by Stanley Courage Dugah

Created on: June 29, 2009   Last Updated: July 15, 2009

Handling your finances can sometimes be a difficult task, but not impossible. There is no need for being a financial wizard or another Alan Greenspan to do that. You only need to make good use of some basic money management tips, in addition to possessing an unflinching and clear vision of where you want to be in your financial future.

Detailed below are the requisite tips that can easily make you an expert in money management.

!. Be Creative in Saving Money
This is the first step to effective money management. Thus, if you're someone who finds it difficult to save, then this is what you must do. Take a pen and paper and note down items and things on which you spend most of your income. A typical list will look like this:

Expenses List
1. Entertainment
2. Food
3. Payment of phone bills
4. Other petty expenses
5. Utility bills

Next, take a critical look at the list and think about how you can cut down on the amount of money you spend on these items. For instance you can make some adjustments to the amount of money you spend on chatting with friends on your phone. It's a great strategy for saving some pocket change no matter how small it is.

In the case of food, it's advisable you try preparing your own meals to save some cash. Likewise, for the utility bills, you must put in place measures that will decrease your consumptions.

Don't leave any appliances plugged in when they are not in use and use energy saving bulbs. You can also iron in bulk and make good use of sunshine during summer to save some energy to reduce your bills and have some surplus money to lodge in a savings account. Also, try as much as possible to save between 2 and 10% of your income. This is what creative money saving is all about (simple, isn't it?).

2. Budget to Manage Your Money
Feeling the urge to frown? Don't, I promise to make it simple without using any complex financial jargon. So what's budgeting to manage money all about? Piece of cake; it only means going according to a plan in your quest for efficiency in money management. And to do this you need to use what I call the lay man's budget.

To begin take a paper and list down your expected income or revenue for the coming month. Make sure you include incomes from other sources in addition to that of your day job. Next, make another list of your expected expenses for the coming month, and compare the two.

If the expected total expenses value exceeds that of the expected income, then this is what to do. Be honest to yourself

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