7 simple solutions for managing your money

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1. Trick yourself into saving Don't know where your money goes? Simple solution: Trick yourself into spending less and saving more. Lynne Koplitz does stand-up comedy for a living, but her finances are no laughing matter. The showbiz life can be feast or famine, so Koplitz has to make her money last between gigs. That's particularly challenging when you live in a high-cost city like New York. So Koplitz has come up with a whole repertoire of simple yet effective ways to manage her money. Each month, for example, she has her accountants give her a cash allowance, a throwback to habits she acquired while earning tips as a waitress. Then she divides her expenses into categories -- for clothes, for fun, even for her dog -- and puts money for each into an envelope. Koplitz also tells her accountants to stash 5% of her income in a secret account. "I don't even want them to show me the money," she says. "When it's crunch time, I know it's there." The more you make, the more you tend to spend, so Koplitz's savings tricks are appropriate even if your income is higher and less erratic. Not only does she toss spare change into jars -- keeping quarters separate from the smaller stuff to use in parking meters -- but she also puts dollar bills into a drawer. "Then you can grab a few singles to pay for takeout instead of breaking a bigger bill, which is the road to disaster," says Koplitz, who makes it a habit never to break a Benjamin. For More: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/7simpleSolutionsForManagingYourMoney.aspx?GT1=33007