Comments on: Forget Budgeting – Do Conscious Spending

By: Top 10 Ways to save ¥788,600 while in Japan | Frugalista Japan

Top 10 Ways to save ¥788,600 while in Japan | Frugalista Japan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:01:01 +0000

[...] Most credit cards offer 0.5-1% cashback or points; if you’re investing ¥50,000 a month through your credit card and paying off the balance in full, that works out to at least ¥6,000 free money every year just from your investment. You’ll also get itemised bills every month so you can track your purchases more accurately (though, you wouldn’t need to if you were consciously spending instead of meticulously budgeting). [...]

By: jamie

jamie — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:29:18 +0000

You’re right about investments – they certainly do carry a risk. right now my investment is worth about $1000 less than I’ve paid into it – but not surprising considering the financial situation america is in. However, in the long run it will pay off, I am confident. Even if it works out to be 0% growth at the end of it all, it will still have been a consistent way for me to automatically save money, rather than simply promising myself to set it aside. If I’m being honest, I’ll say right now that without the automated nature of the payments I probably would have spent the “extra” money in my account each month and be left with zero savings – so in that respect, even if it doesn’t perform as well as I think it will, it was still a good decision.

I’m not so sure about your ideas on the money game though – the federal reserve *does* actually print money, more money each year in fact, which is why money is gradually devalued. More millionaires are made every day, yet proportionally the same people are not made poorer. If you do nothing with your dollar bill, it will be worth less in a few years, because the money supply indeed increases.

If you’d like to learn more about the federal reserve and the entire banking system, I suggest you watch zeitgeist @ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-594683847743189197# (the last part is about the monetary system).

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:13:27 +0000

Thanks for the site. But, really, all those books like ‘I will teach you..’, etc., assume you can get a constant x% (8, in that example). In real life, investments sometimes loose money. Remember, (an obvious point most don’t consider) the market does not print dollar bills, it only re-distributes them. For every person who makes 1 dollar, someone else has to loose 1 dollar. You could end up on either side of that equation.

By: Vince

Vince — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:51:40 +0000

Do you have any good places that you recommend to help me get started in investing?

By: jamie

jamie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:45:13 +0000

Thanks for the kind words all! More info on investing coming up soon!

By: McAlpine

McAlpine — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:30:16 +0000

Ditto, good info on investing.

By: Jamaipanese

Jamaipanese — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:59:41 +0000

quite easily one of the better written and most useful entries in this month’s matsuri.

This info will be very useful in the future
Jamaipanese´s last blog ..Eden of the East – Anime Review

By: Living on a Budget in Japan: Blog Matsuri | Tune In Tokyo

Living on a Budget in Japan: Blog Matsuri | Tune In Tokyo — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:38:22 +0000

[...] Japan presents: Forget Budgeting – Do Conscious Spending "Being frugal is state of mind, man~ Being frugal is not about budgeting, being cheap with your [...]

By: The Week in Review (6/21/09) « Smashed and Sinking!!!

The Week in Review (6/21/09) « Smashed and Sinking!!! — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:15:28 +0000

[...] post on conscious spending was awesome. It took the idea of budgeting in Japan into an entirely new [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:31:07 +0000

Great article man! I want to ask you about investing now – I know nothing and will be in the exact situation you describe in a few months!

No, I mean I *really* know nothing here. I gather from the word investment we mean putting money somewhere that it likely to reap us rewards. That’s about all I know. Where to start..?
Mike´s last blog ..New Monkey Island and Remake!