Money Matters

[724Skinsfan]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Where can I open an IRA? Is there anywhere online to do it? I've been putting it off long enough.

I've got my 401k, I've got stocks, now it's time for the IRA.

Most banking institutions offer many types of IRA's. I have a roth IRA setup through Bank of America http://http://www.bankofamerica.com/...plate=ira_roth which seems fairly reasonable.

Schneed and ThatGuy are definitely on the money with everything they've said. One huge suggestion I have is to build a spread sheet that lists all of your mandatory expenditures (rent, insurance, bills, etc) and also your voluntary expenditures. Like Schneed said, get a tally of your bank receipts for a particular month to draw information from. Here's a good spreadsheet if you want to get some ideas: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/te...062791033.aspx

Two quick ways to experience a little bit of savings are:

1) setting a specific number of times that you eat out (if any). My wife and I used to eat out anytime we didn't feel like cooking which came to be at least 2-3 times a week. Once we said "OK, we will eat out just once every two weeks" obviously we noticed a significant amount of savings.
2) Set aside a specific amount of gas and grocery money per week. We set aside $35 a week on gas for two cars (Civic & Malibu) and $50 a week on groceries which includes anything we buy at Wal-Mart. Once you can operate within those limits you'll notice that you don't nearly as many trips (gas) to the store or elsewhere.

We cut our expenditures down by about $700/month using a couple of these techniques.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 724Skinsfan

Most banking institutions offer many types of IRA's. I have a roth IRA setup through Bank of America http://http://www.bankofamerica.com/...plate=ira_roth which seems fairly reasonable.

Schneed and ThatGuy are definitely on the money with everything they've said. One huge suggestion I have is to build a spread sheet that lists all of your mandatory expenditures (rent, insurance, bills, etc) and also your voluntary expenditures. Like Schneed said, get a tally of your bank receipts for a particular month to draw information from. Here's a good spreadsheet if you want to get some ideas: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/te...062791033.aspx

Two quick ways to experience a little bit of savings are:

1) setting a specific number of times that you eat out (if any). My wife and I used to eat out anytime we didn't feel like cooking which came to be at least 2-3 times a week. Once we said "OK, we will eat out just once every two weeks" obviously we noticed a significant amount of savings.
2) Set aside a specific amount of gas and grocery money per week. We set aside $35 a week on gas for two cars (Civic & Malibu) and $50 a week on groceries which includes anything we buy at Wal-Mart. Once you can operate within those limits you'll notice that you don't nearly as many trips (gas) to the store or elsewhere.

We cut our expenditures down by about $700/month using a couple of these techniques.

Nice, it's amazing what you can cut out of your budget without even really missing a beat.

Some financial books talk about the "latte factor." So many people hit up Starbucks a couple times a day and buy a $4 cup of coffee each time. Let's say you are someone who buys 2 lattes every workday from Starbucks, and between the two of them you spend $10 each day. Well, each month has about 21 workdays in it. That's $210 a month on lattes.

Maybe you only buy one latte per workday. That's still $110. If you started buying Starbucks beans by the pound, grinding them up at home, making the coffee yourself, and bringing it with you in the morning in a thermal mug, you'd still have Starbucks quality coffee and you'd save boatloads of money.

That's why tracking your expenses is important. Sometimes you need to add up the numbers to realize how much you're spending on certain things. Some single types hit up bars all the time and drop tons of money on drinks. Instead, buy beer by the case (or booze by the bottle) and get a little pregame on before you head out. You'll save quite a bit in drink costs. Little things like that can go a long way.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Nice, it's amazing what you can cut out of your budget without even really missing a beat.

Some financial books talk about the "latte factor." So many people hit up Starbucks a couple times a day and buy a $4 cup of coffee each time. Let's say you are someone who buys 2 lattes every workday from Starbucks, and between the two of them you spend $10 each day. Well, each month has about 21 workdays in it. That's $210 a month on lattes.

Maybe you only buy one latte per workday. That's still $110. If you started buying Starbucks beans by the pound, grinding them up at home, making the coffee yourself, and bringing it with you in the morning in a thermal mug, you'd still have Starbucks quality coffee and you'd save boatloads of money.

That's why tracking your expenses is important. Sometimes you need to add up the numbers to realize how much you're spending on certain things. Some single types hit up bars all the time and drop tons of money on drinks. Instead, buy beer by the case (or booze by the bottle) and get a little pregame on before you head out. You'll save quite a bit in drink costs. Little things like that can go a long way.

Along the lines of the latte effect I've noticed the bring your lunch to work effect. When I bring my lunch rather than eat out I save so much money. Eating out even at just a sub shop can run a good $8 for lunch... so that's potentially at least $40 per week or $160 per month!

I typically bring my lunch 4 days per week and I only eat out on Fridays, it definitely helps ease the burden on the wallet.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Along the lines of the latte effect I've noticed the bring your lunch to work effect. When I bring my lunch rather than eat out I save so much money. Eating out even at just a sub shop can run a good $8 for lunch... so that's potentially at least $40 per week or $160 per month!

I typically bring my lunch 4 days per week and I only eat out on Fridays, it definitely helps ease the burden on the wallet.

I also notice it helps you stay in shape. Most of the food one buy's for lunch will be of the less than healthy variety.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

I also notice it helps you stay in shape. Most of the food one buy's for lunch will be of the less than healthy variety.

True, though I try to mostly eat salads when I do eat out. But the temptation is definitely there as opposed to packing a lunch.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Along the lines of the latte effect I've noticed the bring your lunch to work effect. When I bring my lunch rather than eat out I save so much money. Eating out even at just a sub shop can run a good $8 for lunch... so that's potentially at least $40 per week or $160 per month!

I typically bring my lunch 4 days per week and I only eat out on Fridays, it definitely helps ease the burden on the wallet.

Yeah that's another HUGE one. Bringing your lunch is the best solution. With food, I like to think there are four corners of the square, putting all four together is the holy grail:

- Tastes good
- Is Cheap
- Is Healthy
- Is Convenient

It's almost impossible to put all four together. If you're eating out, someone makes it for you, so it's convenient. It usually tastes good. But it's hard to find it healthy, and it rarely is cheap. If you want to eat out for cheap, you're usually talking McD's or Wendy's, rich is real unhealthy.

Then there's making your lunch. It's cheap. It's healthy if you do it right. And usually you can make it taste good. But it's inconvenient.

In the end, I'd rather not clog my arteries, and I'd rather have the extra $160 in my pocket each month.