r/SavingMoney

My wife and I have two young teenagers, and I’m trying to get more disciplined about our monthly spending. At the same time, I don’t want my wife to feel like she can’t enjoy herself or buy things she wants, and the kids are at the age where clothes, shoes, and keeping up with current styles suddenly matter a lot.

Obviously we can’t just spend whatever we want, but I also don’t want budgeting to make everyone miserable.

For those of you who have found a system that actually works, how do you handle it? Do you give everyone a monthly spending amount? Have separate budgets for clothes, eating out, entertainment, etc.? Do you budget every dollar at the beginning of the month or just set spending limits?

Basically, I’m curious how other families balance saving and being responsible with still enjoying the money you work for.

I spent the emergency money on a burst pipe repair by rerouting the pipes in the house. I had to also use a new credit card with 0% financing for two years, for some of the plumbing job and to fix the drywall that was cut during the repair.

So out about $8000. 5k on a credit card. 3K wiped out of the emergency fund.

I feel very stressed out with no financial cushion. I have two years to pay off the credit card with no interest, but I would like to start rebuilding the emergency fund. Open to suggestions!

I wish a global anti-subscription movement would emerge; we are now paying more money to merely rent things we used to own outright.

I've started and abandoned more budgeting systems than I want to admit. Spreadsheets, envelopes, four different apps, the one where you're supposed to write down every coffee. None of them lasted past a week to be honest. The issue is I forget, and when I remember, I just don’t want to deal with it.

The only thing that stuck for me was moving money to a fully separate account where all my bills come out of. If I have the money in my normal checking account, I assume it’s just money I can spend. So having the separate place fully for bills has been a stress reliever, since I know I am at least fully covered on that end.

What’s stuck for you when it comes to trying to save money, and what did you give up on? Would love to implement at least one more thing to help me with my spending habits!

Does anyone use market linked cd (sometimes called structured deposit) over a standard CD? I typically see them offered by a broker or via investment account but not from a bank. Realize there’s a tradeoff of guaranteed vs potential interest (even if higher) but does it offer value in certain scenarios?