It all depends on your financial decisions and how you organize your budget. By the way, do you know where most of your money goes, I mean do you shop smartly or spend on anything! Do you save for your future or have you set your financial goals as per your income? There is really so much to discuss in this matter.
I know exactly where my money goes and though I'm naturally frugal, I always try to strike a balance between saving money and living life to the fullest. While we all want to retire comfortably, there are many things in life that we can only truly enjoy while we're still young. Most of the times, having one job or a single source of income will not be enough to save smartly and enjoy life at the same time. Many of us use our otherwise idle time to earn extra money but there is a limit to what we can do 24/7. The trick for me is to open up several streams of reliable passive income that will allow us to earn money while we're working, sleeping, and living life. Although I really don't want to retire early (I love work!), it will be great not to have to worry about the future and my finances.
Pretty much what I was about to say @Jamille. The best way to save is not to spend, and for that to happen we need to understand what we need to buy, and what we don't. Thing is, if we want to have money to buy something we really need, most likely there is something we need to refrain ourselves from buying.
@Jamille I agree with your point that one needs to have some kind of balance on their spend and saving both. I mean one cannot save for future at the cost his present. I know a couple that earns a good amount as they both are in top earning bracket but they are saving and investing more than 60-70% of their income for last 8 years. I once asked a simple question from the guy whether he was doing the right thing and his answer astounded me. He said he was saving for his old age. I thought when you had teeth you didn't eat because you were saving to eat when you will have no teeth. So, in my views a good saving is that does not disturb your present life. My idea of saving is a maximum of 30% of your total earning at the most.
I think I already do everything that is necessary. If I'm going to cut any of my expenses, I'll certainly have some problem because of that decision. Maybe, if I stop going out to eat in restaurants, I can save more money.
@to7update "Not to buy is the best way of saving" lol I will take it as the tagline but is that possible? I think we can save a lot of money with little bit of imagination and planning beforehand which is about all that saves you efforts as well money. I must agree that there is no limit of what you can buy when you have money in your hands but we should think about rainy das before going by our impulse which will save us some money as well lots of trouble in our life.
@Ray1 lol yeah, it's all a matter of seeing things. Take my wife for example, she always need some extra clothes, shoes, bags, swimming suits or bikinis, while I need nothing haha, so I am saving when comparing to her. It's all a matter of determining what's essential for our life.
@to7update I think ladies are like or should I say love to spend money on variety of items even when the do not really need them (with due respect to ladies who know how to spend and when to spend). My wife is no exception but with a difference. When she enters in a store with "Sale" display, she can't stop herself and buy even those things which she really doesn't need.
@Ray1 Yeah, that's just how it goes. So you've made my point really, the best way to save is not to spend. More, if we have a good capacity to work, we can also earn some extra, and by doing that we know how hard it is to earn, and we will not spend on unnecessary stuff.
Well it's not difficult to determine which things and activities to cut back on or even to stop doing in order to save money, which i will list a few, going to the movies often, buying unnecessary items or expensive clothes.
Following a smart budget is the best way of saving money. Most of us though keep a budget in mind at the beginning of month, but fail to stick to it due to external pressures. Besides, as I've experienced, every month there arise some unexpected expenditure which tend to upset the budget. I try to be optimum in spending, and this helps in the long run.
The easiest cut I was able to make in order to save money was to stop buying espresso coffee for my husband and I everyday. It was a little harder for him to do, but he finally jumped on board. We were buying coffee everyday at $7 per trip, which equals $49 a week. Now we only buy coffee as a treat on the weekends. I was also able to cut out a couple of subscriptions which was another $30 per month. Now we are going through our monthly bills and seeing where we can make some cuts as well. We have already identified another $100 a month we can be saving.
@Rosyrain you remind me of how I managed to quit smoking in just one day. I used to be a very heavy smoker until 2004 smoking 25-30 cigarettes a day. The price of cigarettes have gone up by almost 3 times as much. I am saving almost $6 per day while living in India and far more than that while living in Australia where the price of cigarette is much higher.
