However for some unfortunate reason, these important financial goals hardly ever get accomplished, and most will continue to go through life consistently worried about their financial security, unprepared for what future may hold.

I have been writing money saving articles and newsletters for SavingSecrets.com for over 6 years now, and after being in contact with a number of readers over years, I found that many who were interested in learning how to effectively save money simply lacked foundation to accomplish this.

I am a firm believer that ability to save and budget is dependant on plan and approach one takes. Sure many proclaim they want to conserve and save more, but how many actually accomplish this? Saying one thing and actually doing are completely different from one another. Why do you think so many New Year's Resolutions are forgotten and never heard from again?

For example, think of times you yourself started a new hobby or goal. Were you successful? If not, how long did you stay with this new undertaking? What was your reason for quitting or not following through with intended plan?

From this short self reflection, you can probably guess reality most would-be budgeteers are faced with. Even though these individuals have desire to conquer their finances, for some reason task never gets accomplished.

What is needed to help guarantee success is inspiration and a solid approach, or what I like to refer to as a "game plan".

Think about it.

If someone wants to learn how to play piano, realistically, they are not going to just sit down and start banging away on keys. They'll never learn to play piano effectively that way!

In order to tackle process of learning piano, an eager student will take lessons, purchase "How To Play Piano" books, tapes, cd-roms, interactive software, browse Internet for tips and related online forums, check local college for classes and instructors, etc..

Who do you think will have more success learning to play piano? More than likely it will be energetic individual with planned agenda and goals, than dreamer without a "game plan".

Designing Your Game Plan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once you fully commit to accomplish a particular task, to help improve your chances for success it is imperative that you design and follow a regiment, a well thought out "game plan".

1. Pay Yourself Weekly

This may seem a bit odd, but this is an excellent way to start building a substantial savings. On a weekly basis, pay yourself $25-$50 and immediately put it in a safe place. You can even open a special savings account where this weekly "payday" can by placed to help minimize or eliminate impulsive spending. Think about it this way, if you paid yourself $25 a week, in two years you'll have accumulated $2600 (not including interest)!!! That's almost $3000 from just putting $25 aside every week! Take advantage of this money-saving opportunity. Simple, yet very effective.

2. Don't Shop

For those of you that love to shop, you may find that this is one tip that could save you hundreds, maybe even thousands every year. Start using "Need or Want" strategy. Before you spend a single dollar on anything, ask yourself, "Do I really NEED this item, or do I just WANT it??" You may find that many of items we purchase, we do so just because it "caught our eye" or it was "an impulse buy" or "my friend bought same thing". All these excuses just add up to wasteful spending. You can probably get by without another sweater, or a new pair of jeans, so just buy what you absolutely need, and pass on those items that aren't necessities.

3. Use Your Bank's Own ATMs

Some banks will charge you money for using other ATM machines. Even though you will be able to withdraw money using your ATM/debit card from literally any machine, banks will charge you $2 (generally) for using a machine other than theirs, in addition to a standard $1.50 charge machine charges for its use. In other words, if you use ATM at your local 7-11 to take out $20, you'll most likely end up paying $3.50 in additional charges! If you do that 5 times a month, you'll lose $17.50 for that month, or $210 per year! What a waste! Try and stick with your own bank's ATMs whenever possible.

4. Track Your Spending

Take time to track your spending habits for one week. Take note of every single dollar you spend, even those sodas and candy bars purchased here and there. This will give you a "birds-eye" view of exactly where your money is being spent, thus allowing you to refine your spending habits to essentially save more money.

5. Lower Credit Card Balances

Another very important tip that many often overlook. Pay off those pesky credit cards as soon as possible because you are losing up to 19% of total. What a waste of your hard earned money! Keep chopping away at balances until you get to an amount that is reasonable $100-$500 dollars.

6. Use Your Debit Card Instead of Credit Cards