I'm confused...

@Necoras:I think that this is the missing link: [www.getrichslowly.org]

Truth in advertising! Since most people don't stick to their new years resolutions, if you don't give people any, then they will actually be able to follow through!

Brilliant! ;-)

The resolution, obviously, is "stop reading blogs and get some work done!" Or...maybe that's just me.

oops.

Wait, is one of your favorite tips really using overdraft protection and allowing automated access to charge/debit your account?

Automated payment with a CC is cool, I guess, but that's not specified and I doubt any consumerist reader would say automated debit from your accounts is kosher.

Put as many recurring bills on a credit card that earns airline miles (or points, whatever). This works for phone, electric, gas, cable, etc. As long as you PAY the credit card IN FULL every month you get points that add up FAST and don't cost a penny extra. Plus it keeps your bills in one place.

@KyleOrton: I think what he's saying is that if you have both checking and savings accts. at the same bank then you can tell your bank to cover any checking overdrafts by debiting your savings acct. This can save you a lot of cash if you ever miscalculate and overdraw on your checking acct.

@SwahaCrane: But this is the same "protection" the that comes with all the fees we hate so much.

@KyleOrton: I don't know about the rest of Consumerist's authors, but I'm a fan of the kind of overdraft protection described here that links a savings account to a checking account. The only bank I used this with charged nothing, although I think big banks like BOA, Wachovia charge $5. I am not a fan of the kind of "overdraft protection" where the bank lets you actually overdraw your account as a $30 "courtesy."

my favorite is number 8: earn extra money.

that is genius!

@SwahaCrane: Except, a lot of companies charge to put a bill on a credit card. And even if it's $30 every month you get to put on a credit card, it's not worth the service fee.

I really like get rich slowly. A lot of the stuff they write seems to be original and not just rehashed stuff we've all heard. If I see another blog entry or top 10 list of how to save money that has "stop going to starbucks" or "switch to generic brands" in it, I'm going to punch my computer screen.

@SwahaCrane: In college, I paid my tuition with my Amazon Visa and then used the student loan check to pay my credit card. I got tons of free amazon gift certificates that way. I really should start paying bills with it. I wonder if I can pay the mortgage with a credit card....

@downwithmonstercable: did you know bringing your lunch to work can also save you money? every time is ee that suggested as a money-saving trick, it sounds so fresh and new.

"Track every penny you spend" makes me groan in the same way that "record every calorie you eat" does. ARGHHHH (My problem, not the list's.) It's like, the process becomes another job, and one thing I don't need in my life is yet another job. Lazy? Maybe.

The important thing for me and others to realize is that taking control of spending and saving entails work, no two ways about it. There is no passive route, aside from starving to death, to being thrifty. (On those grounds I might quibble with the "quick fix" description.)

I've started rigorously managing my finances after months and months of getting closer and closer to the income < expenditure threshold. Holidays absolutely blew it.

My first steps, I emptied my savings account to $1000 and paid off my car - my single debt.
I withdrew CASH at the beginning of the month and divvied it up into envelopes. Each envelope has a 3x5 card with the amount originally in the envelope on it for me to track my purchases on and balance it all out.

So far, I've figured out I spend WAAAAY too much on food.

@DrGirlfriend: And don't forget to pay yourself first.

@ElizabethD: The penny-tracking was what eventually helped me get control of my spending (which wasn't outrageous, but could have gotten there). Luckily, I didn't do it every week (as the article suggests), but every month, which is more bearable. I might have changed my habits if I did it more frequently, but I wouldn't have been able to keep it up for years.

So if you give in to the laziness a bit, you can create a tailored system that works for you.

I gave up on trying to categorize my spending - instead of a million different categories, there's rent+food+utilities, cellphone, student loan payments, savings, and Everything Else. My goal is to get Everything Else as close to 0 as possible - but that's because I'm focusing on debt + savings. But I would have gone crazy if I was trying to keep track of spending on clothes, presents, dr. visits, movies, etc.... it's just Everything Else. So far it's working.

@Alex Chasick: I am pretty sure my credit union offers this service at no additional fee whatsoever and it has in fact PREVENTED me from getting overdraft fees several times.

@oneandone:

Kudos to you! Maybe I'm feeling weak-willed because our finances are pretty complicated right now.... One kid in a Catholic ($$) high school, another kid in college, me working part-time, husband out of work, upside-down mortgage, increasing copays for prescription meds that we can't do without, etc etc. I'm always handing the teenager (for example) a couple of bucks so he can grab a muffin in the school caf. in the morning when we've been too rushed to make breakfast at home, although we're working on better planning to avoid these kinds of ad-hoc expenses. Just one tiny example. But you're right. Surely I can make some minor modifications and see where my "petty cash" and Amex charge money is going. Thanks for the encouragement, and keep up the great work!