I don't understand people who "save" money

[backbreaker]

I mean, I know you're supposed to. I'm just not wired like that all. I don't so much "save money" as much as I just don't spend it.


I don't understand the guy who makes 50k a year and thinks he's getting ahead by putting back 100 dollars a month in some IRSBR whatever the ****


I'm not talking about me per say, I have enough money where I don't have to worry about saving it, I'm just saying, I think it's pitiful advice.


On top of that you're living like a ****ing monk trying to be frugal and **** lol. Take your money and do something real with it. Build some **** lol. Create something new. That will make you more money. Then take that money and make something else that will make you more money.


I got a client who a year ago was dirt ****ing poor. scraped together 500 dollars, without knowing jack **** about web programming or anything, figured out he liked to talk to clients, found websites where he could bid on web projects, outsources them (pretty much all to me lol) and takes a 20% cut off all work. Dude makes about 5k a month now.
500 dollars, year later, 5k a month. Work ethic. Wouldn't know HTML if it hit him in the face lol. He went from basically working out of a one bed room apartment to having employees and **** in a year. Now he's about to take the 5k a month and open up a store front to sell websites and a call center to cold call companies to sell more websites. By this time next year he'll be clocking 20k a month


My dad when I was what.. about 11-12 years old working as basically a janitor at the hospital took a few hundred dollars and an old beat up truck and started cleaning up a bank when he got off work. Saved his money bought more sophisticated equipment, added Skippy peanut butter factor in east little rock which is huge. takes 1 person 3 hours to clean. 5 days a week. took the extra money, hired someone else (his brother, my uncle who just died) to clean up another bank. took that money he made off of that, hired someone else to clean up another bank. and on and on and on. my dad basically now cleans up one building a day now, about 2 hours worth of work and makes about 10k a month managing 20 or so other buildings that are being cleaned up. my dad could not work at all and clear 4-5k a month


But you take your 500 dollars and you are all happy and **** becuase now it's 700 dollars in your IRA yay!

 

[speed dawg]

Some people are entrepreneur-minded and some aren't. I'm not. I fall on the more consistent, low-risk scale. And that is all investing really is, buying into other peoples' companies, at least as I understand it.

I do like your dad's idea though......work a job to pay the bills, and then do something you want to do on the side, and try to make it big with that. Only way you'll make it big is to be passionate about what you are doing. Most people can't do that with their day jobs.

 

[Mike32ct]

Some people are entrepreneur-minded and some aren't. I'm not. I fall on the more consistent, low-risk scale. And that is all investing really is, buying into other peoples' companies, at least as I understand it.

I do like your dad's idea though......work a job to pay the bills, and then do something you want to do on the side, and try to make it big with that. Only way you'll make it big is to be passionate about what you are doing. Most people can't do that with their day jobs.

Agreed. Not everybody is cut out to be an entrepreneur. It requires a certain type of person. I think it's a "gift" or talent that some people have.

 

[FairShake]

I work as a registered nurse. After an 8-12 hour shift I don't feel like doing anything that is the least bit work-like.

My hats off to those that do. I agree with others that entrepreneurs have a "hustle" gene that I simply don't have. And I envy it! I'm impressed with a self-made man or woman more than most other accomplishments of note.

I have enough money where I don't have to worry about saving it

I was waiting for that! Took three paragraphs this time, I'm impressed.

 

[prison/con.net]

My girl is on her way to being a nurse Anethecist. you stopped 2 years short in your education, or you'd be making 3x as much. With that "extra" 70k per year (clear) and learning how to invest it properly, she'll not have to do anything in the way of work after 5 years as an anethecist. So put in the extra couple of years, get the one year of graduate school loans (double the amount of bachelor's degree loans). Save a lot the first year and it will pay for the second year. Presto, retire after 5 years, instead of after 40 years.

 

[Tenacity]

Everything is about balance, management and TAILORED goals.

You want to have a saving/investing plan, but you also want to have somewhat of a decent quality of life because let's face it, you only get one life.

In terms of where you would put your savings, such as passive or active investments, that's depends on the person's tailored goals. Some people have good business acumen and some people do not. Some people have good investing skills (stocks, bonds, R.E., etc) and some do not. Some people are just better off throwing the money into a long term CD or giving it over to a diversified Mutual Fund for the long term.

The key here is balance, management and having tailored goals. But don't be like about HALF of Americans today who aren't saving/investing shyt. They are paid on Friday and the money is gone by Monday, and it's not all on what you would consider "generic" bills either, most of it is on:

- Kids they can't afford
- Ex-wives they can't afford
- Cars they can't afford
- Houses they can't afford
- Brand name college degrees (and the loans that come with them) they can't afford
- Jewelry they can't afford
- High maintenance chicks
- User family members and friends

In my opinion, the biggest obstacle to saving/investing today isn't so much not "making" enough money to do it, it's spending TOO MUCH money on things that make no sense. That's why I always talk about Financial Management being a 4 part series of Bringing In Decent Income, Budgeting/Expense Management, Tax Reduction Management, and Investing Management. You want to be efficient in all four aspects.

 

[prison/con.net]

20 million people in the US aint got a job at all, (that want one) 20 million more have a job that aint WORTH having, and 20 million more would not have a job were it not at taxpayer expense (ie, school loans, working for the colleges) or famers (who mostly depend upon price supports, at taxpayer expense. Another 60 million are on welfare of some support, which DOES include SS, medicaid, working for the Govt. So nearly 2/3rds of the population is not truly employed.

 

[skinnyguy]

BB I'm glad that you drive a Lambhorghini, have 5 houses in LA, and make it rain at the club, but not all people have high paying jobs and they need to save if they want to have any shot at retirement.

I would think that someone as smart as you would know about compounding interest, but I guess not.

100 per month in an IRA can actually go pretty for over the 30 year term if you invest it correctly. Not everyone will make $5 million per year like you do. My mom and dad make a decent amount not that much, but they were able to buy a respectable house and send me to college because of...wait for it...savings!

 

[prison/con.net]

when you calculate in the 5% per year annual inflation rate, your investments have to pay 10% to yield a REAL 3% (after tax and inflation) If I can't make something pay 20%, average per year, it's not worth risking my money on it. NOrmally, to make that sort of yield, long term average, you have to be personally involved.

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

In an unrigged economy, people that can turn ideas into income streams don't always have a ready source of cash, so they turn to banks.

people who have cash but not an income stream producing idea put money in the banks.

The banks are SUPPOSED to pay interest to the savers, and charge a little bit more to the borrowers, and pocket the difference.

However, this requires a NATURAL INTEREST RATE.

One that maintains a balance between those in society who wish to risk, and those who wish to save.

Unfortunately, since the central banks of the world have pretty much DESTROYED this necessary state of equilibrium needed to maintain a healthy economy, (by flooding the world with printed money, artificially lowering interest rates, and jacking up inflation), those who are NOT predisposed to risk are getting boned in the arse.

Hard working would-be-savers like FairShake are getting SCREWED by the artificially low interest rates maintained by Yellen the Felon.

Not only by non-existent interest on savings, but by inflation that is often times HIDDEN and not nearly as high as wage growth.

I have enough money where I don't have to worry about saving it, I'm just saying, I think it's pitiful advice.

You and Chelsea Clinton are in the same boat then. Having so much money as to not needing to worry about it.

But in an UNRIGGED economy, people like YOU (entrepreneurs) almost always NEED people like FairShake (savers).

WITHOUT a pool of saved earnings to draw from, entrepreneurs would have no capital to build their businesses with.

 

[Huffman]

How about working a lazy 8hrs job and putting aside not 100 but 1000 every month, not having to be cheap on anything, plus no debt.

That's pretty comfortable, can't see anything wrong with that.

 

[LiveFreeX]

Why is it Americans always have to brag about their money? Please BB tell us again how Amway is not a huge scam/cult.

Dude heres why you are going to stay 'nouveau rich' forever. You don't know how to keep your mouth shut about the dollars you have, and if you don't understand how to save money, you really don't have all that much anyway. A guy I have dinner with once a month has a factory here that makes and sells cuff links. One set of these tiny little pieces of sh1t nets him over 110,000 Euros each. He makes stuff for BOSS among other big names (which I'm not familiar with). The guy wears the same pair of jeans and the same shirt everyday and walks everywhere with a back pack. He has one white pair of sneakers and thats it. You would never know this guy is a 3 digit millionaire from the way he carries on. No car, no fancy nothing actually... his apartment is very modest and he is VERY friendly and nice. He pays for every meal my wife and I have with him and he always takes us out to the 5 star places. He insists I wear whatever I feel comfortable in, ripped jeans, sandals... The dude used to be a miser and make jewelery, then saved enough dough to buy his own store. If you don't know how to save your cash you'll never really be 'financially independent' when the money supply dries up.

He gets all his healthcare done in Thailand and HK and takes frequent trips back and forth between China and the rest of Asia. You would think this dude is broke and he likes it that way. His favorite advice is be humble, let others make fools of themselves trying to show off what little wealth they have. You'll know who to speak to by listening to the people who aren't making a lot of noise.

I have another friend... he married into a relationship... I thought she was a millionaire-ress but it seems she's proven me wrong. He went from being a dude who worked at Taco Bell to being a multi-mega-millionaire over night. The guy's wife just bought 150 acres of HOUSING in SOUTH AMERICA and gave it to him as a present for his birthday cause he was bored. The guy dresses like a slob, plays magic cards with me and lives in a not so nice apartment (with roaches)... his wife bought him a Mcmansion recently and a new car. For his honey moon his wife took him to Vegas and then a tour of the US and Canada. His business nets him well into the six figures (because of her contacts) but he hasn't changed at all. He doesn't care about the clothes he wears or the fact that we take the bus everywhere, he likes a deal just like I do.

My point is, none of the REALLY rich people brag or even entertain the notion of not 'saving' or being frugal with their money. This guy and I, we eat at the local 1.59 place just like everyone else.. If you don't have these crucial money skills and can't figure out why its important to be frugal, then you aren't as rich as you think you are. If you drink a starbucks coffee, talk on an iphone and drive a nice car, you are probably broke, a 2nd gen (soon to be) or completely out of touch with the plight of the common man.

My dad when I was what.. about 11-12 years old working as basically a janitor at the hospital took a few hundred dollars and an old beat up truck and started cleaning up a bank when he got off work. Saved his money bought more sophisticated equipment, added Skippy peanut butter factor in east little rock which is huge. takes 1 person 3 hours to clean. 5 days a week. took the extra money, hired someone else (his brother, my uncle who just died) to clean up another bank. took that money he made off of that, hired someone else to clean up another bank. and on and on and on. my dad basically now cleans up one building a day now, about 2 hours worth of work and makes about 10k a month managing 20 or so other buildings that are being cleaned up. my dad could not work at all and clear 4-5k a month

This paragraph right here tells me that you are a spoiled little sh1t who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth.

I mean, I know you're supposed to. I'm just not wired like that all. I don't so much "save money" as much as I just don't spend it.


I don't understand the guy who makes 50k a year and thinks he's getting ahead by putting back 100 dollars a month in some IRSBR whatever the ****


I'm not talking about me per say, I have enough money where I don't have to worry about saving it, I'm just saying, I think it's pitiful advice.

You aren't wired 'like that' because you never experienced hunger. Whats the longest period of time you've ever had to go without food?

I have enough money where I don't have to worry about saving it

This is the attitude that tells me you really don't know anything about money. I hope you manage to stay healthy in the good ole USA.

 

[prison/con.net]

it doesn't take illness or injury to mess you up. You or your kids can get kidnapped, due to your stupidity about letting people know that you have money. There are good reasons why the rich only hang out with other rich people. The poverty stricken are often dangerous

 

[Eph]

Interesting that I found this thread today. I was just thinking about all the things I could buy but won't just because I don't need them. Until today I thought I might be a little selfish because I honestly hate spending money, even more if it's on others. But I realized I just hate spending money period. I like having money more than I like spending it.

 

[prison/con.net]

nothing wrong with that, up to a point. make certain that your money is working for you, get at least 100k clear, per year, of investment income, secured. Maybe you need more than several million to do that, but I can manage it with just 1/4 mill. It depends upon what you know about investing. Believe me, it's VERY hard to have a better ROI, safer, than VA loans on big old houses, downtown, that can be converted into weekly rentals.

 

[Moonshiner]

Hey Backbreaker, I've been visiting this site for a while before making an account and know a little about your background growing up. You have my respect for how far you've come. Here are my thoughts:

There are two ways to measure wealth - the American way (because it was popularized in America back around Carnegie and Rockefeller's time), and the English way (because it was the traditional way of measuring wealth in England a century before Carnegie or Rockefeller).

According to the American way, your net worth is the total dollar amount of all your assets including salary from a job, market value of property you own, and value of any investments you have if you were to sell them. With the English way, your net worth is the total dollar amount your investments bring in each year without you having to work.

Even though I'm an American, I prefer the English way because it has more staying power. You could have a high net worth according to the American way, but you have to sell your properties/investments to actually see the money, or you could lose your business or job and be poor again.

It seems like you are rich according to the American way of measuring net worth, but poor according to the English way. Though it's unlikely, your high income could be gone tomorrow, stranger things have happened. If you haven't already, maybe it's time to look at taking some of that income and saving it. Then learning about and putting it to work in productive investments that work for you.

 

[backbreaker]

i make enough and have for a while now that ironically enough I save quite a bit of money. I don't spend money just to spend it. I keep all my bills pre paid for about 2 years (just a habit i developed), take a little bit for misc crap and the rest goes into the bank.


just saying that you can't get ahead if you are not making your money work for you. it takes money to make money and you can't have money if you are too worried about drawing 2% interest on the 5k you got in the bank

 

[Tenacity]

i make enough and have for a while now that ironically enough I save quite a bit of money. I don't spend money just to spend it. I keep all my bills pre paid for about 2 years (just a habit i developed), take a little bit for misc crap and the rest goes into the bank.


just saying that you can't get ahead if you are not making your money work for you. it takes money to make money and you can't have money if you are too worried about drawing 2% interest on the 5k you got in the bank

True, but which is better for the novice investor or the investor that doesn't have a lot of free time? Is it 2% interest on your principal, or is it 0% interest and a lost of principal? Which is better?

There are literally HUNDREDS of investment strategies, vehicles, etc. that can be filed under different generic categories such as "operating a business" or "investing in real estate" or "investing in equities".

The key here is to develop a plan that works for you based on your knowledge level. When I see investors give people generic advice like "all CDs are bad" when CDs are beating inflation right now if you invest in long-term CDs at like a Discover Bank or a Brokered CD, then I literally cringe.

Low return investments don't require much OF your time to protect the principal and acquire fixed interest growth because there the program is already setup for you (like just walking into a fixed 10 year CD or Annuity) with the FDIC Insurance or State Insurance Association insuring it.

Medium-High return investments require MORE of YOUR time because you have to develop the strategies to protect your principal and acquire interest growth as there's no insurance program protecting you. There's no program automatically setup to guarantee returns even with fixed income investments like Bonds, as buying the wrong Bonds (junk, low grade) can create massive losses.

So if you want to go for higher returns, you need to invest MORE TIME into understanding your investments, developing strategies and managing them. This concept of throwing it into a fund and "letting it grow" is just insane to me, but hey, I'm not like the average investor.

 

[Tenacity]

i make enough and have for a while now that ironically enough I save quite a bit of money. I don't spend money just to spend it. I keep all my bills pre paid for about 2 years (just a habit i developed), take a little bit for misc crap and the rest goes into the bank.


just saying that you can't get ahead if you are not making your money work for you. it takes money to make money and you can't have money if you are too worried about drawing 2% interest on the 5k you got in the bank

True, but which is better for the novice investor or the investor that doesn't have a lot of free time? Is it 2% interest on your principal, or is it 0% interest and a lost of principal? Which is better?

There are literally HUNDREDS of investment strategies, vehicles, etc. that can be filed under different generic categories such as "operating a business" or "investing in real estate" or "investing in equities".

The key here is to develop a plan that works for you based on your knowledge level. When I see investors give people generic advice like "all CDs are bad" when CDs are beating inflation right now if you invest in long-term CDs at like a Discover Bank or a Brokered CD, then I literally cringe.

Low return investments don't require much OF your time to protect the principal and acquire fixed interest growth because the program is already setup for you (like just walking into a fixed 10 year CD or Annuity) with the FDIC Insurance or State Insurance Association insuring it.

Medium-High return investments require MORE of YOUR time because you have to develop the strategies to protect your principal and acquire interest growth as there's no insurance program protecting you. There's no program automatically setup to guarantee returns even with fixed income investments like Bonds, as buying the wrong Bonds (junk, low grade) can create massive losses.

So if you want to go for higher returns, you need to invest MORE TIME into understanding your investments, developing strategies and managing them. This concept of throwing it into a fund and "letting it grow" so that you can "beat inflation and taxes," is just insane to me! But hey, I'm not like the average investor.

 

[Boilermaker]

I think he made an extremely valid point, and got criticized by the low-risk, savings crowd, which includes me and my upbringing by the way,

and our kind felt bad and started the name-calling :crackup:

I guess only a few people can appreciate the fact that there could be other, different paths in life that can be taken.

Your shítty old habits are not always the best decisions just because those are the ones that make you feel safe and justified in a comfort zone.

I feel pity for a guy who "likes keeping money" rather than spending it, "especially on others".

An idiot, that will die a millionaire, and a selfish one, too.