An Asperger's Obsession With SAVING Money?! !??

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I saved money pretty hard for a few years because I had been so broke, this year I've been spending tons though. I'm sure in time I will be on a tight budget again. Saving is not as important as paying off debt though, at least when you are still far from retirement.

The Hetty Green reference cracked me up , the Guiness Book said she was awful! This is a good thread, I work construction and am out of work from time to time. I try to keep enough in the bank to cover several months of bills w/o factoring in the unemployment I can collect between jobs. Most people can budget to cover expected expenses. Its the occasional car repair or emergency that finds people short more often. Because I do budget well I was able to visit my niece with her new baby in Utah last month, it made her feel good to show off her baby and it was fun seeing her and meeting my great niece.

I've always saved much more money than anyone around me.
You often hear storys about people getting so deep into debt that theyr entire income goes to paying that rent.
I can't stand people always trying to borrow money to do really expencive things like going out or going to some park.
How on earth can you borrow 50 euros for something like that when you are broke.
Ever since i got welfare at age 19 before i got work i've been saving like a madman.
I got put in some program where u work at companies for free hoping to get hired.
Appearently companies aren't all that eager to hire someone who is on welfare.

At age 22 i had saved about 7.000 euros from my welfare, at the time though i started paying everything myself.
So from a scrawny 820 per month minus 150 euro gas/car spending to be able to drive there was no way to save any money anymore.
Than at age 23 i finnaly got a job making about 1150 a month with train fairs already taken off from it.
This enabled me to buy a proper car and make a half decent living.
Though these days with skyrocketing gas prices i spend atleast 100 euros a month on just gas when trying to travel by car as little as possible.

My main ways of conserving money these days is never eating out anymore.
Also i spend less on clothes and rarely drink beer in a bar anymore.
I can't really go without a car atm, and seeing as it's the main milking cow of the goverment i am kind of screwed.
I'd sell it of right away if i became unemployed.

<--- penny pincher

most of the time.

Now that I have a decent job, I've found myself a bit obsessed with saving/getting out of debt. Once I'm completely out of debt, I'll be saving towards a basic house in a rural area (plus another $50k, which should be sufficient for retirement in 30 years), so that I can switch to part-time work and live the lifestyle that I want to. I've also started compulsively reading finance websites for information on investing, so that the saved money can give me a good return.

I actually felt pretty bad about putting "only" $1500 towards the motorcycle payment this month (and technically, I don't even need to make the first payment for another 3 months... It's probably going to be paid in full by then. It better be, too, since then the interest rate will increase from 0% to 18%, as the motorcycle was the first significant debt that I incurred, and hence have no history). The only other debt I have is a small amount of student loans.

I don't think there's anything wrong with saving money. I've always thought of my mom as frugal since we have a lot of money, but this is just one of the reasons why we have a lot. I definitely prefer saving over spending as well. I'll typically just buy DVDs, books, and sometimes clothes with my money, but that's about it. If there's something I want that's more expensive, I typically wait for the holidays.

I love saving money
It makes me feel like I have control over something plus I would rather be hanging with animals or chilling at home.

Thats was me when I was a child. Aspies saving money must be an evolutionary trait.

I remember that from somewhere.

Yes, Hetty Green was an extreme example of this (I think she had some kind of OCD type of disorder, if I remember correctly). Saving money is good, but if someone finds themselves making oatmeal sandwiches and wearing a newspaper skirt just to save a dime, there's a problem.

I have the same problems with saving & spending money. My credit is toast. I keep dipping into my retirement funds to pay current doctor bills, so that by the time I'm old enough to retire, I'll be alive but flat-broke. My husband is a member of the Moose Lodge, and they have a retirement community down in Florida called 'Moose Haven.' Basically it's a bunch of old people crammed into a tiny apartment complex, getting drunk and paying shuffleboard all day long. That's a fate worse than death for me. Somehow, some way, I've got to get money put back into my mutual fund before it dries up altogether (the economic conditions are sucking money out of it too, at an alarming rate).

I do not want to end up in Moose Haven. There are worse places, I suppose, but I'd rather live in my own home and die there.

I'm actually really good at budgeting and saving money, but being homeless and a couch surfer right now. Using someone else's home, I am struggling to save money when I feel compelled to pay the people letting me stay for free. Which means I am always buying extra. If I was just buying for myself like I should be, I'd be able to save money. But I am just swimming in owing people.

It's starting to upset me.

But.....I'm a doer.

Thank you and I appreciate it doesn't mean anything if I am not doing something to show them I appreciate them.

I am a saver and I hate it.
I have quite a lot of money saved(about 5 months worth of minimal wage - Those money are from pocket money my grandparents give me every month - the only income I get, worth about half of minimal wage per year) but I rarely buy anything and when I do I regret it. For example half a year ago I bought a new bed - it ended up uncomfortable but because I had no idea how to return it and because I didn't want to buy a new bed just when I bought one I am trying to sleep on it. I even bought a soft mattress addon to it online but it ended uncomfortable too but I didn't return it because I had no idea how to so I am not using it and sleeping on the uncomfortable bed although I should buy another kind of addon. I also bought glasses last year and they ended up uncomfortable but I am still wearing them because I am too cheap to buy another pair. I also bought a new mobile phone last year and it pisses me off (it's laggy and it's camera is poor) but I stick to it and won't buy a new one because I bought it just a year ago.

And I won't even rent a place and move to another city because I don't have a job and I am afraid I would end up using all my savings and returning home with nothing because I might not find a job - despite the fact moving to another city would actually help me find a job (because there is a lot of job offers in big cities and almost none near my family house). I never spend more than 30PLN on clothes and actually anything more than 2PLN price(the price secondhands give at the last days of sale) seems expensive to me.

But what is even worse I get stressed about my parents money. Especially recently, after I heard mom doesn't have any savings anymore almost every visit at shop ends with me crying because I would like some sweets but I refuse to buy it because we should save money. And I feel even worse when mom first tell me "we can spend only 20PLN today", the next day she spends 150PLN for clothes and by the end of month she asks me "Can you borrow me 300PLN? Because I have no money till payday".

I wish I could get an income - I would spend/give mom half of it and save half of it, without worrying of my savings dropping like my parents savings did(a few years ago they had 5x the amount I currently have, currently they have a 0 because mom spends money uncontrollably and I am the one who has to save for the sake of all of us).
And they both have jibs!
Well. Actually dad also saves money(and he has a lot of traits although he wouldn't probably get diagnosed). He has 2 jobs, one wage goes to house, the other to his pocket - he buys stuff related to his interests and family trips using the money(he loves going on trips but doesn't want to go alone so he drags us with him). But when house money finish mom reaches hand for my money not for dads money because she knows dad will get angry with her if he hears she spent his and her wages already. He isn't even aware mom doesn't have savings anymore because mom won't tell him and when she asks me to borrow her money she is all panicky because she is afraid dad will try to withdraw some house money and he finds out there is no money left. And her panic makes me anxious too.

Last edited by Kiriae on 26 Sep 2016, 9:24 am, edited 2 times in total.

I have read in various autism diagnostic exemplars that autists see protecting their wealth as a means of security. So, saving money is a kind of obsessive compulsion to some. Given that many autists depend on government assistance or basic income, such worries seem valid to me.

I go against the grain of Asperger's, then.

I've saved NOTHING. Even though I do have a pension coming.

Then, in a way, you have saved. Building a pension is tediouus but rewarding. Added to your SSA retiree benefits, you should be well off.

You're right, I'll probably be pretty all right.

I'm fortunate I took that tip from that girl---to come to the interview for my present job 36 years ago. She didn't get the job, by the way!

I almost didn't go for that interview!