Simple to say but harder to live by. The easiest way to try to make this a reality, is to always imagine you make less money than you actually do. If you have an income of £15k then spend your money as if you actually make £12k, then save the rest or pay off debts with it. The less debts you have, the less interest there will be to pay, and so you will have even more money to play with.

It may seem like a difficult thing to do, but it is not really that hard when you recognise the fact that whenever you receive a pay rise, finances never really appear to significantly improve. Spending simply adjusts to meet the new income level. Set up a direct debit so that as soon as you get paid, some money goes straight into a separate savings account. As you don’t view it in your current account, you will not see it as available to spend, and so your savings will gradually increase with no real effort or hardship on your part.

If you can manage to live below your income in this manner, then making important financial changes becomes much easier.

Related personalfinanosaurus posts:

1. Child Trust Funds – would you trust your 18 year old with eighteen years’ worth of savings…..
2. Bizarre ways to make money…. dooo doo dooo doo dooo doo doo doo (tales of the unexpected)….how long can I make these titles? I wandered lonely as
3. FSA to tackle lack of financial knowledge in the UK – about time too.

Here are some of the ways Cashzilla has heard of people trying to make money:

Auctions held on ebay:

Human soul – some are even charging for postage?!
Mystery envelope – just an envelope where you dont know what the content is.
Advertising space on someones body – Winning bid US $11,300.00
Heavenly Jesus Pinto Bean – apparantly “The Face of Jesus Naturally Appeared on This Pinto Bean”
Name change – highest bid $1,325 and still didn’t win
Bizarre vegetable – CROSSING OVER……MY POTATO TURNED INTO A FISH

Do you know any othe strange ways people have made money, and not just on ebay?

Related personalfinanosaurus posts:

1. Bizarre stories about the “money conscious”
2. Saving money the easy way

1. Parents who give children their own books at Christmas
2. Present of dandruff control shampoo (buy one get one free offer) in office Secret Santa
3. Recycling of tea-bags
4. Carpeting house with scraps and free samples
5. Buying Christmas presents in the January sales
6. Driving at 56 miles an hour on the motorway to save petrol
7. Using dustbin bags for curtains
8. Accumulating toilet paper from public places
9. Accumulating light bulbs from public places
10. Clearing out the complimentary mini bar and toiletries from hotel rooms
11. Going one step further and clearing the maid’s trolley, apparently you can pick up a month’s supply in approximately 20 seconds!
12. Coasting downhill
13. Scouring conference rooms for leftover sandwiches
14. Always buying out of (display) date food at supermarkets
15. Checking fruit machines for leftover change
16. Conveniently needing the toilet when it’s your round
17. Combing the streets for leftover change
18. Asking for a student discount, four years after graduation
19. Steaming un-franked stamps off letters
20. Putting on extra jerseys in winter instead of just turning up the heating
21. Trying to claim half fare on buses/trains despite being quite clearly in your mid-twenties
22. Keeping bottle bags that you got for your birthday and giving them to out-of-favour relatives (minus the tag that has, unfortunately and inconsiderately, been written on)
23. Becoming a Jehovah’s witness just to avoid shelling out on expensive Christmas gifts
24. Collecting AOL discs from the stand at Tesco
25. Collecting the free miniature pencils from Ikea
26. Free ‘tester’ food in supermarkets
27. Sleeping in airports to avoid accommodation costs
28. And the “old classic” – legging it out of a restaurant without paying the bill
29. Scooping out the mint imperial bowl on your way out of the door

If you know of any other tactics a Scrooge has employed, please mention them in the comments.

Related personalfinanosaurus posts:

1. Bizarre ways to make money…. dooo doo dooo doo dooo doo doo doo (tales of the unexpected)….how long can I make these titles? I wandered lonely as
2. Saving money the easy way