Been trying to save money. . . but failed

[lanajames]

Hi there. . All I want is to save money for the future, I don't have specific goal for that money, but I just want to save, so in case that I will need money, I don't need to borrow from anyone. But when I try to start on saving money, I always end up spending that in something like emergency, don't want to remember that again, but the last time was I spent that for my father's hospitalization. What should I do next time???

[phantom]

I don't see how you failed. You saved money in case you needed it, then you needed to pay for your father's hospitalization, and you could because you had saved. That sounds like a success story to me! Think where you'd be if you hadn't saved that money in advance.

Without more details, it's hard to say what, if anything, you could be doing better. But, in general, you should expect to have to tap into your savings from time to time. When you do have to use what you've saved, you just need to save up again.

[disneysteve]

It would be very helpful to post your budget. Be sure to include income, expenses, and savings. Also, any debts with balance, interest rate, and minimum monthly payments.

[bjl584]

Hi there. . All I want is to save money for the future, I don't have specific goal for that money, but I just want to save, so in case that I will need money, I don't need to borrow from anyone. But when I try to start on saving money, I always end up spending that in something like emergency, don't want to remember that again, but the last time was I spent that for my father's hospitalization. What should I do next time???

You need a goal. You don't have one. Having a goal and a plan are the first steps.

[disneysteve]

You need a goal. You don't have one. Having a goal and a plan are the first steps.

I kind of agree but not completely. Just having savings - an emergency fund - is itself a goal.

I think we need more info, like why did you have to pay your father's medical bills?

[snafu]

Great that you know you need to have some savings. Life happens and there are always challenges. I hope your father has recovered and it's wonderful that you had money to help with the cost.

One goal is to save up until you have 3 months of your living expenses, what ever that might be. I suggest you take 10% of your net salary each and every pay, plus any other money you get right from the top...before you pay anything else into a savings account as a first step.

[Baby_nurse]

I think the fact that you had money in the bank to care for your father rather than needing to take out loans or run up your credit card is a story of success, not failure.

[PetMom]

An emergency fund is security.

And it will get used when needed when there is an emergency.

We had to be cautious who knew we had one because then people would
ask for a loan, even family.

We did this a few times and then stopped.

If we kept loaning out money then our ef was going to get depleted.

You may have good reason to use your ef paying your father's hospital bill and that is your business.

We waited until ours was higher before we did do some loans, but if your ef is 1,000.00 or so then loaning or paying out is going to affect it more and you have to do catch up.

Our few loans we did were never paid and the same person never even mentions it even though they did get work and are fully solvent now.

[Gailete]

I think the fact that you had money in the bank to care for your father rather than needing to take out loans or run up your credit card is a story of success, not failure

I, like some of the other posters, wonder why you felt the need to deplete your savings to pay for your dad's hospitalization. Apparently he didn't have the money to pay for it himself which means if you need money he isn't a source you can ask -- not that I advocate ever asking family for help with finances. If your dad was hospitalized and didn't have money or insurance to pay, that is when you call in the hospital social worker to have them help figure out how your dad could pay off his bill. I'm not sure why you dug into your own pocket to bail your dad out. Yes, it is admirable, but only if you have so much in savings that you wouldn't miss it. Too many other reasons to do it shows a potentially dysfunctional family, such as proving to dad you love him or trying to get dad to love you, or showing off to siblings that you have plenty so can afford to do this. Not saying any of these are the reasons that you did it, but in the US, we aren't responsible for others bills other than possibly a married couple are responsible jointly for bills.

As to how to save and keep the money in savings, we really would need to know more about your budget and earnings to be able to give suggestions. I know after years of never being able to get anything put away, I was determined to get something, anything into savings so I started putting 5% of our net earnings from our on line store and some months that was only $30-40 tops. I deposited it into a Sharebuilders account (no fees other than when you purchase a stock). I saw that tiny amount grow monthly and currently it is worth around $3K (of which about $600 is increase in value of the stocks since I bought them). Granted this isn’t much for many people here, but I share it to show those in circumstances more like mine that putting away a little, little by little, it can turn into something bigger. I hope someday to see that amount be $30,000+ if not $300,000!

[BrianJone]

Hi there. . All I want is to save money for the future, I don't have specific goal for that money, but I just want to save, so in case that I will need money, I don't need to borrow from anyone. But when I try to start on saving money, I always end up spending that in something like emergency, don't want to remember that again, but the last time was I spent that for my father's hospitalization. What should I do next time???

i am sorry to hear about your fathers hospitalization

[Jerry91]

You’re unable to save money because you don’t have a goal. Create a financial goal for yourself. This will encourage you to save money. Create an emergency fund and a retirement fund for yourself. Make sure that the payments to these accounts go directly from your savings account on a stipulated date. This will help you save money. Apart from that, you can create a budget for yourself and make sure that you follow it.

[Gailete]

One of the best financial goals, no matter how far away it seems, is saving for retirement, so that is one goal to be saving for. If you are renting and would like to buy, saving for a down payment can be another goal. Always dreamed of hiking Mount Everest? That can another goal. Want a big flat screen TV? Another goal. There is no limit to goals (bucket list) you can have in life and no reason not to save for them. Have a set percentage that you put towards them each month. Saving by per cents takes into account months with higher or lower income, so you are saving regardless of how much comes in. As I mentioned before, I save a percent of the net income from our on-line store. Last month that meant tucking $20 into my stock account, $40 into my Roth IRA, and $20 to charity. We had been buying a lot of inventory last month so income was down. This month they should be up. But in time those amounts do add up and it is fun to watch. Retirement is a big goal for us because of our ages and circumstances, but my husband also has a goal of building a 40 rank pipe organ in the house. He acknowledges that that particular dream/goal probably won't come true, but that doesn't meant he doesn't dream, research, and plan for it, and for him that is the biggest part of having goals to work for--the looking forward to something in this age of instant everything. Remember when we had to wait for pictures to be developed and the anticipation of hoping that shot that you thought was terrific truly was instead of having the opportunity to take 50 shots of the same thing 'just in case'.

Sit down and write down your dreams and goals and then rate them in priority to YOU, not what the world says and then start saving and see where it takes you!

[Byron T.]

Overall Philosophy

The previous posts are really insightful and articulate. You do need a plan and you do need a goal. And you need to reward yourself when you achieve certain benchmarks. The only thing that I would add is to find or build some image in your mind of the life you want to have or the person you want to be.

An overall philosophy or vision is a powerful thing and can affect your ability to do many things, including save money. And good for you, being there for your family.