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I'm a casual blogger and I try to keep my blogs casual. Not that any one person is more experienced than another but I believe I can offer some sound advice to you, the reader, on fiance.
Saving is one of the hardest things on the planet to accomplish. Entire college courses are offered on the subject, people are paid big dollars by other people to "manage" accounts. I guess the best way to describe savings is a way in which you don't even think about it. This is the trick. Ok first off you can't conquer the world without starting the process. You need to take a look at your personal life and how you live it. Do you really need 2-3 cups of "fast" coffee a day? Is there really any difference in the store brand and the generic brand? Can someone cut my hair for cheaper?
Basically I'm talking about budgeting. That is the first step. It's so hard to sit down and look realistically at your life in the ways of spending. I mean you could be watching the football game or clipping your toenails or anything other than sitting down at a desk and coming to terms with how frivolous you are with your money. Here's what you do to get an semi-accurate profile of your spending habits:
1) Sit down with a penci (not pen), blank paper, calculator... Make sure you are away from any distractions, ie. TV, computer, etc...
2) Get three blank papers and title one weekday another weekend, and the final one monthly.
3) Now go through your average workday. What do you do? Two cups o' joe? $4.25 Lunch at your work? $6.45. Add it up for a workday. Make a Monday through Friday writing down everyday of the week.
4) Then go through your night weekdays. Do you go to the movies once a week? $26. Like a drink or three on Thursday trivia nights? $15. Attach these numbers to your day totals. (Ex. Thurs $12.50 at work + $15 trivia night = $27.50). Total your weekdays individually.
5) Now go to your weekend sheet and think about all the fun things (not so fun things) you do on the weekends. Make a list of some past events you did in a month (concerts, bingo, night on the town, blockbuster video, etc...) At the end you should have a month's worth of cool stuff that cost you money. Great! Now add it up...
6) Now for the hardest part the monthly list. This list is so hard because you have to be honest with yourself and include everthing you do. This is where you throw in gas, haircuts, oil changes, groceries, dvd purchases, tolls, WHATEVER! This is the part that you hate, be honest. Total it all up.
7) Now multiply
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