What works best for me is to make all my purchases by check or debit card, and when I write it into my transaction register...I lie.

Say I spend $32.47 at the grocery store, in my transaction register I have written "Groceries - $40". If I make a deposit of $94.21, my transaction register will read "Deposit - $90" When I look at my register for my balance, it is less than my actual balance. So I've essentially hidden money from myself. We all know how easy it is to spend a few dollars here and a few dollars there, and as any Mommysaver can attest.. it adds up! You can do this to any scale you want. Round purchase up to the nearest dollar and deposits down to the nearest dollar and recieve cents savings on every purchase you make. You can do to the nearest $5, nearest $10 (what I try for). On large purchases round to the next $20 (or $50!) You can make this work for any budget. Every couple months I'll clear out an amount of "extra" money and move it into my savings and it's generally money that I never miss, but when I've tried to budget it out I've found it overwhelming and made myself guilty on every purchase I do make. This way I'm still saving and paying myself but not over analyzing and regretting every thing I may have purchased


What works for you?

I round every thing up to the nearest $ in my check book.

A the beginning of every pay period, beside 401 k being take out, I also have an extra 100 taken out for savings.

I also transfer the left over amount at the end of every pay period, into savings and start over fresh when a new pay period (every two weeks) starts.

Things have been out of wack recently but I put transfers in my bill schedule so when I pay my bills I have a transfer to saving as well.

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006 &

Organizer of the Coupon Clippers of Tacoma