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Mar. 15th, 2004 08:52 pmWell, I've finished reading Debt Free by 30, and I'm ready to start becoming rich! Yup.
I did the first step, making a complete list of all my expenses, including keeping track of everything I spent for a month. Wow, I spend a lot on food and eating out. And then I added it all up, and compared it to how much money I made...and there's the reason why I don't have any savings. Living proof that people always spend exactly what they have, without even realizing it. And to think, I used to live on $10,000 a year. How things change.
So now I'm supposed to look at ways I can save - how necessary is my rent? My transportation? My cable/internet/phones? My entertainment? My buying of DVDs/CDs/books/magazines? Those last ones, probably not very. Heh. To start with, I'm going to go talk to my credit union and see if I can reduce my bank fees, which will probably basically mean not using ATMs as much. And then I'm going to look at transferring my credit card stuff to a lower interest card, even if it means not getting any points toward anything. I don't know that I'm ever going to use those points anyway. Oh, and I'm going to try to get a better deal for my cell, since I don't really use it much.
After that, I'm not sure yet - I guess just try to spend less on non-essentials. The grand plan is that I want to have 3 months salary in my savings account in case of emergency, like losing my job. At the rate I'm going now, this'll take about, oh, 4 years. I think I may need to speed that up. I did my taxes this weekend, too, though, and it looks like I'm going to be getting some money back, so I can start with that. And then try to save a bit each month. And once I have that bit in savings, I guess I can start saving for a down payment.
Oh, *lord*, this is going to take forever. But if it actually works, I'll feel like such a responsible grown-up!
I did the first step, making a complete list of all my expenses, including keeping track of everything I spent for a month. Wow, I spend a lot on food and eating out. And then I added it all up, and compared it to how much money I made...and there's the reason why I don't have any savings. Living proof that people always spend exactly what they have, without even realizing it. And to think, I used to live on $10,000 a year. How things change.
So now I'm supposed to look at ways I can save - how necessary is my rent? My transportation? My cable/internet/phones? My entertainment? My buying of DVDs/CDs/books/magazines? Those last ones, probably not very. Heh. To start with, I'm going to go talk to my credit union and see if I can reduce my bank fees, which will probably basically mean not using ATMs as much. And then I'm going to look at transferring my credit card stuff to a lower interest card, even if it means not getting any points toward anything. I don't know that I'm ever going to use those points anyway. Oh, and I'm going to try to get a better deal for my cell, since I don't really use it much.
After that, I'm not sure yet - I guess just try to spend less on non-essentials. The grand plan is that I want to have 3 months salary in my savings account in case of emergency, like losing my job. At the rate I'm going now, this'll take about, oh, 4 years. I think I may need to speed that up. I did my taxes this weekend, too, though, and it looks like I'm going to be getting some money back, so I can start with that. And then try to save a bit each month. And once I have that bit in savings, I guess I can start saving for a down payment.
Oh, *lord*, this is going to take forever. But if it actually works, I'll feel like such a responsible grown-up!