10 - Stop smoking - start breathing

9 - Quit alcohol - drink water

8 - Stop giving to the church - become a free beleiver

7 - If you're a girl - stop buying shoes

6 - If you're a boy - stop buying these magazines

5 - Stop calling your "friends" on the phone - true friends will call back

4 - Surf the Internet less - work more

3 - Don't look for romance - seek rich, old, and lonely partners

2 - Be Scottish - if this does not suffice, be Auvergnat

1 - Save power, turn off your computer. NOW !

0 - That being said, read the rest of this hub - it's way more serious

Whatever your budget, it will always seem small. My salary constantly increased since I started working, but the only way I found to save some money is to track my expenses, and to save regularly.

It's usually not the big expenses that ruin a carefully prepared budget. We don't have that much opportunities for them anyway. But sum up all the "small things that don't count", and you'll realize how much they DO count.

Chocolate here, parking fee, one more coffee, a box of this, one more piece of that. All these things you did not planned to buy, but that shop owner located at a so strategic location...

Be also careful about "virtual money". You know, credit cards, debit cards, super cards, mega cards,... Many people simply don't realise how much money they spend because they don't have the notes and coins leaving throught their hands.

If you're a fan of this kind of money, why do you think you always get a receipt ? Buy a small notebook, and collect al the receipts. So you'll see exactly how much you spend. Don't forget to note your income on the top of each page.

One can't change an impulsive buyer into a rational person overnight. This is where regularity comes in the game. Once you'll have collected your receipts for several weeks, look for significant deviations.

Can you explain all of them ? Was everything needed ? Some extraordinary treats are good, but are you sure they're that extraordinary ? With proper tracking you wil be able to identify your habits, and improve your shopping, without reducing the pleasure.

Many persons do silly things while trying to save money. It's not because an item solds for half its price only for a week that you NEED it ! Ok, it's bargain, but do you need a skidoo ? In JUNE ?

This sounds stupid, but I'm sure you can find such things in your OWN shopping history - feel free to comment about that.

Another thing - a bit more mathematical. Imagine a car consuming 6 liters of gasoline for 100 kilometers, with a tank of 50 liters. Now, if you can save three cents per liter driving 10 more kilometers, will you go for it ?

If the normal price is, let's say 1.50 per liter (call it Euro if you want), the better price will be 1.47. Multiply that per 50 liters, you'll save 1.5 Euro. But the extra 10 kilometers are 0.6 liter, or 0.9 Euro. So you "save" 0.4 Euro only.

Put the extra time, extra risk, extra devaluation of the car. Do you think you'll really save anything with that ?

Want one more example ? Do you need to by anything in six-, ten-, fifty-packs ? Doing so, you'll simply consume things quicker. Good... for sellers.

Try to be a smart shopper, smart spender, and your budget will suddenly look strangely bigger.

If you want a bargain, you can donate money to my paypal account - rod.beglerf@gmail.com. I have a daily special, you can donnate 2 US$ for only 1US$ ! But rush now, this top-offer is only for today !