Hello and Help?

[kv968]

Thanks for the reply.

My biggest vice is food. Funny that you make the analogy between finances and diet. I'm single and tend to go to Whole Foods or New Seasons a few nights a week and buy their precooked meals. If I decide to get a nice micro brew, it's not hard to walk out paying $30. On top of that, I take most of my direct reports out for coffee in order to have our 1 on 1's. That's a good $50 per week. My monthly food budget tends to exceed $1,000 because of these facts.

Welcome Ace. My advice to you on this matter would be to start cooking and only go shopping once, maybe twice at the most, a week.

I'm single too and I like the precooked meals also when I'm running around and don't have time to cook. However, most of the time I cook my meals and if I know I'm going to be getting home late the next night I'll make more the night before so I can just heat up some leftovers. All of that helps since a cooked meal can be cheaper than the precooked ones at times, but the real savings came when I started going to the store just once a week instead of every other day.

I always went out and got food for just a couple of meals and in doing so NEVER walked out with just that. You go in to get a pack of chicken and some vegetables for dinner and the next thing you know you're picking up some cookies and some fruit that you really don't need or want. That's not bad occasionally but if you're doing it 3-4 times a week those little "extras" that you pick up and don't really need and/or want start to add up. Starting a food budget would help with overspending, but try just going shopping once a week and getting everything then and see if that helps.

[kork13]

Separate and automate.

You've hit on a good idea with opening an ING (or similar) online savings account. If the money is totally separated from your normal cash-flow, it'll be safer from impulse. The whole 'out of sight, out of mind' idea...

Also, decide what you want to save, and set up automatic transfers from your checking account out to the separate savings account. That way you don't have to think about it, and again -- out of sight....

However, that's only half of the fix... You absolutely MUST learn to control your spending. It's not going to be easy, and it's going to probably take a few months (at least) to break those habits. Every time you go to buy something, ask yourself "Do I actually need this?" Slow down your swipe and step back for a second. With a little thought, you can identify when you're spending on impulse, and back off from it.

Going cash only is one option, but you still need to be cognizant of what you're spending so you don't spend all of your grocery money on coffee. Something that helps is to track every cent that you spend. In a notebook, on a smartphone, or just on a excel sheet at home with the day's receipts. Visualizing exactly where everything is going is helpful to identify where you're spending too much. That then goes back to being aware of where you spend too much, and stepping back to ask if you really need it or not.

[AceBarks]

Thanks for the reply.

My biggest vice is food. Funny that you make the analogy between finances and diet. I'm single and tend to go to Whole Foods or New Seasons a few nights a week and buy their precooked meals. If I decide to get a nice micro brew, it's not hard to walk out paying $30. On top of that, I take most of my direct reports out for coffee in order to have our 1 on 1's. That's a good $50 per week. My monthly food budget tends to exceed $1,000 because of these facts.

My rent is $1200, but I plan on moving soon as I no longer need a 2/2. I will likely spend less or the same when I move.

I want to save in order to establish an emergency fund and purchase a home. As far as budget methods, I have built some pretty crazy excel spreadsheets and tried Mint. In fact, I really enjoy creating a budget. It's sticking to it that's my problem....

[SeanH]

What are your vices? ie. where is the money going? Is it impulsive spending or do you enter into financially unsustainable long term relationships (ie. you are living in an apartment that is more expensive than you can afford)? What is it that you want to achieve or what are you planning or saving for? Are you married/have kids?

I sort of think finances and dieting have a lot of things in common. You need goals and you need restraint, but you also have to reward yourself. Some people want to break their budgets down line by line and try to maximize every dollar. Other people perhaps feel that as long as they aren't in debt and are making positive decisions on their goals and getting results then dollar chasing isn't necessary (ie. if the 401k is funded, a deposit is made in savings and everything else is in good standing then don't fret).

As you are mostly debt free and have sufficient income the latter option might be more sustainable for you. You've already got a deposit heading to retirement. If you aren't breaking into the retirement piggy bank to finance your impulses then perhaps you just need to separate your savings from your checking.

Last thought - what budgeting methods have you already tried?

[AceBarks]

Hi everyone. I stumbled upon this site today, and think I may have found a pseudo support group here.

First of all, I want to thank the community for all the great information. Second, I am hoping to get some advice.

I have a spending problem. The more I make the more I spend. I have a hard time making financial decisions with the future in mind if they aren't made for me. As an example, I have 11% of my income going into both a traditional and Roth 401k, but my savings account hovers around 0.00.

My only debt is a $200 car payment, I am 29 yrs old, and my salary will probably break the 100k mark in 2011. (yay!) But, I really really want an emergency fund, and I'd like to buy a house in the next year or two. In the past I have had bundles of credit card debt, but have climbed out of that hole twice. I can't seem to stick to a budget.

So my question is:

What budgeting methods have worked for people without the strong will power or motivation to save money?

As an example, from reading on this site today, I decided to open an account with ING. Money in my current savings account is only a few clicks away from being in my checking account (and often ends up there). With ING I will have to wait several days at least. No more instant gratification.

I've thought about taking cash out of the ATM every week and budgeting like that. Maybe give up my debit card for an ATM card so avoid impulse shopping?

Thanks in advance.