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Simpler Solutions For Managing Your Money

Let's face it, coming up with smart and simple ways of saving

money takes thinking that is a bit more creative.

Use some of these shortcuts to managing your finances. They are

guaranteed to save you time and money.

Trick your mind into saving

Can't always come up with where your money goes? There is a

simple solution: Trick your own mind into spending less and

saving more.

If you are up for a challenge, allocate yourself a weekly

allowance. Put a set amount of allowance into an envelope and

determine that this will be all you will be allowed to spend for

any given week. Next, divide your allowance to take care of your

expenses. When you get down to the last $20, that's the amount

you put into your emergency fund. When the money is gone, there

will be no more until next week.

Each payday, allocate a percentage to go into a secret fund used

only for emergencies. When it's crunch time, you will know it's

there.

Establish one dresser drawer just to toss single dollar bills.

This way when the pizza man arrives, you will have the singles

handy and won't need to break the larger dollar amounts. This

discipline forces your mind to think larger amounts and to save

larger amounts. You get into the habit of spending only the

singles. This works!

To control your credit card debt, carry just one card and pay it

off each month. If you are tempted to over spend, the credit

card goes into the safe where you only stash your emergency

fund. When crunch day comes you have a credit card you can use

that will always be in good standing.

Jot down expenses in a notebook and tally them at the end of

each week to see if you are over or under your budget estimates.

Build in more than you need so that you will always have a

cushion in case of a cash emergency. Tracking your spending

takes some work but if you take careful notes, you will always

be able to see one or two areas where you're leaking cash. You

can then come up with an extra $20 or more per week in savings.

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That's $1,000 a year in real money for an emergency fund.

More tricks to add to your own savings routine: Have your

paycheck automatically deposited directly to savings rather than

to your checking account. You will transfer money to pay your

bills, but you'll think twice about withdrawing additional cash.

Make ONLY one ATM withdrawal each week. Subtract your credit

card purchases immediately from your checking account so you're

not surprised once the bill arrives.

When you pay off a loan, add the amount to payments you're

already making to the next lender on your list. You can also

send the money to a saving or investment account earmarked for a

house, a vacation or a new car and this money will be made

available in case of a money emergency.

About the author:

Gordon Hinksworth operates the website Payday XL which a site

dedicated to researching Payday related topics with the very

latest Payday, Cash and Money related news and views. For more

details please visit http://www.paydayxl.com