Record Your Daily Expenses. Keeping a record of all the money you spend is the best way of knowing whre all your money goes and to see where you can save money. However don’t waste too much time doing this. Some quick notes are many times better than long documents
2. Pay Yourself First! You should be always the first one to be paid no matter what. This technique of managing your personal finances is simple. It means what it says pay yourself first! This is what you do. When you first get your paycheck, do not do anything with it until you have taken some for the purpose of saving for yourself. What people typically do when they receive their paycheck is to pay off bills first. Get some money aside in a savings account too. No matter what, keep a good percentage of the money in a savings account.
In this case, you take out a portion you are comfortable with and put them away in another account. Inevitably, you will find that at the end of the month you will still be able to pay the bills with money saved for yourself. Try this, it is fun to see how you will naturally self-adjust your spending when you have saved some money aside. At first it will be hard but then with some experience you will see it’s easy to do it. Just start!
Avoid Credit Cards. I should say avoid credit cards if you do not have very good self-discipline. I am proud to say that I have never got into credit card debts. Credit cards are wonderful things and with all wonderful things they can sometimes be prone to abuse. Sometimes you window shop and then you end buying what you don’t need and you regret yourself for doing so.
If you have a tendency to delay your credit card payments and buy on impulse even when your finances cannot support it then avoid credit cards. Credit cards are there to provide a convenience and not to be abused. Not to sustain a lifestyle you cannot afford. Debt is something you should avoid at all costs. Managing personal finances takes great discipline. Avoid credit cards if you have a problem controlling spending.
The Two Week Rule You probably know this as delayed gratification. Buying things that are not necessary is just waste of money that could be better employed in many other things.
Shop with A List. This way you avoid wasting too much money on things you don’t need. It’s easy to fail to resist temptation. Related to the above in managing your personal finances is shop with a list. This again requires self-discipline. When you shop with a list you avoid buying the unnecessary on impulse. These impulsive purchases have a tendency to eat into your savings or what you could have easily saved. Just count all the money you save using this technique.