Are you the type of person who is a savvy money manager?  Or do you usually find yourself barely surviving until your next paycheck arrives? If you are still living paycheck to paycheck then now is the time to grab control of your financial situation, plan your spending and save money via a online savings account.

You’ll never know what financial emergencies you might encounter along the way – which is why it helps to establish a savings account. This is a secure way of saving money in a bank, with the added bonus of earning a particular percentage of interest for the amount that you will deposit.

Saving Money 101: Taking Control of Your Spending with a Spending Diary

There is nothing unusual about taking $100 or so from an ATM and then wondering where it’s all gone when you check your wallet the next day.

This usually happens because you are not keeping tabs on your spending habits. This is not a good practice at all, especially if you seriously wish to start saving money by actually adding funds to that savings account which you opened a year or so ago.

So what’s the best way that you can use to get a head start with saving money? You can do it the old-fashioned way: by creating a spending diary, keeping track of your spending habits and adding money to your savings account so that you can start saving money.

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Basically, the spending diary will allow you to monitor the ins and outs of your finances and keep track of your savings account and saving money habits. Going back to the example mentioned earlier – if you did take out $100 from your savings account through an ATM machine, you will see where that amount actually went.

Once you take the money from the ATM write down everything you used that money to purchase. Did you spend the money on a newspaper or morning coffee while commuting to work? Did you use it to buy food? Or did you have an ‘attack’ on your conscience and you actually put that amount towards your savings account?

If you’re spending money via a debit card instead of cash then you can double check your spending by viewing your bank statements with online banking.

Once you have developed the habit of writing down on your spending diary the ins and outs of your finances, you will be able to see which aspects of your spending you can actually cut back on. If you see that you’re spending too much on eating breakfast outside of the house on your way to work, you may want to pack a hearty sandwich for yourself. Better yet, wake up earlier and enjoy the financial and health benefits of eating a nutritious breakfast at home.
Once you stop wasting money on items you don’t require you will find your savings can start to build at a rate faster than you expected. This way, you will be able to determine which purchases are wasteful and which ones should be once-in-a-while indulgences.

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In addition, your savings account will be given a boost because the money that you will be able to save from the unnecessary purchases can go towards saving money instead. Keeping a spending diary takes a little getting used to at first. It might seem like a burden at first to keep tabs or your spending but once you get used to it you will find it easy and enjoy watching your savings grow.

Post by Richard Greenwood who runs the Click 4 Group to help people compare credit cards and other financial products and then make an application online.

This has been a Guest Author Submission.

Warmest regards,

SherryD
http://www.imperfectyou.com