How I did it: My friend and I decided to move out of the apartment we shared because of the noise from our (always fighting) neighbors downstairs.

I wanted to get my own place so I started looking.
When I realized I did not have what was required for a down payment I moved into my boyfriends mom's house paying her a little bit each month and saving as much as I could, I started to realize how much crap I really did buy and cut a lot of my sporadic spending habits down then I really started saving money.

The thing I spent most on was food, I'm an EMT so I'm on the street all day everyday and it was easy to stop at wawa twice a day and drop $15 each trip, thats $150 a week!! I started packing lunches (and eating better too!) and saved almost $1000 in one month, when my income tax came in i allowed myself a few hundred to buy some things I wanted and saved the rest 4 months later I'm getting ready to move into my new apartment and still have money left over!!

Lessons & tips:

• If you're one of those people that will chose a certain lotion because of the pretty bottle when there is a store brand that has the same contents, keep the bottle! Buy the cheap stuff and refill!

• Allow yourself mini shopping sprees, don't stop buying things completely just limit yourself to a small amount you can spend monthly.
• Pack your lunches.
• Open a savings account.

Resources: My savings account, its easier to control spending when you can see it all in one spot.

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Mar 28, 2009, 06:42PM PDT | 1 comment | 3 cheers