Every pay day you have some money in your pocket, but where does it go?
These are the are money responsibility rules that you should follow so that your income today can pay for your tomorrow. 
1. Pay yourself first
The hardest thing to do is save money. We all talk about it but few of us actually do it. And living paycheck to paycheck isn't really living, is it?
There are no fun vacations in the future, no bigger houses, newer cars, nothing, because you couldn't put a few dollars aside for a rainy day.
Right now is the time to change all of that. Go to your online banking account and open another savings account, if you don't have one now. Start up an automatic payment plan to that account. Every payday put into this account $25.00. If it's an existing account, make sure only you can make any withdrawals from the account, even if it means taking your significant other's name off it (which is why, sometimes, it's just easier to open a new account!) so that the money saved can only be accessed by you.
Your money, your savings responsibility.
Your money, paid first to you.
And a small amount won't affect your daily life, will it? Right, you'll do fine.
2. Setup a sensible budget and stick to it
The hardest part to saving money is first understanding where it all goes. You have money, you have a steady paycheck, but how do you end up with nothing just before the next payday? You don't know... right?
So, then, from this moment forward, you will get a receipt for every thing you buy, everything that you pay for, everything that lessens your wallet by a dollar, a dime, a penny.
You can't save money if you don't know where the money is and went, right?
Once you have 30 days worth of expenses, of money gone, you need to categorize your spending and start the real budgeting process.
The categories are:
Must Pay: utilities, rent/mortgage, car loan, cable/satellite/TV, food, clothes, phone, internet, etc
Daily Treats: breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack foods, coffee/tea/drinks purchased outside the home during the day/night/work shift, newspaper
Impulse Buys: gifts, snack foods, convenience items
Important Stuff You Can't Do Without: taxi/bus/mass transit, etc
Add to these lists as you need to but do not lie to yourself about what belongs where. How much did you pay for coffee over the last 30 days? Or the daily newspaper? Or long distance phone calls? As the list grows, so does the money evaporate put of your wallet and savings.
3. Discover your eBay potential
Like pack rats we save old things that have no emotional value left to them, but we have this stuff just because we can.
Well, it's time to dust off this hoard of stuff and sell it to the highest bidder. One man's trash is another man's treasure and in this world of online, lightening fast transactions, it's timer to ship some of your crap to the far reaches of the planet to add some easy, laying around cash to your savings account.
Ebay it all, and change your space-wasting junk into cash.
4. Maximize Your Income Potential
Are you getting paid what you should be at your job? Do you even care that you're underpaid? Now is a great time to check out similar jobs to your own at online placement services and career classified ads. Prep your resume, updating it to reflect all of your current skills and responsibilities and take a cold hard look at your industry or classification. If you're not above the median range for salary or dollars per hour, maybe it's time to change workplaces.
Is your time well spent? Do you pursue your vocation with additional learning or are you wasting away your time in worthless pursuits? Are you maximizing your potential earnings capability? Can you honestly say that you are doling what you can do to make the maximum income through time spent at work and play? These questions may spur you to look hard at your work and free time. So spend the time doing just that. Now.
5. Learn to invest in stocks and bonds
You earn your money, what does your money earn for you?
While being a major stock player may not be in your future, once you've started saving some money, buying stocks in "solid" companies (the current downturn notwithstanding), and adding a little bit of stock ownership, company ownership, with your savings can greatly increase the income that your savings earn you.
With caution and a minimum of exposure to loss, you can learn to invest in stocks, just as your savings is an investment in the place where you have the account.
More Resources
- Living On A Dime - Financial Independence Through Better Life Choices. Publisher Of E-books About Paying Off Debt, Saving Money, Frugal Cooking And Homemaking.
- Everything You Know Is Wrong! About Being Debt Free That Is!! And It Will Keep You In Debt The Rest Of Your Life!
- CREDIT SECRETS BIBLE™ - If You Can Read And Write at the 5th Grade Level Then YOU Can Discover The Secrets To Raise Your Credit Score up to 249 Points In 90 Days... So You Can Start Being APPROVED For The CAR, HOME, Business Loans, and CREDIT CARDS You Deserve!
