Financial Assistance

[TimJing]

So I have a financial question, how much of each paycheck should I save (deposit into my ridiculously low-interest savings account)? I seem to be getting a universal "save at least a little of your money from each paycheck, you'll thank yourself later" message, but I'm not sure exactly how much. I'm thinking like $20 from each paycheck maybe? Do you guys have savings accounts with a bunch of money in them? Or do you spend all your money as soon as you get it?

Most of the money I get, especially the money I saved from lunch for the past few years, I spent almost entirely on coins. I prefer doing that because coins are tangible goods that appreciate far faster than the .6%/yr my savings account gets me, and I actually get enjoyment out of purchasing and viewing the coins that I buy. I consider my coin collection to be an investment. But that leaves the question, should I leave a small portion of my income liquid just in case I need to use it at the crack of a whip? I just can't stand the thought of money just chillin' in a savings account.

Opinions, anecdotes, helpful information welcome.

[MortifiedocAlot]

If your getting a decent income you should open a checking account and get a card. With a savings account your money won;t do much of anything. If you want to save your money and possibly make money I'd say stock market (diversify your bonds nigga).

[Spectere]

My mom knows someone who saved something like $5 per paycheck and had quite a bit of money set aside for retirement.

Accounting for inflation and such, $10 should be a good minimum.  After I get out of Nielsen U I'm going to establish another savings account wherever I wind up go (hopefully Cleveland/Pittsburgh/Youngstown or Baltimore) and auto-deposit some cash in there for every paycheck.

[Ulti]

Personally, I'd say save 20% of your paycheck, especially if you don't have any living expenses to pay.

[Spectere]

I wouldn't really recommend that, because in most cases, the tighter you try to be with your money the more you're apt to dive into your savings.

$10-20 per paycheck will go a long way in the long run.  Hell, assuming a biweekly pay cycle at just $15 per check you're looking at $360 every year.  If you work for 30 years, that's over $10000 of money saved up without too bad of a financial hit ($30 per month would be roughly equivalent to buying an average DS game every month).

[TimJing]

Saving $10 per paycheck sounds pretty good, I think I might do that.

[Bobbias]

I would suggest asking a bank employee. They would better be able to work with you to figure out how to plan things. They could give you exact rates, exact numbers, and give you an idea of what sort of accounts to go with and such.