Saving Money - Making a Life

I know, just about everyone does has bills that come in each month, but surely there is a way to use some of your hard earned money on yourself, your family, or a holiday that you deserve. Wouldnt it be nice to be able to wander down to the mall and buy that dress, get some extra clothes for the kids or go out to a restaurant, rather than having to settle for the 'fast food' meal instead.

Okay, so you are thinking, how can i get more money. Do i get an extra job, not pay some of my bills so i can enjoy my money myself, or is there another way. Yes there is, and it is quite simple. YOU NEED A PLAN! As with most people we tend to live day to day and hang out for pay day and then have a wonderful 2 or 3 days when there is cash in your bank account. Then comes the end of the week and guess what, the kids need some money for school, the car needs petrol and you find yourself waiting for the pay day once again. It becomes a cycle which we just accept - but it can be changed.

First things first. On a paper or even better a spreadsheet on your computer, work out exactly how much you will get every week. DO NOT include any overtime thay you MAY receive.  You cant bank on getting overtime or extra pay every week, so dont factor this into your spreadsheet. If you want to work it out weekly, fortnightly or monthly it is up to your circumstances, but i would do it weekly, it seems easier to work out for me. In the next column put in all your MUST PAY bills - mortage, rent, rates, loans etc. This column are the amounts that have to be payed no matter what happens. Total the 2 columns up separately and (hopefully) your wage column is larger than your bill column.

Now make a third row. Call this your weekly spend. This is where you will really find out how much you (and myself) are wasting on things that you dont even realise until you actually write them down. Fill this column out every evening for a week. I personally did it for 2 weeks because you will get a more accurate idea of your weekly spend. Every night, type in what you used your hard earned money on. Did you buy a coffee on the way to work? give money to the kids for school, put petrol in the car, have some beers after work, buy a pizza for tea one night. Dont worry about your actually weekly food shop - I will cover that later. Now at the end of the week, add up the total of your third column. Staggering isnt it!

Okay,  if you are like me, you will still be staring at that third row!! Some wuick calculations are needed here to put it into perspective. Lets say  5 coffee's a week at $4 over 52 weeks will cost you $1040 a year.  Buying your lunch everyday at work - could be subway, a sandwich, salad or anything, lets say $10 a day on lunch food. Thats just for you, not your spouse or the kids. At $10 a day, yep it works out to be about $2500 a year!  Are you getting the picture. In one year you are spending upwards of $3500 on coffee and food just at work. How many days does it take you to make that sort of money. Is it worth it! NOPE!

I'm not saying you have to stop doing all the things in your third column. Just a little trimming and refining. Make a 4th column, call it weekly spend 2. Instead of paying for 5 coffees every week, just have 4 and make an instant coffee at work, okay its not going to be as good, but do it for a week on a trial basis. Now, try and take food for lunch at least twice a week. As you did in the weekly spend column, does it again in the weekly spend 2 column. Write down everything you use your money for, but this time try and cut down on each item by as little as 10%. Believe me it will make a difference in the long run. Lets do a quick calculation on the weekly spend 2 column. Save $4 a week on coffee and $20 a week on lunch - save $1248 over the year! And that is just on 2 of your items in the weekly spend column.

The final piece is the most important. You need to open another bank account and every week deposit the difference that you have calculated in your spreadsheet. The difference between weekly spend and weekly spend 2 columns. When I did this I actually was putting in $58 every week into my new account. Over one year $3016 in my account. And did I miss out on anyhting really over the year. Nope, just a coffee here and a hambuger for lunch. No big deal. But come holidays I was able to take my family on a lovely vacation, fully paid for by me! not my credit card. It has worked for me, I hope it does for you. You will be amazed at what you can actuallly save when you write it down.

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