[Rajat347]

Hi,

Always follow the 60:20:20 Rule.

So if one is earning 50K Rs per month then divide the amount in three parts i.e. 10K, 10K and 30K.
Throw the first 10K in another savings account and think that your only salary is 40K. This way the monthly budget is 40K. 30K should be reserved for monthly living essentials and 10K should be for recreation and shopping.
Budget is most important in order to achieve financial discipline.
Also the amount in the savings account should be further divided in 40:60. That means 4K should be invested in Equity MFs and 6K in FDs. FDs will help to beat the inflation at 6.5% rate of interest and MFs will help in long term wealth creation.

That.s what my Dad taught when I started by career way back in 2011 and believe me that really effective.

Every one wants a Luxuries life but always try to have a control on it. Whenever if one feels tempted by looking at latest electronic gadget ask yourself .
Do I Really Need it? Do I really Need it ? Do i really need it?
The answer will be no and you will end up not wasting money on it.
Do spend money for the luxury but always do this from your Passive Income.


I am staying in Park Street, Wakad, Pune. Our society has a car pool group for daily Hinjewadi commuting.
The distance range from 10KM to 14KM. We charge flat 40Rs for it. This way we socialize and save petrol expense at the same time.
Every monday i refuel my car with Petrol worth Rs 1000. As per car pool there are 3 more fellow passengers. Hence 40 * 3 = 120 Rs contribution per trip. 120*10 trips per week (Home to work and back). Hence people get a chance for safe and comfortable commuting and I got my Petrol Expense nullified.

[nisshith]

Lots of people have posted about keeping track of expenses, on that part I have been using ET money App on android to do it. If you are like me, who spends most of the money via cards/online payments. This app automatically logs all the information (using messages) and categorize them as well. It is very useful and easy to use, instead of painstakingly maintaining an excel or a note pad.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by nisshith

Lots of people have posted about keeping track of expenses, on that part I have been using ET money App on android to do it.

You do not need to use an app on regular basis. No need to complicate simple things. All we need to do is track expense for 3 months, take average, add a small % cushion to it in case we overshoot on some expense.

Divert rest of the fund to your emergency fund, big ticket purchase fund, fixed income investments, mutual funds, and equity investments (or any other) based on your situation.

Convert your annual recurring expense (insurance payments, school fee etc.) to monthly expense and put it in 1 or 2 RD based on the maturity time (month you need the fund).

[kousikjana]

One of my favorite topic. Here is what I do.

1. First I create a budget for the next year by using past/present/future data. Tracking expense on regular basis helps here.
2. (Income - expected expense) = Ready for savings (80% goes to investment account and 20% goes to emergency fund)

After securing my savings part I spent rest of the money guilt free. No hesitation there. And more importantly, I don't compromise with things that I and my family like.

But few things we don't like are:
1. DEBT/EMIs
2. Eating outside when we are not travelling
3. Using credit card/buying things for availing rewards/offer
4. Expensive cloths
5. Expensive gadgets
6. Expensive Vacation like going abroad when we have so many places to go within our state/country
7. Flying - Road trips are less expensive but more exciting
8. Buying things on peer pressure or just to impress others
9. In the end - Spending more that we can afford

[srini1785]

Nirvana at last !

Earn -> Spend -> Repeat

[evil_grin]

I keep it simple.

1. I auto invest a large fixed percentage of my salary in the beginning of every month.
2. I don't worry about saving money in the rest.
3. I spend on things that matter to me and not on other things.

That's it.

Of course, I also switched jobs a lot in the beginning of my career and worked hard to get into well paying companies.

[wheeledwanderer]

Here are few things I do on a day to day basis:

1.By experience I now know what items are cheaper in which supermakert. (For e.g. dals, Indian spices are cheaper in Lulu compared to Carrefour but Dettol or Comforter are cheaper in Carrefour)
2. I buy tissue paper, toilet rolls, mops etc from a local shop called Day to Day who mostly sell Chinese products. I think I don’t need quality tissues as it will go to drain hole anyways.
3. Book overseas vacation tickets at least 3-4 months in advance so we can save money.
4. I bring daily essentials like coffee powder, sugar, hand wash, soaps, clothing etc. from India when I travel.
5. Run car on Eco mode than sports mode to save on fuel.
6.Check for items on offer when visiting supermarkets.
7. Fly low cost airlines, use OYO or AirBnB where possible