Saving money?!

Question

My husband and I are like the worst possible match in ONE way... we both love spending money and don't know how to save! 
We literally get paid, pay bills, and then blow the rest and never save. 
It drives me crazy because I know we need a savings account. We are adults. 
I'm a little better than him, and I try to save. But when I actually have money set aside and he wants something he guilt trips me by  saying "I work hard if I want something I'm gonna buy it.". But he doesn't understand I'm only trying to help us.

What are some of your tips on SAVING money. How can we cut down on spending without feeling like we're just boring.

Help

Answer

We have a penny a day saving scheme in our house. For each day you save a penny it's very good at the end of the year you have between £600-£700 at the end of the year. Great way of saving and you don't notice it's gone as its only a small amount xx

Answer

My SO and I had this same problem. You should download an app like mint. It tracks all of what's coming in and all of what you're spending. It even has little areas that let you know how much you spend on groceries vs eating out and unnecessary things, etc, etc. It helps us budget and let's us know what disposable income we have.

Answer

What helped me save money was the "out of sight, out of mind" method. I tend to spend spend spend whenever I have any extra money leftover after paying all the bills. It took a year of nagging from my dad to make me finally grow up and be more responsible with my hard-earned money.

First, look at the leftover money you guys end up with each month after paying off all your bills. Start small and put away some of it every single month - even $50 a month is fine to start with. You can just put the cash in an envelope each month, or set up an automatic withdrawal into a separate bank account. Leave room for fun and date nights, takeout on lazy days, emergencies. Honestly, I thought I'd miss that money and feel deprived, but I actually didn't even notice it that much. I don't even remember what I spent my extra money on later anyway!

After trying this out for a few months, see if you can increase that number the next month, like $100 or $200 without feeling like you guys are straining. In the meantime, do some simple calculations to predict how much you can save in one year. This can help keep you motivated to keep saving. For example, if you save $200 every month, in one year you've got yourself $2,400. In two years, $4,800. Or if you able to tuck away $500 every month, you will have $6,000 in one year. $12,000 in two years! See what I mean? 😁

Answer

It is actually really simple. Go to a bank and speak with someone. The consult is free and they deal with this all the time. I ended up setting up a separate account that wasn't available online so I would have to go in to access it. I also automatically take a part of my paycheck on payday and it goes there. It has really helped.

Answer

Oh my gosh! I am SO glad you posted this. We are considering me staying home full time when baby comes in september however we BLOW so much money!! My husband makes about 2x what I do but losing 1/3 of our income will still be a noticeable change. I need advice too! For us I know our biggest thing is eating out. We go out to sit down restaurants almost every night.

Answer

I'm in charge of our joint account and I pretty much transfer (at a very minimum) $25 every week to the savings. I just do it I don't even tell my husband til the end of the month when I'm like hey we saved x amount of dollars aren't you proud :,).

Answer

Same here! I love our date nights and days off together and we always spend too much! Then I get annoyed with him for buying stuff for himself :X. One way we started saving is by putting x amount of dollars away every week (doesn't have to be a lot, really). It adds up eventually, but it can't be a rainy day fund! Grant yourself zero access to the money (no debit card, no account number, and not affiliated with your regular bank account so you can't see it online). Another thing I've done is written down all of our bills as a reminder that we really don't have that much extra to be spending, but saving. Also, meal planning helps. Every Saturday I have a list of meals and ingredients (typically in bulk so we don't have to run to a more expensive store for one ingredient) for the week or even two weeks. We have a bad habit of going out to eat or ordering in, so making bulk meals that will last a week or two helps pinches pennies.
Hope this helps?!

Answer

We are the same way! It's awful...

Saving money?!

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