real confessions

[botefdunn]

I'm terrible with finances but decided that I need to adjust my spending habits. The problem is that I don't know where to start.

This may sound counterintuitive, but the place to start is not in reducing costs, but in gaining a better picture of your spending habits. If you don't do this and try to resuce costs intuitively, you will be taking shots in the dark.
To this end, you need to keep track of all of your spending over the course of at least one month, preferably two. Write down every single purchase no matter how big or small as you make them, you can do this in your notes app. Separate all your purchases into general categories, such as: groceries, eating out, gas/car-related, rent, phone/wifi, entertainment, etc.
If you do this diligently, I can practically guarantee it will give you a new understanding of your own spending habits and help you feel more in control of them. It's important that you actually do it correctly and not try to estimate, the whole point is to get a real, confident picture of your spending rather than a caricature with its pockets pulled inside out and big tears coming out the eyes. Good luck.

*forgot to mention, once you've done your expenses as described above, compare total expenditure to your income and see what your actual margin is.

[Paul Cicero]

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I'm terrible with finances but decided that I need to adjust my spending habits. The problem is that I don't know where to start.

[close]

This may sound counterintuitive, but the place to start is not in reducing costs, but in gaining a better picture of your spending habits. If you don't do this and try to resuce costs intuitively, you will be taking shots in the dark.
To this end, you need to keep track of all of your spending over the course of at least one month, preferably two. Write down every single purchase no matter how big or small as you make them, you can do this in your notes app. Separate all your purchases into general categories, such as: groceries, eating out, gas/car-related, rent, phone/wifi, entertainment, etc.
If you do this diligently, I can practically guarantee it will give you a new understanding of your own spending habits and help you feel more in control of them. It's important that you actually do it correctly and not try to estimate, the whole point is to get a real, confident picture of your spending rather than a caricature with its pockets pulled inside out and big tears coming out the eyes. Good luck.

*forgot to mention, once you've done your expenses as described above, compare total expenditure to your income and see what your actual margin is.

This is excellent advice.

[rocklobster]

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Expand Quote

I'm terrible with finances but decided that I need to adjust my spending habits. The problem is that I don't know where to start.

[close]

This may sound counterintuitive, but the place to start is not in reducing costs, but in gaining a better picture of your spending habits. If you don't do this and try to resuce costs intuitively, you will be taking shots in the dark.
To this end, you need to keep track of all of your spending over the course of at least one month, preferably two. Write down every single purchase no matter how big or small as you make them, you can do this in your notes app. Separate all your purchases into general categories, such as: groceries, eating out, gas/car-related, rent, phone/wifi, entertainment, etc.
If you do this diligently, I can practically guarantee it will give you a new understanding of your own spending habits and help you feel more in control of them. It's important that you actually do it correctly and not try to estimate, the whole point is to get a real, confident picture of your spending rather than a caricature with its pockets pulled inside out and big tears coming out the eyes. Good luck.

*forgot to mention, once you've done your expenses as described above, compare total expenditure to your income and see what your actual margin is.

[close]

This is excellent advice.

Start small and simple is another good way. Once your paycheck is in schedule and direct debit to a separate account (or pot) and label them accordingly (emergency fund, travel, car). Don't touch those fund unless necessary, whatever is left in your main account can be used for necessities (rent, car payments, groceries, bills) and fun spending. Depending on your appetite to it could be a few hundred dollar or a percentage that scales with your pay, but the important thing is to start somewhere and make a habit out of it.

David Ramsey is a controversial figure in personal finance but tweaking the ratios depending on your situation will help you get a better grasp of your savings. Just off Google -
"One popular way to budget is the 50/30/20 rule, where you divide your spending and saving into three categories: 50% to needs, 30% to wants and 20% to savings."

But prioritize your emergency fund first which could be 6-12 months of essential expenditures in case you lose your income.

Once you get that in order look at some safe investment instruments like bonds or ETFs and DCA (dollar cost average) every month.

[smellsdead]

listening to fiona apple and enjoying it

fuggit

[Big Brother]

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Expand Quote

Expand Quote

I'm terrible with finances but decided that I need to adjust my spending habits. The problem is that I don't know where to start.

[close]

This may sound counterintuitive, but the place to start is not in reducing costs, but in gaining a better picture of your spending habits. If you don't do this and try to resuce costs intuitively, you will be taking shots in the dark.
To this end, you need to keep track of all of your spending over the course of at least one month, preferably two. Write down every single purchase no matter how big or small as you make them, you can do this in your notes app. Separate all your purchases into general categories, such as: groceries, eating out, gas/car-related, rent, phone/wifi, entertainment, etc.
If you do this diligently, I can practically guarantee it will give you a new understanding of your own spending habits and help you feel more in control of them. It's important that you actually do it correctly and not try to estimate, the whole point is to get a real, confident picture of your spending rather than a caricature with its pockets pulled inside out and big tears coming out the eyes. Good luck.

*forgot to mention, once you've done your expenses as described above, compare total expenditure to your income and see what your actual margin is.

[close]

This is excellent advice.

[close]

Start small and simple is another good way. Once your paycheck is in schedule and direct debit to a separate account (or pot) and label them accordingly (emergency fund, travel, car). Don't touch those fund unless necessary, whatever is left in your main account can be used for necessities (rent, car payments, groceries, bills) and fun spending. Depending on your appetite to it could be a few hundred dollar or a percentage that scales with your pay, but the important thing is to start somewhere and make a habit out of it.

David Ramsey is a controversial figure in personal finance but tweaking the ratios depending on your situation will help you get a better grasp of your savings. Just off Google -
"One popular way to budget is the 50/30/20 rule, where you divide your spending and saving into three categories: 50% to needs, 30% to wants and 20% to savings."

But prioritize your emergency fund first which could be 6-12 months of essential expenditures in case you lose your income.

Once you get that in order look at some safe investment instruments like bonds or ETFs and DCA (dollar cost average) every month.

You mean you guys havent asked Mikey Taylor?

[Chalupa]

Sometimes, I read comments on Instagram or YouTube, and temporarily lose the little bit of faith I have in humanity. It could be a wholesome news story on social media, but there’s  always at least one asshole that turns it into a discussion about why you should hate some group of people. It’s mostly racism but a decent chunk is sexism or transphobia.

Avoiding non-skateboarding content helps most of the time, but some of the people who collect reissue decks do the same shit.