Saving efficiently?

turnikett1

How the hell do ye do it? I have a 21 days savings account, which is meant to mean that I can only access it on a 21 days notice. However, if you simply go into the bank itself and ask for a transfer, they'll do it with no fee incurred. Similarly, the bank has a telephone line that is open from 8am-10pm on weekdays and 10am - 5pm on weekends. The whole process of ringing them, asking for a transfer (with no penalty) and hanging up takes about 2-3 minutes. So in effect it is pretty much a useless savings account (on my part!).

I had a credit union account but it was the same shenanigans, just pop in whenever I'm broke and withdraw some money. It's not even that I'm blowing all my money, I just don't have a lot to begin with and in those 2ish days before I get paid (weekly) I need to get better at just sticking it out and eating pasta.

Do ye have any foolproof methods to saving money? Any way for it to absolutely positively NOT be touched!? I need help...

Boom_Bap

I'll mind it for you.

whiskeyman

Do a budget and see where the money is going out.

eviltimeban

Saving money? La di da...

biko

A jar by the door for your pennies.

stimpson

Try spending less than you earn. Works for me.

valoren

1. Open an investment account with a low cost broker (e.g. degiro)
2. Ensure you have online banking set up.
3. Set up a standing order to transfer a set amount e.g. €500 to the above investment account on the date you get paid. (pay yourself first)
4. Pick five of the biggest blue chip companies on the planet, the ones that will be around forever, and buy a share in each company at 50c per trade with the saved money. (stuck for examples? think Colgate, P&G, J&J, Coke, Exxon etc, all companies from the 19th century and likely to be around in the 22nd century too).

You have thus, set up a defined savings plan with a set amount, you have set it to save semi-automatically - the money get's moved but you must make monthly investment (click of a button basically) - your savings is put to work for you generating a dividend and not some pathetic interest from a bank. And you can sell them whenever you want to get instant access if required. (well, not instant, once the money is transferred back to your bank account that is)

Bambi985

Do a budget, transfer to savings on pay day and then just summon up the willpower not to go over budget and take from your savings.

Be realistic and make sure you're budget is actually enough for the things you'll be spending money on.

I can dip in and out of my savings whenever I like. Unforeseen expenses means sometimes I do. But sticking to a realistic budget means I'm always saving at least a third of my pay check every month

pwurple

Are you saving for something? A target always helps.
There's no place you can put your money that's completely off limits, it is your money after all.
Does your company have a stock purchase plan, or a pension scheme that you can use?

Winterlong

Have a target.
Have a realistic budget that you can live on.
Have will power not to touch your savings.
No one can do it for you.

daheff

valoren wrote: »

1. Open an investment account with a low cost broker (e.g. degiro)
2. Ensure you have online banking set up.
3. Set up a standing order to transfer a set amount e.g. €500 to the above investment account on the date you get paid. (pay yourself first)
4. Pick five of the biggest blue chip companies on the planet, the ones that will be around forever, and buy a share in each company at 50c per trade with the saved money. (stuck for examples? think Colgate, P&G, J&J, Coke, Exxon etc, all companies from the 19th century and likely to be around in the 22nd century too).

You have thus, set up a defined savings plan with a set amount, you have set it to save semi-automatically - the money get's moved but you must make monthly investment (click of a button basically) - your savings is put to work for you generating a dividend and not some pathetic interest from a bank. And you can sell them whenever you want to get instant access if required. (well, not instant, once the money is transferred back to your bank account that is)

This is extremely poor advice. No offense, but you (OP) dont seem to be too financially literate, so if a professional gave you this advise you'd be looking at suing them for it.

I think your best bet is to learn discipline. Put X amount into a savings account every payday and leave it there. Dont touch it until the savings pile hits a certain amount (what are you saving for??)

valoren

daheff wrote: »

This is extremely poor advice. No offense, but you (OP) dont seem to be too financially literate, so if a professional gave you this advise you'd be looking at suing them for it.

I think your best bet is to learn discipline. Put X amount into a savings account every payday and leave it there. Dont touch it until the savings pile hits a certain amount (what are you saving for??)

How would they be sued? Genuine question.

That the value of the investment can fall I'm presuming?

I'm assuming the OP knows that, I'm also assuming we are dealing with regular small sums and not hundred's of thousands of euros that needs to be protected and accessed immediately protected by deposit guarantees or held in bonds.

The suggestion to invest is simply a recommendation to put the money to work in a stock (or a low cost index fund, that holds the mentioned stocks anyway), rather than let inflation do the damage to the savings in a bank account earning little to no interest.

BetsyEllen

I have a standing order that goes directly to my credit union every payday.

I can withdraw anytime I want but their opening hours and the distance from my work make it very difficult to do so.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Put it is a state bond or certificate where it is deposited for 3 or 5 years.

pickarooney

You've misidentified your problem, which is that you haven't enough money, not that it's too easy to access.

osarusan

pickarooney wrote: »

You've misidentified your problem, which is that you haven't enough money, not that it's too easy to access.

This is my conclusion also.

Unless you are spending money on stuff you don't need (which isn't mentioned in the OP), and you are still hungry before payday, then the problem isn't as much not being able to save it, as not having enough to make savings.

Grayson

biko wrote: »

A jar by the door for your pennies.

That's my strategy at the moment. And an occasional lotto ticket.

eviltimeban wrote: »

Saving money? La di da...

Some day....

Pyr0

I personally budget my finances for the month AFTER I put away X amount of money for savings, it was trial and error over a number of months. If i found myself taking from my savings towards the end of the month (for actual expenses, not just drinking it away), i'd reduce the amount of savings for the next month but still be putting something away rather than nothing.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

You need to spend a couple of weeks making note of everything you spend. Once you have this, it will be clear where all your money is going and will tell you if you are wasting money on stuff you don't need, or if you are putting too much money in your savings when you get paid and are leaving yourself short for the necessities

kyeev

I spent every penny using a credit card which I clear at the end of the month.
That way, with the credit card bill, you can see your spending habits.
And work out a budget and where you're wasting money.

If you're getting advice here, it's from people who have enough to save.. It sounds like you simply might not. Get an app and put everything you spend into it for a while and see where your biggest expenditures are. You could have some lifestyle creep and not really be aware of it.

My only savings advice is what works for me.. Don't spend it.

jamesbere

Make a list of your most important outgoings in a week, eg rent/mortgage, car, bills and food. Then take that off your weekly wage and that's your savings. Then with that see what your willing to put away after that.

I always plan ahead financially at the start of each month so I don't overspend when my rent and bills come out at the end of the month, I find it help me save more money.

jester77

Ah here, its not bloody rocket science. Just put money into a savings account and don't touch it.

Do a budget and save what you have left.

seamus

daheff wrote: »

This is extremely poor advice. No offense, but you (OP) dont seem to be too financially literate, so if a professional gave you this advise you'd be looking at suing them for it.

I think your best bet is to learn discipline. Put X amount into a savings account every payday and leave it there. Dont touch it until the savings pile hits a certain amount (what are you saving for??)

It's actually not bad advice provided that you're disciplined about it.

Spreading your money out across a wide range of multinational blue-chip companies means that your money will track international inflation over the long-term, up and down. It will be immune to small national events and currency devaluation.

In a standard savings account, inflation of your savings is at the whim of the bank and the local conditions and very vulnerable to upsets in currencies or local conditions.

In the former you potentially miss out on cycles where the local conditions are very strong (a la Celtic Tiger), but it also leaves you insulated from any massive busts.

Mr.Plough

turnikett1 wrote: »

How the hell do ye do it? I have a 21 days savings account, which is meant to mean that I can only access it on a 21 days notice. However, if you simply go into the bank itself and ask for a transfer, they'll do it with no fee incurred. Similarly, the bank has a telephone line that is open from 8am-10pm on weekdays and 10am - 5pm on weekends. The whole process of ringing them, asking for a transfer (with no penalty) and hanging up takes about 2-3 minutes. So in effect it is pretty much a useless savings account (on my part!).

I had a credit union account but it was the same shenanigans, just pop in whenever I'm broke and withdraw some money. It's not even that I'm blowing all my money, I just don't have a lot to begin with and in those 2ish days before I get paid (weekly) I need to get better at just sticking it out and eating pasta.

Do ye have any foolproof methods to saving money? Any way for it to absolutely positively NOT be touched!? I need help...

If this is with AIB, I have the same account. Tried to take out a few quid a couple of months back when I was stuck and he said they don't let you anymore (without a significant amount of hassle).

Mr.Plough

BDJW wrote: »

You need to spend a couple of weeks making note of everything you spend. Once you have this, it will be clear where all your money is going and will tell you if you are wasting money on stuff you don't need, or if you are putting too much money in your savings when you get paid and are leaving yourself short for the necessities

This. I was only broke until I realised I was spending 200 quid a month in Spar (outside of normal food shop)

Viscount Aggro

You need to start thinking of REAL savings. Not putting away 50 or 100 per month, but more like 1000 per month. Not everyone can do that. But a middle earner family with 40K income could do it. Leave the investing for another day.

Four Phucs Ache

My dad used to buy bank drafts every month for 500 and put them in his safe(old jacket pocket in the wardrobe)They never go out of date unlike cheques and when he needed money he had to lodge them and wait a few days till it cleared depending where he lodged it.

I have a 31 day notice account and it's handy.DD every month and can transfer online.There is no way around mine though so if the engine blew or whatever I HAVE to wait the 31 days.

ScumLord

Here's a handy tip. If you can't afford something but really want it, steal it.

MilesMorales1

I write a budget, write in luxuries like my cinema card, a cake on fridays for a treat, etc, then leave that amount in my account, along with a small additional amount just in case, then everything else gets saved in the credit union.

Once you get into the habit of budgetting and cutting unnecessary stuff, it becomes a lot easier to do and you don't miss it. I was spending over 2 grand a year on cigarettes at one point, for example.

When interest rates are as low as they are there's little benefit in normal savings accounts.

Rabobank are closing their investment account which is sad

You could try have an instant access savings account with a small amount for emergencies, and a notice one for actual savings, in a different bank with a better interest rate if possible

Viscount Aggro

Forget about interest rates, they are near to zero after DIRT - instead focus on savings rate. If you had 30K after tax income and you were stashing away 1K each month, thats a return on investment of 40% after tax. Think about them apples, compounded over a few years.

somesoldiers

Viscount Aggro wrote: »

Forget about interest rates, they are near to zero after DIRT - instead focus on savings rate. If you had 30K after tax income and you were stashing away 1K each month, thats a return on investment of 40% after tax. Think about them apples, compounded over a few years.

I had e50K in the credit union all last year (money left over from selling a house to be used as deposit for another one, needed it handy enough to get to and not locked away) guess how much interest I earned? ....e100


God be with the days when saving for my first house I used to get 6% off Anglo....what ever happen those guys?

LionelNashe

turnikett1 wrote: »

How the hell do ye do it? I have a 21 days savings account, which is meant to mean that I can only access it on a 21 days notice. However, if you simply go into the bank itself and ask for a transfer, they'll do it with no fee incurred. Similarly, the bank has a telephone line that is open from 8am-10pm on weekdays and 10am - 5pm on weekends. The whole process of ringing them, asking for a transfer (with no penalty) and hanging up takes about 2-3 minutes. So in effect it is pretty much a useless savings account (on my part!).

I had a credit union account but it was the same shenanigans, just pop in whenever I'm broke and withdraw some money. It's not even that I'm blowing all my money, I just don't have a lot to begin with and in those 2ish days before I get paid (weekly) I need to get better at just sticking it out and eating pasta.

Do ye have any foolproof methods to saving money? Any way for it to absolutely positively NOT be touched!? I need help...

Putting money out of reach to avoid spending it on wasteful stuff makes sense, but locking it away so that you won't spend it on basic groceries doesn't sound like a good idea. Are there any small ways that you could spend less throughout the week? What supermarkets do you use? Do you make a packed lunch, or buy it? Do you drink takeaway coffee? Are you paying interest on credit cards or an overdraft? What about bank fees? I'd imagine they charge for the assisted transactions? Do you pay attention to prices?

kyeev

Viscount Aggro wrote: »

You need to start thinking of REAL savings. Not putting away 50 or 100 per month, but more like 1000 per month. Not everyone can do that. But a middle earner family with 40K income could do it. Leave the investing for another day.

I can tell you right now, as a middle income earner family there is no way in hell I could save 1000 per month on 40k when I have mortgage to pay...

daheff

valoren wrote: »

How would they be sued? Genuine question.

That the value of the investment can fall I'm presuming?

the person providing the investment advice needs to ensure that the person acting on it understands it and can accept/understand the risks involved (including loss of investment).

Multiple cases of improper advice being given by brokers and clients suing afterwards (and in most cases winning).

daheff

seamus wrote: »

It's actually not bad advice provided that you're disciplined about it.

It is if you are not financially lierate enough to understand what you are investing into and how/when you can access your funds. I get the impression that the OP isnt fully aware of the product they already have.

seamus wrote: »

Spreading your money out across a wide range of multinational blue-chip companies means that your money will track international inflation over the long-term, up and down. It will be immune to small national events and currency devaluation.

In a standard savings account, inflation of your savings is at the whim of the bank and the local conditions and very vulnerable to upsets in currencies or local conditions.

In the former you potentially miss out on cycles where the local conditions are very strong (a la Celtic Tiger), but it also leaves you insulated from any massive busts.

As an investment strategy for somebody who understands equities/index funds /etfs/taxable gains /longer term investing etc then its not a bad strategy. Regular investing smoothes out blips in the market (like a pension).