Saving Money by Managing It

When it comes to managing finances, most people would
probably receive an F. The truth is, many of us were never
taught the basics of money, how it works, and how to handle it.
Here are some tips to help get you on your way to better money
management.

Handling Your Money

Invent games to play with your money. For example, set aside
certain bills or coins and see how long you can keep a $20 (or
whatever denomination you choose) without breaking it for
gum, a magazine, or some other frivolous item. Have a spare
change jar and empty it into your savings account each month.
At the end of every day, empty out your wallet and put the
change in your jar. Don't limit it to just coins, toss in those few
bills that are lingering in there as well.

Never spend a windfall. Take your income-tax refund (which
should be minimal, if you follow the tip below), money gifts,
bonuses, rebates, overpayment refunds and any other
unexpected money and put it into your savings or investments.
Make this money earn money for you.

Use direct deposit and automatic withdrawals to move money
out of your checking account into savings or investments on a
regular basis, such as every paycheck. You will learn to live on
less when you think you have less to spend. Fool yourself into
saving.

Avoid Overpayments and Fees

Don't give the government a free loan by overpaying your taxes.
Every time you get a refund from the IRS that is a sign that you
overpaid your taxes and gave the government an interest-free
loan for up to a year. Adjust your withholding allowances and
try to get your refund down to less than $100. Your paycheck
may go up a bit in the mean time so be sure to put that extra
money in the bank for future purchases or emergency savings.

Avoid unnecessary fees. ATM fees, service charges, and late
fees all add up to quite a bit over the course of a year. These
fees are rarely worth the reason they were charged. A little
planning/budgeting can usually circumvent these fees. Also
avoid insurance charges when renting a car. Most credit cards
have car rental insurance as a feature of the card. Check with
your card issuer for the terms and conditions of rental car
insurance.

Keep your checkbook and accounts balanced. You should always
have a pretty good idea of how much money is available in your
account. Purposely writing bad checks can land you in jail.
Inadvertently writing them can sack you with overdraft fees
from your bank as well as returned check fees from the store or
company you wrote the bad check to.

Shopping

Buy on sale as often as possible. When you want something
wait a week to see if it is going to come on sale. Or ask the
store when the item will be on sale. Buy clothing out of season
for the best bargains.

Haggle. You never know when someone will be willing to lower
their prices or throw in something extra. Just ask. It may be
hard to find a person who can make a pricing decision but when
you do, give it a try and see what happens.

Throw away your mail order catalogs. Don't even look at them.
Looking leads to wanting and wanting to buying. Most catalog
purchases go on your credit cards and that is the last place
where you want to rack up debt for what is usually more junk.
Remove yourself from their mailing lists (which lists are often
shared with other mail order companies). In addition, when
filling out customer response cards (such as for warranties, etc.)
give only the basic information they need such as name and
address; skip the "getting to know you" questions. The answers
to those questions are farmed out to mail order companies,
increasing your junk mail even more.

Use coupons, apply for free samples, stock up on sales (if you
have some extra money to do so), shop discount stores, day-old
bakeries/items. Buy store-brand over name-brand items. Forgo
brand loyalty in favor of better prices. For the most part, the
most expensive part of a product is its packaging, so don't be
swayed by fancy designs in beautiful colors.

Shop less frequently. Each time you go to the store, you
increase your chances of purchasing an impulse item. Try to limit
your grocery shopping to once a week and prepare a list
beforehand and stick to your list. You'll be amazed at how much
this little tip can save!

Investing the time to learn how better to manage your money is
an important step toward gaining financial freedom. Improving
money handling, avoiding unnecessary payment of fees, and
shopping more wisely are all integral parts of better money
management. Take the time to implement some of these tips
and watch your money grow!


Chemain Evans is a quality control specialist for Simple Joe, Inc. Income & Expenses PC software is a Simple Joe product that is a quick and simple way to keep track of your expenses and stay within your budget. Learn more at http://www.simplejoe.com

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