There are some simple ways of ensuring that you put your aside money each month for savings.
Take this simple method that has been taught to me by a dear friend of mine, who have been practicing this method for years:
1. Have at least 2 bank account- one for salary (account A) and another to save money (Account B).
2. The bank account that is used to save money should not have an ATM card attached to it (to make it inconvenient to withdraw)
3. Calculate and determine how much you can set aside every month- it does not matter even though the amount is small.
4. Every month when the salary comes out, have the money transferred from the salary account A to account B. You can physically withdraw the money or perform an online transfer.
5. After sometime when the money accumulates, you can lock it up in FD or invest in a financial plan.
If you worry that you may not have enough discipline or time, set up a standing instruction to have the bank take care of the transfer for you. You may need to pay some service charge for standing instruction, especially to another bank but it will be forced savings and the charges are usually cheaper than the time, petrol and parking you need to spend to physically deposit the money in account B. Not to mention safer too.
Then just leave your salary account with enough for you to spend- and when you see the low balance, it would prevent you from overspending. Of course, the amount should be enough not to deprive you of the little joys in life :0
