We mostly follow several basic "rules"

1) We save something from every single paycheck, even if it is only $5.

2) Neither of us carry more than a few dollars cash. Everything is purchased with a credit card and the receipts are logged into an excel spreadsheet daily. We always know exactly what we will owe when the statement comes, and it will be paid in full.

3) No purchases on credit. If we can't afford it, we save until we can pay for it.

4) We have a 2nd savings account where we save for property taxes, insurances etc. Just to be safe, we add 10% to the cost of the item divide the amount by 12 and save that amount every month. No matter what. For example, if we paid $500.00 for our homeowners insurance this year, we would plan on needing $550 for next year and would save $46.00 each month.

Don't spend money on junk. It all adds up.

I do all the things listed in the article except the email one. The hard part is paying off debt while saving up for the next round of something that might cause debt. Well, for me, that's the hard part.

I have always been practical with money. I lived in a state of anxiety over money during the broke college years and I developed management skills that served me well as my income increased over time. I don't do it all myself but have professionals that I use and trust. Still, I keep a tight eye on it.

Ever since I was a kid in grade school, I've had a savings account. There have been many times when there wasn't a very decent balance in the account, but there's always been something.

Since 1981 when Hubs and I bought our first house together, I've had a second savings account for property taxes. An automatic deduction from my checking account goes into that PT account every month, and it's more than enough to cover the property tax bill each year.

Hubs and I both retired from the State of California with pensions and Social Security. We paid off the mortgage on our current house earlier this year. My car is fully paid for (I was always at least three payments ahead on it and paid it off last year), but Hubs has a car payment (he got a new car last year). Other than his car payment and utilities, we have no ongoing bills. Both of us use credit cards but pay the balances off in full each month. I get my Social Security on the second Wednesday of each month. It's automatically deposited into my checking account, and then I transfer it into savings (a different savings account than the one for property taxes). Hubs gets his SS on the fourth Wednesday of each month, and transfers it into savings, too. Our health insurance premiums (Medicare as well as our Medicare Supplement Plan) are paid for by the State as a retirement benefit. We are lucky in that our supplement plan is so good that we have zero out-of-pocket costs for health care, other than copays for prescriptions. I had surgery in November 2017 and a cardiac stent in March of this year. Zero out-of-pocket.

If Hubs dies first, I will receive his full pension each month in addition to my own. If I die first, Hubs will receive my full pension each month in addition to his own. The only thing the surviving spouse won't get is the Social Security. He receives more each month in SS than I do, but I receive more than half of the amount he receives.

I know we are blessed and we do donate a lot to charity each year.

Lindsey a small something you need to check on unless your SS mention is a typo. Currently when a spouse dies the remaining spouse can receive but they must ask for it the higher of the SS payments. You can not receive both.

Yes, Maifleur, I knew that a surviving spouse cannot receive both their own and the deceased spouse's benefit. And you're right - I was wrong in thinking that I would only be eligible for one-half of the amount that Hubs gets from SS. As a surviving spouse, I could get 100% of what he receives. But if I die first, he would just keep getting his own SS because he gets more than I do.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Although, hopefully, I won't ever need that info!

One of the things I strongly disagree with is debt consolidation loans before you can manage your spending. Many that obtain these without reducing their spending will need additional debt consolidation loans in the future.

I would also suggest a "mad money" account for each person. It could start with a few dollars but it will lessen marital strife. It allows people to splurge without guilt. In our case it was my husband paying bills for his children. For me it was plants and travel.

Lindsey we both hope you will never need but being my age I have known spouses that were not aware of this or thought they would continue to receive both.

No debt. Pay cash for everything. When we got married, bought our first piece of land, owner financed. Since then we lived mostly on cash basis. Financed a few things but that was years ago. If we don't have the money, we don't buy it. My husband's work is mostly seasonal. We get by better by not having debt. May not work for everyone but does for us.

Well for me it goes waaaay back. I purchased my first car with money from my paper route. Started going to a community college while still in high school, paid for with my paper route money. Then a Pell Grant for college, no debt.

Dh & I accepted an offer from his father; if we rebuilt the engine in his old 61 Chevy truck, it was pink/dented/ugly, needed tires, a battery & the front end rebuilt, we could have it. We did. Named her Jenny. Then we always had a spare vehicle, never needed a car loan, we just drove the spare when one was broken down.

I think starting life with no debt gave us a head start.

Both DH and I have been frugal, have saved lots of money while working (for many years, we were saving 40% of our income) and invested it well so we have a nice nest egg on which we've retired, as well as pensions and IRAs. I think it's fortunate as strains can come when couples have different money personalities. We have never run a budget as we've never felt a need to spend it just because we have it. Rather the default position is don't spend.

We don't buy something on a whim. Impulse buying can be a big negative. There's a reason why our 'new' car is 10 yrs old, our other vehicles are 19 yrs and 17 yrs, and that doesn't include our jeep which is a '48. We investigate a lot before we make a major purchase and shop around to get a good price.

Another thing we've always done is ate at home. When you add up even the cost of a cup of coffee and a donut every day vs. eating at home, it's a lot. When working, we always packed our lunch. If we eat out, it's probably once or twice a month, vs. other people who make it several times a week.

The one area where we splurge is on vacations. Those are experiences you have for a lifetime and are worth every penny.

Live below your means until you have saved enough to live to age 100 within your means.

Know when you've saved enough for your old, old age. Don't continue to live below your means 'just because'.

(This presumes that a person has enough means TO save -- and the discipline not to start spending on depreciating assets the first moment you have 'extra' -- failing to plan for 'later'.)

Maifleur said, "Lindsey we both hope you will never need but being my age I have known spouses that were not aware of this or thought they would continue to receive both."

Oh, I knew there was no way to continue to receive both of our SS payments if Hubs died first. I knew that he would simply continue to receive his own if I die first, but I was mistaken in thinking that I would only be entitled to half of his SS if he dies first, and since half of his is less than all of mine, I would just keep getting mine. Nice to know that I would get all of his SS (and none of mine) if he dies first, but, honestly, the difference in amounts, although nothing to sneeze at, isn't going to make or break me.

ChiSue said, "Live below your means until you have saved enough to live to age 100 within your means."

Although our gross annual income was reduced by just under $28,000 when we retired, our net annual income went up by a little over $29,000. And with increases since then, our net annual income is even higher now than when we retired. Add to that the fact that we no longer have a $1,500 per month mortgage payment... we're doing ok.

To answer your question "are you good with money?, no. Fortunately, between real estate and 401k, have met my retirement goal but this was not by any plan.

Also, tend to look for "deals" in everything I do. I think this is a left over from being poor in college.

We don't track anything. Dh is more frugal than I am, but I'm not too bad. We have excellent credit so we can use debt to our advantage if the rates are lower than what our investment accounts average, so we financed our house and cars because of low rates. We did a 15 year mortgage to save on interest and we will own it outright in 10 years. It's already gone up in value by nearly $200k in 5 years so it was a good investment (if it holds) even if homes here are way too expensive for what you get.

I should track my money better. I will watch here for ideas!

Yes

My credit rating is suffering because we have no debt. Boo hoo, think I'll just keep paying for everything in cash.

'My other piece of advice, Copperfield,’ said Mr. Micawber, ‘you know. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen [pounds] nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result: happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result: misery.'

--Charles Dickens

One of the interesting things I have learned is that as my credit rating goes up and down the insurance on my house and car also goes up and down. AAA in this area was sold to AAA of California but before the change when I paid off the house my credit rating dropped 5 points. It was still over 800 but that drop keyed a 5% surcharge on the insurance. Next year when the rating was back to normal the surcharge was removed. The amount you pay as a deposit if you need to switch utilities will also be effected by your credit rating in most areas. While it sounds nice to only pay cash if you would need to borrow money for an addition to your house or major repairs you will find your interest rate is higher than if you used credit wisely.

Lindsey if you are still around and others. You must apply to SS if your spouses SS is more than yours and they die. It is not automatic. Last I read you will need to take a death certificate with you to apply.

Yes, out of necessity. If I can not pay cash for it, I can do without it.

All anyone has to do is pay a credit card off at the end of every month = Great credit score (it's based on percentage of credit you use that's available to you)

I also get cash back. I won't get rich off of my cash back, but it comes in handy.

I think that most personal management tasks, those that are financial as well as non-financial, are much more challenges of organization than aptitude. None of them are very hard to do but even an easy responsibility can look real hard or even impossible to accomplish if it's ignored or if problems result from inattention.

Too many people who think they're on top of their own financial affairs, including many who have commented here, may be ignoring what can be the most important part of their personal financial management.

Managing expenses and savings are fine but that's just half of the story. What are you doing to manage your income, the biggest number in the equation? Are you earning as much as you could be for the skills you have? Are there other jobs open to you that you could qualify for or train for to increase your income? Are there better opportunities from other employers or in other areas? Could you make more money to contribute to the family with a part time job?

I don't think a credit rating number is something to manage or pay attention to. Live how you want to live, do what you want to do. Pay your bills on time, live within your means, save for retirement, then your credit rating is what it is.

I think I understand what you're saying Elmer. You're saying there's too many things that we're looking at.

My life has been complicated by illness. Our responsibility is clear to us though; we will pay off our debt.

DH and I are in our early 60s so chances are slim that we will ever own our own home and have much of a savings.

We have done many of the things that have been advised already a long time ago as we didn't have money for things. So no new anything: cars furniture no travel except for short distances etc. And obviously no owner owned home. We rent.

As I mentioned in my cross post at home decorating conversations, (which I just realized I forgot to mention here. I'm sorry about that) cell phones has been the difficult thing to cost reduce as both DH and I are self employed and use those extensively for our jobs. Our cell phone fees here in BC at least are very high monthly no matter which thing you use. My plan is a pay-as-you-go one. I have the cheapest one. DH has now had to move to a more expensive one with a locked in plan as people send him big bits of information. Like plans for building homes.

Another thought is to get another person to rent out the spare bedroom to help offset the cost of our place which we rent.

We each have to have our own car as we go from client to client all day.

I wish I could figure out another Avenue of earning money but so far they have been complicated by our other constraints. We are very busy and both of us work very hard and are exhausted by the time we get home. We might have to do that however. I continue to try and I will continue to try to find more streams of money making.

Thanks again for everybody's thoughts!

I took that thought so deeply to heart elmer, I fought hard, and I mean hard for an increase in my wages (got it too) in recent time. Women aren't the best at telling their employer that they should be earning more, true, but they're not the best at giving it to us even when we ask. Go ask and then don't back down! You are worth it.

That is so true, Rob. I'm glad California recently made it illegal for employers to ask salary history and they are obligated to reveal the salary range when asked.

I started a job in 2011 and found out I was making $20k less than a man in the same role with the same responsibilities and similar experience. When I asked about it, I was told that I was paid so much less because of what I made at my previous job, which was in an entirely different state and job market and a lower cost of living. It was so unfair and luckily this law will help others to be paid a fair market rate.

I'm more lucky than good. Both DH and I were brought up frugal by necessity. I'm interested/good at managing small day to day spending, while DH is interested/good at managing big stuff. So together we're covered. If/when one of us dies, the other will have a bit of adjustment to make.

I read the opening article. It makes sense to me. My daughter is frugal by nature so is okay there, but could use help with a) investing her savings (start small, but start!), and b) investing in her own long-term career.

rob, you're 10X awesome!!!

Not managing one's job and income proactively isn't just a female thing.

"I think I understand what you're saying Elmer. You're saying there's too many things that we're looking at."

Not exactly. What I was saying, as demonstrated by so many previous comments, is that I think most people can't see the forest through the trees. The single biggest number in a person's or family's financial situation, and the one most people ignore, is income. It's all well and good to say "we do this every paycheck, and we put X% here or there", but wait, what is done to maximize income or improve what's called the "top line"? The answer is, usually nothing.

Hey, if you have to stretch to pay your bills, or manage spending tightly or if you'd like to have more than you do, don't focus solely on your spending, get more income!!!!

In your 60s, yeonassky, your situation is what it is. But even up through middle age years, as rob so well accomplished, there's a lot that can be done. The more limited and modest one's income and financial circumstances are, the more important this is to do.

No, it's not just a female thing but men are much more likely to ask for raises and negotiate. That, among other reasons, factors into why women are still paid less than men in general.

https://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133599768/ask-for-a-raise-most-women-hesitate

While there can be personality traits in any child, I think it often goes back to parenting and how parents may handle and nurture daughters differently than sons.

I don't think there are significant inherent gender differences as regards ambition, passivity or confidence if sons and daughters are treated the same and given the same opportunities. And when instilled with the same attitudes about themselves and taught to use their ability and initiative to achieve the lives they want to lead. That was our experience with our own kids, sons and daughters.

It's slightly peripheral but I wonder if you saw this article a few days ago in the NY Times. It's what we did and there were big results.

Girls are as capable as boys with math but may need encouragement

Back in the late '80s I did just as suggested. Set up an appointment, went in with solid numbers and got the raise. Payday came and I was down $5. Raise was enough to toss me into the next tax bracket.

But to answer question, yes I am good with money. Once a month Army pay, early in marriage, seems to have stuck with me and trivial expenses/payments don't seem as trivial when you quickly calculate them into monthly and yearly.

How would you lose money by going up a tax bracket? Each new bracket only taxes the income in the new bracket. Maybe it was different in the 80's?

You can do everything right, think you are good, being very careful about your spending and saving. But if you get hit by a catastrophic loss, or two, it brings a whole new look to your future and your finances. So believe me don't feel complacent! I hope no one is in those situations but unfortunately they do happen. And you find yourself living in a different world. We, thank God, are debt free except of course for the monthly bills. But we don't have the comfort zone /cushion and it's very worrisome at our age and with health issues. You just never know what your future holds.

As someone who has been flooded too, I agree raven. I think most people are one catastrophe away and don't realize it until something like that happens to them.

"How would you lose money by going up a tax bracket? Each new bracket only taxes the income in the new bracket. Maybe it was different in the 80's?"

You are correct, chi. The required employer wage withholding tables are "off" and always have been. Especially the federal income tax one. It's one of the reasons why so many people get refunds when they file their tax returns, they had too much withheld. Yes, it can be tweaked a bit by claiming more "exemptions" on the W-4 form, but most people have too much tax withheld from paychecks all the same (except for bonuses, often underwithheld upon).

The likely explanation to breen's case is that the added income jumped her periodic pay from one semi-variable amount to another. The withholding increase, if excessive, got refunded with her return filing. Or, employer non-tax payroll deductions for other items may have been stair-stepped and her cost changed with the raise.

In any event, the tax rate has never been anywhere close to 100%. More pay means more in your pocket, always.

I want to begin by hopefully diffusing any possible misunderstanding of this comment. I can't imagine what having a significant natural disaster loss experience is like and these words aren't intended to reflect any thoughts on such experiences one way or the other. I've lived through several severe earthquakes but without significant losses. This includes the 1989 Loma Prieta that caused >50 deaths and thousands of injuries. Besides the trauma of the moment, that event caused me a lot of personal inconvenience for several months and some superficial damage to my house but really nothing more. Dead is dead, those unlucky to be in unfortunate places suffered much more than personal inconvenience, of course, as did the thousands of people who lost their homes or other structures.

With that said, personal financial planning and management mostly doesn't include significant contingency planning for natural disaster losses other than getting insurance for what can be insured. And considering possible risks to help make prudent choices.

Adequate risk coverage, like life insurance for those with families, coverage for property replacement under various events and umbrella policies for liabilities come to mind. Except for insurance, few other than the very wealthy can self-insure for possible losses of these kinds. It isn't really something most can afford to do nor is it something that most need to consider.

No, I don't have earthquake insurance. Not that I could easily afford to rebuild (I could with a loan) but I don't think there's much likelihood of needing it. Decisions like that are what others need to consider.

We don't have earthquake insurance either. It's really expensive and it didn't make sense financially unless we expect our entire house to be leveled, which is unlikely with our fault proximity and modern building codes.

The house itself (at least ours) is less than 25% of our total lot value, with the land being far more valuable and not part of the earthquake policy. And we figure if the earthquake is so bad that our house and land are completely destroyed, we probably won't be around to worry about it!

I disagree about the importance of a good credit score. A high score allows you to have the flexibility to use the bank's money instead of your own. I have been at both ends of the financial spectrum due to DH 's terrible money management and organizational skills.

Because I grew both DH and my scores I was able to remodel a whole kitchen without paying a dime in interest. I use rewards to get the nickel and dime items needed. I currently enough Lowe's gift cards to purchase a new dish wisher or put a nice down payment on a new wall oven. Zero cost to me. Just buying things I would normally purchase anyway and putting it on my cards that I pay off in full monthly other than the promotional ones with zero interest. The key is to always know you have the backup funds to pay them off.

Our house is paid off and I always have enough cash to get us through a disaster. DH has not been able to work since the first of the year. It is unknown if he will return to work. Fingers crossed. However I have not only managed to pay all our bills off on time but have made it a new rule to live on only our Social Security income. Not only have I accomplished that but I have actually had SS funds left over at the end of each month. I haven't had to touch other income at all other than in the beginning which I have since paid back to ourselves plus some.

I just got another offer for zero interest 12 months no fee offer from an existing card in my "wallet". I want to get something for the house that will cost around 1200. That would be paying 100.00 a month. Given our situation I don't want to dip into our slush funds. I will probably pay the thing off in six months from income. The cash on hand is there to pay the electrician, the plumber, the repair guys etc. services.

Living frugally doesn't mean doing without. It means staying organized and managing what you do have wisely. It means living on what you have today, not what you think you will have and being prepared to live on less.

My house survived Loma Prieta without any damage. We really rocked and rolled with that one. Unforgettable. I worry more about fire than I do earthquake. Carrying general homeowners insurance with a good umbrella policy (liability) is what stands out for me. Some of the earthquake policies I've looked at have so many exemptions as to be useless.

I am shocked at how many people who rent don't carry renter's insurance. My daughter lost most everything she owned in an apartment fire. Having insurance got her navigating back to being able to recover her life much sooner than it would have. Of the 30 or more families affected at the time only two others had renter's insurance. Yes, 2 renters out of 30 or 40 units affected.

Agreed on renters insurance. It's so inexpensive, too! I think just a few dollars a month.

I think there are many people who live paycheck-to-paycheck and it's not due to living "high". Many earn barely enough to pay their mortgage/rent, utilities, health insurance and food. It's not a comfortable place to be! My late husband and I lived that way for many, many years as he was a secondary school math teacher and earned very little. He had two additional teaching jobs, and for several years, he also had Navy Reserve pay, plus I worked part-time. It was never quite enough no matter how careful we were.

Our lifesaver was a very low mortgage and falling interest rates. We were able to refinance our house and take enough out to pay off all our credit card debt (accrued doing exciting things like new batteries, tires, car repairs, medical expenses). It was a godsend! We never again owed a balance on our credit card, and yes, "singular" - I have only one, AmEx. I do have a Visa debit card if a merchant does not accept AmEx. It's a very, very good feeling to not have a balance on a credit card! If we hadn't had this, we would have sold our house when the children left for college, and used the money to pay off the credit cards. I'm very glad this was not necessary.

When I read about families of modest means taking their family to Disney World annually, I always wonder how on earth they can afford this. We could not have! And no, we did not have a huge mortgage on our house - it was a modest house with a very small mortgage. We rarely ate out and vacations involved staying with family and driving.

I'm a big believer in insurance. I have homeowners, high value personal property, auto, umbrella, Medicare supplement through Tricare for Life, and a small life insurance policy. I do not have longterm care as between my house and my IRA, there is plenty to pay for that unless I live to be 100! If I do, there are other resources now as well! I also do not have earthquake or flood insurance. It is very costly with a huge deductible and my risk is minimal - nothing in the 34 years I've lived here. I do have the kind of "flood" insurance that covers damage to my basement/contents in basement if water backs up through the floor drain, either due to inside or outside blockage. It's very cheap.

Most people in our country have been on a "binge" for many years now, living way beyond their means. I hear of young people with less than stellar jobs, talking about having $3500 a month mortgage payments. Yikes! I have more than they do and could not possibly afford that! They laugh about how many credit cards are maxed out but justify their spending by saying "everyone does it" or "i work hard - I deserve it". Most have little if anything saved for retirement. Even fairly wealthy people talk about how they have nothing saved for college - they're not really sure how they will pay for it - refinance their house, possibly, or invade their IRA or 401K. I'm not a Dave Ramsey fan - think he is a big extreme - but if more people followed at least some of his advice, they would be far better off financially.

Anglophila that water backup rider was one of the best things I ever decided on doing. However having used it last year I would have a minimum of at least 30-50K. My finished basement is now down to the studs but once I called the insurance company the called a company that they use to come clean everything out. I did not have to wonder who to call only did I want the walls completely taken down or only up to where the water had soaked into. Thankfully because of increases on my credit card I had enough room to place the charges above the insurance amount on it. Interest on cc was less that paying for it over time.

I am pretty good with money because I really don't have anything extra to play around with. I have a tax free savings account where an amount is deducted every month from my chequing account for emergency or vet bills as they arise. I have enough to pay for my monthly utility bills, house insurance and life insurance which I pay annually. My house is mortgage free and selling my rental house was the best decision I could have made even though I let it go for a song but I wanted rid of the hassle. I don't use credit cards and if I want to buy something I pretty much have to save up or cut back on something. It took me a year to save to get my washer and dryer installed in the kitchen after the flood. I don't need to buy things I don't really need, I don't smoke or drink or drive so my treat is going out for dinner or lunch somewhere. I am looking forward to when I turn 65 (haha not that i want to be that age) when I can start collecting my Old Age Pension. I started collecting my Canada Pension when I turned 60 instead of waiting until I was 65.

Thank you for more food for thought.

Although we do have renter's insurance I do wonder if it is worth the paper it is written on. I know of several couples who lost everything and hardly had any help getting things back. The renter's insurance companies were unwilling to pay them and hemmed and hawed until the money became almost meaningless. I'm not sure if Insurance here in Canada is more difficult but it certainly seems so for these people who had to put money up front for basic necessities on top of worrying about a roof over their head Etc. I hope I never have to worry about that. Knock on wood. which I just did :-).