Hi! I work as a Credit Analyst in Canada and see people who are in debt ALL the time! out of 1000 people i interact with I may find 1 if Im lucky who knows what it means to spend within limits n save. For married people-i find it impossible to understand inability to save! Simple rule, which works, trust me I know from personal experience, if u have 2 incomes in the household, get 1 income directly deposited into a separate joint account so that its only for the purpose of growing your savings. when u dont see the money in your regular spending account, you will not 'know' u have that much extra money to spend and hence will stop spending when your regular spending account is empty or close to nil... go thru all your monthly bills-cable tv, phone, mobile etc... see places you can save by reducing the services-for eg...do u really need a call forwarding on your mobile/landline?do u 'really' have the time to watch all the channels you're paying extra for in a month? do u really need the caller id enuff to have to pay extra $5 or Rs 50 or whatever it maybe for it? trust me every penny/paisa counts when u get into saving mode! and also remember-according to a recent study, which makes a lot of sense, our sense of euphoria or desire to own something we see in a mall/store is immediately nullified/dulled once we 'purchase' it...endorphins in the body r released only when u 'want' something you see and are zeroed out when you get it...so if you're putting it on a revolving(one you dont pay in full each month) credit card/loan you're paying for what u dont have the desire for anymore. so try n make a habit of buying only what u can pay for in cash/even if you put it on a cr crd to earn points, pay it off as soon as u get home thru the money in your bank account!!! Trust me-it works-thats the way we have been able to save and live so well in the 5 years of our marriage! n we even take 2-3 yearly trips abroad-with our own money-not borrowed money-n no we'r an average income earning family of 2, not millionaires-just yet-but we will be if we continue doing what we're doing... so try it!!! Achha hai! ;)
