STORM2K

Just curious here. Who's the spender and who's the saver in your family? You? Spouse? Mom? Dad? SO? Is it influenced by who the major breadwinner is?
I have no problem spending small amounts of money like on tennis shoes, usually around 75.00 to 100.00, since I LIVE in tennis shoes or houseshoes. Groceries, hey there is always PLENTY of food in my house, which could explain why I'm now on a diet. I follow Scarlet's line "As God as my witness I'll never go hungry again". But major items, it's like pulling teeth to get me to let go of the money. Saving money, now really, if I have money, aren't I suppose to spend it?
Mr. EB4480, he doesn't spend small amounts, but can drop major cash on something like it's a box of crackers. And he only does it once in awhile. But when he does, look out! Like my daughter's high school graduation present, a trip to Europe. Or her wedding....my head is still reeling from that. We needed new patio furniture, which I spent 2 weeks trying to find the best price. He walked into Lowes, wrote a check for 600.00 and that was the end of that. And saving, 40% of his check goes into some type of saving, be it his 401K, other investments, or JUST NOT SPENDING IT PERIOD. And yes, he is the only source of income for this house, with me not working and going to school.
So what's your story?

I'm the spender the parents are the savers. I have become more thrifty with age though.

I'm the spender, Michelle's the saver.....although I do have to admit, her thrifyness is rubbing off on me, I'm not frugal by any stretch of the imagination BUT.....if I can spend a nickel to save a dime!

Dennis

I'm more the spender and Jim's the saver. But my spending is in line, 11 months of the year. Yes, in December I've been known to go a little overboard. Not to the point of not being to pay if off but it is hard during the holidays to stay very disciplined!

My dad had one charge account, Sears. And he paid that bill off each month. He paid cash or wrote checks for the everything else. He instilled this one charge account philosophy with me. We have one - Visa. And I'm proud of it. So many stores have offered charge accounts and if I had taken them up on it I'd have 10 or 15, easily! And then have all those bills coming in. No thank you I say. What kills me is when I have cash in hand at Kohl's and they tell me - if you take out open a charge account with us today, you'll save 10%. I can see how people get in debt. I say no each and every time. I like having just one. We live quite frugally most of the time. We rent movies, instead of paying highway robbery prices in the theaters. We carry out half the days while on vacation, instead of eating out all 7 nights. I buy generic grocery items when possible. We've just always been this way!

Mary

My Hubby is in control of the money, so if I want something from the store I have to ask how much I can spend, and I dont go over that amount. We really have to live on a short budget (what with lawyers fees, and the birth of a baby to pay off on one salary) We very realy splurge and if we do, it will be on a nice dinner for a change. Save.. uh we get by pay check to pay check, I have no clue what its like to have a savings account.

Dennis, I'm so like the "spend a nickel to save a dime" thing. I'll go over all the grocery ads and then drive to three different stores if I have to. I've actually gone so far as to make a list for each store, with coupons, and put them in separate envelopes. Ken said last night, I spend more in gas than I save, which I don't think is true.

Miss Mary, my mom always had TONS of charge accounts but unlike me, had the discipline to pay each off each month, and seeing as we were living on her salary after my dad died, I don't know how she did it. I can't so although we have 2 cards, they are NEVER used and we pay cash for everything. The last time we saw a movie in the theatre was "We Were Soldiers", before that it was "Jurassic Park". That's how often we go. My main splurge is my satellite dish with all the movie channels so there is usually something on I want to watch. And when we go on vacation I always try and spend at least half the time somewhere I'll have a kitchen. Our trip to Disney taught me that!

Amanzi, I've ALWAYS lived paycheck to paycheck back when I was working. NEVER saved anything. Thank God Ken isn't like that, but he goes overboard in my opinion. Plus, you gotta remember, my daughter is married and gone, so those expenses left with her. And kids can be expensive, and worth every penny!!!!

Marty & I are alittle of both if that makes any sense. I can go in shopping spurts and then reel myself back inline. I have savings going to a 401K, mutual funds, savings accounts, savings bonds, BUT I also have some, ahem, credit card debt. I've been whittling it down slwoly but surely.

Debi, when we have a windfall (after taxes, FI) spends like a drunken sailor...and primarily on herself.

I'm more cautious, but I'd rather save for something I REALLY want (one item, scouted well ahead of time for price/availability) than fritter away temporary gains on impulse buying. And, I have been known to wait 20 years for ONE item...but I eventually obtain that which I desire.

This thread hits a nerve. I just got the shakes and my blood pressure just went up about 50 points.

We just got a hit for $500 a month for child support while my son is in foster care. We have to make some new holes in our belt.

I wouldn't call myself a saver because there's no surplus to save, but I am the budgeter. That's all I can say in a family-oriented forum.

Coriolis:
Sorry about the bad timing on the thread. I think I would've fainted had I gotten that news as well. Plus for me at least, it always seems like when I have ANY extra money, be it .05 or 500.00, something else blows up and there's goes the "extra money". I'll try to think soothing thoughts for you and send them your way.

I used to be a BIG spender. Did not care if I maxed those cards out or not. But, when you get to the point to where you are tired of paying all your money out every month on credit cards, you say enough is enough. Now, I am a saver. I hardly ever use the credit cards for anything, not even at Christmas.

Oh that's ok eb. On paper, we still show a small surplus, but you know how that goes. I'll just have to keep my dear beloved spouse out of ebay. Hmmm, maybe it's time to change the password again..... It doesn't matter if you're buying something "good for the family" - groceries are more important.

Hang in there, Ed!

Being the single person in my household (*cough!
*gag! *gag!), I am the spender AND the saver -
there is that fine line that I must adhere to.
FIRST things are #1 - Roof over my head: #2 -
electric, water, gas, phone and such: #3 -
insurance policies (car & health)...everything
else comes afterwards...one CAN live on
beans and rice if necessary, you know!

I hope that your son is not in foster care much longer Ed. I'm sorry to read of the "bill" that you received. Things will get better!

I also live paycheck to paycheck and this year I decided I was going to save a portion of my check everyweek. So, at the beginning of December, I opened a savings account at my bank and promised myself I would put $10 a week into it. Well, it only has the same $50 I originally opened it with.

But I can come up with all kinds of excuses. First of all, I'm paying $50 a week on a car loan. I owe less than $700 on the car but that $50 a week leaves me very little money for other things that I want or need. However, I do have a 401K at work and to date, I have a little over 6K in it. So...last week I borrowed against my 401K - just $1000 so that I can pay off the car AND the car insurance for the year. Because it's my own money, my borrowing against my 401K means that I'm actually paying myself back. The interest rate is only 5% a year as opposed to the 18% on the rest of the car and the 18% the insurance company is charging to finance the car insurance. So by paying off both those two items, I am saving over the long run.

So instead of that same $50 a week for a car payment and another $75 a month for insurance, it's only going to cost me $20 a week to pay back my loan to myself. And the interest goes to me as well so I'm not really losing anything.

So starting next week, I'll be back to putting that $10 a week I promised myself I would save each week.

Let me tell you - only a woman would come up with the rationalizations I manage to come up with. LOL!

If you have direct deposit Jans, you can usually split how you have your paycheck allocated. I have money taken out each week for my savings account and the rest goes to the checking account. This way it is automatically done, and after a while you'll see a nice balance in your savings account!

Stephanie wrote:If you have direct deposit Jans, you can usually split how you have your paycheck allocated. I have money taken out each week for my savings account and the rest goes to the checking account. This way it is automatically done, and after a while you'll see a nice balance in your savings account!

WOW!!! I do the same thing Steph. lol. Great minds think alike huh?

You got it Lindaloo!

My wife and I are both pretty good at managing our funds. Neither of us are bad about spending. Guess that's probably because we live from check to check. She's a full time student and I'm an unemployed teacher, as if Dec. 31. Had to resign due to health problems.
We've never had a surplus of cash. Seems that every time we had a little extra, something would break and take the money. But I'm not complaining. We've come a long way in our 20 yrs of marriage. We started out with nothing. Now we have a couple of cars and a nice home. We have 2 great kids of our own. Our daughter will graduate from high school this year. We took in a 17 year old girl that is my daughter's classmate. Her home life was HORRIBLE. She's such a good kid. She moved in with us a week after Thanksgiving and has been a joy to have.

My dad is the spender, me and my mom are the savers.