How to save money in 2011

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i use my internet for everything $40 a month for basically phone, TV/Movies, and Internet ;) $20/month for a phone i only text on...hmmm i sold my 5.8l V8 f250 and downgraded to a little 4 banger i save about $50 a week in gas and i am driving to more places because its cheap! i dont drink coffee, i dont smoke, i drink booze on occasion. I wont be able to afford a house anytime soon and no plan of getting married in the near future so my savings goes towards toys and snowboarding...if i quit snowboarding it would easily save me thousands of dollars every winter...but remember if you can live within you means, have a little stash and extra cash to blow...go and have fun you only live once.
 
Yamaha_Gurl said:
Sorry to veer off topic a little, but I have a question for Strictyle: What is the official highest credit score? I've heard 800 is the tops for Canadians, and that for the US the limit is 850?

How does one get anything higher than say a 758? Let's assume 1 cc, and no late payments were ever made. You've mentioned opening another cc would lower it, so...how does one get it higher? Just wait until that cc gets older?
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900 is the limit in Canada and 850 is the limit is the US. Only 1 % of the population has a credit score over 800. There is no such thing as a perfect score or combination of credit products. The score is basically generated by comparing your info to the rest of the population. Ex. how many 30yrs have 5 credit cards and what is their repayment history compared to yours etc. The "beacon" formula is very complex and can not be duplicated easily.....and least not easily by anything other than a computer.

Also no such thing as good credit. Good is determined by the lender. The lender may offer 0% financing for customers with a score over 760, some only offer over 800 which is rare. Honda did this in the US....hence when you hear "for qualified applicants" no one qualifies. Other lenders may determine 560 as their acceptable threshold. But generally the higher the score the more likely to get approved.
 
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Whats the best way to check out your credit rating without it effecting your credit?
 
I asked my wife about this topic since
A) she is the most wonderful girl in the world
B) she is way smarter than me

She thinks if you have trouble resisting spur of the moment purchases, do not carry credit or debit cards all the time, sometimes you have to have it with you, but too many girls just cant walk past a sale, the shoes call to them....

Getting tea/coffee for a drive home is silly if the drive is less than 1/2 hr, just wait till your home, save the $2

Stay about 1 yr behind the curve in tech, your 50" LCD tv is just fine, 60" wont make your wiener bigger

Giving gifts you cant afford doesn't make people that should just love you, love you more, its just stupid

If your giving a gift card, make sure its one the reciever can use, 25% of gift cards are never redeemed and of the percentage that gets redeemed, if its $100 and your balance left is $8.35 nobody seems to go back for the $8.35. Huge windfall for the retailers, which is why every store is paying for shelf space at the grocery store to sell you a BestBuy card. Give a card the recipient can use or you wasted your money and the retailer wins. The person that gets a gift card is out nothing so the percieved value is less than you spent....... just sumpin to think on.

Buy fuel on tues and wednesdays, it seems to jump for weekends and stay there till monday nite in some areas.

Borrow dresses/formal wear from girlfriends for one off events, dont spend $800 for a one time dress if you can get around it. Borrow ones that make your boobies look great. (I added that part...:))
 
REDD77 said:
Whats the best way to check out your credit rating without it effecting your credit?
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You can get a free credit report from equifax... I forgot the number. stictlye should have it.

How does secured debt affect your credit rating? Assuming you have a large student loan and you've never missed a payment
 
Red_Liner740 said:
oh lets see...

in the last year or so me and g/f have gone on a penny pinching exercise to try and save as much for a house as possible.

so....

all grocery shopping is done with both of us present, that way we can cut down on each others shopping urges that are not necessary. Also she works for loblaws so we always use her 10% off card. Meal preparation for the week is planned ahead and shopped accordingly to whats on sale etc etc.
I cut my Fido cellphone plan from $70 to $45. I cancelled my car insurance as i can borrow g/fs car once in a while and me and my coworker/friend commute. Plan on using the bike only next year and see how that goes.

No cable bill, just an internet bill, no land line. All long distance calls (rare) are done on the company cellphone.

For x-mas i told friends and family not to buy me useless BS but to ask me what i want. Most ended up getting us gift cards to food stores which are then used for grocery bills. Love that.

Opened a High interest savings account and anything left over from last month other than a $1000 buffer is transfered to the savings account.

Plan was for myself to save $700 a month. So far its exceeded that and i just got a raise which will allow it to go to $900 without any issues. Hopefully, in one years time %20 downpayment on the house will be more than feasible.

This still allows me to have a "fun" fund which lets me buy gadgets/games etc etc.

just to add, eating out by far was our biggest expense and we didnt do it every day either. Food has gone from 300 a week to less than a 100 for the two of us.

other biggest expense was gas. Used to fill up for $70 once a week. Now its every two weeks...that was a $140 savings there.

We purposely looked for a small basement apt to rent. This will force us to a) not spend money on stupid **** as we have nowhere to put it and b) always remind us that its temporary dwelling. $800 all inclusive with great landlords is another bonus.

The key is to get into the mentality of frugality and the best way to do that is set a goal for yourself. My goal was $XXX a month. If i for some reason dont meet it one month, next month gets upped so it averages out to $XXX over the the two months. Oh and thinking about having my own back yard and garage/man cave is a definitive motivator.
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Lots of great suggestions & ideas in this thread but I notice that much of the advice is centered around smaller purchases like coffee, lunches and buying stuff like clothes, electronics, etc. Red_Liner740 has the right idea by having a BIG goal to work toward (buying a home) that serves as motivation to make short-term sacrifices for a much bigger and better reward! Good for you - Wobbly and I also lived in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment when we first got married for the same reason - so we would stay focused on the goal of buying a home which we did in less than 2 years.

Small savings can add up and they mean the most when you are young and starting out. But to really "win" the money game, you've got to get the BIG things right which means making the right choices about the home you buy, your mortgage terms, how and what vehicles you buy, dealing with insurance and especially how you invest because the fees can eat up much your returns. These themes form the key ideas in my book Spend Smarter, Save Bigger. Chapters 1 & 2 are available for free on my website (see below). Hope this helps!

Blessings,
Wigglycat
 
I spend less than i earn...
voila, done, money saved every month...
 
- certain creditcard has "special cashback" for certain items at certain time. Use that cc as much as possible to earn cashback. (but always always pay it off before the deadline)

- Slickdeals(redflagdeal) when you need to buy something. Don't slickdeal when you don't need anything.

- When buying big ticket items, always search for coupons around. Sometimes its worth to buy coupons.

- When buying online, look for cashback program such as fatwallet or discovery cashback.

- Carpool/bike more. Bicycle/walk/run instead when situation allowed.

- skip the gym membership. skip the treadmill purchase. run outside, and do body-weight exercise at home.

- Forget about theater. Heck forget about renting DVDS. Check local library before renting.

- Eat out less. Unless eat-out is cheaper then eat-in.

thats all i can think of now...
 
Yamaha_Gurl said:
Thanks Strictlye!

So my understanding is, in the situation I gave...there really is no way to boost that score?
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The only thing that helps boost your score is time, and not missing payments. If you ever have anybody offer to fix your credit its a scam. They don't have access. I tried warning a few people and they didn't listen. My managers at equifax didn't have the ability to change the reports. Only one specific department can make changes other than the lender and they are not in ontario, and are heavily audited.

The more time you have with a variety of credit products in good standing the better your score.

LiNK666 said:
You can get a free credit report from equifax... I forgot the number. stictlye should have it.

How does secured debt affect your credit rating? Assuming you have a large student loan and you've never missed a payment
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You can inquire to view your report for free once every 6 months by phone only and will take a few weeks to receive it. The number is burried on the equifax website somewhere. They try and make you buy it online for convienience at a fee. Your score is never free because equifax doesn't supply it. A third party called Fair Issac (FICO) is the one who provides the score so when you request it, equifax obtains it from FICO for a fee then charges you for it.

Secured debt can impact your score negatively in 2 ways. One its a debt, Two it appears as a public record. Public records are liens, judgements, seisures etc.
 
It's hard to save when your money is getting eaten by inflation via highers costs and taxes. Saving in silver/gold is the best for me. I bought silver/gold over a year ago and bascially doubled my money. No bank savings account/mutual fund can come close. Silver went up over 80% in 2010.
 
BLUE_KAWI said:
It's hard to save when your money is getting eaten by inflation via highers costs and taxes. Saving in silver/gold is the best for me. I bought silver/gold over a year ago and bascially doubled my money. No bank savings account/mutual fund can come close. Silver went up over 80% in 2010.
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As long as you're comfortable with volatility. Some people say they are, but when their portfolio drops 10% in value, they freak out.
 
Chaos said:
As long as you're comfortable with volatility. Some people say they are, but when their portfolio drops 10% in value, they freak out.
Click to expand...

I count on volatility in the market. When other people are freaking out and bailing out over a 10% drop on their investments, that's when I'm buying in at a nice discount.
 
Red_Liner740 said:
oh lets see...

in the last year or so me and g/f have gone on a penny pinching exercise to try and save as much for a house as possible.

so....

all grocery shopping is done with both of us present, that way we can cut down on each others shopping urges that are not necessary. Also she works for loblaws so we always use her 10% off card. Meal preparation for the week is planned ahead and shopped accordingly to whats on sale etc etc.
I cut my Fido cellphone plan from $70 to $45. I cancelled my car insurance as i can borrow g/fs car once in a while and me and my coworker/friend commute. Plan on using the bike only next year and see how that goes.

No cable bill, just an internet bill, no land line. All long distance calls (rare) are done on the company cellphone.

For x-mas i told friends and family not to buy me useless BS but to ask me what i want. Most ended up getting us gift cards to food stores which are then used for grocery bills. Love that.

Opened a High interest savings account and anything left over from last month other than a $1000 buffer is transfered to the savings account.

Plan was for myself to save $700 a month. So far its exceeded that and i just got a raise which will allow it to go to $900 without any issues. Hopefully, in one years time %20 downpayment on the house will be more than feasible.

This still allows me to have a "fun" fund which lets me buy gadgets/games etc etc.

just to add, eating out by far was our biggest expense and we didnt do it every day either. Food has gone from 300 a week to less than a 100 for the two of us.

other biggest expense was gas. Used to fill up for $70 once a week. Now its every two weeks...that was a $140 savings there.

We purposely looked for a small basement apt to rent. This will force us to a) not spend money on stupid **** as we have nowhere to put it and b) always remind us that its temporary dwelling. $800 all inclusive with great landlords is another bonus.

The key is to get into the mentality of frugality and the best way to do that is set a goal for yourself. My goal was $XXX a month. If i for some reason dont meet it one month, next month gets upped so it averages out to $XXX over the the two months. Oh and thinking about having my own back yard and garage/man cave is a definitive motivator.
Click to expand...

This is almost the exact same plan me and my boyfriend are on right now (minus the living together bit).

We're saving for a house and that has become our main priority. We're still able to do our hobbies and have fun....but a lot of the frivilous expenses went out the window.

Weekend entertainment is the dog park (free) or watching a movie we already own. Eating out is kept to a minimum (my hardest thing) and we try not to get coffee's out as much!
 
turbodish said:
I count on volatility in the market. When other people are freaking out and bailing out over a 10% drop on their investments, that's when I'm buying in at a nice discount.
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I do the same thing, but that's different from what i'm talking about in this case.
 
This is a topic that is fairly relevant in our household right now...

Although we're doing fairly well financially, we always want to stay on the ball and remain that way (or to put plainly, *I'm* paranoid about $$ and need to find a way to save cash).

Ways that we intend to save $$ this year:

- eat out LESS. Grocery shop MORE and order less pizza and go to pub less often. This is a problem for us. But my gf is a great cook and I'm a dutiful sous chef, so there's really no excuse.

- cut out useless Goodlife memberships and focus on Crossfit membership.

- I just recently got a job that is less than 10km away, vs. 40km away. Lots of savings on gas and car wear & tear

And that's the bulk of it.
 
Chaos said:
yup, I am a fundamentalist, so I need to know why there is a drop. It could be a simple irrational spurt, but there could be a valid business reason behind it.
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I do momentum day-trading in selected high volume stocks for part of my portfolio. These days my preference is the bank stocks because you can buy and sell these at the drop of a hat, and their value is unlikely to plunge to nothing in a trading day. For insurance I set automatic sell stops as soon as I buy them, and I constantly update those stops for as long as I'm holding the given stick.

Another part of my portfolio is in opportunistic mid-term speculation. In the days immediately following 9/11, I bought into a few big airline stocks for pennies on the dollar, then sold at a nice gain when they recovered a year later. I got into Canadian banks in the middle of the global financial crisis near the end of 2008, and doubled my money by the following summer when things recovered. Sold the bank stocks and jumped right into auto parts Linamar, Martinrea, and Azure Dynamics just as that market began its recovery. Those stocks are worth more than double now, and I plan on holding them for another six months to a year as the auto industry continues its comeback. I just keep updating my automated sell stops in case the stocks ratchet back too far when I'm not around.

Third part is my long-term stocks - mostly Apple and IBM. Once my day to day living expenses are covered, any excess profits from my day-trading and mid-term investments get invested into these. I make enough doing this that working for someone else is a thing of the past, and I have a nicely building reserve of capital tucked away for the day when I decide to stop even the stock market "work".
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