The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

[sadie147]

Ready to start pinching your pennies?

I thought I’d start a separate challenge thread for our spend less/save more challenge Miss Phode suggested. That threads become pretty popular..so apparently there are a few of us in need of a plan, a budget, and some advice!

Boonie Stomper made a great point to me that saving money can only help many of us with our woe, as whole fresh foods can often cost more than higher carb junk foods, and many have a hard time making it financially through each month, so learning how to budget can be a great help.

There is a lot of online resources and articles, too many to post all at once, so I’ve picked out some of the best ones I could find for anyone wanting to start a budget or savings plan.

Obviously we’re all going to have different goals, and it’s up to you if you’d like to post them or not (no need to post any specific financial stuff on here..just our commitments, goals and tips). . Or just post on how you are doing with your budget, or offer others advice. From the other thread it seems we have some great financial minds here!

Here are some online tools that might help get started.

from Oprahs ‘Debt Diet’ online:

How much debt do you have? Printable debt tracking chart:http://www.oprah.com/download/pdfs/money/money_chatzky_checklist.pdf

The ‘Latte Factor’ Calculator. Daily expenses calculator to find extra money:http://www.oprah.com/money/debtdiet/steps/debtdiet_steps_02_b.jhtml

What credit cards to pay down first:http://www.oprah.com/money/debtdiet/steps/debtdiet_steps_02_b.jhtml



Tools from savingadvice.com:

Online cash flow calculator:http://www.savingadvice.com/calculators/cash_flow.php

Online credit card calculator, to figure out how long it will take you to pay down your credit cards (would probably work for loans as well):http://www.savingadvice.com/calculators/creditcard.php

And thanks to Miss Phode for the challenge name. Who knows maybe between all of us we can save a million $ this year. OK, well maybe that's a little ambitious..but how bout a few thousand!


If anyone has any suggestions or ideas for the challenge feel free to add them!

[biogeek]

Thanks for starting the new thread, Jen! Can't wait to get the ball rolling!

[sadie147]

I will be the first one to start. I am going to commit too:

Set a budget, write it down, and STICK TO IT.

Pay down 2 of my credit cards by May 1 of this year.

Put myself on a weekly spending allowance to help me save to pay down those credit cards. Right now I pretty much spend what I get paid. And it’s 90% on things I don’t need!

Start a change jar. The last time I did this I ended up with $110 in about 2 months. Though I have the advantage of our $1 and $2 being coins…but it really adds up. I bet I have $10 in change in the bottom of my purse right now

I’m gong to start slow with these 3 goals. I’m curious to see how much I can save even by the end of February.

[biogeek]

Ok, we already have a good control over our money, but there's always room for improvement.

My monthly grocery budget is $350 (unless it's a holiday or birthday month) & I usually spend every penny of it, but never over. I want to see how much of that I can reduce in a month by buying in bulk & freezing items, coupons, sales, maybe some other ideas.

I currently also have a month allowance of $250 to spend on whatever I want. Some things I purchase are frivolous, while others I mull over before spending. I want to get rid of the frivolous purchases & then see how much more I can save out of my allowance.

[boonie stomper]

I'm spending at least $20 per week on food and dring for DS, only because I've grown use to the convenience of him eating in the car on the way home, which began years ago with his picky eating habits. Now he's eating more, and growing less picky, so it's time to give him more home-cooking. The challenge, if I can get him to eat more of normal foods I cook, may save me enough to get him an X-box, cell-phone, and internet/cable/phone account at home this year.
(Added clarification, that $20 is fast-food meals, and convenience store pastries, sodas & snacks)

EDIT: to those who want to jump back to my last post in the preceding budget thread in chit chat:

Originally Posted by the pre-challenge budget thread

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...&postcount=112

[Atkid]

I am here and trying to think of ways to bring down my monthly expenses. My two biggest splurges are my cable/internet which runs me 125. a month and 5 cellphones that come run about 180. a month, but in this day and age can we really live without the two things. Hoping to find somewhere else that I can cut, having mentioned in the other thread that I am looking for ways to increase retirement fund for the future.

[Lyssie]

Atkid - the funniest thing about your post is that I don't have cable or a cellphone. ROFL.

Anyway, I want to give myself the $100/wk (for lunch/gas/whatever else) and not go over it. I don't *need* new clothes for another size or so, and there will be other sales and stuff... unless the world ends, but I guess if that happens, I won't really need the clothes anyway....

Uhmmm.. also, to pack lunch twice a week instead of buying it most days... and I think I'm gonna go to Lowe's and make one of those virtually indestructable banks with PVC, then start putting $1/day in it...

[Atkid]

Originally Posted by Lyssie

Atkid - the funniest thing about your post is that I don't have cable or a cellphone. ROFL.

I wish I could do without these things, could possibly cut down my cable to a smaller package but that probably would only save me $10. or so a month. As far as the cellphones my family does a lot of traveling out on the highways to school and work where if you were to break down you wouldn't want to be without a phone.

[Lyssie]

I never said anything against either one. The cable thing was a matter of having enough money - it was a choice of internet or basic cable, I chose the internet. I travel on the highways every day... like I said, it was a matter of necessity, I didn't mean the comment as a slam or anything like that. It just struck me as ironic.

[boonie stomper]

That was ironic to me, too. Atkid is thinking of cutting out exactly what I'm trying to save enough to afford. I currently use free TV, no long distance service at home (cheapest possible landline), and carry a cellphone with the lowest regular service cost I could find, which has very limited free minutes. (I don't talk on the phone much). I also have a lot of relics furnishing my home, by today's standards, and do not have internet.

To keep DS "In" with his peers he says he needs certain modern things, therefore I'm approaching the challege of providing what HE wants (what I can't presently afford due to extra uneccessary expenses incurred on his behalf) by improving his diet and at the same time saving grocery money.

If successful, a moderate savings say $50/mo in 3 mos. gets a game system OR an improved cellphone account w/2 phones and extra minutes and features. Unfortunately, the latter is a recurring expense, but hopefully during this challenge, I'll realize some additional savings from other measures, like closing the old phone account saves ~$18/mo, which reduces the net savings needed for the combo DSL/cable/home phone contract we also want.

Getting the ipod, MP3, flat screen, new PC & furniture is going to take a LOT of work. I'm in a clerical job, raising a kid on 3 meds & in therapy without child support or govt. aid of any kind. Not an easy task!