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I agree with everyone else who has posted a reply in regards to this topic of saving money and sticking to it. I have a few additions to make, however.

To tell you a little bit about myself - I am 23 year old single female. Because of the way I learned to spend/save my money, I was able to buy my first brand new car at the age of 21, pay off my massive debt at the age of 22, and buy my first house at the age of 22 (without the help of anyone in my family - and with little or no money down!).

1.) You have to decide that this is what you want to do - and actually stick with it.
2.) Analyze your lifestyle - what do you do daily or weekly that you could cut down on? Smoking? Eating out? Going out to lunch instead of a sandwhich or soup?
3.) Just Do It - set up an account. I agree with another person that posted that ING Direct is very helpful in saving. You transfer money from your checking or savings account to an account you set up for yourself. You can get to it if you need it - but, I like the fact that they have the best rates for Savings Accounts and CD's that I've found. Also - they have a refer-a-friend program. If you would like, I'll refer you: you sign up and just put $1.00 into the account, they will give you $25. If you would like to do this, please e-mail me at MegenGuest@yahoo.com. They have no minimums - I've even set up a CD for $10 at 4.1% interest for 5 years! Just think, if you take that $25.00 that they give you - and put it into a CD for 5 years at 4.1% interest, when the CD matures, you will have $30.13! I know, it's just $5, but that's just with $25. If you were able to put away more money, you could earn alot of money in interest over the years.
- I use ING direct and put all of the money for my bills in this account to accrue interest every month. Whenever a bill comes that I need to pay, I transfer the money into my checking account, and pay the bill. BUT - the advantage is that depending on how much you put into this account, you can accrue $1,2,3 a month in interest alone that you could then put into a CD that you could earn interst on, or just use it as a start to your savings account.
4.) Find ways to be thrifty - I like to go to Save-A-Lot or Aldi's. Once you go and pay $.39 for a loaf of bread, you wont be able to go back to Giant Eagle and pay $1.25! You cant beat a $0.33 can of green beans, or $0.99 peanut butter. $0.99 bag of lettuce for salads. I spend $20 a week on groceries for myself - when I was shopping at Giant Eagle, it was $50 and I ran out by Thursday! Second-hand stores are great for finding clothes - and it never ceases to amaze me that when I buy something new at the thrift store and wear it out - people always tell me how cute the outfit is (I love telling them that I paid $10.00 for my designer outfit when they paid $75 for theirs!).

Lastly, as a word of encouragement. There was a 72 year old man in the area I live in that collected pennies for 30+ years. He decided to turn them in - and had enough to make $14,000+. Just think - if he were to put any of that money into an interest bearing account 30 years ago, his money could have been doubled... You have the resources, all I ask is that you use them. And just think - that $25.00 free money from ING would be a perfect way to start. E-mail me: MegenGuest@Yahoo.com

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