Hey guys.

I was wondering a while ago, where all our money goes. We both work full time, don't have a huge mortgage (relative to the average), don't smoke and don't live the high life. It just wasn't adding up. The total coming in should be more that adequate for some extra.

It dawned on me that we were just blowing it on whatever crap we wanted, without adding up the small amounts as we went. If I was running late for work I'd just buy something on the way. We'd both buy lunch a couple or three times a week and way too much expensive beer was going down my throat! My solution: Pocket money for me and the missus. We allocated a realistic figure and each have our 'own' spending money each pay, from which everything not house, vehicle maintenance / fuel, or kid related comes.

It's turned into a sort of competition now to see who can hoard the most $$. It's friken amazing how much we must have been wasting on rubbish. I've already got nearly enough for a new .243 hunting rifle. Got my eye on a 12 ton pipe bender too. The home brew is really good for saving a few bucks @80cents a 750ml bottle.

We also pay our rates fortnightly, in advance, by direct debit so there's no scary bill at the beginning of the financial year to save for.

So, what do you guys and girls do to save a few bucks aside for the fun stuff?

 

Heh, I don't do anything

My girlfriend and I make the same amount of money. But because I pay all the bills, I usually have barely enough left for gas + snacks and maybe one "I WANT THAT" per paycheck. Yuen on the other hand has been doing the responsible thing (most times), paying off her debt. With the occasional "You want that? Ok!".

Funny thing is I'm constantly telling her to stop splurging on me. She feels guilty that I have all the bills and can't really splurge on myself. But I'm taking a longer view, knowing if she pays off her debt (bout 6 months left now), then she can bank mad money and we can get a nice house.

 

Method to your madness there Dave , Do the same thing you do , stop buying a buncha
iddly piddly ****, save a few months thenblow it all on a bigger item like another bike
or sumtin

But if you are smart and buy that bigger item "right" then bingo you can double up
real fast.

 

I got married so I didn't have to spend big money on nookie.
Then I made her get a good job as a nurse so I could buy a bunch of bikes and guns.


But seriously, we both came up with the same answer as you did, Dave.
Buying dumb chit we don't need and eating out too much is hell on the wallet.

 

Waaaahhhhaaaa ha .......... Like it Trout .......ain't that the truth LOL

 

Trout maybe thats all I got to spend my extra money on Opps! What money???

 

Just put about half the cash down on a new Weatherby Sporter .308 with a 4-16 x 44 scope (unless you're a pig or a deer, in which case that's). Probably be close to the end of December by the time I pay it off but what a nice Christmas gift from me to myself. Next a rifle mounted spotlight and a bipod.

It sure makes me feel better about the daily grind knowing that there's some cool gear with my name on it out there that I don't have to have any reason to get other than I want it.

 

OK. I've become somewhat of an expert at this, so I'll give a few tips, which primarily apply to my yankee comrads only. First, phone service. Some of you may have seen the infomercials for a device called the "magic Jack", which is a VOIP device that connects to your computer via USB that you plug a normal landline phone into and which allows you to make phone calls over the internet. The price of the device is about $27 delivered, and the service costs $20 per year (yes, per year). For that $20, you get unlimited local and long distance calling to the US and Canada (both incoming and outgoing calls), caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and voicemail (voicemails can be accessed thru the magic jack plus all voicemails are also sent to your email address as a wave attachment). The point is, it actually works, and while a lot of people use Skype, magic jack is a fair amount cheaper than Skype. Second, I also have a cell phone, but my cell is from safelink wireless. With safelink, I got a free phone and about an hour a month of free minutes. Needless to say, I only use this phone when I need to and I don't ever use it for just shooting the sh*t. It's not available in all states and you need to income qualify (or be willing to lie), but my total cell phone charges = nothing.
Next, high speed internet (which you'll this need to use Magic Jack). I pay nothing. Rather, I tap into my neighbors. This probably will only work if you live in the city, but if you have a neighbor who has an unencrypted wireless setup, you can tap in to their internet connection (some of you may not like what I'm doing, but if you don't want a-holes like me stealing some of your bandwidth, then password protect your network). I have a wireless N card in my desktop along with a high gain yagi antenna, and I can pick up signals from about a block away (I guess). I've been doing this for a few years now and am on line probably 99% of the time. Again, cost to me = nothing.
Lastly, cable/satellite tv. Dump it. This may be hard for many of us to do, but getting your tv over the air is nowhere near as bad as it used to be. It is now an all or nothing proposition, at least since virtually all broadcasts are digital nowadays. By that I mean that you either pick up a station and get a great picture- no more ghosting or snow- or you get nothing at all. You'll need a digital ready TV or a digital converter box, and the better the antenna you use and the higher up you place it (roof) the better. I'm in Philly, and I can pick up about 33 local stations, of which maybe 21 are actually worth watching. Not the greatest selection, but I'm old enough to remember when our choices were limited to three stations, and the picture quality was always mediocre on these channels. As one added benefit, my understanding is that over the air high def broadcasts (I get 11 HD channels) are actually generally better than cable, since most cable channels compress their HD channels to save bandwidth.
Bottom line is, for landline and cell phones, internet and TV, I pay a total of $20 per year. This thread was about tips for saving money.

 

Paco, if I pull the plug on satellite all my personal belongings will be sitting curbside
by the following morning ....... it'll be mutiny I tell you especially with the kids

The rest are great tips. Maine however is the only State Majic Jack has no in state #'s
for ............that's because Maine Taxes the hell out of all utility Co's ....don't retire here

Dave , sweet 308 man and that is one up close and very personal sight too nice

 

Magic Jack's website says they have numbers available in area code 207.