Announcement

**biogeek** · February 7, 2007, 11:01 AM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

Thanks for starting the new thread, Jen! Can't wait to get the ball rolling!

**sadie147** · February 7, 2007, 11:26 AM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

I will be the first one to start. I am going to commit too:

Set a budget, write it down, and STICK TO IT.

Pay down 2 of my credit cards by May 1 of this year.

Put myself on a weekly spending allowance to help me save to pay down those credit cards. Right now I pretty much spend what I get paid. And it’s 90% on things I don’t need!

Start a change jar. The last time I did this I ended up with $110 in about 2 months. Though I have the advantage of our $1 and $2 being coins…but it really adds up. I bet I have $10 in change in the bottom of my purse right now

I’m gong to start slow with these 3 goals. I’m curious to see how much I can save even by the end of February.

**biogeek** · February 7, 2007, 11:33 AM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

Ok, we already have a good control over our money, but there's always room for improvement.

My monthly grocery budget is $350 (unless it's a holiday or birthday month) & I usually spend every penny of it, but never over. I want to see how much of that I can reduce in a month by buying in bulk & freezing items, coupons, sales, maybe some other ideas.

I currently also have a month allowance of $250 to spend on whatever I want. Some things I purchase are frivolous, while others I mull over before spending. I want to get rid of the frivolous purchases & then see how much more I can save out of my allowance.

**boonie stomper** · February 7, 2007, 12:22 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

I'm spending at least $20 per week on food and dring for DS, only because I've grown use to the convenience of him eating in the car on the way home, which began years ago with his picky eating habits. Now he's eating more, and growing less picky, so it's time to give him more home-cooking. The challenge, if I can get him to eat more of normal foods I cook, may save me enough to get him an X-box, cell-phone, and internet/cable/phone account at home this year.
(Added clarification, that $20 is fast-food meals, and convenience store pastries, sodas & snacks)

EDIT: to those who want to jump back to my last post in the preceding budget thread in chit chat:

Originally posted by the pre-challenge budget thread

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...&postcount=112

**Atkid** · February 7, 2007, 12:41 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

I am here and trying to think of ways to bring down my monthly expenses. My two biggest splurges are my cable/internet which runs me 125. a month and 5 cellphones that come run about 180. a month, but in this day and age can we really live without the two things. Hoping to find somewhere else that I can cut, having mentioned in the other thread that I am looking for ways to increase retirement fund for the future.

**Lyssie** · February 7, 2007, 12:49 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

Atkid - the funniest thing about your post is that I don't have cable or a cellphone. ROFL.

Anyway, I want to give myself the $100/wk (for lunch/gas/whatever else) and not go over it. I don't *need* new clothes for another size or so, and there will be other sales and stuff... unless the world ends, but I guess if that happens, I won't really need the clothes anyway....

Uhmmm.. also, to pack lunch twice a week instead of buying it most days... and I think I'm gonna go to Lowe's and make one of those virtually indestructable banks with PVC, then start putting $1/day in it...

**Atkid** · February 7, 2007, 12:57 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

Originally posted by Lyssie

Atkid - the funniest thing about your post is that I don't have cable or a cellphone. ROFL.

I wish I could do without these things, could possibly cut down my cable to a smaller package but that probably would only save me $10. or so a month. As far as the cellphones my family does a lot of traveling out on the highways to school and work where if you were to break down you wouldn't want to be without a phone.

**Lyssie** · February 7, 2007, 01:04 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

I never said anything against either one. The cable thing was a matter of having enough money - it was a choice of internet or basic cable, I chose the internet. I travel on the highways every day... like I said, it was a matter of necessity, I didn't mean the comment as a slam or anything like that. It just struck me as ironic.

**boonie stomper** · February 7, 2007, 01:29 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

That was ironic to me, too. Atkid is thinking of cutting out exactly what I'm trying to save enough to afford. I currently use free TV, no long distance service at home (cheapest possible landline), and carry a cellphone with the lowest regular service cost I could find, which has very limited free minutes. (I don't talk on the phone much). I also have a lot of relics furnishing my home, by today's standards, and do not have internet.

To keep DS "In" with his peers he says he needs certain modern things, therefore I'm approaching the challege of providing what HE wants (what I can't presently afford due to extra uneccessary expenses incurred on his behalf) by improving his diet and at the same time saving grocery money.

If successful, a moderate savings say $50/mo in 3 mos. gets a game system OR an improved cellphone account w/2 phones and extra minutes and features. Unfortunately, the latter is a recurring expense, but hopefully during this challenge, I'll realize some additional savings from other measures, like closing the old phone account saves ~$18/mo, which reduces the net savings needed for the combo DSL/cable/home phone contract we also want.

Getting the ipod, MP3, flat screen, new PC & furniture is going to take a LOT of work. I'm in a clerical job, raising a kid on 3 meds & in therapy without child support or govt. aid of any kind. Not an easy task!

**Lyssie** · February 7, 2007, 01:42 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

Boonie - as a note about that combo thing - it really is cheaper to go with a basic service package on cable, DSL, and like, a 5 cents/minute plan on landline for LD, unless you use it really a lot....

**sher801** · February 7, 2007, 01:55 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

Something new that I started this year. I automatically have $50 taken out of my checking account and have it transferred over to my savings. (I set it up in my online banking)

Then when I budget, I don't even see that $50. Same for $10 each I transfer over to each of my kids' accounts.

Other things I do, and I know this is silly, but my WHOLE checkbook is in Excel. I everything color coded. I have different colored fonts as well as different colored cells.

At any given time, I have at least 2 months in advance already listed. And anyone who knows Excel, you can add and remove rows as needed.

I have a set amount of entries that are the same each week. Even before the transaction actually happens. (That's where color coding comes into play) It looks somewhat like this:

Deposit (Sherry) $493.23
Deposit (James) $620.00
W/D (James Allowance) $50.00
W/D (Sherry Allowance) $50.00
Kids Bowling (Sat AM) $14.00
Roseville Community Schools $20.00
Gas (James) $30.00
Gas (Sherry) $40.00
Grocery $70.00
Pizza $25.00
Transfer to Taylor's Account $10
Transfer to Michelle's Account $10
Transfer to Brandyn's Account $10
Transfer to Our Savings Account $50

Now becuase it is in Excel, and after the transaction actually takes place, that's when you edit, ya know like adding the name of the gas station, the name of the grocery store, etc. Also, my kids don't use Latch Key (Roseville Community Schools) that often. BUT in case they do, that is the max amount I'd spend. If they don't go, I have a bonus $20 for the week. Also, I bowl on Friday nights, my husband picks up pizza or some kind of carry out, sometimes it's over $25, sometimes it's under $25. Same for groceries, I normally go a little over, but as long as I budgeted a set amount and came close to it, I'm happy.

For Deposits, I know exactly what I bring home for 40 hours. So mine is always the same. My husband on the other hand, his deposit is the minimum he would bring home for one week. Because some weeks he has union dues, Overtime, mileage reimbursements, etc. His pay fluctuates. When he makes more than his rough $620, it ends up being a bonus!

After all is said and done for the week, then bills get paid. Bills are in PINK for easy reading and finding.

Don't be fooled, I used to be a very bad budgeter. I learned my lesson the hard way, I am still paying on a few old credit cards.

**Lyssie** · February 7, 2007, 02:03 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

Ah... I have money transferred to my savings, except when I logon online, I see both accounts... and can transfer money between them with a couple clicks. bad bad.

**sadie147** · February 7, 2007, 02:06 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

wow sher, I'm impressed with the orgainzation! to be honest (and this is embarrassing) I've never balanced a chequebook in my life! I've just written cheques and crossed my fingers LOL. Now I use mainly internet banking. My biggest problem is i pay no attention to whats going in or out. I just check every once in a while to make sure I still have money in there, and pay all my bills on internet banking. And that's a bad way to budget!

For those on cell phone plans, have you evern considered a pay-as-you-go phone? I rarely use my cell phone, so it only costs me $25 month flat rate (but i need it as i'm oncall with work), but my husband is a huge cell phone abuser. He once put over 900 minutes on his phone in one month! getting him a pay as you go phone really cut back on his usage as now he realizes how fast the minutes go. He now spends about $30-40 a month as opossed to the $100 200 he was in the past.

I would get a pay as you go phone for myself even but i'm locked in a contract now.

Lyssie that is exactly what i do with my savings as well. my savings should be be locked away in a room with a rabid pit bull at the door

**boonie stomper** · February 7, 2007, 02:27 PM

Re: The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

I got my first extra $20 this moth last night. I had to fill DS's new Rx. One drugstore had a coupon for a free $20 gift card with any Rx transfer from a competitor, which I found during lunch break. They wouldn't honor it, so I went to another store last night next to where I got DS his pizza(bad,bad

) and they "honor all competitors prescription coupons" as of last week, and they accepted it!!

We also traded 3 videos 2 blocks away, with an MVP (paid 3 months up front in cash for the $15/mo rate) contract, which lets us basically see as many movies as we can watch, our choice, per month Jan-March. When the weather's nice the account expires automatically unless I pay another $15, and I can start a new contract for the hottest part of summer if I want, in lieu of cable. Sure saves a ton of money if you normally rent more than a handful of videos per month!

Thanks for the advice, Lyssie - I still need to do basic research on plans available.

Announcement

The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

The Millionaires Club - Saving $$ challenge!

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment