save more money

im actually really proud of myself so far!
im 19 right, i have bought my own car already! and i have rather a lot of savings from saving a £100 every month for a year!
i think im doing alright for myself. oh, and i have half my car insurance saved up! thats good yes?
the only thing is, my savings all built up from being paid every month. now im being paid every week, its alot different. i feel so poor! like my wages being split up into 4. its hard to think “oh its ok, i get paid again next friday”
the thing is theres no guarantee of the number of hours i’ll have each week .. one week i can have 24 hours and the next i’ll have 8 =/
and when i have 8 hours a week .. ALL of that goes into my savings account.
i think i might apply for an adult learning grant .. im pooooooor!
it will all be worth it in the end though, when im older i think i’ll be very thankful that i have some money behind me!

and our savings goal was: $200. not much but we are still paying on the car. well we had saved: $320. we recently bought a suburban for $300. for reasons i need not explain, but we plan to have it sold (maybe for a profit) by march (which was the end of our 6 month plan). so yeah. we only have $20 actually saved now. but i know that it will be worth all this hassle in the end. i am really excited.

instead of moving out and renting we are thinking about maybe trying to buy a home. :)

i used to have bottles of sola at home, filled with 5-peso coins. well, let’s just say i had a lot of rainy days and i spent them all.

now, i’ve been saving my 10-peso and 5-peso coins in a small ceramic pot jhelo gave me last christmas and it’s already full! but i have another empty bottle of sola i could use.

the 5 and 10 centavo coins i got or found are now in an empty sake bottle. the ones i used to collect are stored in an empty absolut vodka at home.

my bigger goal is to open a dollar account and a time-deposit account. maybe i should review the retirement plan in our company and the savings scheme attached to it. hmmm. i think i should.

Well, in an attempt to spend less of my actual paycheck I started donating plasma. It’s kind of a 3 part plan.

1. It’s saving lives
2. It’s getting me out of the house & meeting folks sort of…
3. I am earning $60 a week

The money is automatically deposited onto a debit card and that is now my weekly spending budget for food, gas, & odds/ends spending. When it’s gone it’s gone. That’s as good as it gets.

The idea is that the extra $240 a month that is staying in the bank from my paychecks is going towards paying down my bills until I can afford to start putting in more than $25 dollars a month into savings.

Who DOESN’T have this goal these days? I’m working full time and I’m trying to start up my mark. Cosmetics business! But there’s still not enough money at the end of the month. I want to cut down on excess spending, and learn to appreciate the joys of coupon-clipping and that sort of thing. This one I will definitely need luck on.

and I only bought one book! Hah!

Last year I spent about €120 on books, so that’s good progress if you ask me :D

+ we didn’t park nearby (paying parking lot) but parked a little further down the street (for free).

I use to think that whenever I spent my money on education it was worthwhile..however, I have noticed alot of the times that I am able to teach myself things. Take for instance, there was a reading subject at university where I was required to read 2 chapters of a textbook, understand it and then I had to do a test. Even though I was occasionally consulting the lecturer, I realised that I was teaching myself and paying $900 to the university for this subject.

I think that if there is a particular job you want that requires a certain qualification then you should pay for that qualification, however if that is not the case then you are better off borrowing a book from the library (for free) and teaching yourself.

The main thing I learnt from university is how to research and seek information, how to work hard and how to study and memorise things effectively. I have also learnt to never be afraid to ask for help, they may not always give you the information you need but often you get alot closer to your goal. Although some of those things can be learnt elsewhere at a cheaper rate

1. getting tricked by sales people
2. buying food at convinence stores
3. not cooking meals at home
4. catching taxis
5. buying books that i didnt read
6. spending moneyon facials when a change in diet would have been better
7. making international phone calls on a mobile
8. using my mobile way too much
9. continually losing stuff so I have to by new things
10. paying for massages when I should have just asked someone Iknew
11. Not shopping around for a good price on food, clothing etc.
12. Giving money to amnesty international when I was a poor student myself
13. being overcome by peer pressure to go out drinking
14. listening to my brother when he told me to spend my extra savings on the contiki tour
15. atm fees
16. my 2nd overseas trip and stupidly paying a company to try and help organise my job and visa

At the moment I just need money to live and pay for all my dancing tuition..In the future, when I am a ballet or contempary dancer (fingers crossed) I want to have enough money to buy my dream feng shui house with a fountain and an audi. I also want enough money to support myself when I one day return to my phd.

I have learnt about wealth, it is not about how much money you have but how you spend it. If I spend it on these things I think I will feel rich even if it means I have other budget restrictions.

Saving money is difficult when you don’t have an income and unexpected fees pop up.