You cannot always increase your income, but there are ways to change how much money you spend every month. Whether you are trying to save up money to buy a home or just want a little extra each month to cover unexpected expenses, these tips will help you reach your goals. Here is what the most frugal families recommend when you are trying to save.

News about the health of the economy seems to be contradictory; on one hand, auto sales and the housing market are on an uptick, yet on the other job creation is flat. Too many articles are mentioning how few are benefiting from the stock market growth by either suggesting the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer or flat out stating this as a fact.

Just like the other one, okay, so I’m no songtress, but the Pink Floyd lyrics I’m referencing here aren’t exactly what you think, instead I’m relating this to rolling…drum roll please…..coins.

I’ve been hemming and hawing over writing a 2013 goals post primarily because 2012 was such a complete loss- at least when it comes to my finances. My only glimmer of success was my biking goal; I did end up averaging 80 miles a month. My blogging goal was tepid, if I can even call it that.

I go back and forth between revising my budget based on my Quickbooks data to not budgeting at all. Lately, I’ve realized that though I enjoy crunching the numbers, my budget just isn’t reflecting my actual spending. So, I’ve decided to try out the zero budgeting method.