Help me be better at putting away money!

[Anonymous]

I'm in school right now, no kids, no spouse. I have a car and I live with friends in an apt so I pay a much reduced rent cost. I work part time and I want to be able to put away a lot of savings. My only debts are student loans (5k, not increasing) and a $200 cc bill. I have been thinking lately that I will put all of my tips from my job into my savings acct to be able to pad that a little quicker. Is this a god plan? Help me figure out how to put away a decent amount of money.

[Anonymous]

Can you provide the specifics? How much are you making? How much is rent, car payment, and tuition? What other expenses do you have? Clothes, utilities, groceries, etc?

[Anonymous]

Work fulltime?

[Anonymous]

Auto debit.

Get that cash out of your hand and deposit it.

Create a budget.

You're done.

[Anonymous]

I make about $1000 per month including tips. $350 goes to my share of rent
$25 for utilities
$100 for gas
$120 for groceries
$150 education costs
$100 into savings acct
$100 into toiletries/things like Netflix/ dining out and entertainment

I don't pay on my student loan because I have interest deferment until I graduate.

[Anonymous]

Also, no car payment, car is used and paid for outright to a relative.

[Anonymous]

what about insurance? health, car, and rental insurance?

You need to make more money. $1000 a month is very little. That's $250 a week and assuming you work 20 hours, that's only $12.50 an hour.

There are other part time jobs that pay better. Have you considered being a nanny or babysitter? Like it or not, you have to bust ass, possibly work 2-3 jobs. It's not reasonable to work 1 part time job, go to school, and still save money. Maybe this was the case 20 years ago, but not anymore. It's not fair, but that's reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Auto debit.

Get that cash out of your hand and deposit it.

Create a budget.

You're done.

+1 Have 20% automatically taken out and deposited into a savings account (that is not tied to your debit card). Live like you only make $800 per month. In a year, you have a couple grand saved.