If you are someone who just can’t seem to save, perhaps you need to give yourself an adult allowance. Mind you, that’s not a good thing but perhaps you need to adopt that strategy.
When you were a kid, you probably got some sort of allowance when you reached a certain age. That was the money your parents gave you and you could do with it whatever you wanted. You could save it or blow it on any old thing you wanted. But once you ran out of money and spent it all, you had to wait until the next week (or month) before you got more.
With the debt crises we are in now and the atrocious economy, it is obvious that too many adults have a spending problem. They just can’t stop! I think for a person that has trouble saving, they need to voluntarily put themselves on an allowance and stick to it.
First you would need to figure out what your fixed expenses are like your gas, heat, food, rent, mortgage, gas, etc. Estimate those on the high side to give you some room for error. What you have left then after you account for all those expenses would be your disposable income. Now the problem is that today more and more people don’t have anything left over and that is why they are getting into trouble and having to look for debt relief grants (of which there are none).
If you are one of the lucky ones that do have money left over each month, you then need to make a serious decision: you need to figure out how much you want to save and balance that with how willing you are to give up some of your fun money. In order to be serious about saving, you need to sacrifice. That is the problem we have today: no one is willing to go without and wait until they can afford the things they want. They have to have everything NOW and that means pulling out the credit cards.
Give yourself a set amount (allowance) for fun money and STICK to it. Put the rest away in the bank or in stocks and do it EVERY month. Don’t waiver and give in. That is the only way you will ever learn to save and get out of debt.