A beater laptop with a long battery life, some easy-to-care-for clothes (my dream is a small wardrobe of ex-officio drymax shirts), a few pairs of coolmax socks, a pair of prescription sunglasses and goggles to protect them on bike rides, work boots, nalgene bottles, a solar charger for my iPod, shortwave radio, a flashlight and a small hand-cranked flash light, a silk sleepsack, bike gloves, a waterproof watch, batteries, a leatherman, a sturdy lock, some cute Hello Kitty stationary, a lightweight first aid kit, small but decent tool kit, solar shower, and one of those sets of cards with lots of pictures of things travelers might want to convey, a french-english dictionary, a guidebook, a copy of Les Miseralbles, an ice chest to use as luggage. Oh yeah, and some postcards with pictures of California.
Hey, thanks for this thread, I’ve been needing to make this list for a while! Anything else I can manage to save will be used to travel on my breaks.
I’ve got $60 tucked away for the next time Alice Cooper hits Vancouver. So far this year’s tour is booked for Washington and Oregon, with a day or two open “in the neighbourhood”. Got my fingers crossed!
Oh, and I do my saving out of tips. I’m doing off-site presentations for the zoo, often at stuff like birthday parties. Best tip so far? $40 each for me and my assistant!
Moving. Though that’s more like “not spending” rather than saving. I did just get the rebate for my contact lenses in the mail, though, so that’s $75 more to put back into the bank. I’ve also been doing a little work for people lately–resumes and tax prep–so I am earning, albeit a tiny amount.
I’m actually pretty serious about that one. Johnny, if you don’t have a buyer already lined up, I’d love to take a look at the bike. Drop me an email if you’re interested.
Well, pretty much retirement. I want to save up enough to make a reasonable income just from interest. Pretty much everything else is ‘stuff I could buy but am putting off at the moment’.
Stuff that will get bought in the near future:
Baby stuff. Our first kid is due in August, so we have to start getting together all the things we’ll need.
Digital camera. Mainly because of the baby.
Stuff that can wait until later:
New computer. The current one works just fine, and the longer I wait, the better machine I can get for the same money.
New bicycle. I just got my new one this week and I’m already thinking of what I want in the next one. That can wait for at least a couple of years, though.
A Nintendo Revolution. I actually have the money now, but would rather not spend it because my entire savings amounts to about $1000. And I suppose I’ll have to get a new computer after this one craps out. It’s still going strong though, so it’s not a big concern.
But what am I really saving for? A proper bank account. I think I need a $5000 minimum balance or something, phooey.
I’ve been saving up for a holiday to California (thinking of San Francisco and San Diego) in September-time. However, depending on what happens with my girlfriend, that might have to change into deposit on renting a place together.
I’m saving for a trip to Italy and France in July and August.
I’m also saving for some new clothes, plus a few desired computer upgrades (a gig of RAM and a dual-layer DVD recorder), and a digital camera. I’m also saving $200 per pay (every two weeks) for my RRSP, and now $250 per pay for savings account… though holiday expenses may come out of that.
I’ve paid off my debt, and gotten out of an obligation that was crushing me financially (though it was worth it in results). I’m off the payday loan treadmill. And, I received my tax refund. I can actually pay all my bills and have money left over! No more overdraft fees! Dear Og, that feels good. I’m aiming for a pad of money in my chequing account.
I have no credit, though, because of the aforementioned debt, so I must do all these things through saving. It gives a different feel to things. I’m learning …patience.
Back in October, if you combined all of my credit cards, I would be $15.4k in credit card debt. With a little diligent budgeting, keeping my own living costs to a minimum, and some discipline, I am proud to report that my debt is now $3,092. That’s three thousand and change, down from fifteen thousand and change. Two more payhecks, and I’ll have it all paid off under $500 (my goal).
After that, I plan on saving every penny I can for a down payment on a house, when I move to Georgia this summer.
Tripler
Damn, just think of all the beer money I’ve saved in interest! :eek:
I’m not sure. I am saving but it’s more or less by accident because I’ve got a fairly well-paying job but no car, mortgage, or family to support.
I’ll probably get a PS3 when they come out. I’ve never been an early adopter with gadgets and technology but I’m going to go for this time, because I can.
i dont know when they will arrive, or how much they will be, but I have a chunk of change set aside for one.
I would just like to be the first in my group of friends that has one. I remember I was the first guy in my town to have a camera phone, and man was I hot shit! This big silver hunk of a Sharp GX10, needed to be carried with both hands. But people literally stopped me on the street to see it.
Is the picture good, they would ask. Oh yeah, I said. Just stand perfectly…PERFECTLY still… click… Ah, you moved.
Now, everyone has camera phones. Shit, my Dad has a camera phone.
Man, I seem to have gone off on a tangent here. Sorry.
