Challenge everything

by Carol-Anne

The saving idea called, “challenge everything” by J. Money.  It is his new mentality of challenging the “norm” and getting his expenses as low as possible without sacrificing his quality of life. For example, every month he would focus on a new bill or expense that has been status quo for years – which helped to determine what’s truly important now in his life. Things like cable, cell phones, cars, insurance, etc.

 He got his idea from this clip from a friend’s blog post:               
                                       
“The most important thing to note is that cutting your spending rate is much more powerful than increasing your income. The reason is that every permanent drop in your spending has a double effect: it increases the amount of money you have left over to save each month, and it permanently decreases the amount you’ll need every month for the rest of your life.”                             

That last line stopped him in his tracks: “it permanently decreases the amount you’ll need every month for the rest of your life.” This hit him hard for personal reasoning so he was inspired to save more and as fast as he could.

His Total [Monthly] Savings since Starting This Challenge:
·         Cell Phones: $112.58
·         Cable/Internet/Phone: $80.00’ish
·         Car Insurance:  $30.59
·         TOTAL: $223.17

He opened up a new separate savings account that allowed him to track it all over the next 12 months, along with other “extra” money I find/earn over time.

Here were his monthly balances:
·         Month #1 balance: $203.96
·         Month #2 balance: $406.60
·         Month #3 balance: $1,209.16
·         Month #4 balance: $2,029.81
·         Month #5 balance: $2,954.14
·         Month #6 balance: $3,442.39
·         Month #7 balance: $3,843.70
·         Month #8 balance: $4,097.22
·         Month #9 balance: $4,485.22
·         Month #10 balance: $4,738.13
·         Month #11 balance: $4,990.84
·         Month #12 balance: $5,484.07

UPDATE: MISSION COMPLETE!!!

He ended up saving over $5,000 saved in one year.  Here is a diagram of the saving experience:

Critique

Personally, I feel like this is a good idea for saving money quick and conveniently.  I believe this because, it feels like this guy earned a lot of his money by doing almost nothing but ridding himself of finances that he didn’t need.  It also seems like it wouldn’t be that hard to cut back on things if I just slowed down and payed more attention to what I spend my money on.  Finally, I feel as though it would be a lot easier than I may think because there are probably a lot of expenses I could cut back on easily without losing anything valuable.  Like cutting the data from my phone bill.  I rarely need it as I have school and home Wi-Fi.  Come to think of it, it is essentially pointless for me to have it.  In conclusion, I feel this saving idea is a smart, adaptable and convenient way that I, personally, could use.

http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/challenge-everything/

Pay Yourself First

by Riley

Pay yourself first is a phrase commonly used in personal finance and retirement planning it means to automatically route a specified saving contribution from each paycheck to the time it is received. Pay yourself first doesn’t refer to earning money but refers to saving money. Basically you are taking out your own sum of money and putting it into a retirement fund or any kind of fund with no middle man. This method helps with people who don’t save enough for retirement or an emergency fund. Personally I think this is a good method it makes sure you have money in those funds whether it’s emergency or life insurance or your 401k. The pay yourself first simplified is just put money in to your funds before you pay for your bills.

 https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/payyourselffirst.asp 

Saving is Sexy

by Riley

This article states that men that spend more money on first dates have better dating success but are more likely to go home alone compared to savers who are more desirable romantic partners. The article also says those who are savers are much calmer and more likely not to cheat or drink too much when at bars. This article has zero evidence to prove any of their findings are true.  I didn’t like this article it had zero financial aid it just tells you that if you want a long-term relationship be a saver if you want a short one night stand kind of thing than be a big spender. For me this is not helpful and complete irrelevant to budgeting money.

http://www.humbledollar.com/2018/04/saving-is-sexy/

The Money Jar

By Abbie

The purpose of the money jar is to help you handle your money better.  How often you put money in and how much is totally up you.  With a jar holding your money so that you can actually see how much you have, it makes it easier to make financial decisions.  You need to be smart when you're spending, and this jar helps you keep track of your money easier.  It's a wonderful budgeting idea for those who have never found another way that works for them.  If you try it and it's not for you, at least you know you gave an attempt. 

One really cool things about these jars is that it's close to home.  Years ago, back in the 30s, when society was going through the Great Depression they lost a lot of their money.  Many still have trust issues with the banks because of that, so when it comes to this jar, you have the money safe at home with you.  Now that's not to say you can't have bank account open, but at least you have money on the side in case something happens.

Now there's always ways it can go wrong.  Like, people can just reach into this jar and take your money with ease (as long as you and/or your family aren't watching) and the jar is fragile so it can be broken.  A thief could come in a take the jar easier than if it were a safe as well.  Overall, however, I think it's a pretty good idea and the concerns I mentioned above aren't very likely anyway.  Just be careful and if you're really worried, put it somewhere safe where you and your family can get to it easily.

http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/articles/budgeting/magic_jars.html

Interview With My Grandparents

By Kristy

          My grandparents have always been huge inspirations to me. From how they raised their family, how they stay in shape at the prime ages of 73 and 76 and how they can save money. They both started with nothing, and now have lives that they never dreamed on having, and I praise them for that.

          As soon as my grandparents married at 17 and 19, they began to save money right away. My grandfather was always concerned that his family wouldn’t have an emergency fund, so he saved as much as he could. Having an emergency fund was something my grandfather told me was extremely important to have. One day, you could lose all the money you have. Having an emergency fund would help you somewhat remain on your feet.

          When you get your first job, my grandmother told me is the perfect time to start saving. Of course, it’s tempting to spend your first few paychecks, because there’s money in the bank that is now yours to spend. But, my grandmother told me to start saving even from the first paycheck. When you start to save right away, it won’t be hard to do later on.

          The way my grandparents saved their money the best was to have a payroll deduction if you have the option. That means that on your paycheck, an amount of pay is taken out and deposited into your bank account. They also said that having a savings account is important, as long as you don’t touch it. If you spend it, it defeats the purpose of a savings account.

          I asked my grandparents what advice they could give someone my age on saving money. They said that saving some of your weekly/biweekly paycheck is extremely important, and to never spend more than what you earn.

          Because of saving money, my grandparents went from having little to having a fair amount. They can take trips, they live in a home and they can afford extra things because they saved money.

Spaving’s account

by Madison

Spaving, from my understanding, is having an account and keeping track of any money you were planning to spend, but didn’t or any coupons or deals and putting the money you saved into a spaving’s account. For example, if I were planning to get 2 new bathing suits, $12.95 each and then I decided to only get one of them, I’d have $12.95 spaved because of the money I changed my mind on spending!

The goal of the account is to encourage you to save so your account can continue to grow. If you know that there’s an account for every time you don’t spend money, you’ll avoid spending it so that account can grow.

The person that wrote the article on this had $35.68 in their account after two weeks from things like, getting a dollar off their coffee, buying the cheaper product of two, changing their mind on buying things, etc.

I’m considering opening my own spaving’s account and it seems like it may be a good idea for others to try as well

http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/spavings-savings-account/

The Zero Day Challenge (Zero Day Finance)

by Ben

          The Zero day challenge is tracking your spending every Day/week/month and tracking how many days you spend Zero Dollars. So every day you spend $0 you can record it as a “zero day” the more “zero days” you have in a month the better. As you progress throughout the challenge try to get more “zero days” each month and eventually you will have a lot more “zero days” and be saving much more money. There is many easy ways to keep track of this challenge, you can use your phone, a calendar, a dry erase board or even a notebook. I think this challenge is a good idea for saving money because it is very simple to do and keep track of and it doesn’t have many restrictions or guidelines so people won’t get super frustrated with the challenge and give up. But I do think that this challenge isn’t for people who need strict guidelines or they will just be lazy with this challenge. Here’s an example of a very easy way to track your zero day challenge it shows their “zero days” and then days they spent money and how much they spent.

Interview

By Lauren

I interviewed my grandma and asked her what her best ideas for saving money were and she told me a few ways she has saved money over the years. First she told me about how she knew what her priorities were and what she needed to actually buy over what she wanted. She said when she goes shopping she asks herself if she really needs it and will use it or if she just wants it. When she goes out and shops she makes sure to get exactly what she will need for the week or so. She also makes sure she doesn’t get more than she will need/use. By doing these things my grandma saves on a lot as she isn’t spending her money on stuff she doesn’t need/won’t use.  My grandma never invested money or anything like that as she just never really felt like she needed too. Basically my grandmas best ideas for saving money would be just making sure you’re buying what you really need over what you want and just make sure you aren’t over buying too much of something if you won’t use it all.

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned

by Alex

A penny saved is a penny earned means practically exactly what it says.  Every penny you put away, is a penny you have saved, and you can pile onto that penny with more pennies. The more pennies you have the more pennies you can save, and the more pennies you save, the more pennies you will have. A simpler way of putting this is every small amount builds onto savings. This being said, it is as important to put away the money you already have, than to earn more. In the words of a wise lad “a penny spar’d is twice got”. This saying means the same thing, if you save a penny, you are a penny up rather than a penny down. So, while you are saving, rather than your wealth declining, it is increasing. And so, the moral of this story is, save your money and you will have more money.

  

Works Cited

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-penny-saved-is-a-penny-earned.html

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/a-penny-saved-is-a-penny-earned

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/a-penny-saved-is-a-penny-earned

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/penny+saved+is+a+penny+earned

The 1%Challenge (from Afford Anything)

By Giana

The 1% Challenge requires you to save 1% more of your take-home income then you already do, and increase your savings by 1% each month to ease you into saving. Arrange this amount to be taken out with an automatic transfer so it is like you never had to money in the first place. This money should also be in a safe place where you can’t easily access it. The idea behind the 1% challenge is to make savings simple and easy so you don’t have to do any work.  Allowing you to progress in incremental steps so it is effortless.

After-Tax Income	One Percent
$2000 /mo	$20
$3000 /mo	$30
$4000 /mo	$40
$5000 /mo	$50
$10000 /mo	$100
$20000 /mo	$200

The author Paula Pant says to cut things like orange juice, turn down the thermostat, get a cheaper cell phone plan, use Netflix instead of cable and get the cheapest car insurance policy, but some people are already doing these things and don’t have anything else to cut out. Her article doesn’t apply to all cases. It is catered towards people who don’t know how to save money or have a spending problem. Also it would be more helpful if Paula said specifically where to save (such as a tax free savings account or a no charge debit account), or how to setup an automatic transfer.

$5 bill trick

by Katara 

               This trick is when you use cash you save any $5 bill you see, you don’t Spend it no matter what, and you can use any other currency but $5 you have to save. It’s an easy trick that can amount to so much.

Why is it not resourceful  today?

            this trick has a flaw, a lot of people consider using digital cash more often than not, which makes it harder to get bills and money these days, bills are becoming extinct. Instead we should re-vamp it, to how about anytime you spend a certain amount of money.

             let’s say for example $20 we save $5 out of what you have spent, It’s a slower production but does not hit any blocks for when the digital age has taken over, so this trick can be used way into the future.

              also its harder to get a $5 these days, most are in change, or we have to get a $10 or $20, as most bank machines these days don’t really give out 5.

(https://rockstarfinance.com/5-dollar-bill-savings-trick/  )