Tips to save a dollar

[TinkerTanker]

For young people the 1st and most important thing to remember is that money is a tool like any other. If used properly it will do the job it's designed to do. Debt, although sometimes necessary, is the worst abuse of the tool, while at the same time it's best function, if properly controlled. Your credit rating in most cases dictates your ability to buy, BUT only if absolutely necessary and or as an investment. An example for someone with no credit or low credit. Especially teens...Find 2 banks. At the 1st open an savings account and deposit a couple hundred dollars. Let it sit until money can be withdrawn. Apply for a small loan, less than what you have in savings and use your savings as collateral. Go to another bank and open a savings account with the money from the loan. Then take out a similar loan from that bank. Each month take your payments from your savings and pay the loans off. The actual cost to you is only the interest less the interest paid to your savings.

Don't remember those names in the leadership. Last I did on 135 was Phase 3 rewire. Most of 30 years were on the 52s, 135s, E3s, B1 and A7s. Did a few Specials like the Speckeled Trout, and Jimmy Durante. Favorite was the luxury dating pads some generals had. Anything but a military A/C, lol
But I do hold the title of last electrician on the static a/cs out front. Job was to can anything electric I thought could be used elsewhere.

Chris would have been Chris Moore. Seems he was around 08.
Those fancy duds weren't dating pads, those were Diplomatic Instructional Charismatic K's, named after both the instruction given and those with enough pull to get them.

I've got a house in Shawnee. We should catch a coffee next time I get down there.

 

[John6185]

Another tip.

 

[BillM]

I’ve found most people I talk with don’t know where there money is going and spend what they have on things they may not need. I usually recommend a paper budget with BOTH husband and wife sitting down together to plan what they will spend the next month. After that I use an app called Every Dollar to budget and track expenses. It free to use if you make manual entries and there is a subscription if you want automatic downloads from financial institutions. Knowing where your money is going is a great first step.
Cutting out unnecessary expenses is the next step. I see $300 cable bills, $400 cell phone plans, over $1000 a month eating out, and the list goes on.
It is very easy to get into debt and it requires a mindset change and self discipline to get out. I’ve been there myself and wish I was smarter with money back when I made a lot more. PM me if you just want to talk anout it. Personal finances are just that. Many people become ashamed of their mistakes and what I’ve done in the past is ridiculous. There is hope for those who want to change their paycheck to paycheck rat in the wheel life.

I still use Microsoft Money.

Should be able to download it here: https://web.archive.org/web/2014032...soft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20738

And it works on Windows 10. I'm running it at least daily. Also using an app called Money Tracker Pro. Works in Windows 10 and there's an Android version so you can use it on your phone. The Pro version is (last I looked) $10 for Windows, and free for Android.

I have my budget projected out until 2032 right now. Harder to do in Money Tracker, so I use MS Money for that, and keep just current datacon on the phone in Money Tracker.

MS Money will only import QIF & OFX formatted data, and it sometimes chokes on the newer OFX files.

Money Tracker will import more file types, including CSV format, but it wants the data in a very specific order. It should be possible to reformat a CSV file, but I'm no longer any sort of programmer. Should be a breeze for any competent programmer in Excel or other spreadsheet program.

 

[BillM]

A few years ago I came across a sure fire way to keep the bills down and keep them organized. I like to open the envelopes and then put all the bills in a stack, then I put a big heavy rock on them. It works every time. If anyone needs financial advice, I'm here.

Ah Hah! That's where I'm going wrong! Need to go buy a big pretty rock so those bills won't wander off and get lost!

 

[T. MIKE SMITH]

An old guy I used to know would always say- "I got money I never spent". As I got older, that started to sink in- if you don't spend it, you might accumulate some. I got cheap- worked on the road for a drug company for 20 years- instead of eating out all the time- I would take a roll of summer sausage/bologna or the like with some cheddar cheese. crackers, sweet pickles and olives. That was lunch a couple times and maybe dinner if I got to my motel late and didn't feel like going out. I like this better than most fast food anyway since I ate a lot of McDonal's- Wendy's- Burger King- Kentucky Fried, etc. I got paid by the mile for gas and personal car use, so I looked for the best price on gas, oil change and the like. My company did not provide a car in my job, and they would sell the salesman's Taurus when they got a new one at 60-70k miles, for 3-4k in the nineties. I would buy one, drive it to about 150k and get another one. Usually, I could sale the old one for about what I paid for it. I was just running up and down the highway so having a fancy car didn't matter to me. If I felt like a beer, I went to a grocery store and bought some, instead of going to the bar. Ice it down in the sink with motel ice and after a few, just eat my bologna and cheese instead of driving. It got to where I turned very conservative on everything I did in life. If a credit card has a fee on it- I got rid of it and found one that didn't. When I promoted and had to fly a lot, I would do Southwest a lot, cause they gave you a point for every leg and 10 points earned you a free ticket. I had about 15 tickets at one time and started donating them to a veteran organization who helped service people with funeral travel and all types of needs. I was in DFW at the time so SW was easy but had to take Delta and American a lot to as I covered 10 states, Texas being the size of 5 states though, and I had a lot of points with them to. Left the drug co and went back into real estate in El Reno. Made a decent living and my retirement from the drug co has done ok. I'm 68 till June when I turn 69 if God lets me. I don't even touch my 401k money and still work real estate. I wound up putting a good bit in CD's last fall when rates got close to 5% from money just setting in my checking account. Because I still live frugal, except for guns because I know I can always get my money back and most likely make a little. I try to help my fellow man, which is the most important part of my life. I grew up in a very modest home. We had plenty to eat, but if we wanted much more, we had to get to work, which I did in the 4th grade. Bought my own clothes for school, etc. But as I grew up there were ups/downs. If you get cheap, you can make it. If you get back to doing ok- help others as much as you can. I would rather starve that see anyone else go hungry.

 

[BillM]

NO MORE GUNS! There, saved y'all a bundle.

Sacrilege! Burn the unbeliever!!!!

Buying guns is a great investment, if you get the right guns at the right prices. A 1903 Springfield that sold for under $25 when I was kid is worth over a grand now. And I'm seeing Marlin boy's rifles go for several hundred dollars. Saw an advertisement for a decent Mauser military rifle for nearly $1500 the other day. I got a similar rifle for $100 when I was stationed at Cannon AFB, NM, outside Clovis, in 1974 or 75. I gave that to my dad, and nobody knows where it went, so I can't offer it for sale now.

I don't know about AR-platform guns. To me a $500 AR-15 isn't worth buying, but I see some folks spending thousands of dollars on them. Could be that one of the bare-bones AR's will someday be worth real money. Likewise Glocks and the like.

Buying guns when you can't afford groceries is maybe not a good idea...

 

[AdrianSpartan12]

With another thread about some guy paying 900/month for a truck, interest rates doing the Bidenomics thing, and the whole country in the toilet I thought maybe we could put some of our favorite tips in one spot for the younger crowd that doesn't know about all the traps you can get into when you're heading through your teens, 20s, and 30's.

Get back here if you think of something else too. You might save someone's marriage, as most marriages end over $MONEY$ trouble.

What are your top tips for saving money or making a quick buck? A couple that always come up this time of year for me are:

1. Don't borrow money. If you have to borrow money, have a plan to pay it back within 12 months and put it on paper.
2. Turkeys are CHEAP FOOD. You may get tired of turkey by this time next year, but it's versatile and the cost per pound of meat is hard to beat at Thanksgiving sales. We used to buy 12 turkeys when we were in our early 20s and freeze them. Then we'd have one turkey a month that would feed us for two weeks. I got recipes for DAYS, boys.

Nice!

 

[T. MIKE SMITH]

Nice!

I agree turkeys are cheap and I like it, but you have to mix it up and not have it every meal- there are a lot of things you can make and not spend much. What you cannot do is order out or get fast food all the time. We have grandkids who have 4 kids. They both work and I get it meals are a hassle. but they eat out or deliver almost every meal. It's $70-80 bucks to feed this bunch with Mcdonalds delivered. Sandwiches with variety and can sodas/chips would be 1/4 as much. Pork is reasonable and on sale a lot- whole pork butt runs $10-12 and can be cooked in a crock pot - shredded with some BBQ to make pull pork sandwiches on store brand buns. Even 10# tubes of hamburger have been as low as $2.50 a lb at Crest. Just cut patties or go ahead and cook up 3-4 lbs - make some taco and some spaghetti out of some. Buy store brands and go to places like Dollar Tree to get spices- ketchup- mustard- pasta and a lot of stuff cheap. They have some cheap brands but they also have good brands to. You can get ranch dressing mix in a 4 pack there for $1.25- store brand at Walmart is 50-70 cents an envelope. All spices are $1.25 there. They have spring rolls- 8 to pack for $1.25 and they are good. Jimmy Dean Sausage - 6 links in a pack for $1.25- that's enough for 3 kids breakfast with toast or egg. Circle back to turkey- traditional dinner or turkey enchiladas- turkey noodle soup- chop some up and make different salads to eat- million different things- even turkey sandwiches work sometimes. You gotta take your mind off running kids everywhere and the busy life you have and make mealtime a family time. This when you find out what's happening in everyone's life. Have fun and forget how tired you are. When I was young, I hated mowing, but I finally got it in my mind- you don't have to like it, but you do have to do it so get it done.

 

[Hirschkopf]

Recent advice to my 18-year-old, Chick-fil-A employed, son were:

1. Don't buy your own car; drive my old one and put what you are saving on insurance, gas, etc. into a Roth IRA. So far, he's taken my advice and maxed out his 2024 limit.

2. College is not always needed, but most jobs that require a degree pay pretty well. If you go to college, start with a local community college and live at home for two more years. He's going to do that.

3. As stated many times in this thread: Spend less than you earn. My practice has been to invest what is not spent in index mutual funds in retirement and taxable accounts; they may not be the hottest thing, but they are not going to go bust either - go with a "guarantee average" and get financially secure over a span of decades.

 

[Rez Exelon]

Recent advice to my 18-year-old, Chick-fil-A employed, son were:

1. Don't buy your own car; drive my old one and put what you are saving on insurance, gas, etc. into a Roth IRA. So far, he's taken my advice and maxed out his 2024 limit.

2. College is not always needed, but most jobs that require a degree pay pretty well. If you go to college, start with a local community college and live at home for two more years. He's going to do that.

3. As stated many times in this thread: Spend less than you earn. My practice has been to invest what is not spent in index mutual funds in retirement and taxable accounts; they may not be the hottest thing, but they are not going to go bust either - go with a "guarantee average" and get financially secure over a span of decades.

15 weeks in the year and maxed out the 7k roth limit? Chick-Fil-A must be paying more than when I was there. Dang.