Saving Money ?

ThreadKiller

Just wondering to people on here save money - as in not spend it, not buy something cheap.

From the start of this year I've been trying to save, first month did well, saved €500, second month is looking like it may be less than that (depending on pay day), which is strange as it's a shorter month & I feel like I've spent less.

After the mortgage, car, bills, petrol & food, entertainment, ( &maybe a CD or two) I think I'm doing pretty well. Just unsure of wether to lump in one amount per month or divide it up per week.

So how much do you put away, is it a fixed amount or fixed percentage ?

SAXA

If you have a SSIA max that out. Otherwise look to invest this as money is only loosing its value in Bank accounts currently. Even putting it into your Credit card pays better interest. I have a direct debit from my current account into my "Savings account". Kind of if its not in the current account I won't spend it mentality. I always keep a few quid spare in the Savings account just for the rainy day but I find this works for me. I always find my spending is controlled by how much I have. !!

ThreadKiller

Had thought of maxing out the SSIA, but don't want to commit too much to it in case something came up

SAXA

Depending on what type of SSIA and what Financial Instd you got the SSIA from you can change the amount up and down a number of times !! Worth checking out anyway. Its not too often you get a return like this for your money but sure Charlie will no doubt take it back by some other means.

rs

> Had thought of maxing out the SSIA, but don't want to commit too much to
> it in case something came up

There are very few times that you will get money out of the government.

Take advantage of it.

If anything goes horribly wrong you can always get your money back before the five years is up, you just lose the government contibutions.

To answer your question, I have a maxed out SSIA and have done since it started. By the time it matures it should be worth about 20,000, cha-ching.

We also overpay our mortgage by 300 euro a month. If we keep it up will knock 8 years off the term. Overpayments on a mortgage come directly off the principal. It's kinda saving money in an indirect way.

eth0_

Originally posted by ThreadKiller
Had thought of maxing out the SSIA, but don't want to commit too much to it in case something came up

You can withdraw money from an SSIA with no penalty. I took 2 grand out of mine last year and it's still going strong.

Johnny Versace

Originally posted by eth0_
You can withdraw money from an SSIA with no penalty. I took 2 grand out of mine last year and it's still going strong.

Whoa. That is so not true (I'm an ex-banker).

The rules are you can't withdraw money. They just haven't noticed you did that yet!

eth0_

Originally posted by Johnny Versace
Whoa. That is so not true (I'm an ex-banker).

The rules are you can't withdraw money. They just haven't noticed you did that yet!

Well you're wrong. You can make a PARTIAL withdrawal. I got it in writing from a lady in AIB who heads up the SSIA section (after speaking to several clueless idiots who told me wildly different stories). I withdrew the money in October and i'm still getting my 25% from the government. I can double check if you like??

Johnny Versace

Originally posted by eth0_
Well you're wrong. You can make a PARTIAL withdrawal. I got it in writing from a lady in AIB who heads up the SSIA section (after speaking to several clueless idiots who told me wildly different stories). I withdrew the money in October and i'm still getting my 25% from the government. I can double check if you like??

Actually I remember now - apologies - you are allowed one emergeny withdrawal a year? But I think you have to pay some mad tax on it (23%??)

paddyc

"We also overpay our mortgage by 300 euro a month. If we keep it up will knock 8 years off the term. Overpayments on a mortgage come directly off the principal. It's kinda saving money in an indirect way."



can you explain this for me please, thanks, paddy

eth0_

Originally posted by Johnny Versace
But I think you have to pay some mad tax on it (23%??)

Yeah you do :-(

Kali

Originally posted by paddyc
"We also overpay our mortgage by 300 euro a month. If we keep it up will knock 8 years off the term. Overpayments on a mortgage come directly off the principal. It's kinda saving money in an indirect way."

can you explain this for me please, thanks, paddy

the quicker you pay off your mortgage the less you are going to have to fork out in the long term in interest repayments.

rs

Sure, basically lets say you have a mortgage of 200,000 your monthy mortgage payment is 1000 euro

At the start about 650 of each payment is interest
About 350 comes off the actual amount you owe.

So after your first payment you now owe 199,650 (depressing I know)

You can tell you bank to increase the amount of money they take to lets say 1250, instead of 1000. THe interest stays the same

So now 650 of each payment pays the interest
But now 600 (350 + 250) comes off the principal

So if I did this from the start after month one I would owe 199,400 instead of 199,650

This can trim years of your mortgage and save you a ton of interest in the long term

see

http://www.jeacle.ie/mortgage/index.html

and play around with the pre-payment options

Some people would argue that you could make more investing the money than you will save by pre-paying your mortgage. But with investment comes the assosiated risks. Pre-payment has none.

paddyc

"So after your first payment you now owe 199,650 (depressing I know)"


yes depressing is right, loks like a caravan and the open road for me

rs

Yeah, but when you have you own house you can wander around it naked and no-one can ask you to leave

Agent Smith

god i want my own house.....

ToxicPaddy

Jeez I wouldnt mind being able to save €500 a month.. Id say youre living at home

Save in a different institution than the one you do your daily banking in, preferrably
one that doesnt have a branch too near you so that its an effort to actually go and
withdraw or even a credit union so that you actually have to go in, queue for the to withdraw money.

This way you can setup a standing order to move money into this account on a
regular basis and save without being able to withdraw it as easily yet still be able
to get access in case of emergency.

I usually save a certain percentage of my wages every month with about 90% of that
amount going into the said savings account in different institution and 10% of that
amount goes into a seperate savings account in the same bank that I use for all
my daily banking. I can access this using 24 hour phone and internet banking and
there is a branch about a 2 min walk from where I work. Thats usually for things I see that I really wanna buy there and then or if I overdo it at during the month
and at the end of the month are a bit skint..

To saving takes a great deal of will power at the start and after a while it just
becomes natural and you dont even think about it anymore.

Best of luck with it..

Tox

Epitaph

Originally posted by ToxicPaddy
even a credit union so that you actually have to go in, queue for the to withdraw money.

This way you can setup a standing order to move money into this account on a
regular basis and save without being able to withdraw it as easily yet still be able
to get access in case of emergency.

I didn't know it was possible to set up a standing order from a bank account to a credit union account

If so, I'd recommend it. I've had money in mine since my 21st and it hasn't been touched due to the hassle of me going West

ThreadKiller

Originally posted by ToxicPaddy
Jeez I wouldnt mind being able to save €500 a month.. Id say youre living at home

Nope, that's after mortgage, car, bills, entertainment, food etc. Used to blow it all every month buying DVDs CDs going out, but got browned off doing that, so now want to put it away.

I allow myself €250 a month to spend on junk etc. (usually works out at about €60 a week depending on the month), this week I took out €50 on Saturday, I've still got €45 in my pocket.

Just trying really hard to get into a saving frame of mind.

viking

Originally posted by rs
We also overpay our mortgage by 300 euro a month. If we keep it up will knock 8 years off the term. Overpayments on a mortgage come directly off the principal. It's kinda saving money in an indirect way.

This is an extremely good idea if you can afford to do it. By overpaying the mortgage you shorten the loan but you also have access to the money that you have overpaid if required. For instance, if you have overpaid your mortgage by €5,000 and therefore shortened the term by 2 years (a guess), you can withdraw that 5,000 from your mortgage if you wanted although the term would then be lengthened by 2 years.

viking