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megsm3
Life is Good!!
Member since 8/06 3867 total posts
Name:
M
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Question about savings with poll!
I saw something recently that said the new recommendations are for people to have a years worth of expenses in savings. I had always thought it was 3-6 months. I do understand that the economy is not the best which is the reason for the up in savings recommendations.
I was just curious what others have (anonymously ). We are trying our hardest to save in 2010 because we are realizing it is more important now than ever
I made the poll because I know it is such a personal question, but if you are comfortable sharing any insight, I would love to hear it.
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Posted 1/9/10 9:20 PM  |
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LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19461 total posts
Name:
L
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
We follow these rules:
1. Pay yourself first by automatically having $ put into a separate account from the paycheck. This is in addition to a 401K/IRA savings account. It can be for a bigger house, a vacation, a car, more retirement money, a rainy day fund, children's college fund, etc.
2. Max out the 401k (if you can't do this put in at least the amount to max out the employer match)
3. Max out the ROTH IRA if you qualify
4. Pay off all credit cards by the end of the month and have no balances carrying over on ccs.
5. Snowball any debt payments.
6. Make your money work for you. This is what we are working on now.
7. Live within or below our means.
8. Enjoy what we do have.
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| Posted 1/9/10 9:52 PM |
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
Posted by LSP2005
We follow these rules:
1. Pay yourself first by automatically having $ put into a separate account from the paycheck. This is in addition to a 401K/IRA savings account. It can be for a bigger house, a vacation, a car, more retirement money, a rainy day fund, children's college fund, etc.
2. Max out the 401k (if you can't do this put in at least the amount to max out the employer match)
3. Max out the ROTH IRA if you qualify
4. Pay off all credit cards by the end of the month and have no balances carrying over on ccs.
5. Snowball any debt payments.
6. Make your money work for you. This is what we are working on now.
7. Live within or below our means.
8. Enjoy what we do have.
We have about 8 months worth and im pretty comfortable there.
We do something similiar to the poster above. We pay ourselves first, if we had CC debt we would pay this first. We get at best 2-3% for our savings, while our CC are usually between 7-12.
It's not easy !!!
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| Posted 1/10/10 12:36 PM |
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queensgal
Smile
Member since 4/09 3287 total posts
Name:
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
I do similar things to the above poster.
The other things I do is have separate accounts for things we will need. We put away money every month earmarked for a new car. we don't have a car payment right now, so this is similar to what a car payment will be when we go buy one this year or next.
Also do the same with vacation money, etc. These things I consider expenses, so I save for them throughout the year, I don't like to muddle this money with our "savings".
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| Posted 1/10/10 6:17 PM |
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budget09
LIF Zygote
Member since 11/09 46 total posts
Name:
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
1 year of living expenses. You never know...
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| Posted 1/20/10 12:03 AM |
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ThePinkGoose
In Your Hands
Member since 8/08 4706 total posts
Name:
Nunya
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
Right now...not as much as we would like!!!! We have 3-6 months set aside but this past year has been  New house, commuting costs, unexpected complete renovation of our apartment downstairs has wiped us out. Once we get some renters in and get back on track with a budget, I will focus on wiping out ALLLL credit card debt then working on getting more into our savings.
 to the ladies that have a year + in their accounts!!!!
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| Posted 1/20/10 7:40 AM |
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Nifheim
allo
Member since 1/09 5476 total posts
Name:
Jennifer
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
congrats to those who can do it! I think after our first year of home ownership we might be able to put money away in savings but as of right now the moment we have it the moment it is spent on the house but i think that is because its a fixerupper. We have some savings but not much its just in case one major or a bunch of minor things happen. If we lost our jobs we might get by for four months. But Dh and I make so little anyway pretty much any job or two jobs will cover our normal salary.
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| Posted 1/20/10 9:00 AM |
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DiamondGirl
You are my I love you
Member since 7/09 18802 total posts
Name:
DiamondMama
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
I was always taught to "pay yourself first" by my parents--so DH and I try our best to always do this. As a result we have a good amount of savings.
Also we bought a home that was less than our max--so we are currently living below our means which enables us to save more.
At some point when we buy a bigger home and/or I am home with the kids for a cple yrs--we will put these savings to use and not have as big a "pad" but while we can afford to we try to save a good amount.
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| Posted 1/20/10 10:10 AM |
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Goobster
:)
Member since 5/07 27557 total posts
Name:
:)
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
More than one year of expenses in savings
Message edited 1/20/2010 10:26:06 AM.
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| Posted 1/20/10 10:25 AM |
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MillerTime424
LIF Adolescent
Member since 7/09 737 total posts
Name:
Colleen
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
i'd say a year would be the best !
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| Posted 1/20/10 10:32 AM |
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Cheeks24
Living a dream
Member since 1/08 8589 total posts
Name:
Cheeks
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
Is this in a savings account just sitting there as an emergency fund or is it in invesments?
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| Posted 1/20/10 10:44 AM |
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CathyB
Member since 5/05 19403 total posts
Name:
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
Posted by Mici C
Is this in a savings account just sitting there as an emergency fund or is it in invesments?
Some in savings, most in investments. But our investments are pretty liquid, we can access the cash quickly.
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| Posted 1/20/10 2:51 PM |
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DiamondGirl
You are my I love you
Member since 7/09 18802 total posts
Name:
DiamondMama
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
Posted by Mici C
Is this in a savings account just sitting there as an emergency fund or is it in invesments?
I am referring to liquid accounts. Some are money market but can be transferred in a matter of a day or two.
401k, my TDA to me are off limits (god willing  ) until retirement.
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| Posted 1/20/10 6:55 PM |
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mom2b
LIF Adult
Member since 5/09 1072 total posts
Name:
x
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Re: Question about savings with poll!
you are all doing better than me lol. I currently have nothing saved. had 3 months worth but went through it when i was put on bedrest. i have high interest credit cards so now that i'm back at work i'm going to pay them off
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| Posted 1/20/10 7:32 PM |
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