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What percent of your income to you save, spend, versus invest?

Do you invest in the stock market?

How much do you earn?

What is your job title?

What kind of bad spending habits do you have?

What do you waste too much cash on?

I tick most of the boxes for a shopping addiction. I have little impulse control. I tend to spend money on little purchases like food or drinks or candy, or trinkets and plushies. My paycheck is usually gone within just a couple days and I have had a habit or borrowing money from family and sometimes coworkers to get stuff when I'm hungry or thirsty at work. Trying to quit it.

I'm a customer service associate, I run the service desk, act as a supervisor to cashiers, etc.

I live with my girlfriend & we're both disabled & on various benefits so I don't really have a job tittle except for being classified as her caretaker/live-in-aid so my income won't screw-up her benefits.

Last year my Social Security Disability was a little less than a thousand a month & thanx to the COLA(that does NOT keep up with the real inflation) my income this year is a little more than a thousand.

I don't have the income to invest & I'm not able to affording saving any money. I try to be conservative with my spending but I probably spend more than I get.

This year my Xfinity(Cr@pcast) bill is about $210 & our Verizon cellphone bill is about $150.
I'm paying $25 a month for two credit cards I defaulted on a couple years ago which is $50 total; long story.
I'm also paying the minimum payment for PayPal credit which is $30 a month; I've always been in good standing with that account but one of the cards I defaulted on was a PayPal card so PayPal canceled my PayPal credit account due to me being high risk for nonpayment which is understandable.

My other expenses can not really be budgeted monthly.
I buy a lot of supplements online that me &/or my gf take.
I buy over-the-counter meds that we sometimes take like Sudafed & cough syrup.
I also buy a few prescription meds online that I can not get prescribed to me which cost quite a bit of money but I'm usually only buying every few months.
I regularly walk to the nearby Walgreens & grocery store to pick up prescribed meds for me & Cass, & to get a few essential things that don't last between our bigger shopping trips.
I sometimes pay a bit for our groceries when we do bigger shopping trips; Cass's food-stamps got reduced this month due to Covid increase expiring so I'll have to start paying more.

The main way I waste money is by buying LOTS of snacks for the both of us that we pig-out on I'm trying to cut down on that for our health & cuz I cant really afford it.
I occasionally waste money by paying for me & Cass to eat-out; at least we do that less than we used to.
I occasionally waste a little money on Kickstarter like campaigns for comedy singers/musicians.
I occasionally waste a bit of money buying things for my collections like my knife/blade collection which has various other things like brass-knuckles, & also crystal skulls at least I buy these things a lot less than I used to.

I really should start trying to look for a part-time job soon cuz I hate being in debt & not being able to afford some things we kinda need. Plus working could potentially be good for my health in various ways. Rite now I'm trying to get in better shape. I did a few chores the last couple days that I've been putting off for a LONG time. Cass only asked me to do one while she's spending a couple nights with a family member & it made sense to do other stuff 1st. That's major progress for how I've been for a long time.

Not sure what percentage I save, but it's a lot. I invest and am surprisingly good at it for someone who's always been terrible at Math. I hate spending money and can't now anyway, because I'm out of a job.

I dont spend any income . I invest all my allowance. The small family oil company that I am apart of makes over six figures a year in profit.Right now I am not getting paid for that.We are just reinvesting the money into growing our business for new deals and stuff.We have a lot of cash in a company bank account. I make about 6,000 a year in dividends. I am a long-time stock market investor.I started investing in the stock market when I was a freshman in high school.I still have my first stock.I invest in large blue chip stocks like Apple, Coca-Cola, Altria, Exxon, Chevron, Walmart.I also invest in index funds.I also have a little bit of silver just for grins. I dont waste any money.I am reinvesting all my dividends into buying more shares.But really I prefer investing in oil wells to the stock market. I am the President/CEO at my family's small business.I invested in a small ranch as a family with my dad and its been a great investment.I have a couple growth stocks that dont pay me to own them like Amazon and Meta.My income is way down compared to what it was when I graduated college.

First finance is a special interest of mine, but I will try to be specific about the questions asked

What percent of your income do you save, spend, versus invest?
before 2009 about 1000K in total savings. 2005 graduated HS, 2005-2006 summer job, 2006-2007 full-time missionary in Spain, 2008 college and odd job couldn't save much.

* (Jan) 2009 -2010 50% savings/ investing (mostly investments)
*2010-2011 40% I dropped my savings rate to pay for my wedding since I was engaged
*2011-2018 30% TSP/457b
*2012-2018 11%~ really bad pension I had no choice on this one.
* 2019 -present 23% 401K and HSA(7%) but the HSA unfortunately has been used a lot due to my sons' health.

Do you invest in the stock market?
I don't do individual stocks, but I do mutual funds and ETFs. I also have some limited real-estate exposure.

How much do you earn?
2009-2012 ~40,000
2012 - 2017 36,000
2018 43,000
2019 53,000 (first part) 73,000 (october onwards)
2020 ~73,000
2021 ~76,000
2022 ~80,000
2023 $103,000 (USA)

What is your job title?
Senior Design Engineer

What kind of bad spending habits do you have?
eating out for lunch. Buying soda. One of my special interests runs me about $350 a year.

What do you waste too much cash on?
soda. eating out.


I am quite willing to discuss this ad nauseam so feel free to ask me more. I just don't want to clog up the thread.

I’m 70 years old and retiring this year as a Computer Programmer.

I have already made personal financial changes to fit better in a fixed income retirement environment.

My autism keeps my interests very narrow, so I am content just doing my own thing and letting the world pass me by.

Since the house mortgage was paid off 10 years ago, I’ve been saving about 30% of my take-home pay. About US$1000/month. It slowly accumulates in my checking account until I eventually invest the excess money in stock market index funds and ETF’s on an investment bank website (I don’t have a private broker and don’t pay fees or commissions). I don’t buy individual stocks. I’m not wise enough (or brave enough) for that.

I don’t have monthly subscriptions for cable TV or phone connections to my house. I’ve been using the internet connection at work for my personal email, shopping, and banking. I don’t go on social media sites.

This spring I had internet installed in my house (since I won’t be going to work anymore). It is a bare bones internet only plan for a teaser rate of $10/month for the first year. Next year it will go up to the regular price of $25/month.

I don’t think I have any bad spending habits (anymore). I own my house and car free and clear. I don’t have any debt. I don’t subscribe to any internet streaming websites (Netflix, Hulu, Apple-TV, HBO, etc.). except for Amazon Prime (and I use it mostly for deliveries, not streaming). I hate to travel, and I don’t eat out. I exercise at home, so I don’t have a gym membership. I wear the same thing every day, so I don’t spend much money on attire. Until I started writing this down I didn’t realize how boring my life must seem to others.

I use a prepaid smartphone plan (Tracfone) that costs about $12/month. I don’t need a lot of data or minutes.

I’m old so I can’t eat junk food anymore (which was always my biggest waste of money). I cook all my meals according to the Mediterranean diet. I try to use organic food when I can afford it, but I don’t consider that a waste of money at my age.

I don’t have any chronic old age medical problems (so far) so my medical expenses are very low on a monthly basis. I have no dependents (not even pets or houseplants).

I consider myself a fortunate autistic person who didn’t even try to take advantage of most job opportunities because somehow I knew I couldn’t handle the “social” requirements or expectations. I learned in my teenage years that I had difficulty with people, but I didn’t figure out it was autism until age 67.

well if you can get yourself a small broker account and put alittle into it .. if you feel more later , If you do an index fund , dow jones types stuff and leave it and have enough discipline to forget about it , it should grow and pay a nice retirement when older ,have been told several times. But beware do not take extra invest advise to invest into new hotel developments regardless of what resort island they might be on . Found that to be a nasty scam hurt all my funds . very badly. Just leave it in a index fund.& forget. And the Texas money man made some good advise I think?

Try to save as much as you can..& beware the thrift store addiction, especially around clothes and gadgets.
This is not to say they do not save you money .
invest in health : best investment you can make ..better to invest in learning about your own physiology.
Self Education, one of best investments.in general....
Foods these days are not as vibrant as when your younger, Supplements might be high but very good investment.
Ignore RDA recommendations for quantity of supplements. .?something to make a special interest out of?
Also investing in good quality food , ( think food as medicine) several u tubes and. books on it .
And equally important: try to care for yourself ,by once in awhile be nice to yourself,A book , a gadget,a day at the movies and a meal of somekind, just not too often ,it will pay dividends to your mental health .

Never earned enough to save anything. I've supported my partner for 20 years and my daughter for the last 9. We've never lost our home or not had anything to eat but we pretty much scrape by. Usually there's at least a couple of tight days at the end of the month before the next paycheck arrives.

Never invested in the stock market. Wouldn't know where to start and have never had cash to spare.

I earn below the national average and always have done. My takehome has increased a bit in the 23 years I've been working but costs have gone up far more so it's been a gradual lowering of living standards.

Currently I'm a freelance writer.

I'm not great at managing money. Occasionally I get large (for me) lump sums of extra cash but they tend to get spent immediately settling up outstanding bills, clearing credit cards or buying big ticket items that we've been needing and managing without for a long time.

I binge eat so when I'm not doing so well I spend a lot of money on extra food. I don't waste big lump sums, it's a small daily outlay of £5-£10 that adds up over time.

In a former life:
7% to 401K (with 3% match from employer)
10% per paycheck to savings

Currently:
10% to SEP IRA
And I don't make enough for liquid savings anymore. My partner's life insurance payout is my emergency buffer.

Bad spending habits are... just... being unaware of my spending. I did a lot of void-filling with rocks/crystals/minerals at the start of the year. Probably spent over a thousand before all was said and done. Put a stop to that by deleting my TikTok. Now I'm doing hardcore budget tracking with Excel. If I don't want to write it down, I don't buy it.
I just want to make enough to survive. I don't really want anything anymore, heh.

What percent of your income to you save, spend, versus invest?
spend 60% save 30% (for house deposit currently) invest 10%

Do you invest in the stock market?
i only invest in mutual funds and crypto atm. with the way things are going in the economy right now, I'm hesitant to buy stocks

How much do you earn?
last years tax return was 50k before tax

What is your job title?
environmental services (glorified janitor)

What kind of bad spending habits do you have?
ebay auctions and i cannot pass on a good deal even if i dont need it

What do you waste too much cash on?
uber eats
ebay

Retired, collecting SS.
Saving days are over; have enough saved up to retire anywhere in the USA.

Buy clothes I don't need.

Worked a six figure job for nearly 25 years.
Never had one dollar of savings.

I have investments but they aren't from savings.

I'm a single mum of three with over half a million in legal debt against DV.
I also have a mortgage.

I'm about $2K short every month, which goes to more debt.

I'm officially retiring in February and it will be status quo.

Spending habits: I don't buy anything that we can't eat.

I save as much as I can, simply by not buying much. Food is the biggest expense.

I don't invest in the stock market, I'm too scared.

I earn about $360 per fortnight plus Centrelink payments.

Because of Covid, I got a job sanitizing offices, a reception area and a huge kids gym at a place that specializes in children's therapy. So I'm a cleaner.

I buy too many things on eBay, recently it's been postage stamps.

Buying takeaway food seems to be a waste of money. Even worse is buying lunch at cafes. They cost a fortune.

Right now I'm a housewife and my husband generally handles money. I do have full control of everything and buy whatever I need without asking him. We've been together for so long that we trust each other on handling money. Plus it seems like we have very similar money preferences to start with anyway. Money is something we have never argued about in the last 28 years, whether we have it or not.

He does the investing but I don't think he's very good. I think we save about 20%. Anyway I don't fret about gaining or losing money too much. It seems to be a character I was born with. Oh no I wasn't born rich. We lived in a communist country and everyone was dirt poor. I just didn't ask my parents for anything. I didn't even like candy. I didn't seem to have the feeling of envy so other people having more stuff didn't bother me. If they lent me a toy I'd play with it and return it later, feeling truly grateful that I got to use it.

I'm generally careful with money so I never buy things I can't afford. I do squander some money on hair stuff and jewelry and video games. I know many women who can spend more getting their nails done than all my hobby expenses and I don't feel so bad.

Percentages vary depending on my level of discipline as well as the ups and downs in my variable income.

I haven't invested in stocks for over 6 years. Maybe I should invest in something.

Hard to say, really. My income has been wildly variable over the years vs. static and stable. I've earned as little as $150/mo and have also had single days where I earned more than $1000. My last small contract before Christmas grossed me $2500 after expenses, which worked out to $67/hr even though I was working rather slowly & meticulously. Sometimes I work for some other guy for $25/hr cash, other times for a different guy for $40/hr cash Or 50% of the profits on a job etc. This past year has been more spending than earning as I didn't work a lot. Time to change that up come the new year.

Currently been plying my trade as a drywall finisher. I smear drywall mud with trowels and knives and sand it ready for paint. Also been exploring a potential side gig project's feasibility. Might get a job again in the new year - maybe drywall finishing, maybe film set building.

Bad spending habits = giving any amounts of money to drug addicted friends. Obviously they don't buy food with it. Also probably spend too much on restaurant/take out food the last few months. And alcohol from liquor stores; I don't Need to have a daily drink or two and have been cutting back since it's costly and detrimental to health. I tend to drive a lot so quite a bit goes in the gas tank.. some of that is wasteful I suppose, but at least I drive my most fuel efficient vehicle most often. Some might think I'm nuts for spending 5 grand on kiteboarding gear at the end of last Summer, or 4 grand on motorcycle stuff. Others might think I'm nuts for the $ I've spent buying original paintings from everyone's favourite local artist, too - several hundred dollars for the ones I've kept for myself vs. ones I've gifted.