Saving Money

If you find it difficult to save money, start with keeping a jar and putting in loose change at the end of each day. Allocate a specific use for it.

If you can, set up a regular transfer from your checking account to your savings account each month (or when a paycheck is deposited). If money is tight, but you eat lunch out every day, try brown bagging at least one day a week and put away the money saved. $10 a day on a weekday lunch adds up to $2,600 a year. If you can't forgo eating out, skip the soda or iced tea with lunch and opt for water. It could save you around $300 a year.

If you get a cash back bonus with your credit card, rather than splurging with the money, put it in your savings account.

Have a plan, it's easier to save when you are working toward a goal.

Starting a Budget

First Things First

Budget – The word brings to mind hours reviewing expenses, staring at numbers, and putting away the credit card.

Yes, it will be time consuming to start with, but the rewards are great. A budget doesn't mean you can't go out to eat, or take a vacation. These are things that can be added into the budget. The goal is to have control of your finances.

There are many “money” programs available and I have used Microsoft Money for years. This is no longer available, but take a look at other Personal Finance Software.

I started by setting up my budget on Microsoft Excel and by looking at MS Money reports (I use the category section when entering an expense), listed expenses for the prior month. If you aren’t using a money program, go through receipts, bank statements, or credit card statements. Many of these are available online if you haven’t kept any of the statements. If none of these are available start from today (or the beginning of the month).

Don’t be tempted to put everything under “other” or “miscellaneous.” I want to truly see where my money is going and in addition to listing the recurring expenses, I’m keeping track of everything I spend over $5. Drastic I know, but I’m on a quest. Also, if there are consistent expenses such as a morning coffee for $4.95 or five cokes from the vending machine, make a note of these, you may be able to save drastically by cutting down or eliminating these.

I haven’t listed mortgage/rent, insurance or car loans, but these are all areas that cost may be reduced.

Saving Pennies

Cost of living continues to rise. With many companies jumping on the “recession” bandwagon and, regardless if the company is truly in dire straits or chooses to use it as an excuse to put in place wage freezes or cut backs to line the pockets of the upper echelon, many of us are bringing home less money each year.

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned is most commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin. It is also noted that similar phrases were used by others, but for me it came from my Aunt Rene and those words have stayed with me since childhood.

So, taking those words of wisdom to heart, I’m on a quest to make the most of every penny/cent and waste neither money nor resources.