What is the best way to manage your finances?

My husband and i earn more than the average person, but we dont have any savings , we dont have flash cars but we are paying off the morgage and we never strugle with bills , we are very young to own our own house (21 and 22) and we dont go out very often. I honestly dont know where all the money goes niether does he. How can we manage our situation????

Public Comments

1. Try looking at your bank statement. This will tell you where you spent your money.
2. If you are having trouble determining where all the money goes it is time to sit down and track your expenses. It can be amazing how decent income can seem like there is nothing left over at the end of the month. You should spend a month and track your expenses as accurately as possible. If you stop and grab a coffee on the way to work every morning, keep track of it. How much are your electric, water, sewer, cable bills? Record it. How much do you spend on groceries? Etc. You will be surprised how you probably have so many little expenses that you don't really think about add up to something fairly significant. My wife and I recently did this because we were feeling the same way. After spending a month doing careful tracking we found that between the two of us we spend over $200/month on buying lunches! Even at just 5 dollars a day for lunch it can quickly add up as you can see. Once you have recognized where your money is going you need to create a budget so you can maximize the amount of money you spend so you can apply some towards savings. Tracking expenses and creating budgets are not fun by any means and taking the first steps to do this can be difficult. But once you have done it for a while you get into better spending habits that will be effortless.
3. You need to go to your bank or to a brokerage and talk to a certified financial planner... and SOON.!
4. You might want to consider getting a financial software program such as "quicken." Although I don't really think that would be necessary. If you and your spouse could keep a small notebook with you, and write down all of your purchases. (incidentals too) then after a week or two you would be able to see where a lot of your money has gone.
5. Check out DaveRamsey.com. He gives practical advice on financial matters. If you really want to know where the money goes each month, then write down EVERY expense for a month or two. Kinda like a food log, you may pass up that McD's run on the way to work just so you don't have to write it down ;).
6. Live BELOW your means. Apply for LEAP fuel assistance. Don't spend any money on junk or fluff. Don't eat out. Don't buy gifts or greeting cards and such. Bake things as gifts. Grow a garden, indoors and outdoors. Buy clothes from a secondhand store. Save every penny. Disconnect the TV service. Conserve on gas and consolidate car trips. Eat fundamental food, not processed expensive foods. Cut up the credit cards and never use them again. Investigate refinancing of the mortgage. Don't buy snacks and sodas here and there at convenience stores and such. Cut each other's hair and skip the hair salon. Skip vacations away from home. Take in a border. Don't smoke or drink. Stop taking over-the-counter medications and herbal remedies. Increase the temp in your refrigerator a notch. Conserve energy with attic insulation. And, so on. Calculate every dime saved by these kinds of measures and put that money aside. Never spend it.
7. Buy Microsoft Money and hire me as your Portfolio Manager.
8. maintain your accounts. analyse every 15 days. read business.com and money market for tips
9. Sounds to me like you are doing fine!!
10. write down all your expenses on a piece of paper. every dime you spend, write it down. at the end of the month, look to see where your money is going. cut out the unecessary. start paying yourself first. make it automatic. this money should not hit your checking account, but a savings account. try INGDirect or Emigrant Savings. Don't keep your savings at the same bank as your checking.