[heisenberg]

Hey RS!

I'm currently a full time student, working weekends, the odd week day and during breaks. (winter, spring, summer)

I was curious if you guys had any tips on saving money.

A short story about me, I started working January of 2012, and by the end of the year I made about 6k. Looking back I've realised I spent a lot of it on useless crap. By January of this year, only having around $200 left. This year so far I've made 2k, some how with only about $500 left.

As you can tell, I compulsively spend money. I average around $250-$350 every pay cheque. I've kinda calculated my necessities and they only go to around $200 a month.

Any tips?

Sorry if this is in the wrong section btw.

[Matlock]

Either degrade your lifestyle or increase your income.

[Recon604]

Hey RS!

I'm currently a full time student, working weekends, the odd week day and during breaks. (winter, spring, summer)

I was curious if you guys had any tips on saving money.

A short story about me, I started working January of 2012, and by the end of the year I made about 6k. Looking back I've realised I spent a lot of it on useless crap. By January of this year, only having around $200 left. This year so far I've made 2k, some how with only about $500 left.

As you can tell, I compulsively spend money. I average around $250-$350 every pay cheque. I've kinda calculated my necessities and they only go to around $200 a month.

Any tips?

Sorry if this is in the wrong section btw.


:fulloffuck:

[Stormspirit]

Dont eat out.

Dont smoke .

Dont blaze.

Dont club or rave

Dont drive.

Dont spend money on girls in anyway

You save lots this way. Trust me .
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[Drow]

Dont eat out.

Dont smoke .

Dont blaze.

Dont club or rave

Dont drive.

Dont spend money on girls in anyway

You save lots this way. Trust me .
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you're weird

[Vansterdam]

Dont eat out.

Dont smoke .

Dont blaze.

Dont club or rave

Dont drive.

Dont spend money on girls in anyway

You save lots this way. Trust me .
Posted via RS Mobile

sad but true

[BrRsn]

having a savings + chequings account helps
not having a credit card helps

Keep only what you need in the chequings (~$220 or whatever) and once it declines you know its time to figure your shit out.

being a student in BC though, it'll be tough. There's gonna be random times when you're studying and you'll be craving a snack and the next thing you know you just spent $10 on overpriced crap at your school store -- there goes 10% of your monthly allowance lol.

[DaFonz]

Hey RS!

I'm currently a full time student, working weekends, the odd week day and during breaks. (winter, spring, summer)

I was curious if you guys had any tips on saving money.

A short story about me, I started working January of 2012, and by the end of the year I made about 6k. Looking back I've realised I spent a lot of it on useless crap. By January of this year, only having around $200 left. This year so far I've made 2k, some how with only about $500 left.

As you can tell, I compulsively spend money. I average around $250-$350 every pay cheque. I've kinda calculated my necessities and they only go to around $200 a month.

Any tips?

Sorry if this is in the wrong section btw.

Pay yourself first by setting up automatic withdrawals from your bank account into a locked savings vehicle like RRSPs. That way you can't get to your money even if you want to.

Stop being a compulsive spender. Seriously. It will not end well for you.

[Iceman-19]

Stop compulsively spending?

[heisenberg]

@Matlock - hard to increase income at the moment, if i get more hours im taking someone else's hours away.
@Stormspirit - i eat out once a week, and dont do any of the other stuff.. i just always have an impulse to buy something that catches my eye
@dhillon09 - tried opening a savings account. but they said id get charged for it etc and i need at least $500 just to start it up
@DaFonz - the banks just make it complicated, is there like a time share? where i can just put money and not be able to touch it for lets say a year? or is that the automatic withdrawals?
@iceman-19 - harder than it seems... if i could stop, there would be no point of this thread

[hongy]

So I've encountered the same problem and here is what I did.

Do you live at home? I assume you do so start making food at home, or get your parents to, take that food and eat that for lunch at school. Some times it feels like you have no time to pack lunch for the next day, but find time to do it. That saved me from spending $40+ a week on lunch.

Do you drive? If you do, start taking the bus. I've started waking up earlier and taking the bus to school. This saved me about $100 a week on gas, and $25 a week on parking at school everyday.

Do you smoke? Party? Blaze? Limit that ASAP. Smoking costs me $40+ a week, I go out once a week or so now versus multiple times a week which has saved me a lot.

Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend? If she/he doesn't understand that you have to cut down on spending and going out... maybe time for a new one. I told my girlfriend that I was no longer able to go out as much, or go for dinners or lunch or whatever because of money constraints and she understood that and that has saved me a lot of money.

As others have mentioned, create a savings account, do not touch that money except for extreme emergencies. I saved 700+ in a matter of months and that was just putting in $100 every month combined with putting money into a savings account every time I used my checking account. That $700 saved my ass when I needed.

I assume your young, and at my (our?) age, 18-21 it might seem like you have to be going out every weekend, being a big baller, flashy, etc. but you don't have to be.

[Recon604]

learn to be cheap :lawl:

[ilovebacon]

gimme your money, I'll hold it for you =p
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[heisenberg]

@hongy i do make my own food, but at the same time going to the gym, i have to watch what i eat. and chicken isnt cheap D: . i bus, and dont party. no gf atm D: i tried opening a savings account but they made it all complicated. im actually a bit younger than you :p
@Recon604 i try sometimes, but quality over quantity.
@ilovebacon i was thinking of giving someone my debit card ...

[Iceman-19]

If you don't have the self control to stop spending, you are going to be hard pressed to save anything.

Serious help...open a TFSA account at your bank. Set up a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly transfer into it. Don't touch it. You have access to the money any time you want, but it takes a day for it to transfer, so its not immediate. That would help with you using it to spend.

[heisenberg]

does the TFSA account have any requirements? i went in to set up a savings account the other day and they said i needed at least $500 to open one

[Teriyaki]

does the TFSA account have any requirements? i went in to set up a savings account the other day and they said i needed at least $500 to open one

No requirements. Not sure where you bank that would have such a stipulation. I work at one, you could come in open an account have $0 in it and walk away. :badpokerface:

[Purely]

I believe you have to be 19 to open a TFSA.

[freakshow]

It's good to build some of those money saving habits mentioned above, but in addition to that, you should just get the money out of your hands asap. If you're having trouble with the savings account, try to even transfer it to your parents or your siblings and have them hold it for you.

Also, try Coast Capital, they should have no fee accounts for students.

[Ulic Qel-Droma]

subscribe to world of warcraft. 13 bux a month, will be your only expense. and your life.

[hongy]

If you're younger then me, I'm 19, then you shouldn't be charged fees at any bank.
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[heisenberg]

@teriyaki what bank do you work at?
@gyu sadly not there yet :(
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[BrRsn]

heisgenberg go to your registrar at school and get proof of enrollment papers.

Take those papers to your bank and say you want a free student bank account.
I have one with TD -- I get unlimited transactions on my debit card/unlimited cash withdrawals and its all free.
I just have to send them new enrollment papers every year

[DaFonz]

Listen, you're young so do yourself a favor and do the following:

a) Open up a student account (free)
b) Open up an ING direct RRSP streetwise account
c) Set up automatic withdrawals to your RRSP

If you start now, the power of compounding will set up the rest of your life and you'll have a good 10 year head start on when people normally begin to save.

[Alby]

setting up automatic withdrawals is a BIG plus. what i did was every pay cheque, a good chunk of it was taken away into a savings account which could only be touched once and with a limit amount that could be withdrawal. anything after that there would be a penalty fee.

limit what could be use from your debit card and set a low amount on your credit card if you have any.

[BBMme]

I will go with avoid the use of credit cards and stay single, which I am very bad with both.
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[RecklessNS]

I think mostly everyone summed up how to save but honestly the little things can make a difference.

I'm a student this year and Scotiabank has this "Bank the rest" which gathers the odd numbers in your chequing account and rounds it to the nearest dollar then transfers it to your savings. EX. you have $71.42 in your account, it will be rounded to 71.00, and the rest will go to your savings.

I know its small but in a month you could be putting into your savings around $25. its small but your still putting money back into your saving's account.

Along with what everyone else said just little things like this can still help.

[Spoon]

I will go with avoid the use of credit cards and stay single, which I am very bad with both.
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FYI getting married bumped my savings up quite a bit. Cost sharing is a wonderful thing.

[hopalong]

What I did was have an allowance for myself. I would have $xx amount to spend every 2 weeks and that's it. If its gone I have to wait till next week. I didn't have a debit card so I can't just simply take cash out. I did that for 2 years and saved a lot!

[adrnlnrush00]

All these posts have lots of good ideas that you can incorporate into your overall savings strategy. But the one thing that holds everything together and keeps things in perspective has not yet been mentioned - put a pen to paper and create a budget. Create a realistic budget so that you can actually stick to it. Follow your budget religiously. And amend your budget when circumstances change. Repeat often.

Back in my banking days, I helped many of my clients create personal budgets. Now, as an articling CA, I help my corporate clients create corporate budgets.

A budget is the cornerstone of every successful fiscal plan. Without one, it's like hipfiring - sometimes you'll hit your target but most of the time you won't. Creating a budget is like aiming down your sights - you'll have a significantly greater chance of hitting your fiscal targets.

[aikenluu918]

Get an expense tracker on your phone.. and as painful as it is, input EVERY little purchase you use.

Set your budgets and stick to them

NO EXCEPTIONS
at the end of the month review your transactions. you will be surprised at what you spend on.

lather, rinse and repeat.
I think your biggest problem is not knowing where your money went. Knowledge is power.

[heisenberg]

@Alby i've heard some pretty good things about automatic withdrawals, i'll look into it sometime next week
@RecklessNS do you know if they have that at TD? im with them right now and dont wanna switch banks D:
@aikenluu918 i just got an expense tracker, and i'll start tracking now! thanks for the tip!


so i've thought it through, cancelling my current gym membership at SN, and going to a cheaper location. Cutting down on eating out and partying. Going to my bank next week to talk about savings option, like the "bank the rest" or "automatic withdraws"

[m3thods]

Get an expense tracker on your phone.. and as painful as it is, input EVERY little purchase you use.

Set your budgets and stick to them

NO EXCEPTIONS
at the end of the month review your transactions. you will be surprised at what you spend on.

lather, rinse and repeat.
I think your biggest problem is not knowing where your money went. Knowledge is power.

This only works for plastic, and it's not for people who are very afraid of having their banking info on a 3rd-party server, but Mint.com is the best expense tracker I've used. Doesn't handle cash transactions except withdrawals/deposits. I use it and it really helps you visualize where your money is going. Great mobile app as well.

[Minto]

Get an expense tracker on your phone.. and as painful as it is, input EVERY little purchase you use.

Set your budgets and stick to them

NO EXCEPTIONS
at the end of the month review your transactions. you will be surprised at what you spend on.

lather, rinse and repeat.
I think your biggest problem is not knowing where your money went. Knowledge is power.
I tried to do this before... it was really hard to do every purchase. heisenberg, make sure you put in the expense right away or you'll forget to do it later.

Try finding something really occupying to do at home like games, TV or movies. It was easy for me to stop eating out. Spend $XX to eat food that'll be tasty for a few minutes, or just wait XX minutes to get home and eat there? Just think about what you could be doing with the money instead (NOT buying stuff - put it away).

[Tim Budong]

Best advice for saving money but not degrade too much of a lifestyle?

Set up a meal plan. Seriously, most of your income will be spent on food.

I've used mint before, its very automatic, but as others said, if its cash, not gonna help.

I try to keep everything on a monthly excel sheet. One the day I get paid, I throw everything into the savings.

I find that manually keeping track of how I spend gives me the best insight on where I can change or improve upon.

[6793026]

COOK your OWN mofo food.

here's an example.
Dinner:
Pasta (macaroni) and then add pasta sauce + cheese. epic cheap.

Breakfast:
Same pasta + can of chicken stock + sliced ham + mixed greens (corn, carrots, beans)

Lunch
Same pasta + salad dressing, + 1 green pepper + red pepper

I don't know about you, but those 3 meals costs MUCH less than eating out. I don't know about you but if you want to save money (5 bucks for Lido breakfast + 8 dollar ramen + dinner cheap fried rice take out 8-10 bucks) that's a simple 20-25 dollars, yet the meal i mentioned above cost less than 5 -10 bucks.

[twitchyzero]

if you drive plan your errands accordingly...I never drive out of my way to get something done...always make an errands day every now and then to save gas.

[AJW]

I calculate all my spendings and earnings through my phone APP..
after reading this I realized Im absolutely TERRIBLE with my money..
Just a quick breakdown since the new years..
1000$ gas + car maintenance
600$ entertainment
2700$ food
2500$ household/rent/random
1700$ clothes/gifts
900$ utilities
300$ smokes

THATS ALMOST FREAKIN 10 GRAND I BLEW IN LESS THAN 4 MONTHS.. GEEZUS CHRIST..
I gatta cut back on everything..

edit: the best way to save money is to make money.. if your not working, your spending :(