7 Tips For Building Your Savings

As the cost of living slowly but surely rises, so does the frustration: How on earth can anyone build a nest egg on such a limited salary? Well, believe it or not, as overwhelming as it sounds, it can be done. The question now is: how long will it take before it can ever really amount to anything?

Don't panic, girls, we're here to offer sound advice for your money concerns. Here are five sure-fire ways to get the money ball rolling all the way to the bank:

1. Take Note

Ever have those days when you ask yourself whatever happened to the P2,000 you had just the other day? You'll be surprised how fast money flies when you don't account for how it was spent. Let me share with you one of my ultimate secrets to success: Some people have journals, while others keep food diaries, but I have a notebook for expenses. That's right--you need to write down every single expense you make in a day, which adds up to a week, a month, and eventually a whole year.

A money journal will help you keep track of all your daily expenses, spending habits, frequent purchases, unnecessary expenses (you never realized), and how much you saved or lost in a given time. This way, you can compare month by month if you've improved on your money habits or not.

2. Ditch The Plastic

Credit cards are the easiest and fastest way to go broke. Unlike paying for something with cold, hard cash that slips out of your hands, signing a piece of paper does not fill you with the same sense of guilt. If you must have a credit card to earn a good credit score and the like, then keep your limit to a minimum. Another tip is to leave the card at home for emergency purposes only. That way, you won't be tempted to spend money you may not have even earned yet, or simply don't have.

3. Follow The Pros

You can't go wrong with money-saving tips from a billionaire like Oprah Winfrey! She once said in an interview that whatever amount of money you make, no matter how small, you should stash 20 percent of it away in a time-savings account so you can't touch it.

Then there's America's Next Top Model's Miss J Alexander, who shares in his book, Follow The Model, what his grandma taught him: "Whatever you make, save 50 percent. Spend the next 25 percent wisely and the other 25 percent foolishly!"

Depending on how much money you make and the lifestyle you lead, only you can determine a sensible yet disciplined rationing of your salary. Just make sure to stick to it no matter how tempting it may be to compromise here and there. Once you start cheating yourself and the system you implemented, don't even bother justifying your so-called expenses.

Click ahead to the next page to read the remaining tips!

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