. Just from loose change."

Kloewer said: "All good suggestions. I'll add that it helps to have an inexpensive hobby. I'm a fitness fanatic and a dog owner. Working out and playing with my dog fills practically all my free time, so I don't ever find myself at the mall just because I'm bored with time to kill. When we were deep in debt 7 years ago, I started rounding up to the nearest $10 every time I wrote a check. After a couple years, I had saved several thousand dollars without actually having to think about saving money. It was the first step away from paycheck-to-paycheck living."

AlfredSokol said: "Check your entertainment budget. There may be a lot of fat in there."

Heather said: "Great suggestions FireFighter! Other things you could do would be streamlining your bills. Now most cable companies offer packages that include internet, digital phones and varying cable packages, so instead of paying 2 or 3 different bills you only have one. Consider dropping extended cable, PayPerView or extra services off your TV. This could help you tuck away another $30-$50.00 depending on your cable provider."

j4wz said: "[QUOTE=AlfredSokol;61674]Check your entertainment budget. There may be a lot of fat in there.[/QUOTE] I redbox it. Free movie Monday's too! Hell of a lot cheaper then Blockbuster."

FirefighterB said: "[QUOTE=Heather;61679]Other things you could do would be streamlining your bills. Now most cable companies offer packages that include internet, digital phones and varying cable packages, so instead of paying 2 or 3 different bills you only have one. [/QUOTE] Thanks, everyone. You could say I know how to be poor. :) This is a good idea from Heather with one catch; make sure you know what the rates are gonna be down the line. I remember the first time I set up cable on my own and realized that that $80 a month they offered only lasted for 6 months. Sure sucked when it went to $120 for the package after that... A lot of the companies are offering for a year and, I think, one of the satellite companies is offering it for 2. Not sure about that, though. Just check and make sure the offer isn't a teaser."