Having Trouble With Money? Learn To Manage What You Eearn
What are you doing with your money? Quite possible, you are clueless! And so most people are. The excuses for not saving money can range from- impossible to do, not necessary, too much of a strain, have no idea how to, and so on and so forth. If any of these have slipped past your mouth, the real reason is you have never really tried 'to save money'. Trying to save money is like taking a decision to take driving lessons- once you give it a try it becomes easy. Andy Houg says "Your money and the way to manage it are two most important things in your life; as they are an influence to everything that you do for a living, visiting places, going for a long drive, where you dine with family etc." Now if you want to spend a luxurious holiday at Mauritius or dine at a multi-cuisine restaurant, it can only happen if you have been saving money. Here are a few hands on examples that can help you get started:
Chalk out daily expenses: We maybe stating a cliche here, but we still have to say it. Make a note of all expenses in a day. Not possible- 'Can't carry a paper and a pen all day?' That's not necessary. Many smart people use their smart or 'not so' smart phone and install software that can help track expenses. 'Expense Manager', 'Easy Money' are some software that can help you maintain daily expenses; multiple ledgers- like bank account details, cash flow, credit/debit etc. They are simple, effective, free to install, easy to use and may even cry foul every time you carry out unnecessary expenses .
Set a Budget: Once you have tracked daily expenses; you will be aware of necessary and not so necessary cash flows. Next step will be to cut down the unnecessary expenses. For example; say you spend for entertainment very often (about 3 movies a month). Movies do not come cheap, watching a movie will mean, buying snacks between intervals and of course dining out. Cut it down to one movie a month. This will help you have a balance in the cash flowing out. And anyways, 2 out of 3 movies are usually a waste of time and money. You could save money on those two, to watch that extra movie a particular month that has particularly rave reviews, and pat yourself on the back for clever judiciousness.
Credit Cards: These usually relieve you of a four digit saving you would have otherwise had. These are scratched so much but don't deserve the attention- they bleed you off a huge chunk of you money, spent on a range of wasteful items, that you could have used on a vacation. And they are cleverly billed in such a way that by mid-month you will have nothing but a few thousands in your bank account. Use it only for a particular transaction or in emergency, and instead use your debit card for shopping, travel expenses or dining.
Opt for FD: This is very useful and effective too. Most banks have this offer. All you need to do is claim an amount as a minimum and the rest gets automatically shifted to FD. For e.g. say your income is 40,000/-, and your expenses amount to 32,000/- the remaining 8,000/- automatically gets moved as FD and is kept untouched. Consult your bank for the details as this option comes with the type of account you chose. And this may differ from bank to bank.
Still unsure? Make this a game, like a crossword puzzle or any other game you enjoy playing with friends or family. Compare notes on who has saved more money or at least kept regular tabs, and the one who hasn't must buy the other lunch. There's no way you can pass up a challenge like that one!
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