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Saving (Part II)
Sep. 6th, 2007 06:41 pmSome people talk about how much of your paycheck you should save (a typical figure being 10%), but what does "save" really mean?
To some people it just means saving for retirement. For some it means that and saving for emergencies.
For me it means saving for anything that I don't buy with every paycheck. That turns out to be half my take-home pay!
Except of course that I save to spend. And I do spend all of that savings (or plan to, except for some of the retirement money). I save some toward buying my next car, some toward maintaining my current car, some toward maintaining my house, some toward retirement, some for what I call long-term fun (vacations, expensive electronics and furniture, etc.), and I recently created new categories for medical expenses and home remodeling. It's very, very nice to be able to spend a certain amount in all these categories guilt-free. I mean stress-free.
But that's why it feels like I'm having trouble finding more money to save toward things I'm itching to have soon (retirement and house remodeling)--because I'd have to deduct it from one of my other savings categories or from my regular spending.
Another way people define saving as the amount you earned minus the amount you spent. By that definition I usually look like I'm living easily below my means. But sometimes I buy a car or make a big repair or replace an air conditioner or buy a computer or do several of these things at once, and then I look really bad.
Oops, I've been reading too many personal finance blogs again, haven't I? Sorry about this. But not sorry enough to scrap this entry and start over because, you know, I already have a topic!
[Note to my newest reader (hi, Edwin!): I have to write daily, no matter what, due to external forces beyond my control (hi, raaga123!).]
To some people it just means saving for retirement. For some it means that and saving for emergencies.
For me it means saving for anything that I don't buy with every paycheck. That turns out to be half my take-home pay!
Except of course that I save to spend. And I do spend all of that savings (or plan to, except for some of the retirement money). I save some toward buying my next car, some toward maintaining my current car, some toward maintaining my house, some toward retirement, some for what I call long-term fun (vacations, expensive electronics and furniture, etc.), and I recently created new categories for medical expenses and home remodeling. It's very, very nice to be able to spend a certain amount in all these categories guilt-free. I mean stress-free.
But that's why it feels like I'm having trouble finding more money to save toward things I'm itching to have soon (retirement and house remodeling)--because I'd have to deduct it from one of my other savings categories or from my regular spending.
Another way people define saving as the amount you earned minus the amount you spent. By that definition I usually look like I'm living easily below my means. But sometimes I buy a car or make a big repair or replace an air conditioner or buy a computer or do several of these things at once, and then I look really bad.
Oops, I've been reading too many personal finance blogs again, haven't I? Sorry about this. But not sorry enough to scrap this entry and start over because, you know, I already have a topic!
[Note to my newest reader (hi, Edwin!): I have to write daily, no matter what, due to external forces beyond my control (hi, raaga123!).]