Save 10 in 10

[Kramer10]

My husband and I recently switched to the envelope system and it has been working like a charm! My husband actually manages the budget for all of the large financial categories such as retirement, investing, vacation, auto, etc. I handle the budget for the day to day items such as food, household, clothing, and the like. When my husband allocates our funds into envelopes (electronic), he has an envelope for me in his system with the budget amount I use to run our household. I take the cash out of the bank and use my own envelope system to make sure I don't overspend in any of the categories I am responsible for. Well, in asking myself how I can make "more" money when we have more expenses than funds, the idea of being a better steward of what God has given me kept coming up. I started to set aside money each week last year in 2010 after asking myself questions like, "Do I really need that" or shopping with a list and really "trying" to stick to it. I managed to save $1000 last year just by putting away around $20/week. Of course, I didn't always do it each week. Sometimes I had overages and sometimes I was under. But, the average was $20/week. I figure, if I could do that for the next 10 years, I could have $10,000. I think a lot of times we get caught up in how to make an extra buck or even save an extra buck and then at the end of the day/week/year not really know what happened to it. I don't want that to happen to me anymore. If I'm going to work really hard to save it or even find an extra way to earn it, I'm going to make sure that it doesn't get saved one week just to spend it the next. I want to practice delayed gratification as well as living frugally. I also want young people to see that 10 years will go by whether you are budgeting, saving, or setting goals or whether you are not. I wish I would have started saving $20/week back when I was 20. I would have $20,000 right now! It's not about having the money, but about budgeting, discipline, and being a good steward of God's provision!

[4jacks]

Welcome to the boards Kramer,

Glad you and your husband found a budgetting method that works well for you guys. One thing about the $10,000 in 10 years, is that it does not account for any interest. It is very cool to think you can have a stash of $10,000 ten years from now, but that is if you stick it in a piggy bank. If you know you are saving for a long term, you can invest that money and earn interest!!

If you put your $1,000 in a bank now, continued to add $1000 a year, and earned 3.0% a year, in 9 more years you will have $11,768.65

If you invested in some really good mutual fund and earned 10% you would have $17,295.37

If you got a really hot stock tip and invested it all in a single stock that earned 30% you would have $52,224.00!!!!

But we all know that last scenerio is a little unrealistic and way too risky.

Here is a cool calculator to play around with:
http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator...calculator.htm

[Kramer10]

Thanks for the feedback. It is in the bank and I do intend to make it grow to more than 10K in 10 with interest. But for the sake of not making it over complicated, I just wanted to throw the concept out there for others to look differently at their financial habits! Thanks so much for your suggestions!

[yougothired.com]

Kramer- Great to see simple, yet sound advice that is based on disciplined action on a consistent basis. While investments certainly serve their purpose for anyone's long term financial goals... the ability to sleep knowing exactly what you put aside will still be there at the close of the market each day...priceless, right? Everyone needs to find that balance between "tried and true" and "keeping your fingers crossed". Much success.