MACON, Ga. — Christele Parham says when it comes to saving money, she's still learning tricks that work for her.
"Saving money is definitely one of my goals. I feel like it's a necessity," she says, "Some of my contract work will automatically go in my savings account. That way, I don't even get tempted on spending the money."
Parham says one thing that works best for her is planning.
"I plan for the year and plan for the things I want to participate in. Putting money aside makes me feel like I have control over that," she says.
Financial advisor Sherri Goss says what Parham is doing is smart. Her top tip for saving money is tracking one month of spending.
"Create categories -- meals out, gasoline, groceries, all the things you spend money on, day care. Every month and every day when you pay a bill or put gas in your car, you write down at the end of the day what you spent," she says.
She says doing this for January could act as a budget model for the rest of the year and can help you save money for tip two -- an emergency fund for that surprise car repair or hospital bill.
"In your world, what is an unexpected expense you can have, and how much do you need to save for that? Once you get that amount saved, then you can start saving money or use that extra money to pay off some debt," says Goss.
Goss says one way to make sure both your bills are paid on time and you can have extra money saved is tip three -- setting up automatic payments.
"Just gets to the point where after a few months, you don't even think about it at all, it's just building up in the bank," she says.
Goss says if you try one or all three of these tips, you could end the year with more money than you started with.
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