# Savings less than 10k



## socal04 (Apr 28, 2011)

Anyone couples here actually have a savings account more than 10k... we do but its TOUGH to save.. and yes less than 10k in it


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## uhtred (Jun 22, 2016)

I assume by "savings account" you mean money in some moderately long term savings but not retirement. 

It has varied a lot over time for us. If you are in school, there is no particular reason to save because your income will go up. If you are paying a mortgage, that is a form of savings. If you are maxing out your 401Ks, that is fine early in life. 

Then it all just depends on your situation. A single average income and raising kids is really difficult. Two average incomes and no kids can allow some savings. 2 professional jobs and no kids can allow a huge amount of savings - if you don't start spending stupidly.


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## caruso (Sep 23, 2016)

I have considerably more than 10k in retirement accounts, savings accounts and in variable life insurance policies which are really an investment not so much a death benefit protective policy.


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## Married but Happy (Aug 13, 2013)

It is tough to save, but the peace of mind that comes from having done it is immense. We've worked hard to create a savings account that will cover 6 to 12 months of expenses in case of an emergency. This is in addition to retirement savings, which we project to last as long as we might live.


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

Let me check my statement...










The trick is also how much you spend, not only how much you have...


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## Spotthedeaddog (Sep 27, 2015)

socal04 said:


> Anyone couples here actually have a savings account more than 10k... we do but its TOUGH to save.. and yes less than 10k in it


why would you leave 10k+ in such a low earning place?


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## DustyDog (Jul 12, 2016)

socal04 said:


> Anyone couples here actually have a savings account more than 10k... we do but its TOUGH to save.. and yes less than 10k in it


This is highly time-of-life dependent, you know.

If you're just out of college, have a car loan (hopefully a used car) and a mortgage, it's going to be tough. As you learn to cook at home and finally achieve that recommended "go out to eat no more than once a month" status, and treat things like manicures as the domain of the wealthy that they are, you'll be able to save more.

"Emergency" savings should be 6 months spending (not income). If you can't save this, then you're not at all prepared for a layoff - which 90% of Americans will experience some time in their careers...and more frequently, early in the career.

On average, Americans who are 55 years old have a "net worth" of $650,000...half of it in the home, half in a combination of savings accounts and retirement accounts. So, yes, a LOT of people have more than $10k.


To figure out how to save more, you'd want to chart out how much you're spending in various categories. The category names don't matter, just plot what you spent last 1-3 months, look for what feel like categories that took more than 5% of the income in that period, and watch them. Then ask:

1) Are these expenses required to keep me alive?
2) Are these expenses required to help me maintain my job?
3) Are these expenses required to maintain my health?

You can also do a web search for things like "what are the average expenses for a family of four earning $35,000 a year?" and get some stats - and see if there are categories where you're high and might consider reducing.

When I counsel people who come to me with spending issues, I ask:
1) How many days do you go between spending anything? No vending machines, etc? Average for Americans earning $50k is 3 days. Some people spend a little bit every day - this is addictive behavior.
2) How many subscriptions do you have? By "subscription", I mean things that you pay every month, no matter how much you use. Electricity, gas, cable TV, internet, magazines, etc. Mortgage plus 5 more is about the cap before you raise the red flag.

Good luck!


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## Ynot (Aug 26, 2014)

I do now. When I was married it seemed that every time I had two dimes to rub together somebody always needed a quarter. was constantly obsessed with money, how I was going to pay the bills, where the money was going to come from, how long could "we" last with what we had etc. Now I only have myself to worry about. I have more than I ever did before. That is after two week long trips cross country this year (20 different states), a golf trip, buying a house, eating out almost everyday (usually all three meals), dating and in general having what ever I want.


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## tech-novelist (May 15, 2014)

DustyDog said:


> On average, Americans who are 55 years old have a "net worth" of $650,000...half of it in the home, half in a combination of savings accounts and retirement accounts. So, yes, a LOT of people have more than $10k.


According to http://www.fool.com/investing/gener...average-net-worth-by-age-how-do-you-comp.aspx, the median wealth of households headed by someone 55-64 years old was about $144,000, with only about $45K in financial assets and the rest in home equity.

Note: the above article says "Americans", not "households", but I can tell from http://www.fool.com/investing/gener...e-americans-net-worth-by-age-heres-where.aspx that they are talking about households, not individuals, because the latter article states that explicitly and the numbers are consistent with that.


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## Learning2Fly (Oct 11, 2015)

Ynot said:


> I do now. When I was married it seemed that every time I had two dimes to rub together somebody always needed a quarter. was constantly obsessed with money, how I was going to pay the bills, where the money was going to come from, how long could "we" last with what we had etc. Now I only have myself to worry about. I have more than I ever did before. That is after two week long trips cross country this year (20 different states), a golf trip, buying a house, eating out almost everyday (usually all three meals), dating and in general having what ever I want.




I'm right there with you. Never had so much money in my life after the divorce. Bought a house and new vehicle. Still feeling great financially. It's a good feeling.


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## Ynot (Aug 26, 2014)

Learning2Fly said:


> I'm right there with you. Never had so much money in my life after the divorce. Bought a house and new vehicle. Still feeling great financially. It's a good feeling.


it isn't just the financial issues either. I have gained so much experience in so many different areas. I have gotten to see parts of the country I could only dream about in the past, experienced things that I could only fantasize about before and started living the life I have dreamed about for years.


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## meson (May 19, 2011)

Married but Happy said:


> It is tough to save, but the peace of mind that comes from having done it is immense. We've worked hard to create a savings account that will cover 6 to 12 months of expenses in case of an emergency. This is in addition to retirement savings, which we project to last as long as we might live.


This is the way to do it. Six months to a year of expenses is needed to offset medical emergencies, job loss. The question is what is this amount for you? 

We have a joint checking with savings account plus brokerage account where we can get better rates and retirement accounts funded by work.


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## Steve1000 (Nov 25, 2013)

socal04 said:


> Anyone couples here actually have a savings account more than 10k... we do but its TOUGH to save.. and yes less than 10k in it


Age is important here. When I was in my late 20's, I had no savings because I had just paid off my student loans. In my mid 40's, I do have a savings account with more than 10k. One key to saving money is to not eat out often. I bring my lunch to work everyday. 

I have a middle class salary and a monthly home mortgage of $1,300 per month (3.75%) on a 15-year loan for a house that is currently 13 years old. 

Other keys: 
I spend little on car gas because I live near work and often ride a bike to work. 
I have always bought used cars in cash, which meant no car payments and no requirement to have comprehensive car insurance. 
I don't buy new clothing or shoes often. 

I think I have a good grasp on how to spend money on things that I can really enjoy. For example, I do travel multiple times every year including three ski trips last winter.


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## SimplyAmorous (Nov 25, 2009)

We have a larger family (5 kids still a home)...husband has a blue collar income (we'd be considered Middle class in our area though)... If I took our same income/ # of people in our family & put us in New York City.. we'd be lower income (Just tested it)...

Calculator here > Are you in the US middle class? Try our income calculator 

We've always had more than $10,000 saved -even before we walked down the aisle -back then he worked in a Grocery store, I was in Dietary (neither good paying jobs- a few dollars above minimum wage back then)...both of us careful "savers".. we had a dream to buy a country home & have a family.. 

I would be a cheap miserable miser if we didn't have something to fall back upon in case of a variety of emergencies.. needing another car, transmission rebuild, a new roof, when our kids need $$ to take a trip with the high school Band, what if we needed a Lawyer ... anything can come up ! I refuse to pay interest on anything... (I like to make $$ off our credit cards)... in our 27 yrs together.. the only interest we have paid is on our house/ property.... got a loan for 14 yrs.. we threw all our money into that, making double payments .. and paid if off in 7....

2 sons in college.. we have them get loans in their own names.. but we help them out as much as we can ... We do live in a lower cost area of the country though.. our taxes are pretty low.. having a larger family.. we spend a nice chunk in gas filling up our Suburbans (we have 2 of them)..... one plus.. those 350 chevy engines seem to last forever...not requiring many repairs over the years.. so in this way.. it seems to even out..



Steve1000 said:


> One key to saving money is to not eat out often. *I bring my lunch to work everyday.*


 This certainly helps save...I pack 4 lunches every morning.. and my own when I work...it would be a mortal sin in our family to waste money at a vending machine for instance.. when we eat out (we take advantage of $4 pizzas on Mondays), do smorgasbords for lunch ..If I have a coupon... this could decide where we go... we always order water to drink (pop prices really add up quick) 

Years ago.. I was "tighter" with our money.. I have relaxed since we became debt free .. this was always the goal.. one thing I never skimped on was Family vacations.. we still took (2) trips to Disney & plan on another (18 hr drive from home)...we'd never stay on Property though.. still we'd hit 4 large parks in a week... just took a romantic getaway for our anniversary... $300 a night.. you only live once !... money is to be enjoyed too... 

I couldn't do those things though.. if we didn't have a nice savings.. I wouldn't be comfortable.. one thing has always been vitally important though.. having an affordable health care plan for our family (husband has always carried one at work).. if he lost his job tomorrow...although we'd have money to fall back upon for a nice chunk of time to pay our bills... I wouldn't want this eaten by medical bills in the event of a health crisis.. that could destroy a family's savings in weeks...(I'd have to go full time where I work -to cover our family)... 

Our oldest son is only making $12.50 an hour (has a bachelor's in Psychology, jobs that pay well, not so easy to find unless you get a Masters)...he is sucking up all the overtime he can get... he's saved a whopping $14,000 in 12 months.. He keeps saying he wants to buy a house.. then rent it out.. and buy another.. I think he's determined enough to make this happen. He's a chip off the old block.. though I think he's even cheaper than I was.. I joke with him.. he's never going to find a woman to put up with him..


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

Spend that money into an MA Psychology / counseling type degree...


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## tropicalbeachiwish (Jun 1, 2016)

I don't know how old you are, but if you're young then it's normal to not have much saved IMO. Once you pay something off, like your student loan debt, you don't replace it with another loan. Or if you pay off your car loan, you don't run out and get a new car (& new loan). You take some of that money that you were paying on your loan to pay down another debt & to pay into savings. 

Also, take a look at where you live. Do you live in a place that has a high cost of living? If so, then you may want to consider moving elsewhere. Your money can go a lot further somewhere that doesn't have a high cost of living.


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## EllisRedding (Apr 10, 2015)

We have plenty aside in our 401k/IRAs which I have been maxing out since I first started working. I also have an emergency fund set aside, and my goal is to eventually grow it to the point where I can completely pay off our mortgage if needed (the only debt we have). I had to slow down with this due to some work that needed to be done around the house, but hope to get back to adding to it over the next few months. Since where I live it has a very high cost of living, putting money aside early on is important if I hope to eventually slow down when I get older.


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## notmyrealname4 (Apr 9, 2014)

tropicalbeachiwish said:


> Your money can go a lot further somewhere that doesn't have a high cost of living.


Yeah, but the cheap places to live usually have lower wages and fewer employment opportunities.


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## tropicalbeachiwish (Jun 1, 2016)

notmyrealname4 said:


> Yeah, but the cheap places to live usually have lower wages and fewer employment opportunities.


True. There are cities however that have decent employment opportunities and a lower cost of living. Stay away from the west coast states especially.


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## notmyrealname4 (Apr 9, 2014)

tropicalbeachiwish said:


> Stay away from the west coast states especially.



Too late :|

I love where I live though. I couldn't handle living in a place where it was under three feet of snow in the winter; and hot as h.ll in the summer.

If I had a great job to offset those climate conditions; that would be different. But I don't, so at least I live somewhere that is physically comfortable to live in 95% of the year.


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## EllisRedding (Apr 10, 2015)

tropicalbeachiwish said:


> True. There are cities however that have decent employment opportunities and a lower cost of living. Stay away from the west coast states especially.


Stay away from some of the east coast states as well if you want to avoid a high cost of living (too late for me lol).


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## Yeswecan (Jul 25, 2014)

socal04 said:


> Anyone couples here actually have a savings account more than 10k... we do but its TOUGH to save.. and yes less than 10k in it


I have the savings in a 401K savings plan. You know, the idea that you need to save and not have a company pension plan like good old dad did back in the 50's-70's. Crappy idea if you ask me. Anway....I a substantial sum and I deposit just below the pre-tax contributions allows. The deposits are automatically taken from my check weekly. I have to save because no one else is doing it for me.


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## GTdad (Aug 15, 2011)

I have a substantial retirement account but very little in readily-accessible savings. 

I blame the kids.


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

We're starting medical school tuition payments next fall...

Definitely my daughter's fault


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## Chuck71 (Nov 5, 2012)

You'd be amazed at how many people in their 30s and 40s have little to no savings.


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## Spotthedeaddog (Sep 27, 2015)

Learning2Fly said:


> I'm right there with you. Never had so much money in my life after the divorce. Bought a house and new vehicle. Still feeling great financially. It's a good feeling.


My income dropped to a fraction (and her income was a little higher than mine) after divorce but like someone else said, it's what you spend. I ended up more money to spend (and that includes after child support) and she ended up further in debt - and I took all the family debt in the divorce (except for joint mortgage)


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## SimplyAmorous (Nov 25, 2009)

notmyrealname4 said:


> *Yeah, but the cheap places to live usually have lower wages and fewer employment opportunities.*


This is true.. we live in a relatively low cost part of the country....there was another thread on here.. comparing people's Taxes, this subject came up -- and WOW.. ours were REALLY LOW compared to some of the figures spoken, bigger cities & such... and true.. in our area.. *high unemployment*.. but you can buy a house in a small town easily for $25,000 - $40,000 .... 

It took my husband many years to land a higher paying blue collar job.. I still think it was a matter of luck, good timing that he even got in.. (these type of jobs everyone wants -people are always asking.. "can you get me in- do you have any pull?" )... we were even praying for an opportunity ...it's that bad in our neck of the woods... used to be a lot of steel mills here.. but they are all gone.. many places to shop has become like a ghost town... it's kinda sad really...

We have done very well in our lower cost area raising a larger family with his decent paying blue collar job (my H works for the RR)...if he looses his job, as there have been a ton of layoffs in the last 5 months.. we'll both have to work full time + to make up for his income, which may happen in the near future... You do what you have to do... We love it here though... a major city is like an hour away..


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## SimplyAmorous (Nov 25, 2009)

john117 said:


> Spend that money into an MA Psychology / counseling type degree...


Oh I agree with you !!...we've talked about it till I am blue in the face.. he's stubborn, has nothing good to say about college.. feels it was a waste of his time...and he's not going back.. he liked the experience socially I guess.. but hated the studying.. felt like he didn't learn anything..he's not someone you'd want a High school Grad to run into -with his pessimistic views on what a waste of his life it was to get a degree.. 

My hands are tied.. his heart is not into it, that's for sure... but he can sure save some cash - what he has determined he'd like to be someday. .. is a Landlord.. I think that's inviting pure hell into one's life .. but again.. he's stubborn.. What I foresee is his calling good old Dad to help him with all his home repairs starting out, till he gets to be his own "Handy Man"....


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## Blondilocks (Jul 4, 2013)

SA, when your son chose his course of study, what did he foresee doing with a bachelor's in Psychology?


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

Blondilocks said:


> SA, when you son chose his course of study, what did he foresee doing with a bachelor's in Psychology?


Go to grad school 

Further question, what was y'all thinking about career opportunities? It's very dependent on area of focus... Plenty of demand for people in my side (cognitive and experimental) that know, say, user experience, or advertising or marketing, analytics... But general? Not as many. Clinical or behavioral is MA territory, and organizational is MBA territory.


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

We have substantially more than that in liquid assets, but at 53 with an empty nest I dammed well should. I bought my last new car with cash.

Live your entire life within your means. Forego the McMansion for an affordable home. Drive a car that's reliable and safe, not flashy. Don't try to send the kids to Harvard when a perfectly good state school will do. Eat in more than out. Pay your credit card in full every month. Learn basic home and auto repair.

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## Manchester (Oct 7, 2016)

Cletus said:


> Learn basic home and auto repair.


Learn basic auto repair?

How many things on a car do you think an untrained person can possibly do?

It's all computerized nowadays and you need diagnostic equipment. 

About the only thing a person can maybe do is change their oil and their wiper blades and make a god damn mess while spilling the oil all over the place and saving less than $20 perhaps twice per year.


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

Manchester said:


> Learn basic auto repair?
> 
> How many things on a car do you think an untrained person can possibly do?
> 
> ...


I beg to differ.

I have no formal training in auto repair. Over 30 years, I've 

Changed the oil
Rotated the tires
Replaced the brakes
Replaced struts, shocks
Drained, cleaned, and refilled the transmission
Replaced most of the suspension
Replaced the timing belt, water pump, spark plugs, oxygen sensors, catalylic converter
Replaced a head gasket
Rebuilt one engine and completely replaced another
Plus much, much more with no more diagnostic equipment than a code reader, a multimeter, a compression gauge, and (once) an oscilloscope.

I started small, bought the shop manuals, and learned from my mistakes. I've probably saved over $20,000 through the years in auto repair bills. 

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## DustyDog (Jul 12, 2016)

tech-novelist said:


> According to Americans' Average Net Worth by Age -- How Do You Compare? -- The Motley Fool, the median wealth of households headed by someone 55-64 years old was about $144,000, with only about $45K in financial assets and the rest in home equity.
> 
> Note: the above article says "Americans", not "households", but I can tell from The Typical American's Net Worth By Age: Here's Where You Stand -- The Motley Fool that they are talking about households, not individuals, because the latter article states that explicitly and the numbers are consistent with that.


'been meaning to get back to this. I could not recall where I'd read about $500k net worth at age 55...and, fool.com is certainly not source data, they got it from somewhere else.

After a while, I found the Federal Reserve's survey, which they call the Survey of Consumer Finances, aka SCF. They don't have the 55-64 grouping reported by Fool, instead they have it broken down by age.

For famlies headed by a 55 year old, in 2013, they reported a net worth median of $193,750. At the upper end of the Fool's stated range, age 64, the net worth in 2013 is reported by the Fed to be $300,900, again in 2013.

The Fed report methodology description says that the net worths given include savings accounts, 401k, IRA, investment accounts - but not the value of any company pension, if they have one, nor the NPV of social security or other government programs. Plus, equity in only the principal home, but not other homes if they own any. So, there's bias here for the useful value to be on the low side, but not by a lot.

It is worth noting how rapidly the Fed reports net worth rising by age - doubling in ten years is no mean feat. I found the orignal source of my misinformation: a vaguely-worded article in the AARP bulletin of about 16 months ago. This report did include estimated value of employee-sponsored retirement plans, as well as estimates of secondary homes.

The purpose of the AARP bulletin wasn't so much accuracy, but to point out an intereting trend - people's financial success seems to shoot up about when they hit 45 to 60 years old. The primary reason: the kids are out of college!

Gazing over the Fed report, then, it's not surprising to see the spread of hi/low getting very wide at age 45 to 60, but being narrower above and below that range. Below 45, most families still have children in college, above 60, few of them do.


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## caruso (Sep 23, 2016)

Cletus said:


> I started small, bought the shop manuals, and learned from my mistakes. I've probably saved over $20,000 through the years in auto repair bills.


How much did the mistakes cost you?


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## tech-novelist (May 15, 2014)

DustyDog said:


> 'been meaning to get back to this. I could not recall where I'd read about $500k net worth at age 55...and, fool.com is certainly not source data, they got it from somewhere else.
> 
> After a while, I found the Federal Reserve's survey, which they call the Survey of Consumer Finances, aka SCF. They don't have the 55-64 grouping reported by Fool, instead they have it broken down by age.
> 
> ...


According to what I've read, *that *is the single biggest asset that most people have, accounting for perhaps 75% of their net worth. So in reality most people even at age 64 don't have very much in investible financial assets, perhaps a median of $75,000 per family. Of course this also means that if there is another real estate bust, which I'm expecting any time now, their net worth will drop precipitously due to their excessive asset concentration in real estate.


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

caruso said:


> How much did the mistakes cost you?


Small change compared to the overall savings. I don't typically make a fatal mistake so much as do unnecessary work when the cause of the problem isn't obvious.

Is it really so hard to believe that a college educated electrical engineer, or any other reasonably smart person can handle auto repair? It's not as hard as the mechanic would have you think.

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## caruso (Sep 23, 2016)

Cletus said:


> Small change compared to the overall savings. I don't typically make a fatal mistake so much as do unnecessary work when the cause of the problem isn't obvious.
> 
> Is it really so hard to believe that a college educated electrical engineer, or any other reasonably smart person can handle auto repair? It's not as hard as the mechanic would have you think.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk


I'm a college educated guy, I've torn apart and rebuild kitchens, basements, bathrooms, etc.. there isn't much I can't do on a house, and I've done some mechanical work on an old street bike I used to own. But when it comes to car repairs I often find myself at a loss, I just don't seem to get it. I find it tricky, dirty, an easy way to cut my hands open, and it's always the last bolt that seems completely frozen in place that takes hours to figure out how to remove. With few exceptions, every time I've attempted a major auto repair I've ended up regretting it.


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## EllisRedding (Apr 10, 2015)

Cletus said:


> Small change compared to the overall savings. I don't typically make a fatal mistake so much as do unnecessary work when the cause of the problem isn't obvious.
> 
> Is it really so hard to believe that a college educated electrical engineer, or any other reasonably smart person can handle auto repair? It's not as hard as the mechanic would have you think.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk


You have to also factor in cost vs convenience for some. I have no issues changing tires and other basics (adding oil, windshield wiper fluid, etc...) but outside of that I have no interest in the mechanical side of cars. Factor in I would rather not waste whatever free time I do get being a mechanic, and for me the costs are worth it.


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## uhtred (Jun 22, 2016)

Also, a mechanic can do the work much faster than I can. Even counting the transaction costs it makes more sense for me to pay people to do things that they are good at and spend my time getting paid for things that I am good at. 




EllisRedding said:


> You have to also factor in cost vs convenience for some. I have no issues changing tires and other basics (adding oil, windshield wiper fluid, etc...) but outside of that I have no interest in the mechanical side of cars. Factor in I would rather not waste whatever free time I do get being a mechanic, and for me the costs are worth it.


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## Yeswecan (Jul 25, 2014)

I'm like Cletus. I started changing tires at a local tire store at the age of 15. I learned mechanical repairs, etc. Worked my way to alignment tech, technician and finally service manager. I did this while a full time college student. It kept me in beer and rent while at school. It has also kept me away from repair shops(unless under warranty) and high repair bills for my vehicles. It is a trade that has saved thousands of dollars over the years.


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

uhtred said:


> Also, a mechanic can do the work much faster than I can. Even counting the transaction costs it makes more sense for me to pay people to do things that they are good at and spend my time getting paid for things that I am good at.


The specific question was pertaining to increasing your savings. One of the ways to do that is to find ways to trade your time for your money. That's part of why I do my own auto repair and acted as my own contractor and primary laborer on an 1800 sq. ft. addition to our home in addition to my day job.

My son came by with his 2002 Honda last month. It had the dread CEL on. We hooked up the code reader - misfire on cylinder 1. The rough idle confirmed the problem. Pulled out the number one spark plug coil to find the plug bathed in motor oil. Only one way that could happen - the gaskets around the plugs had grown brittle and cracked. A trip to the local Napa, a new valve cover gasket and a new coil, two hours labor, and probably $200 saved that he, a college student, could ill afford. Plus the skills got passed on to the next generation.

I fully understand why others might make different choices, but they will find themselves poorer at the end of the day when paying for someone else's labor. To the person who enjoys a little grease and manual labor, these are guaranteed money savers. To others, they are hassles not worth their time - so they have to be worth their money.

My net worth is well into seven figures now - three orders of magnitude over the original asking quote of $10,000, in part because of reasonable but not ridiculously frugal living combined with a willingness to do the work myself.

You are not required to follow in my footsteps, of course. But if you do, unless you're an incompetent rube, you'll have a bigger bank account. Oh, and I do not do sheetrock. That's worth any amount of money to outsource.

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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

Funny, I can't do auto, electrical or plumbing, but framing, finish carpentry, drywall, painting, and landscaping, I love it.


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## Bananapeel (May 4, 2015)

caruso said:


> I'm a college educated guy, I've torn apart and rebuild kitchens, basements, bathrooms, etc.. there isn't much I can't do on a house, and I've done some mechanical work on an old street bike I used to own. But when it comes to car repairs I often find myself at a loss, I just don't seem to get it. I find it tricky, dirty, an easy way to cut my hands open, and it's always the last bolt that seems completely frozen in place that takes hours to figure out how to remove. With few exceptions, every time I've attempted a major auto repair I've ended up regretting it.


I'm like Cletus and have done much of my own auto work. I always figured that with my advanced degrees there is no reason I can't figure out basic mechanic (or home improvement skills). These days you don't even need a Haynes manual to figure out the auto repairs, just a quick search on utube will show you just about everything you need. It does tend to be a little dirty and I also get scrapes and cuts, but a little grease ground into the areas seems to stop bleeding about as well as a bandaid. And those stubborn bolts tend to come right off if you have an impact socket. Also like Cletus I live within my means and my net worth is well above average for my age.


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## peacem (Oct 25, 2014)

I find saving very easy, even early in our marriage when had had very little we always put something aside each month. You have to be very organised with money, know exactly what is coming in and going out, budget for everything, do without until you can afford. 

People I know are often suspicious of how we manage on one wage (I am SAHM), we have a nice big family home in a good area. We have lots of holidays and small trips away. If we want to buy luxuries from time to time we can. We don't keep up with the neighbours, I check our credit card and cheque account every day (because people leave it too long and get into a muddle when they overspend). We share a car and have no desire to have the nicest car on the street; it is small, cheap and practical. I keep spread sheets and every receipt goes in a tin to double check were the money went. It gets hard to save when money slips through your fingers or appears to vanish into thin air.

If monthly budgets are too difficult work on a weekly one - even daily. There is very little worth getting into to debt for. 

Life After Money: Do not despair, make it a challenge. 

I loved this article I think this lady is amazing - but she is extreme!


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## RandomDude (Dec 18, 2010)

You need to give yourself a reason to save, that's what I normally do. If you have nothing to save for either than a "rainy day" it gets difficult due to lack of motivation. Look for investment opportunities or enterprises, spend money to make more money. I haven't met anyone who got rich through savings.


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## tech-novelist (May 15, 2014)

uhtred said:


> Also, a mechanic can do the work much faster than I can. Even counting the transaction costs it makes more sense for me to pay people to do things that they are good at and spend my time getting paid for things that I am good at.


Yes, that is the great benefit of specialization of labor, as a special case of the benefits of trade.


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

RandomDude said:


> You need to give yourself a reason to save, that's what I normally do. If you have nothing to save for either than a "rainy day" it gets difficult due to lack of motivation. Look for investment opportunities or enterprises, spend money to make more money. I haven't met anyone who got rich through savings.


Invest in your own education... 
Buy quality stuff that lasts...
Don't eat out too often...

Above all, understand what the fellow poster wrote above. Nobody got rich thru savings.

One of my office mates is absurdly frugal. But spent a lot of money for his kids sports (and even more for his kids sports surgeries ). I spent more money on my kids education. Now he's paying two full tuitions and I'm paying an awful lot less, in better schools, thanks to scholarships.


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