Money Management Guide

A pay day loan advance is a good short-term answer to an occasional lapse in your cash flow. However, sound money management can help prevent cash flow gaps in the first place. Follow these tips to better manage your cash.

• Pay in cash whenever possible. This may seem counterintuitive as a strategy to manage your cash flow, but paying in cash will almost always help curb your spending. Handing over "real" money helps you internalize how much you're spending. Paying in cash can also help you to stick to a set spending limit. Hit the ATM once a week and take out the cash you need for that week, then limit yourself to only that amount.
• Keep track of expenses. When you force yourself to write down what you spend, it tends to have an inhibitory effect on your spending. Try to keep track of every dollar you spend for at least a month, and then compare this number to your monthly income. If you have a deficit, you might consider a budget to help you identify areas where you can scale back your spending.
• Budget, budget, budget! After you record your expenses for a month, establishing a budget should be fairly easy. Break your expenses down into categories and impose monthly limits on each category. Make sure you allow for quarterly/seasonal expenses in your budget, such as Christmas gifts or car insurance payments. A budget can help you minimize the gaps in cash flow that drive you to a pay day loan advance.
• Save early & often. The first bill you should pay when your paycheck comes in is savings. Savings are a less expensive alternative to a pay day loan advance because they also can buffer against life's unexpected expenses. Try to save 1-2% of your income at first and gradually work your way up to 10%, if you can. Aside from reducing your dependence on a pay day loan advance, savings can also be used to reach goals, like buying a new plasma TV or making a down payment on a car.
• Watch out for "invisible" expenses. If you have memberships you don't use, subscriptions to periodicals you don't read, etc. you might be squandering your cash on frivolous "invisible" expenses. Review your budget to identify these expenses and trim them wherever possible.