Saving money without pain or effort? Yes, it’s possible with these apps | Page 2 | General financial discussion | Discussion forum

I am saving into their high interest savings account. I can't remember what the interest was but it was pretty good. Koho is especially useful with round up though because it instantaneously removes the cents and puts it in a separate account so you don't notice that the money is leaving. Perhaps i'll report at the end of the year how much money I accumulated. I actually just started a week ago (just before the Carrick article).

When I think about why I am using round up it is because I want to save more. If tricks are going to make me save more, then I will do it. Why not?

Loonie

I also think Vatox is right that it's high time we insisted they learn. What is the point of keeping them in school for so many years if they don't learn these basic life skills?

To say you're saving $2.50 on this scheme is ultimately a poor strategy, but it may be a step for some. The fact that I can't think of anyone may not matter.  

Somehow I think these apps like the Ontario schools Discovery Math Learning:-) They are trying to make savers to discover the savings (accumulation). Lol.

I don't think schools have anything to do with it, I doubt many if any of the folks on here who are good savers are so because they learned it at a school. To me it's genetic, you can see big differences even among siblings in the same family. Some folks just are frugal, others are more spendy - always been and always will be, is my guess.

Bill said
I don't think schools have anything to do with it, I doubt many if any of the folks on here who are good savers are so because they learned it at a school. To me it's genetic, you can see big differences even among siblings in the same family. Some folks just are frugal, others are more spendy - always been and always will be, is my guess.  

It's true that some people are naturally more frugal than others, and I am one of them.

BUT the tools I use today are the tools I learned in school 50-60 years ago.

There's quite a difference between being a somewhat carefree spender and not knowing how to figure out your debts, assets, percentages and interest rates. Almost everyone can learn these things, given the requirement to do so and the appropriate education.

I would have thought that those of you who are so concerned about the indebtedness of Canadians would be interested in making sure everyone learned these basics.

christinad said

I'm really amazed that people on this board don't know basic personal finance principles. Pay yourself first is a cornerstone of personal finance and it is nothing more then a trick to get people to think they have less money to spend then they actually do just like round up is. …

Unfortunately, it is you who has not kept up to date with developments in personal finance.

In chapter "A Worthwhile Hassle" of his second book The Wealthy Barber Returns, David Chilton describes why that hasn't worked since the 1990's. With lines of credit, especially home-equity ones with interest-only payments, and low-rate credit cards, some people realized they actually didn't have less money to spend after paying yourself 10% first!

Consequently, people, who were never really savers, ended up with impressive RRSP's that are eclipsed by even more impressive line of credit balances.

The same applies to those Canada Savings Bond payroll programs. If one is a saver, then one will end up ahead with actual net savings. If one is not, then one will end up with a $1,000 CSB that paid 5% at the time, being eclipsed by an $1,500 increase in credit card balances that costs 19%.

I've read a lot of recent articles that still say to pay yourself first is the best strategy.

In any event, people can do what they want. My main concern is that friends and family have saved enough and that i feel i am savings as much as i can. If others want to run up a line of credit they can be my guest.

I suspect that the reason "tricks" are popular but don't get you very far is precisely because they are designed to help a person to fool themselves rather than to come to grips with reality and learn something.

I have the same mindset as Loonie, I pay the bills, buy necessities, and the rest goes into savings. I might buy an item or two, using my savings, when I want something special. I’m quite sure that my savings under this format is higher than my alternate reality double that uses the “pay yourself first” method. This is because the “pay yourself first” method requires you to set aside an amount FIRST and it’s likely to be low as people want to buy stuff with rest after they feel good about paying themselves $100. Loonie and I look at what’s left before we decide about discretionary spending. And since I like looking at the money in the bank, I’m quite sure my “pay myself second” method gets a higher savings rate than my alternate reality twin.

Loonie, from reading your posts over the years I'm pretty sure you'd have figured out how to save even without learning what to do in school many years ago! (What's there to learn? For saving, there's savings accounts and GICs, done.) I was a paper boy at a very young age and naturally (some credit to parental modelling too) just opened a bank account and starting putting my money in it (after spending a liberal amount every week on candy at the "Smoke Shop"), and then later found out about GICs, that's about it. And lots of other folks did the same. And that was before all the online info today.

I think a lot of folks claim they need more "awareness", information, education, just as a way of procrastinating from doing the thing they already know needs to be done. And as far as learning to save at school, Vatox, I think they're teaching the opposite:
"You go to school and you learn to read and write,
So you can walk into the county bank and sign away your life."

Joe said

I just had my 3rd Starbucks of the day....didn't really want it, but took pleasure in knowing it pissed some people off.  

Hahahaha!
I just spit my coffee out laughing at that!
Thanks Joe 🙂