Comments on: When You’re Tired Of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/ Motivational Money Management Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:11:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jaki "B" http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-12506 Jaki "B" Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:51:11 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-12506 Brad, I agree 100% with your post. It definitely applies to me and it's time I fess up and realize it. I'm currently unemployed (collecting unemployment). My thought process has always been to try and pay off my bills whether or not it leaves me with anything to save. This so-called thought process has left me in a pinch a many of days ... I'm never prepared for the curve balls of life and I pay the price for it. It's a painful price to pay. Continuously worrying about money (or lack of money) has been the demon on my back for years now. I'm stressed out all the time and getting deeper and deeper into financial holes. Just a couple of days ago I promised myself that I would save something out of every unemployment check - be it $25 or more. Come hell or high water I need to be consistent and make this a priority. No sense in expecting more when you can't be smart with what you currently have. Keep a "sister" in prayer (lol) Brad, I agree 100% with your post. It definitely applies to me and it’s time I fess up and realize it. I’m currently unemployed (collecting unemployment). My thought process has always been to try and pay off my bills whether or not it leaves me with anything to save. This so-called thought process has left me in a pinch a many of days … I’m never prepared for the curve balls of life and I pay the price for it. It’s a painful price to pay. Continuously worrying about money (or lack of money) has been the demon on my back for years now. I’m stressed out all the time and getting deeper and deeper into financial holes. Just a couple of days ago I promised myself that I would save something out of every unemployment check – be it $25 or more. Come hell or high water I need to be consistent and make this a priority. No sense in expecting more when you can’t be smart with what you currently have. Keep a “sister” in prayer (lol)

]]> By: If You're in Debt, STOP Fueling the Fire...and Win Some Money Too! | Enemy of Debt: Where Behavior Meets Reality http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-10036 If You're in Debt, STOP Fueling the Fire...and Win Some Money Too! | Enemy of Debt: Where Behavior Meets Reality Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:36:00 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-10036 [...] Save a mini Emergency Fund! [...] [...] Save a mini Emergency Fund! [...]

]]> By: A New Beginning…Again! | Enemy of Fat http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-7757 A New Beginning…Again! | Enemy of Fat Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:03:49 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-7757 [...] originally wrote a post called, When You’re Tired Of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving, which was an in-your-face article about saving money. I decided to write a follow up post, giving [...] [...] originally wrote a post called, When You’re Tired Of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving, which was an in-your-face article about saving money. I decided to write a follow up post, giving [...]

]]> By: Brad Chaffee http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-7343 Brad Chaffee Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:47:02 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-7343 Jim, With all due respect, giving is one thing but causing yourself to be less prepared for what life throws at you is more important. It's not selfish to make sure your own financial situation is in order before you start helping others. I wrote <a href="http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/great-financial-advice-from-the-in-flight-safety-handbook/" rel="nofollow">this post</a> that I think you will find helpful. Now I have to take issue with your logic in the final paragraph. "But some people feel if the world ends tomorrow, why worry about how much you have in the bank rather than the joy you could have had spending it? So long as you make enough to pay your bills, what’s the deal?" The deal is that you are leaving yourself vulnerable to emergencies that may come your way. If you have an emergency, the people you are helping, are not in a position to return the favor to you so you will only worsen your situation. To use "if the world ends tomorrow" as a reason to not save but instead make your own financial security worse, is the wrong way to look at it. The right WHAT IF would be what if you have an emergency that you aren't able to cover? What are you gonna do? The answer: you are either going to become a burden on someone else when you could have planned for, OR you will have to go into debt, which is never a good idea. My question to you would be this. Why would you knowingly ignore the importance of preparing for your future? It could also be said that you aren't really helping anyone if you throw money at them every time they need it. You could be enabling them which means that they will never learn how to handle it themselves, and will probably be back to get more funds from you down the road. Lastly, I am a generous giver and I can say without a doubt that we are in a much better position to give without causing ourselves any financial distress than ever before. I hope you check out my post: <a href="http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/great-financial-advice-from-the-in-flight-safety-handbook/" rel="nofollow">Great Financial Advice From The In-Flight Safety Handbook</a> I hope you consider an alternative to your current plan. Wouldn't it be better to have your cake and eat it too? You can save money and help your family but you will need to do things a bit differently to reach that point. Either way I wish you much luck, and I will say I am glad to hear you have such a giving heart. We need more people like you out in this world. :D Jim, With all due respect, giving is one thing but causing yourself to be less prepared for what life throws at you is more important. It’s not selfish to make sure your own financial situation is in order before you start helping others. I wrote this post that I think you will find helpful.

Now I have to take issue with your logic in the final paragraph. “But some people feel if the world ends tomorrow, why worry about how much you have in the bank rather than the joy you could have had spending it? So long as you make enough to pay your bills, what’s the deal?”

The deal is that you are leaving yourself vulnerable to emergencies that may come your way. If you have an emergency, the people you are helping, are not in a position to return the favor to you so you will only worsen your situation. To use “if the world ends tomorrow” as a reason to not save but instead make your own financial security worse, is the wrong way to look at it. The right WHAT IF would be what if you have an emergency that you aren’t able to cover? What are you gonna do? The answer: you are either going to become a burden on someone else when you could have planned for, OR you will have to go into debt, which is never a good idea.

My question to you would be this. Why would you knowingly ignore the importance of preparing for your future? It could also be said that you aren’t really helping anyone if you throw money at them every time they need it. You could be enabling them which means that they will never learn how to handle it themselves, and will probably be back to get more funds from you down the road.

Lastly, I am a generous giver and I can say without a doubt that we are in a much better position to give without causing ourselves any financial distress than ever before. I hope you check out my post: Great Financial Advice From The In-Flight Safety Handbook

I hope you consider an alternative to your current plan. Wouldn’t it be better to have your cake and eat it too? You can save money and help your family but you will need to do things a bit differently to reach that point. Either way I wish you much luck, and I will say I am glad to hear you have such a giving heart. We need more people like you out in this world. :D

]]> By: Jim http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-7341 Jim Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:21:00 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-7341 See... I have this other issue none of you seem to be in the least concerned about. I'm too much of a giving person to be able to save. I've tried saving. My son's car had an issue, so I fixed t it. Then I find out my brother's house is almost in foreclosure so I gave them the money to catch up. Had I just paid on my credit cards or even bought a few of the things I WANT, I wouldn't have had the money to give my brother or my son would have had to walk to work for a couple weeks. Family is one thing I just can't turn down. So all in all I am right back at square one with the same debt I had before I really tried to save. Yes, maybe my brother still has his house, but had I not bailed him out does he really deserve it anyway? My point is, some people are savers, yes... And I definately admire that. But some people feel if the world ends tomorrow, why worry about how much you have in the bank rather than the joy you could have had spending it? So long as you make enough to pay your bills, what's the deal? See… I have this other issue none of you seem to be in the least concerned about. I’m too much of a giving person to be able to save.

I’ve tried saving. My son’s car had an issue, so I fixed t it. Then I find out my brother’s house is almost in foreclosure so I gave them the money to catch up. Had I just paid on my credit cards or even bought a few of the things I WANT, I wouldn’t have had the money to give my brother or my son would have had to walk to work for a couple weeks. Family is one thing I just can’t turn down. So all in all I am right back at square one with the same debt I had before I really tried to save. Yes, maybe my brother still has his house, but had I not bailed him out does he really deserve it anyway?

My point is, some people are savers, yes… And I definately admire that. But some people feel if the world ends tomorrow, why worry about how much you have in the bank rather than the joy you could have had spending it? So long as you make enough to pay your bills, what’s the deal?

]]> By: Brad Chaffee http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-7080 Brad Chaffee Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:21:27 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-7080 Well I definitely understand your position is working against you more than it is working for you. Situations like yours call for tougher solutions---solutions that you may not like, but are available. I am certainly not in your situation, but if I was I would handle it in two ways. I would get a second job, because saving is THAT important, or I would get the heck out of Michigan. Michigan has one of the worst economies in the country. It would be a difficult thing to do in the short term but in the long term you would probably benefit greatly. I for one, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Upper Michigan but there just isn't anything there job wise to get me to move there. I know some people living in Michigan that are killing it on their Total Money Makeovers and both work two jobs to pay off debt and save more money. <a href="http://deliverawaydebt.com/" rel="nofollow">DeliverAwayDebt.com</a> and <a href="http://divinedebtfreedom.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">DivineAndDebtFree.com</a>. It may suck but the bottom line is this; if you can't make it on what you're making you have to do more, or you have to do something different, and in some cases you have to do both. I know if it sucked to live in VA (thankfully it rocks because the state is well run), I would move in a heartbeat if it meant I would have better opportunities to strengthen my situation, whether it be financial or otherwise. Well I definitely understand your position is working against you more than it is working for you. Situations like yours call for tougher solutions—solutions that you may not like, but are available. I am certainly not in your situation, but if I was I would handle it in two ways. I would get a second job, because saving is THAT important, or I would get the heck out of Michigan. Michigan has one of the worst economies in the country. It would be a difficult thing to do in the short term but in the long term you would probably benefit greatly. I for one, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Upper Michigan but there just isn’t anything there job wise to get me to move there. I know some people living in Michigan that are killing it on their Total Money Makeovers and both work two jobs to pay off debt and save more money. DeliverAwayDebt.com and DivineAndDebtFree.com. It may suck but the bottom line is this; if you can’t make it on what you’re making you have to do more, or you have to do something different, and in some cases you have to do both.

I know if it sucked to live in VA (thankfully it rocks because the state is well run), I would move in a heartbeat if it meant I would have better opportunities to strengthen my situation, whether it be financial or otherwise.

]]> By: Just Hanging In There http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-7079 Just Hanging In There Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:11:57 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-7079 I wish saving money were so easy. I live in Michigan and the economy here is so bad I haven't seen a raise in 7 years now. In fact, I'm losing income because I now have to pay $300 per month for my health insurance because Blue Cross keeps raising our rates. We don't live beyond our means, pay cash for everything and the only bills we have are mortgage, gas, electric, cell phone, insurance, cable and food. We paid cash for our vehicles so we have no car payments. Our only splurge is $9.99 monthly for Netflix. Seriously, that's it. We still have dental and medical bills because even though my insurance premiums are $14,000 annually, almost nothing is covered! (Yes, my health care premium is almost as much as my mortgage!) My husband recently had an MRI and it cost us $1500! How are we supposed to save when there is never anything left after spending every dime just to survive? We have zero debt and can hardly make it and our household income in in the top 30%. I honestly wonder how other people are doing it. I wish saving money were so easy. I live in Michigan and the economy here is so bad I haven’t seen a raise in 7 years now. In fact, I’m losing income because I now have to pay $300 per month for my health insurance because Blue Cross keeps raising our rates. We don’t live beyond our means, pay cash for everything and the only bills we have are mortgage, gas, electric, cell phone, insurance, cable and food. We paid cash for our vehicles so we have no car payments. Our only splurge is $9.99 monthly for Netflix. Seriously, that’s it. We still have dental and medical bills because even though my insurance premiums are $14,000 annually, almost nothing is covered! (Yes, my health care premium is almost as much as my mortgage!) My husband recently had an MRI and it cost us $1500! How are we supposed to save when there is never anything left after spending every dime just to survive? We have zero debt and can hardly make it and our household income in in the top 30%. I honestly wonder how other people are doing it.

]]> By: Weekend Linkfest [2010-04-03] | The Orange Paper http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-5574 Weekend Linkfest [2010-04-03] | The Orange Paper Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:17:06 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-5574 [...] When You’re Tired Of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving @ Enemy of Debt [...] [...] When You’re Tired Of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving @ Enemy of Debt [...]

]]> By: Weekly Roundup: Wealth, Happiness & Being Broke « Finance Blog http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-5563 Weekly Roundup: Wealth, Happiness & Being Broke « Finance Blog Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:55:13 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-5563 [...] When you’re tired of being broke, you’ll start saving @ Enemy of Debt [...] [...] When you’re tired of being broke, you’ll start saving @ Enemy of Debt [...]

]]> By: When I'm Sick Of Being Fat, I'll Lose Weight! http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-5548 When I'm Sick Of Being Fat, I'll Lose Weight! Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:42:29 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-5548 [...] everyone! Recently, I wrote a post titled When You’re Tired Of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving. If you’ve been a subscriber for any time at all then you know I rarely beat around the bush. [...] [...] everyone! Recently, I wrote a post titled When You’re Tired Of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving. If you’ve been a subscriber for any time at all then you know I rarely beat around the bush. [...]

]]> By: I Love You...Like A Blogger - Extraordinary Life Edition http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-5373 I Love You...Like A Blogger - Extraordinary Life Edition Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:50:14 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-5373 [...] When You’re Tired Of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving [...] [...] When You’re Tired Of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving [...]

]]> By: Emergency Fund – Your Take? http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-5369 Emergency Fund – Your Take? Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:50:12 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-5369 [...] and Brad from Enemy of Debt had a huge discussion in the comments section of a post by Brad called When You’re Tired of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving. Abigail followed up with a post at her site called Controversy or just quibbling? and then [...] [...] and Brad from Enemy of Debt had a huge discussion in the comments section of a post by Brad called When You’re Tired of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving. Abigail followed up with a post at her site called Controversy or just quibbling? and then [...]

]]> By: Retro_Housewife http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-5367 Retro_Housewife Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:44:45 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-5367 Hi Brad, just wanted to say that I loved your post! My partner and I made excuses for nearly a decade of why we couldn't save. It was only after we buckled down, cut up the cards, stopped coming up with excuses, and made an effort to save that we were able to start putting cash away in a savings account. It turned into a serious challenge (yeah, we're both a bit competitive!:-), and we wound up with just over $5000 in the account at the 1 year mark. It was a bit of effort, but so worth it...especially when we had an unexpected (and expensive) bill pop up a few months ago. Anyway, thanks for the "just do it!" style advice! Hi Brad,
just wanted to say that I loved your post! My partner and I made excuses for nearly a decade of why we couldn't save. It was only after we buckled down, cut up the cards, stopped coming up with excuses, and made an effort to save that we were able to start putting cash away in a savings account.

It turned into a serious challenge (yeah, we're both a bit competitive!:-), and we wound up with just over $5000 in the account at the 1 year mark. It was a bit of effort, but so worth it…especially when we had an unexpected (and expensive) bill pop up a few months ago. Anyway, thanks for the "just do it!" style advice!

]]> By: Brian http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-5366 Brian Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:59:47 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-5366 To me, and emergency fund is an incredibly calming thing to have. If you can only afford to pinch together $100 in your EF, then it will just make you sigh a little less. I know the more I have put away, no matter how hard it was to put it away, it's made me feel more comfortable the higher the fund has gotten. And that's regardless of the interest it earns; that I really don't care about. To me, and emergency fund is an incredibly calming thing to have. If you can only afford to pinch together $100 in your EF, then it will just make you sigh a little less. I know the more I have put away, no matter how hard it was to put it away, it's made me feel more comfortable the higher the fund has gotten. And that's regardless of the interest it earns; that I really don't care about.

]]> By: Forest http://www.enemyofdebt.com/2010/03/when-youre-tired-of-being-broke-youll-start-saving/#comment-5363 Forest Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:34:29 +0000 http://www.enemyofdebt.com/?p=3382#comment-5363 Emotionally my debt has been in my face for a long time so I never saw any positive numbers anywhere.... Now it's all tucked away in Debt Management with one monthly payment.... That means my new checking account says + and not -.... This has given me the push to start the emergency fund. I am only getting about $160 into it this month but if I can double that next month and a few months after I should have a solid ground.... then it's off to tackle savings and a travel fund. I have not read any of Ramsey's stuff but am thinking about picking some up or just reading his site for a while. Emotionally my debt has been in my face for a long time so I never saw any positive numbers anywhere…. Now it's all tucked away in Debt Management with one monthly payment…. That means my new checking account says + and not -…. This has given me the push to start the emergency fund. I am only getting about $160 into it this month but if I can double that next month and a few months after I should have a solid ground…. then it's off to tackle savings and a travel fund.

I have not read any of Ramsey's stuff but am thinking about picking some up or just reading his site for a while.

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