What's the BEST approach to saving money on a limited amount of monthly income?
468366
I've heard several tips for this from Clark Howard, I'll share some with you:\n\n1. No matter what, you pay yourself first.  Put SOMETHING away before you pay your bills, EVERYTIME you get paid.\n2. Never use change when you spend.  If something costs 11.49, pay the 12.00 and throw the change into some type of "bank" at home.  If something is 1.19, don't look in your purse for the change, spend the $2.00 and throw the .81 in the "bank."  People who did this were on his show telling how, at the end of the year they managed to save $2500, and went on vacation with the money!\n\n3. Something I used to do when I needed a little cash quickly, was pay two bills with the same money.  How?  you might ask.  Well easy, if you have a credit card.  What I used to do is, add up all my utilities, my cable bill, phone bill, electricity bill, and even my car insurance and sometimes car note... and pay my credit card with that amount.  It's great if you can pay your credit card OFF like this each month - then I would take the credit card and actually PAY the bills with it.  This way, your credit card is getting paid (maybe in full - resulting in even greater savings since you won't have to pay finance charges) AND all your utilities and bills are getting paid... with the same money. =)\n\n4. Find out your "latte factor" basically Clark says that we all have a "latte factor," something frivolous that we spend our money on everyday - like starbucks coffee, or whatever... he says when you find it, eliminate that expense and take the money you spend on it everyday and save it.  He computed that $5 a day every day for 5 years, could yield a savings of $12,000!\n\nHope that helps!!!
261488
Almost all savings accounts are monthly.  Maybe you are thinking about CDs.  If you are, then yes there are short-term CDs.  If you are looking for a short-term investment I would probably go with ING Direct.
1014448
I have found the best way of saving.  I was able to put away approximately $8000 in 18 months.  Look for www.sharebuilder.com.  Its an investment site.  You can purchase stock for $4.00, no matter how much stock you buy.  Do some research.  I chose companies based on the products i use in my daily life.  I found it be fun to save and also enjoyed shopping for new stocks.  The dividends usually pay better than any savings account, so give it a try.  It worked for me.
25069
You're obviously a smart person, thinking about the future.  My recommendation is to use those smarts to work into a position that is well above the poverty level.\n\nThere are two obvious ways to increase your savings rate:  Increase your income and cut expenses.  You should probably look toward doing both of those things.\n\nRegarding increasing your income, consider the following options:  Get a better job, get a second job, ask for more money from your current employer, or invest your time to acquire skills that will allow you to get a better job.\n\nLook out a year.  What can you do NOW, so that you can make dramatically more money in a year?  Go to school?  Self-educate on the Internet?   YES, that is possible!  Get a job that has the possibility of more rapid advancement?  Sure!\n\n\nRegarding cutting your expenses, one major trick is to eliminate interest payments by paying off your debt.  Make a list of all your debts, and organize them in order by interest rate, highest to lowest.  Usually Credit Card debt is top of the list.  Your goal is to reduce your TOTAL debt as fast as you can, but also replace high-interest debt with lower interest debt.   You may be able to do this by paying off credit cards faster than you pay off secured debt (like your car).\n\nA few other obvious places to cut:\n-  Don't do anything like Payday loans.  Those are typically outrageous rates.  Better to temporarily borrow from savings than borrow from a loan shark.\n\n-  Look at how much you spend on basic "living", and consider what the BARE MINIMUM is.  For instance, are you buying soda or starbucks?  Are you going out to eat?  What's the cheapest you could live on, and try it for a month.  \n\n-   ANYTHING that you have that is a luxury needs to be eliminated, until you get a savings plan in place.  Cable TV?  Cancel it.  Cell phone AND a land line?  Cancel one.  Dish?  Come on!  High Speed Internet?  Use a free service for a while.  \n\n-  Eliminate ALL fees from your life.  Are you PAYING for your checking account?  Paying to use an ATM?  Paying late fees on credit cards?  Each dollar here and dollar there adds up.  You should strive for ZERO fees.\n\n\nOnce you can afford to save, consider some FUND investing.  The stock market can be a great place to watch your money grow;  it can also wipe out a lot of money.  If you buy into a fund, you can often reduce your risk, since mutual funds buy lots of stocks.  \n\nDon't forget to set aside money in a 401-K.  MANY employers will MATCH some of your contribution.  This is like FREE MONEY.  I am always amazed at the number of people who pass this up.\n\nIf you get a few thousand together, consider opening a brokerage account with Schwab or a mutual fund company.  Many mutual funds will accept a few thousand dollars, and open an account, and then you can benefit from the gains in the stock market.  You can research on the web for the "best" funds (Morningstar rates them; listings can probably be found in Fortune magazine, Schwab.com, and others.)  You probably want a reasonably aggressive fund which allows you withdraw whenever you want.\n\n\n\n\nBest of Luck to you!  Hope I have been of some help.
1162167
If you have just enough money to pay for the bare minimum of bills, then take a look at what you pay and consider wheather or not what you are paying for is "bare minimum".\nDo you have cable TV?\nDo you have a pet?\nDo you participate in an expensive hobby?\nthese are examples of things you don't need to have, and you need to deciede which you prefer, fun this weekend, or a larger savings account.\n\nNow line up all of your "essential" bills and see if there is a way you can cut costs.  All of these may be costing you more than they should. \nElectric\n  -when a light bulb burns out, replace it with a lower watt bulb.\n  -set your a/c 5 deg. warmer in the summer/and 5 deg cooler  \n   in the winter.\nWater \n  -when you take a bath/shower how many gallons do you use?\n  -how often do you wash your vehicle?\nGas\n  -Try to combine trips so you can travle fewer miles per month.\n  -Accelerate slowly and brake slowly the less work your engine \n  does the less fuel you will use. \nFood \n  -when you eat do you cook or go to a restaurant? \n  -when you shop do you buy the name brand, or the "off brand"?\n   ..and do you buy prepackaged or whole foods?  \n   Tip: in most cases the greater the quantity you buy the\n   cheaper it is per unit. (use this on things that you can store for \n   long periods of time i.e. rice, dry goods, canned food ect...) \nRent/mortgage  \non the cost of rent, if you own your own home you may consider refinanceing before the rates start going back up again.\nif you rent maybe you could move to a smaller place.\n\nif you have a car payment, do you need to be paying on that praticular car?  Could you not take a slightly lesser car for the next few years while you build yourself a little nesteg?  Also if you own your car out right, you can legally cut back your insurance to just "liability coverage" ( much cheaper than full coverage).\n\nSo far we have covered ways to save money.  But there is also the opption to try to increase your income.  Some ways of doing this would be: working some over time, taking a second job, asking for a raise, or finding a new job all together.  They are all worth a look.  \n  Of course I don;t know your exact situation so it can be hard to give real good direction.  These are some of the things I do to help me and my wife get along together with our two low paying jobs.  And while we do not live extravigantly now, I do plan on being rich one day.  This year I was able to put away about 75% of all my earnings.  And next year I am going to look in to putting that money into buying a second house as a rental property. It seams hard at first but as you start to put money away you will find it becomes easier and worth while.  I hope that you can at least use some of this.  And good luck with your financial situation.
363507
The BEST way to save money is to save for something. Then it might actually happen. For example - I need to save money - so each pay I'll put away so much, with nothing specific. Next you'll have an emergency, or you'll use the money for gas, new dress, going out to dinner, pay a utility bill, etc.\n\nBut if you - Put money away for a new pair of imported Italian leather shoes I've always wanted - something specific - then you will probably put the money away, and leave it there until you reach the needed dollar amount to buy the shoes.\n\nI've used shoes, but it can be retirement, emergency funds, insurance, new house deposit, dream vacation, wedding ring, etc., etc.\n\nThe more specific the better. When it is specific, it is easier to rearrange - if you need to - like, gee I no longer need those expensive Italian shoes, mum got me a pair - I'll put the money towards my new house deposit, and so on.\n\nThat really is the best way - once you know what the money is for - it is easy to work out where to put it.\n\nI'm available fo further clarification if need be.\n\nGood luck
989931
Buy things with cash....don't pay interest (make your house the only exception)\n\nTurn off your lights\n\nBuy generic\n\nDon't spend money on things that depreciate quickly (cars, computers, etc)\n\nDrop your cable and high speed internet.  \n\nDon't buy DVD's.  Go to discount movie theatres, and use coupons.  \n\nI think the other question you can ask yourself is "how can I make more money."  Focus on decreasing expenses AND increasing income.
392828
I don't really have any hot tips on how to do this. Here are a few things to consider.\n\nFirst of all, you need to know how much you have to spend to live. That requires a budget. That will give you an idea of the amount that you could then save. Certain expenses are unavoidable:\n\nrent or house payment\nutilities\ntaxes\ngasoline to get to and from work\n\nOther expenses are subject to some reduction\n\nfood\nbeer\nclothing\nentertainment\nif you live within 7 miles of work, consider riding your bike. \n\nThen there is the possibility of additional sources of income:\n\nhome repair\nmowing lawns\ntemp work at Home Depot, etc.\nif you are single and renting, a roommate or several to share expenses.\n\nThen there is roi. Once you save your money, you want to receive the best roi that you can. That implies putting it to work in the best manner. Definitely, avoid the bank except for expenses and emergency funds.
1111217
keep your expenditure low and saving comparatively high so that you will have a secured future. you can do part time job also to help yourself financially or start a small eatery with the help of family to support your low income your spouse can also help by earning some livelihood
88838
Make a budget and monitor spending habits.  Obtain receipts for every purchase to add up where you are spending money.  Find ways to cut back expenses that are unecessary.  Don't carry a credit card balance.  If you have one pay that off as soon as possible.  You are unlikely to find an investment that pays as much interest as credit cards charge for carrying the balance month to month.  If you use direct deposit, open a savings account at your bank and have a reasonable amount debited from your paycheck automatically into your new savings account.  Your spending will adjust, and you'll not notice the change before too long.
177410
Pay yourself first! No matter the source of your income, put 10% after taxes into some sort of savings program, preferably a ROTH IRA. Then be strong and don't touch it. You'll be surprised how quickly it can mount up. Even if you can't make the 10%, save something!\n\nLook for bargains but don't sacrifice quality. \nUse coupons.\nConserve utilities.\nDo you really need that cable TV and cell phone? They are expensive.\nLook for plans that are in tune with your lifestyle. If you have to have that cell phone, are you paying for roaming, long distance or minutes you don't use?\nLook into pro-rated utility charges.\nRead a book instead of the movies.\nListen to the radio instead of that new CD.\n\nJust some thoughts...Good luck.\n\nThanks sk8trzmom
957392
To me the best way to save money is put aside some amount every week systematically you can't miss one deposit, then forget about that money is there, there is no other way around unless you have several thou to play with..☺
215201
Pay yourself first!  Start by sitting down and budgeting out your essentials, with costs as accurate as possible.  Then take a look at the money you have left over, and designate how much you can afford to save.  Tell your bank to set up an automatic debit to your savings account for each time you get paid.  When you do this, you pay yourself first, and you know that your bills are paid, you have savings, and the rest is yours to spend as you wish!  When you can't have access to the money, you can't spend it, and it works great for me.  Good luck!
844291
The only path from struggle to wealth is to spend less than you make, it really is that simple.\n\nIf your boss came to you tomorrow and said "I can either lay you off or give you a ten percent paycut, your choice...", most likely you would take the paycut.  So give yourself a paycut! When a check comes, regardless of the bills and the rent, take ten percent off the top and invest it in a broad market fund.  (Something like 'Spiders', maybe...)\n\nPay off all your debt (smallest first until it's gone, then the next, etc.)\n\nDon't amass any more debt.\n\nNever drive a new car.\n\nNever pay for coffee someone else made!
1069826
Check out a Plan 529.  Most states have one and they are very user-friendly.
938189
Figure out how much you make each month - take home, not gross. Figure out how much you owe each month. How much is left over? That is what you live on and/or SAVE and/or use to pay off high interest loans, credit cards, etc. If there is no money left over then you need to get better paying job or a second job.\n \nDon't spend more than you earn. Don't use credit cards unless you can pay off the balance each month. Clip and use food coupons. Ask yourself if you will be terribly inconvenienced if you don't buy *whatever*. Keep your car tires inflated so you don't waste gas. Carpool. No impulse buying. Go to the library and read books on bugeting and saving money.
483250
Meet with a financial advisor.  You will have to do some hard-core saving.  The best bet is to have money taken right out of your paycheck, the more the better.  Your advisor will walk you through different investment options - mutual funds, annuities, stocks etc.  Mutual funds are great, they're several stocks of different risk levels all bundled together to minimize the risk while maximizing potential earnings.  If you could put $200 a month in for 15 years in a moderately aggressive mutual fund, you could easily end up with $50,000.