How to "Find" More Money

I know people who earn less than $15,000 per year and still manage to save, while others who earn over $100,000 a year are living paycheck to paycheck. How can this happen? Because some people know how to control spending habits.

It's not the big expenses that keep a person living on the edge - it's the nickle and dime stuff. Most people spend small, insignificant amounts every day, without even noticing. But what they do notice at the end of the week is a shortage of ready cash, or a lack of savings.

For example, if you get your lunch each day from the office vending machines for about $4.00, that comes to a whopping $1,000 a year. The daily paper, at 50 cents, comes to another $150/year. And that $3.00 cup of gourmet coffee of cappuchino every workday - that's another $750. And a weekly movie, at about $10, adds another $500. Just these few small things can reduce your discretionary cash by $2,400 per year. Not much, you say? But invested, and earning 10% per year, that small amount accumulates to over $51,000 in just 10 years.

Places where most money is wasted:

* Shopping without a purpose (shopping for fun)
* Impulse purchases, especially in the grocery store or department store
*ATM fees
*Late fees - credit cards, utilities, video rentals etc.
*Items purchased because they were on sale, but not needed
*Miscellaneous items, like that cappuchino

To get your spending under control, spend one week tallying up every dime spent that you do not have to spend. At the end of the week, that is the amount you should strive to save each week. And pay yourself first! If you wait to save "what's left" at the end of the week, rest assured nothing will be left.

If an item is necessary, such as lunch, opt for brown-bagging at about $1.00 a day, and save the extra $3.00 from not using the vending machines. Rent a movie for a dollar rather than spend $10 at the theater. And instead of the newspaper, get the news for free, online, or on the radio or TV.

Understand this: until you know exactly where your money is going, you can never get your spending under control. And if your spending is not under control, you will never have as much wealth as you could have had.