by Karen Wilmot

Created on: February 10, 2009

Are you tired of people saying the only way to save money is to start with building a budget? I tell you the only way to start saving money is to actually save it.

We are a society of planning. We have strategies and plan everything we do. Guess what, we still don't save, we still overeat and we still are in debt up to our ears. I have a very untraditional mindset to savings so beware if you keep reading this is not your typical cut spending approach to savings. We are going to go on a journey that will take you to places you didn't know to jump start your savings plan.

First, you will need to pull out your cleaning equipment. Yes, your cleaning equipment. I don't know if you are a top down or bottom up cleaner but start by cleaning your house. Take the control back in one area of your life and I bet you will find at least $10 in change throughout your house alone. This is your jump start to savings. Put this money in a jar, vase or canister of some type. When I started with this, I found $22 just laying around the house. Now, mind you this is a thorough cleaning so you need to empty baskets, sort through drawers and don't forget your jewelry box. Every penny counts in this process.

Second, head outside to the car. There is a wealth of junk in your car also. Clean every area even under the seats to find every penny you have dropped or your kids have dropped. Clean the place where your seat back and seat come together because I know some change has dropped out of a pocket at least once or twice since you cleaned your car the last time. In this exercise I found another $5 just hanging out waiting to be put to use. Add this money to your jump start container.

Now, head off to the bank. You can open a savings account with $20 and you have started your savings. Believe it or not you just jump started your savings without a budget. You did something and can see the fruits of your labor. You now have a clean house and a savings account, congratulations.

So you are asking now how do I maintain all this. I needed control of situations so I maintain my home cleanliness by cleaning for 15 minutes per night. I tackle one room every evening. There are times that I still find random coins throughout my house and I maintain my jump start container to this day. Now I have successful gained control over my home so I know I can gain control over my finances.

Recently, I started to put $50 from every paycheck into my savings account. There are weeks that I withdraw that same $50 by

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