Our income is not very significant, but we should have some money in the bank.  We are living paycheck to paycheck and seem to waste money on going out to eat, etc.  We also have two teen daughters that are draining us.  We have no money in the bank and have tried for years to change our spending issues.  How do we start saving and stop these bad spending habits??
217089
Everyone has to be part of the solution - kids included.\nPost your budget on the fridge to remind everyone they have a stake in this. Pain that it is, writing down EVERYTHING for a couple of months will cure the problem.\n\nFirst, add up all your income per pay period - month, week, biweekly, whatever.\n\nThen add up all your "fixed" expenses to match the pay period (multiply rent x 12 then divide by 52 to get weekly, etc.)(estimate using highest electricity bill, telephone bill, etc.) and ADD A NEW ITEM CALLED "BANK" THAT IS 10% OF YOUR INCOME.\n\nSubtract the expenses from your income. Now you know what you have to spend on groceries, gas, clothes, etc. etc.\n\nWhen your paycheck comes in, put it directly into your bank, and put 10% directly into your savings account - this matches your budget. Some banks will automatically do this for you if you ask them to.\n\nWhenever anyone spends anything, have them subtract it from the remaining money and WRITE DOWN WHAT IT IS FOR. Everyone can see where the $$ are going, and you'll see exactly what is happening and so will everyone else. Having the whole family seeing and supporting a reasonable budget is the best way to go - and a great lesson for your children.
405094
By working a full time job and several part time jobs, cutting back on spending and waiting late in the year to turn on heat and not turning on A/C until it gets too unbearably hot. Patching and mending clothes, making shoes go another year, no more eating out, movies out, unneccessary trips to town, etc.\n\nI make a good wage but members of my family have been hit hard and they really have to tighten up. After a job layoff the only jobs available are low paying jobs. (Going from $15 an hour, down to $10 an hour is quite a drop) These people lose their homes, have to sell their vehicles or have them refinanced to a lower payment, move closer in to save fuel...I've seen the destruction of their quality of life, firsthand. It's not right.
449428
The only path from struggle to wealth is to spend less than you make, it really is that simple.\n\nIf your boss came to you tomorrow and said "I can either lay you off or give you a ten percent paycut, your choice...", most likely you would take the paycut.  So give yourself a paycut! When a check comes, regardless of the bills and the rent, take ten percent off the top and invest it in a broad market fund.  (Something like 'Spiders', maybe...)\n\nPay off all your debt (smallest first until it's gone, then the next, etc.)\n\nDon't amass any more debt.\n\nNever drive a new car.\n\nNever pay for coffee someone else made!
434735
Yeah..it almost killed me when I was thinking like you....but the problem is that self-control sometimes makes u have a hard time..like when u wanna buy something new and then u know that u should save money instead of buying it...it's a pain in my a.s.s , u know..but saving money also need some kinda plan..I mean..u can't save a great lot of money at once.. u have to start your saving just with a small amount..in this way, you can also save your money and also buy some new accessories for you to some limit..\nGood luck in your plan..if u r going to save some money..!!
163240
First you need to know what your net income is.  In case you don't know what this is:  Net income is the income after taxes (remember we have to pay Uncle Sam first) and other deductions.\n\nYou'll also need to know the expenses you have per month. \n\nI'll give you a typical budget.\n\nExample for a Monthly budget:\n\n2500.00 Net Income\n\n0850.00 Rent or Mortgage\n0100.00 House insurance\n0100.00 Gas\n0050.00 Phone\n0050.00 Electricity\n0040.00 Cell phone\n0250.00 Food\n0100.00 Clothes\n\n1540.00 Total expenses\n\n0960.00 Balance\n\nThere are expenses that you cannot change.  For instance, the rent or mortgage do not vary  unless you move somewhere else or get a new mortgage.\n\nEverything else on this budget can be changed.  \n\nIf you see that you don't have enough money to pay the rent, then don't eat out that much, don't buy those extra pair of sneakers just because they were beautiful.\n\nIn the above budget, you have 960.00 extra per month.  You can choose to spend it all on beautiful sneakers.  I would advise you to save some of it for a rainy day. After all, 950.00 on sneakers is pretty high.  Don't you think?\n\nBesides, if you don't own a house now, maybe you'll want to save it for a house. I don't know.  Maybe you prefer to go on a vacation.  My point is:  DO NOT SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY UNLESS YOU HAVE TO.  ONE DAY YOU MIGHT NEED IT.\n\nOf course, your budget might differ from above.  I  did not take diapers for your toddlers into consideration.  Neither did I take medical costs, babysitters, or entertainment into consideration.  \n\nI figure that this is enough for you to see how a budget works.  \n\nRemember, if your income is greater than your expenses, don't spend what you have left on stupid things.\n\nIf your income is less than your expenses, you are in big trouble.  Therefore, cut down on the expenses.\n\nKeep in mind, however, that sometimes you need to spend money on stupid things.  They nourish your soul.
587839
pay yourself first. decide how much you want to save and pay youself in savings first then pay your bills and have whatever is left over to spend.
74454
First, stop spending more than you make.  In fact, you have to find a way to spend less than you make.\n\nSecond, take your smallest debt (credit card, car payment, etc.) and double the payments on it.\n\nThird, when that smallest debt is paid, take the doubled amount you have been paying on the smallest debt and apply that in addition to whatever minimum payment you have been making.  Work your way up until you have paid everything off.\n\nFourth, save enough money to throw a big party for your friends after you have paid off the last of your debt.\n\nFifth, continue to save money, even if it's only a little bit per paycheck, so you have something for emergencies when they come up so you don't have to go into debt again.\n\nOnce you do all this, you will have learned to live within your means and you won't have to worry about big debts that cause you to be depressed.  Short of this, there are no quick, easy ways to get out of debt.
436402
First you need to stay strong and focused.  That is very important.  Second, you need to buy a small notebook and write down every penny you spend.  You need to have it on paper so you can see where your money is going.  In most cases you will be able to find places you could cut.  Keep records for a week or two and then sit down with family and decide what wasnt necessary to spend.  After that you will have an idea of how much you spent on groceries, bills, etc.  That next week take your income and subtract what you will need for living expenses, down to the penny, and put the rest away in a savings account.  Even if its not much, it will start adding up.  Good luck.
87232
Pay yourself first!  Start by sitting down and budgeting out your essentials, with costs as accurate as possible.  Then take a look at the money you have left over, and designate how much you can afford to save.  Tell your bank to set up an automatic debit to your savings account for each time you get paid.  When you do this, you pay yourself first, and you know that your bills are paid, you have savings, and the rest is yours to spend as you wish!  When you can't have access to the money, you can't spend it, and it works great for me.  Good luck!
464356
Have you checked out Oprah's "Debt Diet"?  I do not have the link off hand (sorry).\nI usually advise clients to do some or all of the following (depending on how far in debt they are):\n1) cut up all but 2 credit cards and use those only for emergancies (also call the companies and cancel the cut up cards)\n2) create a livible budget that you can adhere to\n3) chart all purchases/expenses and see where you can create "free" cash\n4) withdraw only a certain amount of money each week.  That is all the cash that you have for the week - keep in mind any activities that you have occuring said week and spend your cash appropriately.\n5) get a personal accountability partner - someone that you share your weekly spending with (like a list) and will give you additional encouragement/punishment (for lack of a better word) when needed\n6) create a savings account that is only for your "wants" - you can not overdraw a savings account and you can only use what is there.\n\nFor the clients that are seriously out of hand, I usually recommend that they make their account "2 singatures for withdrawal" - that way you are not able to withdraw funds without the second account holder present.\nI hope I was able to help!
392271
im 24 now, ive been really saving since i was about 19... try using Microsoft Money. Its personal finance software. It lets you keep track of your income and expenses. you can create a budget... and once you do, you'll see where you spend your money and you will realize what is important and what is not. when i started using that software, it got me more and more excited about money because you see what is coming in and going out.
463924
You are an ambitious teenager. That's great. Saving, what a smart idea. Ask your mother or father to bring you to their bank to set up a savings account for you. I had a luney tunes account at the bank, thought it was the coolest thing. Work to earn your money and put it in the bank when ever you accumulate a good amount ($40-$60). Convince your parents how nice it would be to have their house cleaned from top to bottom every week, and how much  you want to do it in order to save money. Talk to your father, I think they are more interested in your financial situations. Remember, you will be saving from now until the day you retire (house, vacation, new car, Christmas gifts, the list goes on..). Now is a great time to start.\n\nOh, and please dont fall for these silly, fake "online money makers". Get out and do it the old fashion way, like your supposed to.
49198
I am also a 27 year old female, and I've learned some harsh lessons about financial realities.  I'll share with you what worked for me.\n\nI have a binder full of lined paper.  On the first page of the binder I have a budget.  You may ask yourself, how does one create a budget?  \n\nThe way I did it was to first list the things I have a fixed amount I need to spend per month: Rent, Car payments, Magazine subscriptions, Car insurance.  Then I figured out how much I would need PER PAYCHECK to save for this (don't say per month - if you do this, you're setting yourself up for failure).  I need $400 per paycheck for rent, $200 for car, $50 for insurance, $5 for registration, etc.  ANYTHING you spend money on goes down on paper.\n\nNext, I put down the things I need, but that aren't fixed.  For instance, groceries, gas, car repair, health (SO very important to have a large reserve, as I recently found out).  I guess how much I'm going to spend on this per month.  Don't forget, that a budget is ALWAYS evolving.  You get raises, bonuses, and (hopefully not) pay cuts all the time, so be prepared.\n\nFinally, you need to have some money to yourself.  I seperated these into clothes, gifts, massage, and books for myself, but you can always change that around.  Put a fixed amount per check into these funds.\n\nHere's the most important part: RECORD what you're spending on the other sheets of paper.  If you buy a pair of shoes, that goes in the clothes budget.  If you buy a gallon of milk, that goes in the groceries budget.  I guarantee you'll be shocked by some of the purchases you make. (I was spending $500 on groceries for two people in a month - that's absurd.  I now REALLY watch what a shop for, and I make sure I'm not throwing things away because they got old - I use everything!)\n\nOk, now we're ready to set aside some money to save!  Generally people say to save 10% of your gross income.  With the above method, the car repair and health funds are sort of "oh no" accounts that you're not going to be touching unless you have a situation, so I count that as part of the 10%.  Aside from this, calculate 10% of your net income ($800 = $80) and have it direct deposited into a different account.  This should not be accessable by check OR atm card!!!!  Once you have about $2,000, you should be able to move it into a money market (some people call money markets "High Yield Savings Accounts") without having to pay any fees.  You'll earn about 2%-4%, depending on the rates at the time.\n\nDon't forget that you'll want to fund some sort of retirement account out of this!  Make sure you try to set asside the maximum possible into retirement accounts so you don't regret your misspent youth.  I'll let you know that I've done calucualtions that say I need 2 million (caluculating for inflation) dollars to retire at age 65.  Yes, that is $2,000,000.  I urge you to look for a program called "Smart Women Finish Rich" in your area.  You'll learn TONS from it, and hopefully be inspired to start saving money.
47618
I love you for this.\n\nYou see we have to reduce our wants, settle for whatever is good for us, not whatever is best -Best is the enemy of good.\n\nWe are driven so hard by our own desires and wants that we fail to see where we are heading or what are we doing to those who matter most.\n\nJust imagine, around twenty years ago we could do without a cell phone but today it is a necassity and we are compelled to pay the bills by adding yet another expense to our budget. This in turn makes us work longer hours, may be accomodate this payment within our budgets. One more item to worry about.\n\nIf we look around us, there could be anumber of things that we could do without but we just don't for any reason. Our desires run us, not us running our desires.\n\nThis is a subject for a much detailed discussion, but am glad there is someone who at least realizes the trade off that we are making.
113251
First list all your expenses over a given time period like per month.\n\nNext list your income.\n\nAdd both up--if your expenses are greater than your income you need to do one of two things.  A: reduce your expenses or B: increase your income.\n\nOnce you have your needs covered, you give yourself something to spend that's extra but not too much.  Set up a regular savings plan with your bank.  Even if it's only a few dollars per month going into a savings account, it will add up.  Try not too look at it and let it grow so you will have it in case of a major emergency like losing your job or something like that.  Seeing a huge sale on collector dolls on the shopping channel is not a major emergency.\n\nOnce you learn to live within your means, everything else is downhill from there.  You might buy a book on personal finance.  They have lots of them at the local bookstore.  Or you can just go to your local library and read them for free!
644563
Make a deal with yourself to save a certain percentage of your money.  Think through things that you want to buy. Don't just buy on impulse.  Use coupons at stores and compare prices at different stores before buying something so you can buy it cheaper.  Have self-discipline.   =)
41256
We have a joint account, and also a seperate account. The joint account is savings. He pays bills and rent, i pay everything else, and it works out even. (ofcourse if one is short we'll back them up, but it works out easier than checking up on the other all the time to ensure they are not spending the "our" money on silly things - ie video games)