14 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

Hey everyone...we all more trip ideas than money and just like dieting we always talk about cutting back our finances to save up for a dive trip.

Some of us are successful but some never quite seem to reach the goal...or save the dough

So what are your best saving techniques?

Auto draft your account to a vacation fund? Ebay stuff you no longer use? Cut back?

And if so..on what and how do you do it?


Please share your ideas...after all it could help someone else or help you!

[WreckWench]

I'll start it off...

Saving money can be a hardship if you only focus on what you don't have and what you are giving up. But if you turn it into a game...or a challenge then it's not only not so bad but can even be fun! And oh the rewards when you can pay for that dive trip you've wanted to go on or you pay off some debt or you start a dive club that grows to be the number one site for single and buddyless divers in the world!


So as the thread goes on I'll share some of my 'saving's techniques'...after all SD.com was started when I was basically unemployed with zero yep $0 start up funds. So you can imagine that I took saving money to a whole new level. Some things were smart, some things were just plain crazy but ALL OF THEM WERE EFFECTIVE.

So I'll share my money savings techniques and hopefully you'll share yours! -ww

[WreckWench]

An easy one...

Instead of going out to dinner, eat at home or eat in. Not only will you spend a fraction of the cost of eating out (even if you splurge) you will have control over what you eat and over time will lose weight or will probably be healthier!

So eat in or make a home cooked meal with some lighted candles for an inexpensive date. After all who doesn't like a home cooked meal! You don't even have to mention how much money you are saving...but take the REAL MONEY and put in your Dive Trip Jar and watch it grow!

Wanna REALLY save some bucks...make a big pot of beans or soup or spaghetti and eat off it for several days then freeze the rest. The entire pot will cost about $3-5 depending on what you fix and you can easily pocket $5-10 per meal saved depending on if you are eating in or eating out. Plus you'll lose weight on all 3 of these meals items... another plus!

[WreckWench]

Wanna save some money?

Go under your bathroom sink and clean out all the bottles of stuff. Vow to not buy anything until ALL the cleaners are used up and all the shampoo and all the soap...EVEN the stuff you don't like.

Why? The stuff under the sink is FREE! Its been paid for so use it. Then take the price of similar products you would have bought and put it in your dive fund!

Found money right under your sink!

And an added bonus...MORE SINK SPACE!!!

[AirHead]

Here are a couple of ideas. I will confess that I stole these ideas form an article I just saw today.

The $5.00 plan. Just save every $5.00 bill that you happen to get. It will add up quickly.

The other idea is to save $1.00 in week 1… That is not too hard. Save $2.00 in week 2, $3.00 in week 3…well you get the idea. At the end of a year you will have almost $1,400.00

[georoc01]

Yeah, I just saw that article too. The link to it is here.

http://finance.yahoo...-130300135.html

[WreckWench]

Come on George what are your ideas?

[WreckWench]

By the way...good one Buz!

[scuba crab]

We do our vacation on a budget. Without a plan or a budget it often never happens! Spending within our budget and means everyone is different and it can be adjusted. Put needs and wants in different accounts and or pots and do not spend if it is not there. We put 60% in a account for bills food electric rent insurance etc. 15% for emergency and home improvement savings. 10% for vacation and plan vacations according to that money. 7 and 1/2% for wife and another 7 and one half for me for anything I want. The wife has a account for education since she is taking College classes. The point is have a budget and stick to it with the goals you set!
Before we had a budget there were many things we could not do! Now we do more with less!!!

[TabeaK]

I agree. It needs a dedicated budget. For me, a fixed fraction of my income gets autotransferred into my vacation account each month, so does a fraction of work bonuses and any money left-over.
That total budget dictates how much traveling I get to do in a given year.

Years like this, where I have basically gone insane on the travel front, I supplement the travel pot by budget adjustments in other places (tax refunds, bonuses, cutting back on non-necessary things).

[Jerrymxz]

I have a quick one that I got from my grand mother. Don't spend any change. take it all home and put into a large jug. I use a jug I got pretzels in. When I went to Truk and Palau this year I took it to the bank and cashed it in. $834 is what I had saved to spend while traveling. I add to that any dollars I find in the wash machine and dryer. If I didn't put it back in my wallet I guess It was meant to be spent on a dive trip!

[SeaLassie]

From my Grandpa, "If you watch your pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves".

[dive_sail_etc]

From my Grandpa, "If you watch your pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves".

Really like this one; Ellen!

[dive_sail_etc]

I have a quick one that I got from my grand mother. Don't spend any change. take it all home and put into a large jug. I use a jug I got pretzels in. When I went to Truk and Palau this year I took it to the bank and cashed it in. $834 is what I had saved to spend while traveling. I add to that any dollars I find in the wash machine and dryer. If I didn't put it back in my wallet I guess It was meant to be spent on a dive trip!

This really worked for me when I was younger, I should definitely look into resuming the practice. Thanks for a simple yet surprisingly effective way to save, Jerry!

[Elias]

First a couple easy, cheeky suggestions that I am surprised to have not seen anyone mention above. Then a bigger idea that will work wonders for some of you ...

1. Stop drinking at bars. Seriously. Pay attention to how much money you spend at the bar on alcohol every time you go out. You don't have to stop drinking (although you'll likely cut down somewhat) but just stop handing all that money to the bar. Get your cheap vacation-saving ass a hip flask if you want to go out. :: $50-100 per week turns into $2500-5000 / year.

2. Stop smoking. Seriously. Do the math already -- a pack a day habit will pay for a nice vacation in a year. Do I have to mention the health benefits? Your air consumption will improve as well, so your dives will be longer and more enjoyable (more fun for your money). Smoking is also a factor in a large number of diving related injuries and fatalities. Do your self and your loved ones a favor and quit already; you've probably been thinking about it for years. Reward yourself with a vacation at the end of a smoke free year. :: Right now, a pack of cigarettes in the US costs between $5 (Kentucky) and $15 (New York), yielding somewhere between $1800 and $5500 per year in vacation savings (to say nothing of the medical savings later in life).

Right, so that's anywhere from $4300-$10500 per year just from (1) and (2). So, here's the big one that could change your life (as if quitting smoking and drinking in bars hasn't already) --

3. Next time you get a raise at work, just pretend you didn't. Don't start spending it, just carry on like you never got the good news. Adjust your direct deposit to shave that extra money off the top and put it into a separate vacation account. As the money accumulates, use it to buy 3, 6 or even 12-month CDs with higher rates of interest on a regular and recurring basis. Consolidate the CDs when they mature with the excess money in the account and buy another CD. If you are clever, you can stack them in such a way that you have liquid capital available in the account every month (for OMG, EMERGENCIES or for a quick last minute trip that has come up), with larger amounts becoming available every quarter, every six months and every year. This takes some discipline to manage, but establishing a CD ladder like this is a very effective way to increase the interest on money you are saving while keeping it more liquid than if invested in a single CD. Make the effort to adjust / reinvest your CD ladder part of your monthly bill paying routine. It will be come wrote, for the most part, and once you are familiar with the process it will be relatively quick and painless. :: I don't know how much your salary is but most people with this hobby have decent jobs with decent incomes and their annual raises are likely measured in the thousands of dollars. Put it into your vacation account... You deserve it.

Edited by Elias, 12 October 2014 - 12:52 AM.