Budgeting tip: At the top of the month, take out the cash you budgeted for food/groceries. Divide into weeks (Usually 4- sometimes 5).

Each week, use only that week’s allowance for food. Once the money is gone, no more. If there is extra, put it in the food balance for the next week.

I try to set a goal to have some left over by the end of the month. If I do, I put it in a fun fund- which include clothes/shoes/handbags.

I work two jobs, so I have my paychecks sent to two different accounts. One goes directly to my savings account, which I look at as little as possible, and the other goes to my checking account and covers the cost of my gas, food and other miscellanious purchases.

Keep in mind what you really need, so you don’t buy stuff that you already have.

My No.1 Budgeting tip for myself is to always use cash when shopping. Swiping the ole credit card is too easy until the bill comes in the mail and you feel faint upon seeing the damage done! I’m not as tempted to splurge if I have to use my cash supply!

The advice that was most helpful to me was to first find my own personal style, then go through my closet, saving things I love, that fit well and that match my personal style and donate, give away or discard everything else.  From there make a list of things I need to round out my wardrobe and carry it with me.  As I come across sales, thrift finds,etc. I can check my needs list and only buy items that I need, rather than impulse buying.  I’ve got less clothes now, but so much more to wear because of this advise and I’ve saved money in the process!

I scour the ads, use coupons and pay with a debit card.

Nothing has worked as well for me as keeping a spending diary for a month.  By keeping one with my supermarket receipt totals, I realized I’ve been spending way too much on snacks.

I have two checking accounts. One for bills and living expenses.
The other is for the fun stuff in life. I only have a set amount that is transferred in there each month from my paycheck. It forces me to make careful decisions on how I spend my discretionary income.

Take advantage of the clearance racks in clothes stores; I went to banana republic and found a pair of great shorts tagged at 7.50.  When I went to the cashier she said they got marked down again, down to $6.15!  The tag may not always reflect the latest discounted price!

The key is actually taking the time to make a budget!  Staying on target for me required created an excel file that I use to log all income and expenses each month.  Even when I’m not “within” budget, I have to confront how the money has been spent - which is really at least half the battle.

My #1 tip is the 3 R’s: reuse, reduce, recycle. :)

If you are going to use a credit card, get a great one with rewards and no annual fee.  My hubby and I put every purchase we can on our credit card each month and then pay the balance in full when the bill comes…earning points for every dollar we spend.  So far we’ve earned $1050 in discounts on cruises (which we also combined with coupons for being frequent cruisers…it is our fave vacation) and are pretty close to us both being able to cruise for a week for free.

my number one way to budget is to keep an excel sheet with a running total of what I spend each month.  I categorize it, then compare it with my budget, so I know how to adjust accordingly!

Signing up for emails and looking at retailmenot.com for coupon codes always saves me a ton!

I would like to say thank you to Budget Fashionista for these giveaway! I appreciate the AZJeans giftcard.

And since I didn’t read that winners couldn’t enter again, my number on tip is to simply have a budget…make your money work for you and write down your intentions for your money every pay period…