I cannot seem to grasp the concept of money management.

Pineapple_Juice · 03-03-2010, 08:06 PM

I make about 750.00 a month. That is not a lot of money. HOWEVER, seeing as how I don't pay rent or any utilities, that's fair. In bills I pay about 365 a month. That leaves me with a total of 385 dollars do do as I please, not including school, gas, food, etc.

I know how to budget. I create budget sheets for myself all the time. I get down to the nitty gritty, how much can I spend PER day and still have money until payday two weeks from now?

And yet as soon as I get my paycheck, 3/4 of it is magically gone in the first three days, whereupon I tell myself not to buy things but go out and buy then anyway. By the end of the first week, all of the money is gone. I then spend the next week with .10 in my pocket sitting at home hungry and annoyed because I didn't do what I was supposed to.

This happens biweekly, without fail, every single time. I budget, I make a plan, and I blow my money at least within the week. If I ever happen to have extra cash saved up, I always find a stupid way to blow it. Around Christmas time I had about a thousand dollars just chillin in my account from presents. I spent it on retarded stuff like pants, fast food, books, and nipple piercings.
I have a thousand dollars' worth of traffic tickets and about a thousand dollars of debt. I haven't been to school for a semester 'cause I never have the money when the time rolls around.

AND YET here I am, first day of getting paid, at the stupid record store buying cds I could easily download online.

WTFFFFFFFFFFFF

/endrant

Saya · 03-03-2010, 08:21 PM

I'm not that bad, but I hear you.

One girl I know takes out all her money on pay day, takes them home and sorts them out in envelopes, like one envelope will be CLOTHES another will be FOOD and another will be EMERGENCY ONLY (which gets locked up). That way she only has the envelopes she's been planning on using anyway.

My roommate has a savings account that has high interest but like a five dollar fee for every time the money is touched, so she is rarely tempted to use it. I've been meaning to look into it.

Pineapple_Juice · 03-03-2010, 08:28 PM

Oh that's a good idea, with the envelopes. Wish I could separate it like that within my bank account.
When I wrote this I thought of Ben who complained about being a good budgeter, haha.

Alan · 03-03-2010, 08:30 PM

There's an option at some banks (maybe all of them) where they take away 10% of the money deposited on your account to save it. You should do that at least; that way you're saving and you can't back away.

gothicusmaximus · 03-03-2010, 08:55 PM

Get a better job.

Mir · 03-03-2010, 10:37 PM

Correction. Get a MUCH, MUCH better paid job.

Pineapple_Juice · 03-03-2010, 10:43 PM

Well, I'm trying. I'm waiting for a response from an insurance company right now, full time work making about 13 an hour. It's a long shot but since I don't have a degree it's hard to get any jobs that pay well, and with the market the way it is it's one in a million if you find a place that wants full time work. I usually just compromise by working two jobs.

Also, that doesn't help me manage my money any better.

Mir · 03-03-2010, 10:49 PM

You have nipple rings? That`s fucking HAWT!

gothicusmaximus · 03-03-2010, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pineapple_Juice

Well, I'm trying. I'm waiting for a response from an insurance company right now, full time work making about 13 an hour. It's a long shot but since I don't have a degree it's hard to get any jobs that pay well, and with the market the way it is it's one in a million if you find a place that wants full time work. I usually just compromise by working two jobs.

Also, that doesn't help me manage my money any better.

You don't have a Bachelor's degree?
I hope you're working on one, or at least intend to get one eventually. That's the new high school diploma-- without it, you can pretty much look forward to chump change for the rest of your life.

Catch · 03-04-2010, 12:53 AM

I don't know why I blog. ~sigh~

~bright idea~ ! Yes I do. It is an endless loop of similar if not the same questions on the forum.

http://quidprogrow.blogspot.com/2009...ification.html

Still Jack · 03-04-2010, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gothicusmaximus

You don't have a Bachelor's degree?
I hope you're working on one, or at least intend to get one eventually. That's the new high school diploma-- without it, you can pretty much look forward to chump change for the rest of your life.

This. short

Pineapple_Juice · 03-04-2010, 01:54 AM

Well, I'm trying to do that as well, but that's years away. I'm in community college right now. I'm a wee young thing.

Anarasha · 03-04-2010, 02:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pineapple_Juice

...retarded stuff like pants, fast food, books, and nipple piercings.

Nipple piercings are never retarded.

I do hear ya though. I was like that at one point too. I am in a dorm where food is part of my rent, so I didn't have the starvation thing, but I often ended up one week in with just about no money because I spent it all on candy and coke(the drink, not the drug).
That fixed itself when I stopped eating candy though.
Also, I could spend my money on DVDs and CDs all the time.
Lately though I decided that I am not gonna spend any money on stuff like that for the first half of the month(Unless it is a new release of that band or game I love, I am a sucker for those), and I have to put like 90$ into my savings jar(a money box, they magically disappear if on my account.)
Making a jar for savings and telling yourself that you will not touch those money for anything but presents or other important stuff really can work wonders. Worked for me =) *looks at empty money jar* Err <.<
But yeah, made me afford some decent presents last christmas =)

honeythorn · 03-04-2010, 10:43 AM

I used to be rather like that myself. I was awful with money. I am vastly better now and do have a better paid job than I've ever had before ( although it's not well paid by general standards, just low-average really )

One thing that's helped me is opening a second bank account , and depositing money into it which is used for specific things. Not too dissimilar from Saya's friend's idea with the envelopes ( and a little safer as envelopes and their valuable papery contents can get lost or ruined ) .

The money in the first account, the one my wages are paid into is kept for rent , council tax and some savings. I try to save £200 a month ( with the savings bit ) at the very least, and that is used for trips like Whitby ect. The remainder I put into a second account which I use for buying things for myself, books, things online, ebay etsy ect, the "crap" basically .

You could try opening another account perhaps if youthink it might work for you? Maybe with a different bank where you can leave money each month to gain interest? And lock the card away so you won't be tempted to use it.

Catch · 03-04-2010, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pineapple_Juice

Well, I'm trying to do that as well, but that's years away. I'm in community college right now. I'm a wee young thing.

Yah, I remember the most difficult thing was figuring out how to stop from spending all my money. Seemed like everything was so important until ending up broke. Some people just put money in savings, but I'll actually put money into a money order because checking is too easy. After that there are stock broker accounts. http://www.scottrade.com/ You still have to have at least $500 to save money there. One day your going to graduate and then what? Right.

HumanePain · 03-05-2010, 07:36 PM

Envelopes or another account may not help unless you first deal with the emotional context of your spending. You enjoy spending the money, and that impulse trashes the budget.

You have to ask yourself "Why? What is the emotional benefit? Am I compensating for something?" etc.

Then once you understand the subconscious reason for spending you can keep from placing yourself in those circumstances that tempt you to spend the money.

For example, I love going out to eat, but it gets expensive fast. I also love cartoons. So instead of going out to lunch I buy the best groceries and at lunch time make myself a delicious sandwich, and watch cartoons on my lunch break. It rewards me, it satisfies me without going out and makes "saving money" pleasant because it comes with cartoons. You have to understand yourself and your impulses and gratification needs then you can make a strategy for addressing it.

If you buy CDs when you can download them, maybe you are going through "comfort motions" in the store and feel you need to buy that music right now, instead of waiting until you go home and downloading it.

Keep yourself out of the CD store. But again find out what it is you are really doing. Are you going to the store because there is this cute guy working the counter? See the cute guy, but don't take your purse, leave your money at home. Something like that.

Best of luck to you.

Ben Lahnger · 03-06-2010, 02:44 PM

PJ, I think the first thing you ought to do is ask yourself, "Do I have a problem with bad money management or poor impulse control?" Because those are two very different types of challenges that require completely different approaches to deal with them. I think you manage money fine.

Why do you suppose you feel an impulse when you get paid to go out and shop for CD's when, as you say, you can download the music online. Get an understanding of the emotional underpinnings driving these urges, and you might get a handle on your money problems.

Pineapple_Juice · 03-09-2010, 03:46 PM

Yeah I have no self-control with anything I do. Way to blow my cover, guys.

Catch · 03-09-2010, 05:58 PM

That's the whole point of the money order. Just going through the activity of putting it into a money order and paying seventy five cents means that I can't quite afford what I wanted yet, but the money is already going towards something, so it is gone and stop messing with it. I also place it out of sight like in a shoe box where it is easier to get to later. Also make sure to put your own name to where the payment is going so other people can't cash it. Oh, and I think they have to be cashed within three months so danger zone when cashing to put into a larger money order. I think they only go up to $500. I've even tried US Treasury Bonds and after having to cash it for twenty dollars the other $80 gets spent along with it.