damnit!!
14 months ago
I went out last night and spent waaay too much again. It seems like if I bring cash with me, then I spend it. Now I’ve got to be careful for the rest of the week. This sucks!! Why do I do this to myself?
How to be more responsible with my money
It made me
fiscally responsible 
"Think and write down everything."
How I did it: First of all what I did was I started budgeting myself so I knew how much I was allowed to spend per week. Then I made sure that any time I used my card I chose credit so I can avoid those stupid 50 cent fees for choosing debit.
Then I would save all my receipts and write down everything I ever bought in my checkbook. I kept a little calculator with me so I could know exactly how much I had at any given time.
I cut a lot of the unnecessary crap I had been spending money on, like cigarettes, fast food, coke, and the like. I bought groceries every two weeks and always bought things in bulk that I have to cook. No easy ready made meals.
I started taking 20 bucks out of every paycheck and putting it into savings, and then taking 40 bucks out of my account and putting it somewhere in case I go over my budget. This way I would still have gas to get to work.
I had a bad habit of spending more than I had so I would overdraw constantly and be given these 35 dollar fines which would screw me over even more, so I called the bank and had them block that ability. Now if I have no money it just denies me. No more overdraft fees.
Lessons & tips: Examine "How Did You Do It" section.
Resources: Bank
Budget sheet
People doing this are also doing these things:
Entries
!!!
15 months ago
I spend too much money on eating out at restaurants!!! If I cooked dinners and lunches for myself, I could save lots. Plus, I’d probably eat much healthier.
Untitled
15 months ago
Well, less “being responsible” and just making more money and still spending as much as I used to. Either way, it works.
Motivation
2 years ago
I’ve been doing alright with my money…considering. However, now I am handling someone else’s money, too, which renews my focus on taking care of my money. It gives me better focus to make my money grow.
Month 3
2 years ago
I started working on this in January. First, I had 20% of my net pay direct deposited to my savings account. Then I split the 20% between my 401(k) (up to what my employer matched) and put the rest in my savings. Now I am working on going out to eat only once a week and buying clothes only once a month. I decide to use my bonus to pay off a small loan, but I don’t know what to do with my IRS refund. I could
- put all of it into my savings
- buy some things I need for my house (new garage door, new locks, paint, etc)
- make a payment on my student loans
I don’t know how to handle my student loans. On the one hand, if I keep making the minimum payment each month, I probably won’t pay it off for 10 years. On the other hand, I think it has a low interest rate, so I feel like I would be better off saving my money than paying off a loan with reasonable payments.
I had to deplete my savings account several years ago, and I am just starting to rebuild it. At this point, I could handle a small emergency, but nothing major. If I put my refund into my savings, it would triiple my current account balance. However, I am currently depositing about 12% of my take-home pay into my savings account – if I just give my small deposits time to build up (3 to 9 months) I’ll have a nice amount in savings in no time.
Finally, I just bought a house in December, and the pnly “improvement” In have made was putting Weed-n-Feed in the front yard. Seriously, I need a new garage door, new locks, paint, landscaping, etc. In December, I told myself that I would just tackle these projects one at a time, and just keep working at my house month by month. This was four motnhs ago – I finally got all of my big pieces of furniture in palce MONDAY. Sheesh. I also have a lot of boxes to unpack – I didn’t want to fill drawers with stuff if I was going to have to empty the drawers to mve te furniture around. So anyway, I told myself I would work on it a little every month and that hasn’t happened. Maybe I could use my refund to get started on fixing my house up?
