How to Hoard Money.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I missed 3 shifts of work because of my grandmother’s funerals (they died within 4 days of each other), and as such am out $100 of pay. Since I live (very) modestly and am paying of a Student Loan, this is a Big Deal to me.

I have 6 weeks until the Madonna concert where I was hoping to buy all the Madonna merchandise I can. This is my ONLY opportunity, since my credit score is too low to get a credit card (and shop online) and Madonna merchandise is rarely found in retail stores.

I need tips on how to squirrel away cash and forget about it. Any little tricks or tips would be appreciated.

2

I know a couple that never spends change. They always pay for things with bills and stick all their change in a jar. They paid for several cruises that way (or so they say).

I’m self-employed, which means I pay all my own taxes (no withholding). I learned (the hard way, thankyewverymuch) to just chop the percentage right off the top of every check and stick it away. No ifs, ands, or buts. In my calendar where I note payment due dates, I write the full amount and then, below it, the amount I get to keep in parentheses. That way I don’t look at the bigger amount and think I’m going to be richer than I am.

Got anything you can unload on eBay for quick cash? Do odd jobs around the neighborhood? Tutor someone? Sell plasma?

3

What is your montly income vs. expenses? That’ll give us a starting place. Cut out things like getting coffee from the place on the corner, stop eating lunch out, etc. (assuming you do those things). The only two opportunities you really have are 1) cut out expenses and 2) work more.

4

I agree with the stashing change in a jar, it really adds up fast (especially if you don’t have to filter out the quarters for laundry).

I personally have been known to stash large denomination bills in books and “forget” them. The problem is that I often really forget about them and don’t find them until a long time later (and now that I think about it, I hope I’ve retrieved them all at some point).

5

Without intending in the least to be dismissive of your collecting efforts, I’m pretty sure that not buying merchandise at a concert is close to number 1 on the list of how to squirrel away cash. We are talking insanely overpriced t-shirts and CDs, are we not?

Assuming this stuff is available cheaper on-line, I’d find a friend with a valid credit card and have that friend make your purchases for you.

But assuming that it’s the memorabilia value of the merchandise that’s important, then have you considered bringing stuff to the concert to barter?

6

Do you have a trusted friend that can hold on to the money for you? I do this for several friends on occasion. One friend has actually put me in charge of all of his finances in order to get his credit rating back to decent (of course, for that situation, I get something in return).

7

If you have a budget and know how much you have to have each month, and if you get your paycheck direct deposited (and if you don’t, see if you can, just so you can do this), the absolute best way to save money is to have the bank take a certain amount out of every paycheck and stick it in your savings account or a Christmas fund or whatever when it comes in. This way you never see the money and never miss it.

When I was doing that, my IRA grew in happy little leaps and bounds, but when I changed jobs and haven’t ever gotten around to instructing them to do that for my new paychecks I haven’t put anything in the IRA in a year.

8

If ever a thread called for an old fart to chime in, this one does. You either have to spend less or work more. Assuming you can’t work any more hours, that leaves spending less.

1) Stop buying stuff

Drop cable. Television viewers survived for 30 years without it. You can, too.

Own a cell phone? Do you abolutely have to be accessible 24/7? If not, cancel it. If so, switch to a pay as you go plan or get a pager and only use pay phones.

Don’t buy books or magazines. Go to the library. Cancel all your subscriptions. If you really want to have it, go to the newsstand and pay cash.

Don’t buy CD’s, DVD’s, etc.

Cook your own meals. It’s healthier, as well. Pack a lunch instead of going out.

Don’t drive if you can take the bus. Don’t take the bus if you can bike. Don’t bike if you can walk.

Don’t go to bars, even on 25 cent beer night (Exception, if you can nurse your beer and they have enough happy hour appetizers that you don’t have to make dinner.)

Stop smoking. Or at the very least, switch to cheap cigarets.

Don’t use an ATM during the day. Every morning give yourself X dollars to spend. If you spend it all, that’s the end of buying anything that day. When you absolutely have to pay for something, write a check.

Now, if you discipline yourself to do this you’ll have picked up, let’s say, $25 a week.

2) How to squirrell it away

Do you have a bank account? If so, you probably have both a checking account and savings account. Deposit it in your savings account and never look at your statement. That’s $100 a month right there.

3)Can’t resist the urge to spend it if you have it?

Open a second bank account and don’t get an ATM card. Hide your checkbook so you have to physically go to the bank and stand in line to withdraw money.

Find the lowest-cost, shortest term certificate of deposit you can, and sign up to have it automatically roll over. Every month open a new one.

Send it to your parents and ask them to put it away for you until you need it for something really big.

9

Then there is the work more. Get a second job. Knock on doors offering to mow lawns that need it for some reasonable amount of money (knock on my door by Monday and I’ll let you use my mower and everything). Let everyone you know with kids that you are available to babysit. If you work the kind of job that lets you, work overtime or volunteer to take shifts if people need to find someone to cover.

10

Well, I don’t know how you’re paid. I have my salary direct deposited to my bank account and I automatically have some $$ taken out and transfered into another account - my emergency fund, so to speak. Sometimes my emergency is a spontaneous shopping spree, but whatever.

Anyhow - if I never see it, I never miss it.

11

Dropping cable is not an option for me, as I have two roommates and am expected to keep up my third of the bill, just like they do. Since Angel got cancelled, I have no reason to watch TV, but it doesn’t matter.

No Cell phone. I think they’re abominations.

The only magazine I buy is Jane, or anything with Madonna on the cover (which is less than you’d think.)

I hardly ever buy music and DVDs are a luxury. I buy one every six weeks, if that. Mostly I bat my pretty eyes and The Wife buys it for me.

I work in food. I eat two meals a day and they are both free.

My Metro pass is non-negociable. Living here in Montreal, it’s essential. I couldn’t get to work without it. My bike is still in my native Onario, and I don’t trust Quebec drivers anyway. I’m economical, but not so much so that I have a death wish.

I hate the bar scene. I don’t really enjoy drinking. If I want beer, I have 5 out of 6 Hoegaarden that I bought as a treat for a BYOB wedding.

I don’t smoke. It’s a waste of money and it just kills you horribly in the end.

I don’t have time to visit ATMs. I can barely pay my rent on time, not because I don’t have the money, but because I can’t get to an ATM to pull it out and hand over to the roomie.

The savings suggestions are great, especially the CD. I might try that. I’ve also started dumping my change into my PowerPuff Girls piggybank. I get tips every night, so instead of trading the quarters and loonies for bills, I am keeping it all in change and just dumping it in. I’ve also started an Evil Plan that involves buying US money out of my till at work - we only give a paltry 1.10, so I can buy it at that rate, drop it in my piggybank and then exchange it the week of the concert at a rate more like 1.30. Plus, the fact that I have to exchange it is a deterrent against spending it, since the fact that it is US money makes it “special” and reminds me that it’s set aside for a purpose.

As for you, Finagle, my dilemma wasn’t that I didn’t have money for living expenses, it was that I had to take money out of my concert fund to pay my living expenses. I have been a Madonna fan for 20 years, and there is no way I am skimping on this trip. This is what I’m sqiurrelling away the cash for.

Madonna in Terrana, here I come!

Thanks to everyone for their helpful suggestions!

12

All of the above, and my two cents:

My checking account automatically transfers a set amount into my savings account each month, in turn, I have a certificate of deposit which is set up to automatically transfer a lesser set amount from savings each month. Every twelve months it matures, giving me the option to roll it over, or deposit the cash into another account. It doesn’t pay much interest, but it keeps the cash where it’s not easily accessible, but can be accessed in an emergency. The funds in this CD are earmarked for “fun money”, to spend on luxury items, vacations,etc.

Perhaps you might find some useful info in one of these websites:

(The Quicken site has a very clever savings calculator that allows you to see how your savings grow.)