Monday, January 14, 2013

needs vs. wants vs. saving

I've been trying to put away money in savings so that I can take a trip to California in March/April for the past couple of months now. I haven't saved a single penny yet. *deep heavy sigh*

via valetourism

Saving isn't easy, especially when you pretty much live check to check. It seems like as soon as I get a little extra money to dump into my savings either something comes up OR I find something I want to spend the money on (recently: a new pair of shoes. I had to have this pair of ankle boots. BUT I don't buy shoes very often. Maybe twice a year.)

via madewell

Why is saving so hard? If I collected all the receipts of all the little things that I've bought over the last couple of months I bet it'd be a nice chunk of money that I could've already had sitting in my savings account collecting a little bit of interest and waiting to purchase that plane ticket. I'd have a nice little dent in what I want to save up and my little ticker there on the side would be moved a little bit.

And then I think about all the little and big things that I need? Like a new desk chair, mine is currently being held together with some yarn. Or a new external hard drive, mine likes to act like a brat every once in awhile (I actually just lost a bunch of images from the past couple of months). Or printer toner, I'm not sure how many more times I can shake the cartridge before it says, um sorry buy a new damn cartridge ass face.

How do I start saving money? I've been doing my best to push Valentine's cards and wallets and things from my shop, but business is slow. I know it'll eventually pick up closer to Valentine's day, but ugh...waiting for those sales to come...frustrating. What more can I do? I've even started listing some of my extra craft supplies and jackets on eBay and taking online survey. But what else can I do?

What do you do to save money? Any tips on cutting back other than the usual, don't eat out, etc.

Don't forget tomorrow is the last day to sign up for our Valentine gift exchange. You know you want to!


reading - A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
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3 comments:

Simply Evani said...

Girl this is a good question. I think at the end of the day, you gotta really target your goal and make it a tangible event to save for. I didn't know what the meaning of "savings" was until Rob slapped this ring on my finger. Suddenly, .50 on a pack of gum seems outrageous. Also, I have not gone into a store since Dec 21. Like no Target, no Walmart, no clothing stores. I don't even open up Amazon. It's amazing how little you spend when you actively stop yourself from looking. But honestly like I said, the biggest thing is making it a tangible goal. It can't just be some far off date, it's more real when you've got a date nailed down. Not sure how that works with vacations as opposed to a wedding but get to savin girl, I want to see yo ass over here!!!!

Rima said...

SAVE IT UP GURL!! you can start by saving 10% of your paycheck in to your savings that YOU CAN NOT TOUCH!!! And i've been doing, "do i need it or do i want it?" lately. I've been putting money in to 2 savings, a wedding account (combined with Rob) and my own personal account (for europe!)... It does take self control, esp for a shopper like me hahaha...

Anonymous said...

I agree with Evani and Rima, you just have to set your goal and stick to it! As soon as you're paid (after rent, etc.) put x-amount of money aside for your trip and then don't touch it!