Getting real

• 1). Make a list of everything you spend money on. This includes bills, weekly purchases and savings. Categorize all of these items based on whether they are truly a need or just a want. The needs, if they can't be altered, get to stay; everything that is a want is negotiable.
  
  
• 2). Prioritize your want list by labeling items from one to four. Ones should be the important, non-negotiable, don't-want-to-get-rid-of expenses, and fours are the items that are purchased on the side without much consideration that could be vetoed without much pain or sleepless nights. Start chipping away at your budget by seeing what would happen if you got rid of the items listed as fours.
  
  
• 3). Highlight the absolutely nonessential items. Weekly hair appointments, nail salons and tanning beds are the classic money suckers that in no way help your budget and can't be justified if you are hurting for money. Use the library instead of the bookstore, watch your favorite shows online and cut out the cable bill, and even resort to actual conversations over paying to have texting capabilities on your cell phone. If the expense can be classified as a luxury, then you don't really need it.
  
  
• 4). With a different-colored highlighter, flag the items you don't want to part with just yet, but that could be modified. Chances are you don't need brand new work clothes every month, or you need to change where you shop for the new clothes. A $50 pair of jeans is worth $2.50 when you find it at the thrift shop. Keep the extra $47.50 in your checking account or opt not to spend the money and pocket the entire $50. It can be as simple as cooking larger dinners and packing lunch in favor of spending $6 a day on fast food. (That's $30 a week, $120 a month cut out.)
  
  
• 5). Save. Once you have a knack for stopping unnecessary spending, be sure to keep the money in your savings account for potentially hard times ahead. Set a savings goal, such as $500 or $1,000, and reward yourself non-monetarily when you reach the benchmarks. Take an hourlong bath and listen to music, or have a family member baby-sit and have dinner at home.