Things You'll Need:
- Spreadsheet or paper and pencil
- Calculator
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Step 1
Make a budget. You say "ouch," but it's not so bad. The best way to make a budget is to save all of your receipts for a month and figure out how much you spend on what.
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Step 2
At the top of your spreadsheet, enter the months of the year, January through December.
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Step 3
In your first column, enter all the things that you spend money on. This includes rent, coffee (for me this is a monthly expense), food, utilities, insurance and circus training. Include a line for a 401k if you have one.
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Step 4
In the first column, as your last entry, enter a "savings" line. This is where you enter how much you pay yourself each month.
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Step 5
Enter your monthly expenses for each item. Copy and paste the column for January through December. Leave the "savings" line blank for now.
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Step 6
Total the first column. Label it something like "total bills."
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Step 7
Enter your earnings--not your gross pay but your net pay--under "total bills." To figure net pay, visit "how to figure your net pay." See link below. Enter any other earnings on lines below (if you have more than one job).
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Step 8
Subtract your expenses from your earnings to get your income.
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Step 9
Is there anything leftover? If there is, you're going to save that amount as extra and put that amount in the "savings" row. If there's not, get a better paying job, get another job or figure out a way to cut your expenses.
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Step 10
With a budget you can now manage your monthly expenses.
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Step 11
Next, add up your assets, such as your home value, stocks, bank accounts, anything that's worth money or that you could sell and get money for.
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Step 12
Add up your debts, such as the remaining cost of your auto loan, credit card debt, school loans. In other words, find out how much you really owe.
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Step 13
Subtract your debts from your assets. Do you owe money? If so, figure out how much of that monthly "savings" you can use to pay off that debt. Pay off your debt because it's costing you.
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Step 14
Get yourself a high interest savings or money market account. Visit bankrate.com, which will show you which ones pay the most. ING and GMAC pay 4 to 5% interest currently. Read the fine print. Some require minimum balances. Don't pay fees.
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Step 15
Be frugal. Use things longer than you normally do.
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Step 16
Go to the library instead of buying books.
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Step 17
Find a cheaper shampoo/conditioner and other products that you normally use.
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Step 18
Cancel cable. Yikes! Just try it. You don't have to, though.
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Step 19
Buy fewer clothes. Be more creative with mixing and matching. Shop at cheap chic stores.
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Step 20
Turn off and unplug things that you aren't using.
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Step 21
Eat less and cut down on your grocery bill. We all eat too much anyway (well, most of us).
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Step 22
Eat out less.
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Step 23
Cancel your phone service and just use your cell phone.
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Step 24
With all the cutting and hacking, you're likely to feel deprived, so find small pleasures and learn to appreciate them. Take up photography, hiking, blogging, knitting, something that's free or practically free. Learn something like astronomy or physics.
