A handy "trick" when saving for supplements.

[OnlyHuman]

I am a student and havinging to fork out for supplements sometimes can be a bit difficult.

I figured I share out my "system" on how I aproach it, if you are in the same shoe as me...

All you need is an empty wine bottle (or the like).

What i done is .... every time I get asked "Cash out?" at the supermarket or anywhere else I must say yes $5 or 10 (depending on how I am financilly at the time...) please and pop it in the bottle... overtime it accumulates pretty good. Once the bottle is full (enough) smash it and enjoy your time spent on complentating what protein, creatine or whatever else you like to get... 

I guess when you student you can still spare a fiver or tener at the time... easier than forking out for a whole tub anyways.

 

Just an idea anyways. The picture show my new bottle after devastating my old one a few days ago. I ended up with enough to get a sack of 4.5 whey+casein mixture and a big tub of NAR labs casein. Will post pix when turn up.... 

 

 

Enjoy...

 

[StussyNz]

Sounds like a good plan to me. When I was a Student I'd acutally create a spreadsheet planning my income and breaking it down into expenses etc; This allowed me to budget quite well for supplemenets.

Another thing I'd also recmmend when being a Student or just having low supplies of cash would be to Monitor the Daily deal sites; (www.nutritiondeal.co.nz; www.wheydeals to name a few).Purcashing obviously when great deals came up!

I'd also/still do follow most of the Supplement stores on Facebook in my area, this way I can see when they post that they are having specials/deals on certain supplements, this allows me to know when the sale is on to make sure I have a little extra cash to be able to stock up on needed supplies!

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

when i was a student i'd just work hard and leave the money in the bank where it accumulates interest and spend money only as needed not based on "ok i reached this much time to indulge".

 

this plan doesn't make any sense to me.. you are just withdrawing it from a safe, interest accumulating bank account to cash in a bottle where it could easily be stolen/misplaced/'borrowed'.

 

stashing it in a bottle can also encourage somewhat impulsive spending as once it's full according to your 'system' you smash it open and then thinking along the lines of "OK time to go see what I want to buy with this" rather than buy as you need.

 

what you can do is have 2 bank accounts for example an online only 'savings' type account and one for transactions with eftpost/debit card. as you work hard and earn money, it comes in to the transactions account and you just check it online say every fortnight and then and transfer what's not needed to the savings account. personally i dumped all the cash into the savings acc leaving only what was needed for bills like insurance/internet etc. in the transactions as well as small amount which I budgeted aside for each fortnight as food money. when it comes to shopping you just adopt a policy of "only go in to this shop because i need something and i know what it is" and keep a look out on supp companies sites/facebook pages for stuff that you regularly get such as protein.. stock up on it from your savings when its real cheap instead of "i'll buy whatever i can when i have $x" and you'll be beter off. eg. a while back i found a deal where 5lb tubs of whey were selling for only $50 each so got a few. work hard, save hard , shop smart, avoid the poverty student life *dance4*

[OnlyHuman]

when i was a student i'd just work hard and leave the money in the bank where it accumulates interest and spend money only as needed not based on "ok i reached this much time to indulge".

 

this plan doesn't make any sense to me.. you are just withdrawing it from a safe, interest accumulating bank account to cash in a bottle where it could easily be stolen/misplaced/'borrowed'.

 

stashing it in a bottle can also encourage somewhat impulsive spending as once it's full according to your 'system' you smash it open and then thinking along the lines of "OK time to go see what I want to buy with this" rather than buy as you need.

 

what you can do is have 2 bank accounts for example an online only 'savings' type account and one for transactions with eftpost/debit card. as you work hard and earn money, it comes in to the transactions account and you just check it online say every fortnight and then and transfer what's not needed to the savings account. personally i dumped all the cash into the savings acc leaving only what was needed for bills like insurance/internet etc. in the transactions as well as small amount which I budgeted aside for each fortnight as food money. when it comes to shopping you just adopt a policy of "only go in to this shop because i need something and i know what it is" and keep a look out on supp companies sites/facebook pages for stuff that you regularly get such as protein.. stock up on it from your savings when its real cheap instead of "i'll buy whatever i can when i have $x" and you'll be beter off. eg. a while back i found a deal where 5lb tubs of whey were selling for only $50 each so got a few. work hard, save hard , shop smart, avoid the poverty student life

For your information I do have two accounts including a saving account. I do budget and save. This is a "system" for spontaneous savings. I enjoy doing it this way and the constant visual reminder of my achivement that comes with it. It doesn't have to make sense to you, it is only an option that you can choose to do or not to do. I don't care either way ... 

[AZIDE]

i dont understand how people who are students say they are so poor. just make some money. work  part time or source and sell an in demand product below the cost that your competitors sell for.

the type of supplements youre talking about are a waste of money anyway. i havent had protein powder for the last 9 months and it really isnt necessary if you east enough meat etc. ill probabbly buy some again for convienience and because i like it but its unnecessary. almost all other shit is waste of $$. 

[OnlyHuman]

Before any more intelectually challenged member of the board decide to "chime in" plese read the title. It  is a "trick" not a the holly grail or the only true way of saving money...  

 

[Ben0]

 Not a bad idea! easy to put away 5 or 10 a week, and an awesome way of not being able to just grab it out of convenience! I sometimes wonder how students manage to afford sups/enough food

[pyro]

i dont understand how people who are students say they are so poor. just make some money. work  part time or source and sell an in demand product below the cost that your competitors sell for.

the type of supplements youre talking about are a waste of money anyway. i havent had protein powder for the last 9 months and it really isnt necessary if you east enough meat etc. ill probabbly buy some again for convienience and because i like it but its unnecessary. almost all other shit is waste of $$. 

Seriously? My missus is at uni 5 days a week, when shes not there shes studying, weekends she works, to which the government decides its worthy of "secondary income tax" She works harder than anyone I know, and doesnt have bugger all at the end of the week. Its not as simple as just work some more.

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

This is a "system" for spontaneous savings. I enjoy doing it this way and the constant visual reminder of my achivement that comes with it. It doesn't have to make sense to you, it is only an option that you can choose to do or not to do. I don't care either way ...

Before any more intelectually challenged member of the board decide to "chime in" plese read the title. It  is a "trick" not a the holly grail or the only true way of saving money...  

 

If you enjoy the visual reminder then 'trick' is really a good way to put it.

define : trick -  "Intended or used to deceive or mystify, or to create an illusion."

Again I apologize if it sounded like I was trying to offend or troll you why not try keep this discussion to a mature level? Using basic logic I came to the conclusion I rather keep my savings where they can grow (earning interest in the savings account).. withdrawing it is just counter productive to my goal in this case... I ask myself why would I even keep a savings account with the bank if I'm gonna try to save money by keeping the cash at home? If that makes me intellectually challenged then so be it *wacko* I might be loony as hell but at least I'll save more $$ with less effort.

Also FYI if you are advising legit poor students to withdraw cash to 'save' then end of the week some of their automatic payments (rent, internet, insurance) are gonna bounce lol.

 

i dont understand how people who are students say they are so poor. just make some money. work  part time or source and sell an in demand product below the cost that your competitors sell for.

the type of supplements youre talking about are a waste of money anyway. i havent had protein powder for the last 9 months and it really isnt necessary if you east enough meat etc. ill probabbly buy some again for convienience and because i like it but its unnecessary. almost all other shit is waste of $$. 

Seriously? My missus is at uni 5 days a week, when shes not there shes studying, weekends she works, to which the government decides its worthy of "secondary income tax" She works harder than anyone I know, and doesnt have bugger all at the end of the week. Its not as simple as just work some more.

Yeah what he said is a lot easier said than done, maybe he's some kind of entrepreneur/business tycoon? Sourcing in-demand products and undercutting competitors to make profit from bulk sales hmm doesn't sound like something I'd have time for as a full time student especially at post grad level. Also I feel her pain it's really kind of shit actually earning a living while studying and then getting slammed with extra tax to go with it because you worked too much you'd think they prefer people like us over the ones who go uni for the party life and live off govt. benefits.

[Pseudonym]

I can understand the attraction of smashing open a piggy bank. I don't think it's being suggested as a replacement for a savings account.

It just seems like a good way to find the cash for the fun, non-essential stuff. And you'd never quite know how much you were going to win. Kind of like buying a Lotto ticket, but with a 100% return gauranteed.

I still remember opening my cash box as a kid, and finding a $100 note in there. It was a total surprise to me, and I decided it must have been caused by a lucky feather which was also in the box. Then I outgrew my little piggy bank and I think the feather was thrown out. Hmm, perhaps that's why I'm broke now.

[OnlyHuman]

define : trick -  "Intended or used to deceive or mystify, or to create an illusion."

Again I apologize if it sounded like I was trying to offend or troll you why not try keep this discussion to a mature level? Using basic logic I came to the conclusion I rather keep my savings where they can grow (earning interest in the savings account).. withdrawing it is just counter productive to my goal in this case... I ask myself why would I even keep a savings account with the bank if I'm gonna try to save money by keeping the cash at home? If that makes me intellectually challenged then so be it I might be loony as hell but at least I'll save more $$ with less effort.

Also FYI if you are advising legit poor students to withdraw cash to 'save' then end of the week some of their automatic payments (rent, internet, insurance) are gonna bounce lol.

 

A few points I like to bring to your attention.

1. Please note the quotation marks surrounding the word trick. 
2. You did sound offensive. Yes, I did take offence to it and right now I feel incredibly butt hurt. May I suggest implementing some modifiers in the future. such as maybe or perhaps an other way to think about this would be... etc. 
3. Yes, money do get interst in the bank. However, lets look at some numbers. In my case over a little less than 1 semester it amounted to aproximetly $150 being collected in the bottle. The intrest on that over the same amount of time doesn't even come to 20 cents. It is hard to put a dollar sign on the pleasure that I had seeing it accumulate over time. In addition to actually getting to smash it thus "reaping" the rewards. For me it is a clear preference over the potential monetary gain of 20 cents or so. 
4. FYI I am not advising anyone. On the other hand, I am sherring a neat little idea that I found to be fun and easy. For the rest of that paragraph, things like fear mongrelling and straw man fallacy comes to mind. It is a poor argument for anything, not closelly related to the topic with to many variables. 
5. I apologize for my choice of word in relation to one being  "intelectually impaired" clearly it is neither descriptive nor sarcastic enough. 
6. You have a lovely evening sir. 

 

 

[AZIDE]

Yeah what he said is a lot easier said than done, maybe he's some kind of entrepreneur/business tycoon? Sourcing in-demand products and undercutting competitors to make profit from bulk sales hmm doesn't sound like something I'd have time for as a full time student especially at post grad level. Also I feel her pain it's really kind of shit actually earning a living while studying and then getting slammed with extra tax to go with it because you worked too much you'd think they prefer people like us over the ones who go uni for the party life and live off govt. benefits.

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

Sweet bro maybe I was taking this trick too literally. In hindsight trying to be more open minded I guess the obesession I have with watching interest grow is similar to the appeal some people have watching piggy bank fill up then smashing it?

Worked odd jobs/paper route since like 6 yrs old and dumpd it all in the bank since, never understood the pleasure of piggy bank as you and Pseudo have put it might have to try it some time then eh.

[AZIDE]

Sweet bro maybe I was taking this trick too literally. In hindsight trying to be more open minded I guess the obesession I have with watching interest grow is similar to the appeal some people have watching piggy bank fill up then smashing it?

Worked odd jobs/paper route since like 6 yrs old and dumpd it all in the bank since, never understood the pleasure of piggy bank as you and Pseudo have put it might have to try it some time then eh.

yeah atm interest rates are so low that its negligable whether you have money in the bank or cash sitting around at home/in the car for amounts <$20k which best case scenario is going to give you $20 per week interest which is like a couple of drinks or half of a cheapish restaurant meal.

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

Yeah what he said is a lot easier said than done, maybe he's some kind of entrepreneur/business tycoon? Sourcing in-demand products and undercutting competitors to make profit from bulk sales hmm doesn't sound like something I'd have time for as a full time student especially at post grad level. Also I feel her pain it's really kind of shit actually earning a living while studying and then getting slammed with extra tax to go with it because you worked too much you'd think they prefer people like us over the ones who go uni for the party life and live off govt. benefits.

 

Heres my summed transactions for the last 6 months on my main transaction account

Deposits $20,152.70

Withdrawals $16,877.09

Difference $3,275.61

and yes im a full time student. i got student loan til july then allowance from then until now. and no i didnt use a piggy bank. i had one when i was 6 for a few weeks when i wanted to save up and buy a watch. my system is better I reckon. lol

[Kalidane]

 

...

Depressing, remember the days when it was like 12% but it all adds up and that measly $20 per week is 1k a year you got for doing jack all... well, besides working and carefully saving up enough to earn something reasonable off interest

 

That sub-$1k before tax is what you get in exhange for forgoing all alternative uses of the money.

 

If you don't have the time to make it do more then that's fine.  It is the default option for good reason.  OTOH $20k is enough to make it work a lot harder for you and is a lot more fun than checking your account once a month. 

 

No one ever got wealthy by earning interest on their savings.

[Dinahlady]

I think it's a good trick. 

It's good to consciously put money aside for things you want or need. 

and Its up to the individual what they want to spend money on too. 

I have 4 bank accounts (from being a PT) but whenever i look at my accounts i just see oh in all my accounts that means I have 100$ left - sweet that's heaps that means I can afford coffee/non essentials at the supermarket.

But If you'd been taking some of that money out and had a store of 60$ at home you'll look at the bank and say ah shit only got 40$ - only essentials at the supermarket today... by the time you get home you've forgotten about the other shit that creeps into your basket that you dont strictly need. 

Then you've got 60$ a side to pay for things that you actually do want that often get overlooked like new clothes or a massage (or supplements if thats what you like to treat yourself to).

Much better imo than just every time spending an extra 5-10 a the supermarket on bullshit like multiple types of cheese. Or buying a coffee just because you can.