JOIN THE CHALLENGE!
Money controlling you? I know the feeling. My family has been living this real life on a budget for a long time and I can tell you that there's never a perfect season, but with a few changes you can start to reign in your money issues.
Join the 5-Day Challenge today and start getting your money life in order this week!
Kaila Ramsey says
We also put any “left over” $ from the previous check into our savings account when we get the next pay check! Sometimes it is $30 other times its over $200 extra….
Myles Money says
Out-of-sight works for me too, but you also need to make the conscious effort to live within your means following that: it only works if you stick to spending the rest of your “available” money, not if you then rack up debt on a credit card. I know you know that of course, but some people just can’t help themselves…
Jessi says
I love out-of-sight! 🙂 So true, it doesn’t help if you rack up debt!
Aja says
We us auto-deduct as well. I don’t ever feel comfortable having extra money in checking after paying all bills and taking out grocery money, so I connected checking and savings to make it easy to transfer when we have extra left over. Both ways work for us.
cay says
I get your theory behind your math when u take that small portion of income. But that $23000 national poverty, isn’t that BEFORE taxes? Average taxes are between 26-28% … you take that out, you have a family of 4 trying to live on 325 a week/at 1300 a month. Most at this income level probably rent, average rent is 500 to 600 a month, that’s almost 1/2 income before utlities, gas, food at least for their children… now granted these families will get help…and it’s good intentions to hope they can save but I doubt it can happen. I could see someone at that level trying to save their change.
Jessi says
Cay, I actually know people (my mother was one of them with two kids to support) who have managed to save. It is possible but not without hustle. It will still take hustle, that is point behind saving – it doesn’t matter how much money you make or don’t make if you don’t know how to hustle savings. Even $0.25 saved is better than nothing saved.
Angie says
Cay, a few years ago I was still raising children (5 of them) on an average income of 20,000 -25,000 a year. I did not use food stamps or other government help except for the free lunches and breakfasts at school but my four boys insisted the breakfasts were too small and also ate breakfast at school. Also because of being so far below the poverty level, I was able to go exempt for many years on taxes and only filed to get my earned income payment each year. I would save that each year and that was what I used each year to buy clothes and shoes and dentist bills and casts for broken arms. Yes the savings were often used as soon as they accrued but we still believed in having it put aside. It can be done, especially if the only other option is losing your home or the kids going without. It wasn’t easy or fun but it can be done.
Angie says
July 23, I had 67.87 in two savings accounts and my checking account had less than ten dollars in it but was not overdrawn. My end of month for October will be just over $1000.00 my first emergency fund! It is divided into ally savings $356.56, bank savings $507.17 and checking $200.00 which I’m keeping as a buffer I also have about $70 in cash that was part of my October budget that wasn’t spent and will be added to the savings.
Once I got serious about living within or below my means it became easier and easier to keep the money in my hands and not put it into other people’s hands. While I was building my emergency fund I also began to truly tithe 10% or more of my income along side the savings effort.
Just in case some feel that maybe I just decided to put “extra” money in my savings. My take home income is on average 1550.00 a month for a single person. So my efforts were a sacrifice and are small but I’m proud of the effort and very happy with the success so far.