Have you saved salary increases?

[Cassandra]

Joel: I do.

I also put the remainder of each paycheck into savings. At my previous job I took more out of my paycheck to spend and now I make more each paycheck but take less out to spend.

Sorry about not making that clearer the first time.

Cassandra

[ktmarvels]

Since we've been married (1 yr) DH got a cost of living raise and a promotion. We didn't explicitly save either one of those because at the time we got them we had been setting up our household and blowing through all of his income and then some. Things have now settled down and we are spending less than he makes, so that extra is saved.

I think the next time he gets a raise, we'll try to figure out a way to make it automatic. So that extra money doesn't get put into our checking account. Maybe start contributing to his TSP (government's 401k) or making automatic transfers.

[cptacek]

Yes, up until about a month ago, whenever I would get a raise, I would up my 401(k) by half of the raise...if I got a 4% raise, I would up the 401(k) by 2%. Then, I could spend the other 2% if I wanted to, but I actually would send it to loans to get them paid off.

[marvholly]

This is not possible for me because:
medical insurance went up
491K contribution increases
real estate taxes went up
home owners/auto insurance also up
gas price is up (albiet not like 2005)
basic groceries up about 10% (raise was 3.6%)

[terri77]

I usually increase my 457(b) deduction by $50 biweekly every January. My 4% raise comes in April.

[Schadenfreude]

I do it a little different...every year on my birthday, I up my 401k contribution by 1%. Right now I'm at 7% of my paycheck (plus company match of 6%). In September, when I turn 28, I'll up it 8%.

With my yearly raise, I first increase the amount paid to my mortgage/loan, then increase my monthly savings.

[Ima saver]

My dh is self employed as a carpenter (builder) and works by the hour. All the builder's around here charge a percentage of the cost of the materials and subcontractors. It is very common, but my dh did not do that for 16 years. Finally in about 2000, we started doing that to cover things like my bookkeeping, gasoline, tools, etc.
However, since we were not used to that money, I usually take that check and save it each month. (Once in a while we will use the money for an emergeny; example, to repair the van. That money would come out of savings anyway)

[Aleta]

It is so true what Ima says. My husband is also in the same business as hers and when you have irregular income, you base your increases differently. We always feel like we are behind the eight ball. While everyone else receives increases, it is not excepted from regular clients. I think that we all should increase our salaries accordingly regardless of what clients think. Somehow, they think that service people should not increase their fees.

[i-endeavors]

Even though my income increases every year, I have lived the same standard of living and kept to the same budget for several years. My investments just increase in proportion to my income.

[eisor]

Nope. It seems like every time I get a raise, my life changes and my expenses increase.

My first raise came just before I transferred colleges. With the transfer came a TON more school expenses. My gas/transportation costs went from ~$50 a month to ~$50 a week!! So, my raise money went towards that. I also cut back on other expenses to offset the change.

Then, my most recent raise came while I was planning our wedding. I ended up having to cover all the wedding costs b/c DH switched jobs during planning and took a significant pay decrease. So, all my "extra" income covered the wedding costs.

So, now the "extra" income is going towards groceries (which I used to get from my parents) and other living expenses.

DH got a raise a few months ago and that added income went towards debt. Now, with his new job, the added income will go towards debt as well.

[TBH]

My usual strategy has been to increase my 403b contributions by 1% or 2% every time I get a raise, so I'm still giving myself a tiny bump up to make inflation hurt a little bit less.

But my income is also very irregular (I'm an adjunct academic, so my pay varies each semester, plus I freelance in other areas). So I may have a pay increase now but a huge decrease is coming soon. I never know. Basically I try to live the same no matter how much money I'm making, and save as much as possible in case I can't save as much in the future.