Thank you @hermitcrab for this important information on having a credit card - credit history. Building credit history is important in the USA (don't know about other countries) for qualifying for loans, getting cellular telephone service, renting cars, etc. Sometimes even prospective employers check on your credit history.
Thank you Kamala! I found out that I could redeem my cash back as cash from this list. I've logged in and redeemed my check already. Thanks a bunch!
Hi @Laks09 That's great! Now spend a bit of that cash and get me dinner when I come over to your place. Only then I will accept your thanks completely.
I think the WHY is the most important thing here. Tracking expenses doesn't work according to me as the expense will happen. If you have a goal to save money for X: 1. I want to have 8 months of living expense in emergency fund 2. I want to pay my next car outright 3. I want to save 10k for my next vacation in 1 year 4. I want to save $2 million in the next 20 years, etc, then you have a goal to work towards Then you want a philosophy to reach your goal. You can give You Need a Budget philosophy a try which has four simple rules. While YNAB has a software, you don't have to buy it. Understand the philosophy of what they recommend and apply towards to financial goal Good Luck
I should be ashamed of saying this but I don’t look at statements at all. This thread has been eye opener for me . I learnt a lot . I’m going to keep this thread active to share my experience in savings and investment. Thank you every one of you who took time to write here . I will respond to each one of you as I progress in my journey to become financially savvy and frugal person.
With lot of resistance I finally looked at my credit card statement. Most of my expenses are from purchased made at Macy's, Amazon, Kohls, Walmart and Costco. I really don't need anything anymore other than monthly groceries. My goal for March is to avoid ordering online in Macys, Amazon , kohls and not step inside Walmart. I also changed my mobile plan bill and combined with internet bill where I will save $20 / month. I'm definitely going to be mindful of my expenses. Especially with amazon and Macy's it is so easy to get carried away and buy everything you want. My goal in March is to completely eliminate any online purchase. I will see how that goes.
I also think it is better I keep the incoming cash and outgoing cash in two different banks so it is easier. I have autopay on my credit card from my salary account. That is not helping at all.
Costco card works well in terms of cashback. And it is okay to have more than few cards. You can see if you want it. Interestingly, my goal for this month is also to stay away from Amazon. I will see how it goes. If I feel, I have to buy on Amazon, then I will take Amazon card. But for now, I think I was over spending on Amazon. I love to see the related items to the one I am viewing and then the reviews and then get carried away. I have realized, that the moment I drive to a store-even for just eggs- I spend more than 50.
If you have walmart grocery pick up, it helps less wandering in the store to buy unwanted items and save time. Making a list to buy and stick to the list definitely helps. Some people set a monthly goal for "personal spending limit" say $250 limit for dress/shoes/makeup/pampering etc. So you don't feel guilty when you do something for yourself if you stay with in your allowance. If you follow some minimalist videos on youtube (I am a budding minimalist ) people challenge themselves to buy nothing for the year. Have you watched tidying up with Marie Kondo? that was an eye opener for me.
My experience : I had macys store card which led me to purchase a whole lot with some or the other discount/sale or something . Then I just canceled the card one day. Which improved my credit score too in terms of not having a lot to pay for . This past weekend I realized how much i spent there in buying clothes for the baby while i was cleaning up her closet to remove all the old and small dresses . In just about year and a half she has a mountain of dresses and some which were not purchased on sale , paying much higher ...so much money i wasted i feel now , some of the dresses she just wore just a few times and out grew. i would say please take a look at all the store cards you have and filter down to only retaining what you use the most . same with amazon , i actually had to get rid of prime and its card to slow down on shopping online . it was just so bad for me to see that so many toys that i got from amazon , i gave away like that , my baby never played with it and was just spent uselessly . after my child came , all of my expenses were on her only , most of the things i thought she needed i bought but it was actually not needed , she never even used it .. i would have saved a lot of money on those things . I then canceled store cards . I now have three credit cards but only one is used and rest two are just there because they are the oldest ones. Also another thing that i realized was that if my credit card was under the initial offer of 15-18 months , i would end up spending more . then i switched to the one which is the oldest and where i have to pay the monthly expenses in full by the end of each month to avoid hefty interest charges ... it also lets me control my spending . and for high return investments , you may be aware of some of the popular e-trading investing firms . for someone like me who does not understand investments a lot high risk and all they simply ask you for how long you want to invest without needing that money , and how much you want to invest and your risk capacity . for a nominal annual fee or on % basis they manage the investment for you on your behalf and find proper bonds/stocks etc for you . i am trying one such this year.
