So yesterday i was looking over my bank app and got depressed seeing how little i saved this month. between rent being so high, grocery prices being completely insane, and just existing, there is really nothing left. it got me thinking how much does the average american save per month and if i am the only one that is struggling SO much

And it turns out the government data says the personal savings rate in the us is only around 3% to 4% of income now. so people really dont save a lot, but then you see other surveys claiming the average person puts away like between 200 and 500, which feels A LOT to me

Anyway, it made be feel A BIT better knowing that im not the only one struggling, but it feels wild. how much are you guys actually able to save after bills every month?

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Best Money-Saving Habit (Quarterfinals)

Meal prepping vs Buying in bulk

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Just got a job offer for $40k a year and trying to figure out if this is actually a decent income or if it will be hard to live decently with this amount.

Heres my current setup:

medium cost of living area
single, no kids, pretty basic lifestyle
goals: pay rent, buy groceries, and hopefully save something every month

I know $40k is not crazy money, but for those of you making around this amount, is 40k a year good enough to live on your own?

Really curious is 40k a year good in todays economy or if having a roommate is really mandatory at this income level. I will appreciate any help or budget breakdowns

I’ve gotten pretty good at saving over the last couple years, but now I feel like I’ve gone too far in the other direction.

Even when something is comfortably within my budget, I’ll sit there debating it for days because spending the money feels like I’m undoing progress. Even stuff like replacing worn out shoes or going out for dinner makes me think that it could’ve gone into savings.

How do you figure out the line between being responsible with money and actually letting yourself enjoy some of it?

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Best Money-Saving Habit (Quarterfinals)

Thrift shopping vs Buying refurbished

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I'm trying to plan a budget trip to europe for late summer or early fall next year and I'm overwhelmed by how expensive places like france and italy seem to be lol.

I've been looking for the cheapest european countries to visit that still have cool architecture, good food, and aren't totally ruined by overpriced tourist traps. This is what seems to be the most recommended by other people:

I was leaning towards bulgaria at first because of the insanely low prices, but later I've read some bad experiences from people that have travelled to bulgaria, especially to sunny beach, so now I'm not sure. Maybe Portugal then?? Maybe some of you visited any of these countries and could recommend and comment why you chose this exact place? I am open to suggestions to other countries as well, but I am mostly interested in cheapest european countries to visit right now.

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Best Money-Saving Habit (Quarterfinals)

Canceling subscriptions vs No-spend days

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Budgeting question.

Rent is due on the 1st. I am between jobs right now. I have depleted my emergency savings. I have $5,500 invested right now through the Vangaurd ETF VOO. Its up like 12% Nvidia kicked ass this quarter which came out today (Nvidia is VOO top holding) Up like $8 in the aftermarket. I really don't want to sell shares to pay my rent.

I have like $29K in my 403 B retirement account. My rent is $945. According to Google AI if I withdraw $1,500 from my 403 B account I would owe the IRS 10% which would be $150 and the Federal Tax Witholding of 20% which is 300. So my net would be $1,050.

What should I do?

My daughter is turning 16 soon and I’m planning a small backyard party with around 30 - 40 friends and family. I usually just send everyone a text but I’d like to do something a little nicer this time. Printed invitations seem unnecessary for a small party so I’m looking for a good digital invitation option but something cheap I researched some options like printful and greenvelope but since its my first using them I am not sure how they would turn out escapially because I am not super tech savvy. something easy to set up, looks nice and lets people RSVP without costing too much

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Best Money-Saving Habit (Quarterfinals)

Making coffee at home vs Bringing lunch to work

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I need a reality check from people who actually get money. I'm in my mid twenties, work in sales, and I've been trying to get serious about my finances.
Started looking into the best apps to save money about two months ago because my checking account was looking rough, downloaded like 4 different ones. Tried Acorns first, rounds up your purchases and invests the spare change. Cute but honestly too slow for someone trying to actually build wealth. Then tried a budgeting app that tracks your spending automatically, that one actually worked once I stopped ignoring the notifications.

I saved about $640 just from cutting subscriptions I forgot about, automated 15% of every paycheck straight into savings before I can touch it and net worth tracker finally shows green instead of red.

the automatic transfer feature is the real unlock here. If the app doesn't force the save before you see the cash, you're never gonna actually do it. Willpower is not a strategy. Same principle as meal prepping, if the food's not ready you're ordering takeout.
Only issue is most of these best apps to save money charge a monthly fee once you want the premium features, and I'm not trying to pay $12/month just to see a pie chart of my own spending. Feels like a scam wrapped in a nice UI.
What's everyone actually using that doesn't nickel and dime you for basic features? And is anyone else stacking multiple apps?

I need to talk about this because I feel like an idiot right now, been saving up for a ring for like 8 months, tracking every dollar. Went into three jewelers doing the whole moissanite cost vs diamond comparison because a buddy mentioned it. Dude casually drops that his fiancée's ring looks identical to a diamond and cost him a fraction of the price.
I did my own research. Turns out the moissanite cost vs diamond gap is actually insane once you see it side by side. Same size stone, diamond quote comes back at $4800, moissanite version is like $600. Almost identical sparkle, moissanite even sparkles more under light which I did not expect.
Only annoying part, some jewelers act weird when you ask about it, like you're cheap for even bringing it up. I've got a mortgage, I'm not lighting $4000 on fire for a rock just to impress people who don't even know the difference.
Anyone else run the numbers on this before proposing? What did you end up going with?

I was wondering how could one have fun on a budget? But please dont suggest video games.😭

While games are fun, theres way more stuff to do apart computers, however, past few weeks I been feeling stuff way more pricey. Got me wondering if I could think of something else to have some fun for the next few weeks as Im saving for a trip.. I will probably come up with some ideas of my own.. For now I been watching old seasons or some tv shows but kinda burned out on it..

Thinking that hiking should be fine. Like taking some food, a tent and visiting some mountainside for some proper views with friends.. Thats like the most I would find invigorating. However, I remember having a lot of fun on roleplaying themed board games too.. Especially free ones you can print and download online that dont have a book worth of rules

I've been eating cheap low calorie meals for about 3 months now and figured I'd share what's actually been working since most of the things I see online are actually really expensive or taste just awful lol.

My best meals right now: egg white scramble with whatever vegetables are about to go bad in my fridge (usually under 200 calories and cost really low), ground turkey with rice and salsa, it’s like $2 a serving, greek yogurt with frozen berries when I don’t want to cook but still want something tasty and the best is just a massive bowl of soup, i make a big pot of chicken vegetable soup on sunday and eat it all week for like $8 total.

The main thing I understood is that volume matters more than anything when you're doing low calorie meals on a budget. A huge bowl of food with a lot of vegetables and protein is usually much cheaper and keeps you full for much longer than a small meal from some fitness influencer’s insta for like 14$ a meal.

What's your best cheap low calorie meals? I'm always looking to add more to the rotation because I'm getting bored of the same 4 things lol.

My parents are still giving us allowance despite being adults since most of us are still not graduating. Among my daily spending, I had a hard time dealing with and managing my groceries and food allowance the most. Bills are easy for me to manage since some of them are fixed (except for electricity). But for food, it depends. I only have 2,000 a month for groceries (not in USD), but in this economy??? Most people buy groceries for 2k a week HAHAHHA. How should I survive with my 2k food allowance?

I am trying to figure out the stock movements. I noticed some guys give tips for getting a candlestick chart but they seem to all differ.

Is there like some one and true best placard? Or are there any sort of articles, tutorials, guides that I could read and take notes off myself?

For now just buying some stocks is on a halt since I need to learn how to see into the future. These placards seem like a handy way to get into the flow of spotting those candle motions.

Do you use cheat sheets yourself when reading stocks? I only did overviews from Tradingview for my picks but I winged a few stocks and turns out I spotted them right. Wanna see if I got a keen eye for stocks..

Or is it all just BS to follow these, and its a gamble at the end of the day? I dont have Elon being the front man of the stocks I bought, so feeling lucky without volatility so far haha

P.S. The placard is just an example. I seen another one with a bull and bear icons on the sides listing way more different patterns but cant find it. Please send it my way you happen to stumble on some better placard of them..

I've been trying to figure out the best way to save for a house and I think I've read too many articles at this point because now I'm more confused than when I started. I'm in my late 20s, renting with my boyfriend, and we're trying to actually make a plan this year. We can realistically put aside maybe $500-600 a month combined. I've read that a HYSA is the move for a down payment since you don't want market risk on money you'll need soon, but then other people swear by I-bonds or even just a brokerage account if your timeline is 3+ years.

I cannot tell if the best way to save for a house changes depending on how far out you are from actually buying. Our timeline is probably 3-4 years which feels like it falls in this awkward middle zone where nothing applies cleanly.

Has anyone navigated this recently? Did you stick to a HYSA the whole time or mix in something else?

So as the title suggests I need to figure out how to clean shoes at home because I wore my white air force 1s to a music festival like an idiot and you can imagine how they look now. mud, grass stains, something sticky on the side that I genuinely cannot identify. theyre only 2 months old and cost me $120 so Im not ready to give up on them yet but I have zero experience cleaning shoes properly.

I already made the mistake of throwing a pair of white sneakers in the washing machine a few years ago and they came out warped. googled how to clean shoes at home and now Im more confused than before because some people say toothpaste, others say baking soda paste, others swear by magic erasers, and then theres people saying all of those will destroy the leather in the finish.

Has anyone actually found out a good way how to clean shoes at home? and more importantly is there anything I should absolutely avoid using? I dont want to find out the hard way lol.

Figured id share since i was completely lost on this a year ago. i had zero credit history and spent way too long researching the best credit cards for beginners so hopefully this saves someone time.

Ended up going with the discover it secured card as my first one. put down a $200 deposit, used it for gas and groceries only, and paid it off in full every month. nothing fancy. after 8 months discover automatically upgraded me to an unsecured card and gave my deposit back.

My credit score went from nothing to 720 in about 10 months just from that one card. the cash back match thing discover does in the first year is a nice bonus too, basically doubles whatever you earn back.

The biggest mistake i almost made was applying for 3 cards at once because some reddit post said "more accounts build credit faster." glad i didnt because every application is a hard pull and with no credit history youd just get denied and tank your score before it even exists.

If youre starting from zero just get one beginner card, use it for small purchases, pay it off every month, and be patient. thats literally it. no need to overthink which is the best credit cards for beginners when you have no credit history to qualify for the good ones anyway.

i've been trying SO hard to reduce food waste lately, my friend shamed me for throwing out an entire bag of spinach that went slimy in 3 days, i bought it with good intentions i swear.
i started writing everything on a whiteboard so i remember what's in the fridge and it worked for two weeks but then life happened and i forgot about a whole rotisserie chicken just sitting there.
i spend like $200 a month on groceries and probably throw out $40 of it which is embarrassing to admit. also, cooking for one person makes reducing food waste so much harder because every recipe is for like 4-6 servings..
has anyone actually figured this out or is it just a willpower thing?

I had an interesting experience. I was out with some friends and invited over a coworker to join us for some drinks. She wasnt doing much so seemed like shes been lonely. Anyways, we hit it off quite well, chatting up, drinking, though then I mentioned the lady from work how much I had saved, and while she was a tad bit tipsy she sort of laughed off the savings I had. She had some savings from her relatives herself so I get it that she didnt get the hell I went through to have what I have, though felt poor like I havent felt in a while. Always felt like Im doing quite well compared to how life was for me but seems like nope. Probably this is why some say never ask a man his salary. That questions gonna haunt you for weeks. Got me wondering if I didnt save enough for a comfortable future

So anyways, how much do you think one should have by 30s?

Stuff like coins, post stamps, even bills.. Do you think such investments are decent?

I feel like this is close to collecting precious metals. They dont lose value and the historic context makes it worthwhile. Albeit seems like this would be a saving plan for a future generation to enjoy, or even for my grandkids if I manage that long haha. I already been collecting coins and stamps since I was around 8, so its close to being two decades old by now. Humble at first but now I got several albums worth of coins

What do you think?

Sidenote, should I even look at Pokemon cards? Looks like a hot market, though I feel like it has no historic influence apart from being hyped by kids and collectors alike