How the fuck do I AVOID spending money? Obviously there's things you have to spend money on like food, gas, and utilities. But what do you do to keep your nonessential spending in check?
I'm starting to invest a little bit on Robinhood and I realized that if I invested the money that I've spent recently on random shit I could be making some serious dough down the line. But every time I go to the store I'm reminded that I just HAVE to have this little thing or that little thing and suddenly my bill is $100 of little things. Give it a month and my credit card is just as fucking high as when I was spending cash on big dumb purchases. Then I have an auto loan, rent, and student loan payments that pop up during the month that gouge my wallet even more. To be honest I'm just spinning my fucking wheels here with a consistent 5-7k in savings. For an idea of my income I make 52k per year.
Anyway in the next 3 months I have two big goals: One is buy a motorcycle. It's something I've always wanted and I've had my certification for a year now. Obviously I'll be buying used to keep cost down but I'll have it checked out to make sure I don't get myself a lemon. The second is to invest some cash on Robinhood but the only thing I know about investing is to diversify and stick to mutual funds and ETFs.
Anyway all the little things to buy like proper casual shoes, decent clothes, etc are just buzzing around my head like a million little bees. I need to build some good habits here, Jow Forums. Please help an user out.
No alco, weed, cigs, candies, drugs, porn, sodas, fastfoods, coffies, i literally almost dont buy those things, mostly a coffe or a soda at party (i quit alco and drugs) And if i dont go on any party i spend almost no money.
David Rodriguez
Learn to differentiate between wants and needs.
You're welcome.
Brandon Edwards
Food: Look up cheap meals you can prepare. Eating out: Don't buy a drink; get water. (even if you fill the water cup with soda it's fine). Clothes: Buy stuff that will last. I wear clothes that are 3+ years old that still look good. Don't use a dryer; it shortens the life of your clothes. Grocery Store: Buying produce/nuts? Figure out the cheapest code to punch into the self checkout machine. I get pounds of pistachios for $1-2.
Henry Hall
Hzh
Zachary Lee
>alco I drink but have 3 liquor bottles as gifts right now so I've been drinking that. But all my buddies go to the bar on Fridays...maybe I can limit myself to cash. Only bring a $20? That's fair spending I think. Won't get hammered and make bad choice then either. >weed Don't smoke >cigs Don't smoke >candies Dropped my sweet tooth habit >drugs Not a user >porn I use /s/ >sodas Same as candies >fastfoods Really been good with not eating out, I basically eat in every night with chicken pasta and broccoli >coffee I'm a shameless addict but I keep my coffee to the columbian folgers made at home, it's like a tub that lasts a month or more for about $10 that's a decent purchase I think >And if i dont go on any party i spend almost no money. Nice
So tough man. I was going to buy a Glock for self defense (Murrican) but I already have a revolver for that...maybe I can sell the revolver to the store and get the Glock. That way I don't have an excess cash loss and it's really just a trade. They cost about the same in price. Probably in the end get the Glock for $100 cash with the trade in.
>Food: Look up cheap meals you can prepare. Nice, will do. >Eating out: Don't buy a drink; get water. (even if you fill the water cup with soda it's fine). Good call. Drinks are a ripoff at restaurants. >Clothes: Buy stuff that will last. I wear clothes that are 3+ years old that still look good. Don't use a dryer; it shortens the life of your clothes. I've really been trying to do that man. Save up and invest in a small amount of good clothes. I started doing this after reading an article about everyone's favorite Shark...here cnbc.com/2018/05/10/see-kevin-olearys-expensive-yves-saint-laurent-denim-jacket-splurge.html >Grocery Store: Buying produce/nuts? Figure out the cheapest code to punch into the self checkout machine. I get pounds of pistachios for $1-2. Yea I eat a lot of fruit and nuts with cereal.
Alexander White
Is your revolver broken to such a degree repair would cost more than the Glock?
Sounds like you want a Glock, don't need a Glock.
Jayden Ross
just earn $100k/year, problem solved
Robert Davis
No it's not broken at all.The Glock is just better gun for carry and 9mm ammo is much cheaper to train with than .38 Special...but you're fucking right man. It's just something I want. Not something I need.
I really don't see a way out of this one where I can live with my spending and keep both. I see 4 options
>buy nothing, save or invest the money >buy a better holster for my revolver (the reason I don't carry as much as I should is the holster is cumbersome) Fairly inexpensive option >buy the Glock, a holster for the Glock, and keep the revolver Most expensive option >Buy the Glock, a holster for the Glock, and sell the revolver Middle of the road option
I'm really leaning towards the middle of the road option. The Glock is going to be much cheaper to shoot by about 10 cents per round. That's a pretty good chunk of change.
Brandon James
Well, I wouldn't splurge on SLP/stuff made for fashion; although it might make you take better care of your stuff. I just wear cheap, but decent quality stuff. (Uniqlo is my go to). I just wear black chinos & kando pants, plain T's/Long sleeves. Boots are the one item I get higher quality. I got wolverine's 1000 miles & some one of a kind thing zip up chelsea boot I got on woox.
Wyatt Martin
i'm with you user I have a busted up 2008 KLR that I learned to ride on but now I'm wanting to save for a year to get a scrambler. I could buy it right now but I want to save for it. But even if I save for it, I'm diverting money away from my savings. I really want to cut back on booze because the 50 dollar tabs on the weekends add up. If that 50 were invested instead of being spent, it would add to a lot more than 50.
I don't even know how to invest in anything other than my 401k or chink coins. I tried setting up a merrill edge account through bank of america but i think I got that all fucked up from trying a year ago so now I just want to transfer to Wells Fargo and try again. Instead of putting $800/mo in saving account I could put 400 in savings and 400 invest.
Nolan Peterson
Right man that's exactly the kind of clothes I'm looking for, solid quality and not expensive. I'm not trying to impress any fashion snobs I just want shit that's built to last and also looks good. I don't mind paying more for high quality things if they last. To be honest I'm a military man so I must be born with a bad sense of spending, but I've been buying stuff from the base "store" recently to keep costs down a little bit (they are typically cheaper than civilian retail and also tax free).
>so now I just want to transfer to Wells Fargo and try again. Instead of putting $800/mo in saving account I could put 400 in savings and 400 invest. Nice. I have Wells Fargo myself. I like their services and they are well established.
Dylan Kelly
Nice!
Do you have a roth IRA? Open up one on vanguard and contribute $5500/year. Put it in an ETF. I put mine in VOO (S&P 500 Index Fund). This generates additional income passively.
Isaac Barnes
>Do you have a roth IRA? I've got a Roth IRA with the government (TSP) but I won't see much in it for a while, I spoke with a financial advisor for my parents and he recommended I only put in the matching contribution maximum which is currently 1 measly percent. >Open up one on vanguard and contribute $5500/year. Put it in an ETF. I put mine in VOO (S&P 500 Index Fund). This generates additional income passively. Nice work man, I just bought one stock of the Vanguard Developing Markets ETF for a hair over $50 and one stock of Ford for about $9 today on Robinhood so when I say I just started investing I mean that quite literally. It seems like such a better way to spend my money than buying shit that I'll use once or twice and then forget about in my closet Anyway I'll have to save up to buy a stock of the VOO my next paycheck.
How do you open up a Roth IRA on Vanguard?
Jack Taylor
Just register an account with vanguard online. They have enough information for someone as dumb as me to do it.
Easton Turner
Beautiful, that's a great tip thanks dude!
Landon Long
The credit card is a gigantic problem. Every dollar you spend on it is like taking out a loan at 20%. The economic loss on credit cards is gigantic unless you pay the fulll balance immediately upon using it. If you don’t have the self control to do this you can’t have a credit card at your income level.
Thomas Gonzalez
ye, if you can put away $458/month, you'll reach the contribution limit in no time. Then, just watch your net worth grow over time. I wish I knew this when I was younger and not starting at 25.
Elijah Rogers
I think the motorcycle is also a big problem at your income level. Provides no value is a high risk activity and you already have an auto loan on which you are paying interest for a depreciating asset. Pay off the car loan early and the interest savings will justify you buying the motorcycle.
Camden Peterson
I'll add that health is the best investment you can make. Physical and mental health. Your money is worthless if you have a low quality of life/lose it all to health issues. Don't try to skimp on being healthy in exchange for being cheap.
James Gutierrez
True, but I do pay off the full balance immediately. I don't fuck around with minimum payments. That's a bad rabbit hole to find yourself in and my parents made sure I knew that fact when I applied for one.
Oh I can do that. I'll check it out right now and toss in the money I would have spent on this Glock on this Vanguard thing. You're a good man, user.
Yea you're right...it's just another big WANT and not a need. Maybe my real problem is that I don't budget anything at all. I'm constantly flying by the seat of my pants with spending and saving. I think I'm doing myself a favor by saving saving saving but then when I see something nice that I want...bam, there goes my savings.
>pay off the car loan early Shit man you're right. That's a much better use of my money.
Ayden James
Good point. I try to eat right and get good sleep as a base for the rest of my life, and user is right a motorcyle is just a big health risk. My job is tied to my health...this motorcycle is sounding like a poorer and poorer choice by the minute.
