In today's world of credit it is difficult to save as the temptation to buy is at a high. If you cannot afford it yet, just put on your card. Pay later. Pay in instalments. Then the purchase comes back to haunt you later as your monthly income rapidly disappears to take care of all the bills.

With the current economic crisis that is affecting us worldwide, it is time to get a hold of ourselves and renew our determination to save our hard earned cash. We are definitely going to need it in the months, maybe years, to come.

Step one of this resolution is to look at our expenses. Take a good look at that grocery bill. Take a look at the transportation costs. Take a look at what we pay for perks like cable, internet, movies, books, technological gadgets that we are convinced that we need and the list can go on.

Did we really need all that junk? Eating in restaurants when eating in saves money. Buying junk food then spending tons of money on medical and cosmetic purchases. Buying an expensive phone with an mp3 player/camera and so on when we already have a camera and a mp3 player; was it really necessary? Not to mention that expensive theatre system that needs monthly payments for the next ten months. Is it really worth it?

Once we have identified the things that we can do without and buy only because we desperately want them, then we can begin to eliminate them completely or partially from our lists. Of course, if it's already bought, the decision would be to keep paying or return or sell for some money back. Once these items are out of the way we can then move to the third step; making a budget and sticking to it.

With all the temptation around us via the internet, our newspapers and magazines, our televisions, billboards and more, we find ourselves bombarded with images that lead to buying sprees. Well, we will not give in. We will resist the urges to spend our hard earned funds on things that we do not need and we will save said money for days when things get tough.

While step three is an ongoing process, it is important to remember that there is no point if there is no reward. So we will treat ourselves, be it every two or three months, by getting something extra and putting aside a little less. It can be that extra book or movie, dinner at our favourite restaurant or a night to pig out. This can be incorporated into the budget with the determination not to fudge.

After the first few months of practice, it will become easier and we will soon see our savings going up. Then when the time comes, the money will be there to help us through that approaching rainy day.

Tags & Keywords : money, savings, budgets, spending,