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你是不是在自動櫃員機前等著列印賬戶餘額時心情忐忑？你是不是盯著空空如也的錢包滿懷迷惑？
增加你的積蓄
將積蓄不足歸咎於你可憐的工資存根說不過去。事實上，你存多少錢與你的收入無關，經濟學家的研究表明了這點。與之有關的是你是否想存錢，是否願意做些調整來增加積蓄。
要使自己花錢不像個傻瓜，不需要是個金融分析家你就能做到。
下面是你能做的十件簡單的日常小事，它們能使不你再過從支票簿到支票簿的日子。
10 抵禦外出吃飯的誘惑
讓別人給你做飯是種誘惑，尤其當從一天繁忙的工作回到家中時更是如此。買外賣或外出吃飯看起來可能是使你生活更輕鬆的方法，但是這麼干也要不菲的代價。
晚上額外花上半個小時給自己做晚餐，或者再花上十分鐘準備第二天的午飯，在你該支付賬單時，這可能免去你許多擔心。如果你覺得對菜譜一無所知，沒關係，在網上能找到很多實用的建議。
省錢方略：如果你每天花6美元從大廳的咖啡廳買個三明治加沙拉，自己在頭天晚上拍些肉和乾酪在小圓麵包上，一個星期你能節省30美元。如果除此之外，你每周還出去吃上幾頓，就算一盤菜10美元，每個月就一共是220美元你可以削減的開支。
9 不買名牌
我們這說的不僅是保羅襯衫。如果你想想你習慣購買的東西，多數情況下，你會發現你可以買普通牌子的產品，兩者間唯一的區別可能就是價格（也許還有不太吸引人的包裝）。
去雜貨店購物時，去買零售商自有品牌－－你用誰生產的鋁箔或衛生紙並沒多大關係。藥品也是這樣，如果你堅持購買非名牌產品，你能節省一大筆錢。
你時常能發現，名牌和普通產品的唯一不同就是價格。下一次你到藥店，比較一下泰諾牌的和一種普通牌子的撲熱息痛：你會看到儘管泰諾的葯貴上幾塊錢，葯的成分和劑量是相同的。
省錢方略：一盒泰諾的下午強力藥片零售價是12美元，一種普通牌子CVS藥房牌的相同產品，儘管藥量和化學成分相同，要比泰諾的葯便宜四分之一。
是，每年購買三次撲熱息痛能省下9美元看起來是微不足道，但是，如果你將這一哲學擴展到你其它的購買習慣上，你一年中就能少花上成百上千美元。
8 改掉廢錢的嗜好
如果你是煙民，你也許每個月可能吞雲吐霧花上一大沓錢，而這一開始就是你不該花的錢。
如果你的嗜好是在其它方面，你的問題也遠超出了本文所能涉及的話題。這個竅門是不需動腦的：如果你有很廢錢的嗜好，放棄它的一個原因就是攢錢。
省錢方略：一天吸上一包香煙，一包算作5美元，一個月就花了160美元。更不用說，你還在慢性自殺呢。你自己想想看，那個划算。
7 喝醉后不要花錢
空蕩蕩的錢包經常伴隨著劇烈的頭痛和對自己愚蠢行徑的模糊記憶。酒瓶子能讓人干傻事：像因為陌生人的髮型跟他們干架，或者花錢讓剛剛認識十分鐘的人喝上幾杯。
因此拿出一些保險措施，去酒吧時帶上適量的現錢，把銀行卡和信用卡留在家裡。當你花光錢時，也許已是酒醉的人事不省的時候。
省錢方略：如果你傾向於在晚上離開時給大夥買上3美元的一杯，那就是每個周末30美元。這筆錢多少要視你受歡迎程度如何而定。
6 避免預付費方案
有線電視公司總是催促你採用預付費方式是有理由的，授權讓你的債主直接從你的銀行賬戶提錢實質上就是明確你對金融知識一竅不通。
如果差額已經支付，填寫一紙聲明當然容易，但是這樣做涉及所有那些可能出現的小筆額外費用和利率變化。花些時間全面檢查你的賬單，然後再提交支付－－要明白你的錢花到哪裡去了。
省錢方略：2001年，美國人為自動櫃員機支付了22億美元。去掉你預算中的月供費，不管是通過協商還是更換供應商，每個月能給你節約50～70美元。
5 明智地選擇電話公司
這個竅門實際上可以擴大到任何你用的服務商，但是電話費賬單是最常讓人受害的。把你交付給電話承包公司前先多問問：宣傳的費率是固定的嗎？還是在打電話的頭兩分鐘之後增加？或是使用他們服務6個月後增加？每個月有什麼額外的收費？
如果你發現你被收的錢比你想像的多，你不一定需要換家公司。同樣，這些人當中的競爭很激烈，他們當然不想丟掉客戶。在客服那裡稍微的瘋狂一下，你可能發現協商一下降低費率或收費並不那麼困難。
省錢方略：換個服務商或嚇一嚇客服能使你每月的電話費減少多達15美元，或者一年180美元。
4 別對新技術產品上癮
小玩意特別容易讓人上癮，它們不僅好玩，而且我們對技術的極度依賴也讓人很容易就找到理由花掉大筆的錢給我們的玩具升級。
但是，說老實話，除非你是比爾·蓋茨，你還真負擔不起所有硬體和軟體的最新升級產品。因此何必麻煩自己呢？
省錢方略：節省的金額依人的技術痴迷程度而異。對嚴重情況的糾正實際上能轉化成每年節約幾千美元。甚至僅是跳過今年對你最常用的四個程序的升級，等待下一批再說，就能讓你的口袋裡多出800美元。
3 省著點用你的信用卡
頭腦正常的人不會為汽車貸款付18％的利息，但是看來人們用信用卡付賬時支付相似的利率時就沒有問題。
我不是鼓動你扔掉信用卡－－保持你的Visa信用卡總有餘額，即使只是不多的錢就對你的信用等級有好處。限制自己只用一張卡，月底到來時支付的錢稍多於最低繳費額；只繳納最低額不能幫你降低欠款，它只會除去過去一段時間的利息。
省錢方略：使用信用卡買一雙200美元的鞋，利息率是每年18.5％，還有附加的3美元；如果欠款不交，每個月要收3美元。就是一筆交易，一年下來就要額外交40美元。買東西時，儘可能多地使用現金支付。
2 使用折扣卷
站在交款通道前看你面前的老奶奶笨手笨腳地摸索折扣卷時，你可能不認為然，但是她走出商店時錢包里的現錢可能比你要多。
去藥店或雜貨店購物時，撿一本折扣卷；仔細尋找特價商品。
省錢方略：按照厄瑪老太太的方法，剪下折扣卷，能把每個月200美元的雜貨費減到150美元。這樣一年就能得到600美元的一大筆錢。
1 通過賽狗使你的收入翻翻
沒有比賽狗場更能增加你的純收入的好地方了……開個玩笑。
盡你最大努力不要涉足賽狗（馬）場或賭場。
英語學習
Top 10 Everyday Ways to Save Money
Do you feel nervous waiting for the ATM to print out your account balance? Do you find yourself often gazing into an empty wallet, confused?
boost your saving
It』s getting harder to blame savings shortfalls on your miserable pay stub. In fact, how much you save has little to do with your income, research by economists shows. It has more to do with whether you want to save and are willing to adjust to boost your saving.
And you don』t have to be a financial analyst to keep yourself from spending money like a dunce.
Here you will find ten simple, everyday things you can do to put an end to living from paycheck to paycheck.
10. Resist Eating Out
It』s tempting to let someone else do the cooking for you, especially when you』ve just come home from a full day of working. Ordering in or eating out may seem like a way to make your life easier, but it』s an expensive means of doing so.
Taking the extra half-hour at night to make your own dinner, or the extra ten minutes to prepare lunch for the next day, may save you a host of worries when it comes time to pay the bills. If you feel a bit in the dark when it comes to cuisine, well hey, you can find a lot of useful advice on the net.
Cash saved: If you』re dropping $6 daily on a sandwich and salad from the cafe in the lobby, slapping some meat and cheese on a bun the night before instead is going to save you $30 a week. If you』re ordering out a couple of nights a week on top of that, at $10 a dish, you』re looking at a total of $220 monthly that could be slashed from your budget.
9. Avoid Brand Names
We』re not just talking Polo shirts here. If you think about what you routinely buy, more often than not you』ll find that you could be buying a generic version, and the only difference would be the price (and perhaps less attractive packaging).
When you』re grocery shopping, go for the store brands — it really doesn』t matter who makes the aluminum foil or toilet paper you use. The same rule goes for pharmaceuticals, where you can save yourself a fortune if you stick to the no-names.
Oftentimes, the only difference between brand names and generics is the price. Next time you』re at the pharmacy, compare a Tylenol label with that of a generic acetaminophen: you』ll see that even though the Tylenol is a few bucks more, the ingredients and dosage are identical.
Cash saved: A box of 100 Tylenol PM Extra Strength caplets retails for around $12. One generic equivalent is the CVS pharmacy brand, which although equal in quantity and chemical constituents, is more than 25 percent cheaper.
Now, saving nine dollars over three annual acetaminophen purchases seems trivial, but if you extend this philosophy to the rest of your buying habits, you could avoid blowing up to hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.
8. Kick Expensive Habits
If you』re a smoker, you』re probably coughing up a big wad of cash every month for something you shouldn』t be doing in the first place.
If your addiction lies elsewhere, your problems may be way beyond the reach of this particular article. This tip』s a no-brainer: if you have an expensive habit, saving money is probably just one of the many reasons to drop it.
Cash saved: Smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, at $5 a pack, works out to a monthly investment of $160. Not to mention, you』re slowly killing yourself. You do the math.
7. Don』t Spend When You』re Drunk
The sight of an empty wallet is frequently accompanied by a pounding headache and blurred memories of acting like a jackass. The bottle can make a person do foolish things: like picking fights with strangers over their haircuts or buying rounds of shots for the table you met ten minutes earlier.
So take out some insurance, bring a reasonable amount of cash with you to the bar, and leave your bank and credit cards at home. Once you』re broke, it』s probably time to crash anyway.
Cash saved: If you』re prone to buying the crew a round of $3 shots at the end of the night, that』s an additional $30 spent per weekend. The amount hinges, of course, on how popular one is.
6. Avoid Prepayment Plans
There』s a reason why the cable company is always trying to push you into prepayment plans. Authorizing your creditors to dip directly into your bank account is essentially condemning yourself to financial ignorance.
It』s easy to throw a statement away if the balance has already been paid off, but doing so involves overlooking all the little extra fees and rate changes that may pop up. Take the time to examine your bills thoroughly before submitting your payment, and be conscious of where your money is going.
Cash saved: In 2001, Americans paid $2.2 billion dollars in ATM fees. Eliminating monthly fees from your budget, whether it be by negotiating or switching service providers, can save you around $50-$70 every month.
5. Choose Your Phone Company Wisely
This tip could be extended to virtually any customer service, but it』s on phone bills that people tend to get burned the most. Ask questions before you commit to a phone carrier: is its advertised rate a fixed one, or will it increase after the first two minutes of a phone call or the first six months with the company? What additional fees will be billed every month?
If you discover that you』re being billed more than you thought you were, you might not necessarily have to change carriers. Again, competition is intense between these guys, and they certainly don』t want to lose customers. Stage a little freak-out on customer service, and you might find that negotiating lower fees or rates isn』t all that difficult.
Cash saved: Switching carriers or terrifying a customer service agent could cut up to $15 a month off your phone bill, or $180 dollars a year.
4. Don』t Become a Tech Junkie
Gadgets can be terribly addictive. Not only are they fun to play with, but our utter dependence on technology also makes it easy to justify blowing hordes of cash on updating all our toys.
But let』s be honest: Unless you』re Bill Gates, there』s no way you can afford to keep on top of every hardware and software upgrade. So why bother?
Cash saved: This amount depends on the extent of one』s technology addiction. Remedying severe cases can literally translate into thousands of dollars saved a year. Even just passing on this year』s upgrade for your four favorite programs and waiting for the next batch will leave you with an extra $800 in your pocket.
3. Go Easy on the Plastic
Nobody in their right mind would pay 18 percent interest on a car loan, but people seem to have no problem paying comparable rates on their credit card purchases.
I』m not advocating that you trash your card — keeping a consistent balance, even if it』s a low one, on your Visa is good for your credit rating. Just restrict yourself to one card, and contribute a bit more than the minimum payment when the end of the month rolls around. Paying only the minimum doesn』t help towards lowering your balance, it only eliminates the interest for the past period.
Cash saved: Buying a $200 pair of shoes on a credit card with an 18.5 percent annual interest rate will tack an additional $3 and change on the price tag for every month that you leave the balance unpaid. That』s an extra $40 a year, for a single purchase. Pay in cash as frequently as you can.
2. Use Coupons
You might snub your nose at the granny fumbling through her coupons in front of you in the checkout aisle, but she』s probably walking out of the store with a heavier wallet than you are.
Scoop up a coupon leaflet when you go shopping at pharmacies or grocery stores, and keep your eyes peeled for specials.
Cash saved: Following old lady Irma』s lead and clipping coupons could shave a monthly $200 grocery bill down to $150. That works out to a fairly hefty $600 dollars a year.
1. Multiply Your Earnings at the Track
There』s no better place to increase your net worth than at the dog races… I』m just kidding.
Do your best to steer clear of the tracks and casinos.
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