Saving money can sometimes be harder than it seems. Often times, the very things that you think are saving you money often come back to haunt you. Listed below are 15 common money saving mistakes that you should avoid if you want to really put cash back into your pocket. Use these tips to save money successfully.

1. Going to the Dollar General. Some dollar stores stay true to their name by offering low priced items. Others, however, are simply using the name as a way to attract customers. Be cautious that the dollar store you visit isn’t actually marking up the price on some items in an effort to make a profit.
2. Not paying attention to interest rates when borrowing money. From time to time you may need to borrow money or finance things like cars and furniture. To truly save money, you must ensure that the interest rate is as low as it can possibly be. Don’t accept loans with high interest rates or your will pay more than double what it is worth.
3. Having a “general idea” of how much money you have in the bank. Do you know how much money you have in the bank? One money saving mistake that people make is assuming they have money in the bank when they really don’t.
4. Buying poor quality products that you have to use more of. The quality of products does matter. Buying the cheaper option may not always be best.
5. Making “saving” the focus of your life. While saving money should certainly be a part of life, it shouldn’t consume you. There are times to just sit back and enjoy life.
6. Not having a savings plan. The other extreme is not saving any money at all. You will need to have money saved when you retire.
7. Buying things on credit card with the intentions paying the card off.  While you may think you will pay it off when the bill comes in, this can quickly cause your debt to add up.
8. Not searching for the best deals. When saving money, you should always shop around for the best deals before you make a large purchase such as a car. Shopping around can lead you to significant savings.
9. Falling for gimmicky sales tricks. Sales trick such as buy one get one free often trick customers. This is the same as saying “we are selling for 50% off.” Watch catchy wording so that you can truly save money.
10. Buying things just because they are on sale. Be sure that if you are going to buy something, you will use it. People tend to buy things just because they are “on sale.”
11. Using coupons on things that you don’t really need. Similarly, people tend to buy things that they have coupons for when in reality the item is still more expensive than the competitor’s brand.
12. Shopping without a list. A list can help you save money each and every time you go to the store. Make a list each time you go to the store and don’t waver from it.
13. Opening lines of credit just to get a discount. Learn to say “no” when the cashier asks you to open a line of credit at the store. Not only does this encourage you to spend more money, opening a line of credit at every store you purchase from increases the likelihood that someone may steal your personal information.
14. Not believing that you CAN save money. Have the attitude that you can save money and you will. Just like anyone else, you must believe that you have the ability to save.
15. Having the “get it now” attitude. If you truly want to save money, you want to show patience. Many people fail in saving because they have the “get it now” attitude. Save and be patient for the things you want to buy. It will probably go on sale and you can save even more money.

Are you falling victim to any of the mistakes listed above? Do your best to save money without
falling into these traps.

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by Sarah Wood

Sarah Wood writes for JuteRugShop.com an online store that offers a large range of high quality and
eco-friendly jute rug.

If you're not saving enough and I tell you to start saving today, you're not going to do it. Instead, if I tell you not to save more today, but to start saving more only when you get your pay raise in the future, you'll probably take my advise.

Only a third of people actually formally save money, like having a 401(k) account or something. For many people, save more today is just not an option. I can understand that and you can too, if you know a bit of behavioral finance.

Behavioral finance is a combination of psychology and economics. Understand behavior finance helps you know money mistakes that people make, so that you can turn money challenges into solutions. My understanding of behavioral finance is that to start saving, people are likely to face 2 major obstacles - lack of self-control and inertia - because save now is so painful and it's natural to have loss aversion. The solution must overcome these two major obstacles, and the solution must be easy enough to carry out with the least effort.

What can you do to start saving in the near future? Next time you get a pay raise you've got to set aside your pay increase as your saving so you won't have too much of loss aversion. Hopefully, you won't feel as bad as a money which feels bad when someone takes an apple away from it when it has two apples. Review the percentage of your 401(k) contribution as a percentage of your salary and stick with it or raise a percentage or two will help in the long run. If you're still young and can afford a higher percentage, then maximize it. For the rest of you to whom 401(k) doesn't apply, know the concept of behavioral finance on steroids may only be a plus. For that, watch this TED session presented by Shlomo Benartzi who studies behavioral finance with a special interest in personal finance.

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by Charles Gwa

Being in debt is one of the situations that everyone hates to be in. So, it is really important for you to learn as to how you can avoid falling in debt. In order to learn as to how you can manage debt, it is important for you to be true to yourself. However, many people are not able to follow this. I am one of such person who has learned it the hard way. Being a girl, I used to love shopping (I love that now too!!!). I used to love the cosmetics and loved to gorge on different kinds of foods. Five years back, when I had just enrolled into college, I never used to think before buying an item. But now, things have changed a lot and now I know how to manage my finances well.

Managing the finances

After the completion of college, it was time for me to find jobs. But, then, there were only fewer job options and that too not of much worth. Then, I was $30,000 in debt with no job in hand. I was even considering higher studies. Then I realized how important it is for one and all to maintain a disciplined life from the beginning. I had also realized that every person has an individual situation and the way in which you can solve the debt problem depends on that particular situation.

However, in order to manage my own finances and pay off the debts that I have had, I planned to start something new. What I did proved to be profitable for me and I run that business till now. In fact, that is my full time profession now. I run a spa.

But, before I started with building my own business, I worked on paying off the debts. With some help from my parents, I started to pay off my debts. Then, it was not possible for me to start a business with the debt burden on my shoulders. But, if I had to pay off the debts, it was important for me to make money. So, I started offering spa treatments.

When I was in college, I used to buy some really inexpensive and natural ingredients to produce different forms of masks. We had even tried to produce soaps out of these. So, I thought of using these tactics to offer spa treatments. This helped me to fetch some money. Along with some monetary help from my parents and the money I could make out of the spa treatments, I started to pay off my debts. As it was not possible for me to handle all of the debt payments with the money I was able to earn, I opted for debt settlement. Fortunately enough for me, the creditors agreed to settle my debts. But, in addition to paying off the debts, I also followed some other tactics to manage my finances better:

• I started practicing more realistic approach – I started practicing more of a realistic approach towards my needs and my affordability. I knew that it was important for me to lower the expenditure as much as possible. So, I determined my affordability. I always tried to keep my expenditure based on this limit.
  
  
• Started to lower my dependency on credit cards – It is true that most of us are dependent on credit cards, while using the credit cards we do not think twice that later we can face problems in making the payments. So, I determined on lowering my dependency on the credit cards.
  
  
• Started savings after most of the debts got paid off – When I had started to pay off all my debts, I had made a promise to myself. This was that after I was able to pay off the most of the debt, I would start to save money for the future. I kept my promise and now I am a happy and content person as I know that I have money to fall back upon.
  
  
• Transferred balance from one account to the other – Though I had settled the debts (all were unsecured) that I incurred, after most of those got paid off, I started to transfer the balance from the credit cards that I had to the ones with low interest rates.
  
  
• Followed the wait and watch rule – Though I loved to shop, I cut down on most of that. I started to practice the rule of wait and watch before buying an item. That worked for me!!! Whenever I used to love an item, I used to wait a few days, at least 15 days before actually I could buy it. This worked like magic as the interest for that item used to fade after a few days. I still do follow this rule.
  
  

So, this is how I was able to pay off my debts and then start the business of my own. Though the basic debt pay off process is supposed to be the same it varies on the individual debt situation.


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Justine Anderson is a contributory writer associated with the Debt Consolidation Care Community and has written several articles for various financial websites. She holds her expertise in the Debt industry and has made significant contribution through her various articles.