What are your money tips and tricks?

Minestrone101

I've been focused on finances and stuff since the pandemic started. I thought this was also an appropriate thread since there is another thread about making more money for cuddling. My two cents:

• If I make a purchase or want a purchase, I simply cut away things from my normal budget to make room for that (groceries , adjust Amazon subscriptions, etc.)
• Roth 401k/IRA over Traditional 401k/IRA. Roth gets taxes upon the year of deposit but not when you withdraw the investment decades later.

Tips? 🤑$$ 💰

SunsetSnuggles

Have a credit card to build good credit, but pay it off in full, every single month.

Don't add things to your Amazon cart. Add them to an Amazon wish list. Odds are, you'll forget it ever existed.

When you're walking to the check-out line with your cart, stop and look over what's in there. Put back anything you got on impulse (candy, chips, decor...).

Look through your credit card statement and if there's auto-charges, see if you can get rid of anything unnecessary that you may have forgotten about.

Buy oft-used items in bulk.

Move to rural Wyoming where the closest actual good shopping is three and a half hours away! 😜

~ Sunset Snuggles

Mike403

@SunsetSnuggles - What is a cuddler supposed to do in Wyoming? Cuddle with a cow?

SunsetSnuggles

@Mike403 A cow, a pronghorn, a fox, a grizzly... Or else drive to Colorado or Utah for dem cuddles. 😉

~ Sunset Snuggles

Taco_Weekday

I've never been great with money, so what I've recently begun utilizing is direct deposit deductions. For each paycheck, 10% goes to my 401k, and another 10% is direct deposited into my Acorns investment account. I eventually want to do 15% each.

Minestrone101

@Taco_Weekday Nice one! Best of luck with your investments !

@SunsetSnuggles Good tips goat. I'll take another look at my bulk-o-meter.

@Mike403 A real moo cow.

TheLovelyGozi

I think my biggest money tip is to cultivate an actual positive relationship with money. It may sound a little weird, but you wouldn't want to spend time with someone who makes it clear that the very thought of you leaves them feeling stressed, anxious, annoyed, irritated, or depressed. You would probably stay far away from their presence and each time you had to be near them, you would do everything in your power to get away 😂 Gratitude has been the biggest help for me personally and budgeting is a close second!

OhioMike

@TheLovelyGozi that's interesting 👍 I like that, "...positive relationship with money."

All the above is good stuff also. No real "tricks" to share from this guy, but another good tip is to have a business relationship with your local banking institution. Some places call them Relation Managers or Personal Bankers etc. But when you need assistance with $$$ its a great idea to have someone you know, and they know you also.

Maverick07

Live below your means.

achetocuddle

@Maverick07 Your tip can change majorly change a person's life.

This tip is much more doable if you eat alone, but save all leftovers you can stand and make a meal out of them. It doesn't matter if they don't traditionally go together. Do you like them together ok? That's all that matters. And who said every meal has to be enjoyable? Buy whole plant foods when they are on sale. Your wallet and your body will thank you.

CuddleDuncan

Take your bank/credit card statements for the last year. Drop them into Excel if you can but in any event add everything up and make a list of all the things you spent, and how much you spent on them over the course of the year.

Sainsbury's groceries .. £A
Tesco groceries ............ £B
Netflix ............................ £C
Petrol ............................. £D
etc

Spend some time with the list and have a think about it. Is that what you want to spend your money on?

AllAboutSoul

Like @Maverick07 said, live below your means. Save money by not spending money. Little savings here and there really add up.

--Cut down on the daily trips to McDs, Starbucks, etc. Make it every other day.
--Look at your car insurance policy every year, especially if you buy a new vehicle regularly. Price shop. My ex double-paid for GAP insurance (loan and insurance) for several years before he caught it. It was automatically put on by the agent.
--Negotiate your Sirius account yearly. Or drop it entirely.
--Drop cable tv and sign up for fave channels ala cart.
--Truly evaluate gym subscriptions.
--Grocery shop after you've eaten, never on a hungry stomach.
--Shop at Aldi (or similar stores) as often as possible. Generally great prices and smaller stores, but also not as much for impulse purchases as bored wandering in big box/superstores (like Walmart, Target, Kroger, Meijer.)
--Unplug unused electronics, like nightlights and clocks, in spare rooms.
--Watch your power companies for surcharges during prime times. Try to turn off fans, air, etc. during this time. (A programmable thermostat is great, especially if it has an app you can use.)

Hollydollhugs

I know not many can do this, but I got rid of my cable about 6 years ago at my home. I have cable at my office. I also was just able to get rid of my internet and use my phones hot spot for internet for my computer and tv. I’m going to get an additional hot spot from my phone carrier if needed, but it works just fine for me. The company raised my internet rate 2 years ago and there was no other company servicing my area, I had no choice. $2,800.00 for 2 years of internet. That’s what I paid. When I realized I could use my phones hot spot, I called them so fast. They tried to talk me out of it, I laughed and told them I was going to share this with my nearly 1,200 facebook friends. They quickly disconnected me. It’s worked just fine for what I need. ((Sorry so long)) 🤗

Jubal

Roth 401k/IRA over Traditional 401k/IRA.

Ordinary brokerage account can be superior to both. Qualified dividends and long-term capital gains get preferred tax treatment, as low as 0% income tax up to $40,000 of this kind of income for a single person. You can reinvest those dividends in more shares virtually tax-free while you're a young worker. Then in retirement, there's few restrictions or penalties in how and when you withdraw income from the account.

warm_embrace

This is my best money trick ever!

Sooson

-American Express Blue Cash Preferred - 6% back on groceries, 3% on gas. Don't sweat the $95 annual fee. it's still worth it. there are other cash back cards out there as you know.
-Don't be afraid to use credit wisely, take advantage of zero interest promotions.
-Car insurance already mentioned so I won't repeat other than saying don't assume the big names you see on TV every night with the funny commercials provides better service or coverage. There are other less familiar names out there that provide more for less. I shopped around using a broker last year and was able to cut my car insurance premium in half.
(Also, ask your current carrier to estimate the cost of insuring a new car **before **buying one)
-Paying down your mortgage by making additional principal payments will save you tons of money in the long run
-Don't be afraid to invest. Non leveraged index fund will do. add to it every month. Its ok to start with Robin(g) Hood if you have to. Other ways to hedge against the guaranteed debasement of FIAT are precious metals, real estate (owning your own home is good enough) and Bitcoin (govt hates it for a reason).
-Refinancing a mortgage to save couple hundreds a month can cost you 10s of thousands in the long run so be careful.
there is more to calculate than your mortgage broker will tell you.
-Stop tipping everything that has a heartbeat. don't get me wrong I'm a generous tipper but enough is enough.
-Don't own 5 cats!! it adds up it really does

@AllAboutSoul Good tips there but I can't help it with Starbucks, any ideas?

Mike403

@Sooson - Brew your own coffee at home.

AllAboutSoul

@Sooson Yup! Ask for Starbuck cards as bday or Xmas gifts or work promos/rewards. Lolol

AllAboutSoul

@Mike403 I have a similar problem with McDs Diet Coke, people tell me to just by a 2 liter at the store. Yes, it saves money, but it doesn't have the same taste. So I have gone down from daily to 2-3 per week and buy Kroger brand, which is at least 1/2 of the price of real Diet Coke. (I drink a 2 liter a day no matter what, so a nice savings there.)

Mike403

@AllAboutSoul - A while back, my mom asked me to get her a diet coke from McDonalds. I got a 2 liter bottle from the grocery store and poured it in a McDonalds cup. She never knew.

jplemmon

I recently started using this for budgeting and it has been really amazing. There are a whole ton of useful templates on the Vertex 42 site.

https://www.vertex42.com/Files/download2/gdrive.php?file=zero-based-budget

My only rule is:

1. Spend less money than you make

CuddleHugs01234

@warm_embrace great money trick!

A lot of things people buy are not needed. Look at other countries, they are usually happy with just having food. Maybe clothing. Looking at all the stuff you don’t actually need, you could actually probably save a ton of money.

Also, spending money does not equal saving money. Look at this deal, I’m saving so much. You are actually still spending, you’ve just gotten a good deal.

Mike403

@CuddleHugs01234 - I need cuddles... which comes at a cost for somebody like me who has trouble meeting people any other way.

Sooson

@Mike403 the best I am mentally capable of right now is start using the Keurig again , which will still save a ton!!!! . Thank you

Also I would like to thank the cleaning lady for being a not so smart thief. That saved a bunch of money and help me learn some skills

CuddleHugs01234

@Mike403 I’m talking about in general. General purchases. I work in retail, so I see how much stuff people buy. It’s not in my budget to buy what they are buying, which is totally fine, because I choose my lifestyle. Nothing wrong with paying for what you want or need. The topic is money tips and tricks.

I do a lot of things to spend way less money than most people, but I’m fine with that. I get to spend more time with loved ones because I work less than most. Buying a bag of potatoes and making homemade baked fries, eating sweet potatoes baked, drinking tap water, not buying junk food or prepackaged food all the time. Cooking most of our food. So on and so on. If people really want to spend less or to save money, they can. Not knocking anyone who is paying for cuddles.

Mike403

@CuddleHugs01234 - yep. I know somebody who spent over $2k on fishing gear not including the boat.... but if fishing is his hobby and he isn't going into debt to do it, nothing wrong with it.

Maverick07

Another one: don't underestimate the value of compound interest and time.

CuddleHugs01234

@Mike403 like you said, you bought a two liter and maybe didn’t save money on it, or maybe you did spend less, but either way you got a lot more portions of the product.

On the boating supplies, nothing wrong with spending money. And if he was going in debt, still his choice.

Mike403

@CuddleHugs01234 - Yes it's his choice, but we don't want to encourage people going into debt for non-essentials. That's an easy way to get into trouble.

coregulate

All purchases and income go in a document which is organized by categories (gas, groceries, travel) and then I put that into a spreadsheet so I can see how much I make and where my money is going at the end of the month and year.. and how much I'm actually making after expenses.

I don't eat out, unless I'm taking a friend out, but normally I cook for them at home. I don't buy alcohol.

Cook at home.

I don't buy new clothes for the most part.

I know that relationships being me joy, not stuff. I invest time into people, not money into things.

Search for your local Buy Nothing group on Facebook and give and receive free things!