I will go with avoid the use of credit cards and stay single, which I am very bad with both.
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I think mostly everyone summed up how to save but honestly the little things can make a difference.

I'm a student this year and Scotiabank has this "Bank the rest" which gathers the odd numbers in your chequing account and rounds it to the nearest dollar then transfers it to your savings. EX. you have $71.42 in your account, it will be rounded to 71.00, and the rest will go to your savings.

I know its small but in a month you could be putting into your savings around $25. its small but your still putting money back into your saving's account.

Along with what everyone else said just little things like this can still help.

FYI getting married bumped my savings up quite a bit. Cost sharing is a wonderful thing.

What I did was have an allowance for myself. I would have $xx amount to spend every 2 weeks and that's it. If its gone I have to wait till next week. I didn't have a debit card so I can't just simply take cash out. I did that for 2 years and saved a lot!

All these posts have lots of good ideas that you can incorporate into your overall savings strategy. But the one thing that holds everything together and keeps things in perspective has not yet been mentioned - put a pen to paper and create a budget. Create a realistic budget so that you can actually stick to it. Follow your budget religiously. And amend your budget when circumstances change. Repeat often.

Back in my banking days, I helped many of my clients create personal budgets. Now, as an articling CA, I help my corporate clients create corporate budgets.

A budget is the cornerstone of every successful fiscal plan. Without one, it's like hipfiring - sometimes you'll hit your target but most of the time you won't. Creating a budget is like aiming down your sights - you'll have a significantly greater chance of hitting your fiscal targets.

Get an expense tracker on your phone.. and as painful as it is, input EVERY little purchase you use.

Set your budgets and stick to them

NO EXCEPTIONS
at the end of the month review your transactions. you will be surprised at what you spend on.

lather, rinse and repeat.
I think your biggest problem is not knowing where your money went. Knowledge is power.

@Alby i've heard some pretty good things about automatic withdrawals, i'll look into it sometime next week
@RecklessNS do you know if they have that at TD? im with them right now and dont wanna switch banks D:
@aikenluu918 i just got an expense tracker, and i'll start tracking now! thanks for the tip!


so i've thought it through, cancelling my current gym membership at SN, and going to a cheaper location. Cutting down on eating out and partying. Going to my bank next week to talk about savings option, like the "bank the rest" or "automatic withdraws"

This only works for plastic, and it's not for people who are very afraid of having their banking info on a 3rd-party server, but Mint.com is the best expense tracker I've used. Doesn't handle cash transactions except withdrawals/deposits. I use it and it really helps you visualize where your money is going. Great mobile app as well.

I tried to do this before... it was really hard to do every purchase. heisenberg, make sure you put in the expense right away or you'll forget to do it later.

Try finding something really occupying to do at home like games, TV or movies. It was easy for me to stop eating out. Spend $XX to eat food that'll be tasty for a few minutes, or just wait XX minutes to get home and eat there? Just think about what you could be doing with the money instead (NOT buying stuff - put it away).

Best advice for saving money but not degrade too much of a lifestyle?

Set up a meal plan. Seriously, most of your income will be spent on food.

I've used mint before, its very automatic, but as others said, if its cash, not gonna help.

I try to keep everything on a monthly excel sheet. One the day I get paid, I throw everything into the savings.

I find that manually keeping track of how I spend gives me the best insight on where I can change or improve upon.

COOK your OWN mofo food.

here's an example.
Dinner:
Pasta (macaroni) and then add pasta sauce + cheese. epic cheap.

Breakfast:
Same pasta + can of chicken stock + sliced ham + mixed greens (corn, carrots, beans)

Lunch
Same pasta + salad dressing, + 1 green pepper + red pepper

I don't know about you, but those 3 meals costs MUCH less than eating out. I don't know about you but if you want to save money (5 bucks for Lido breakfast + 8 dollar ramen + dinner cheap fried rice take out 8-10 bucks) that's a simple 20-25 dollars, yet the meal i mentioned above cost less than 5 -10 bucks.

if you drive plan your errands accordingly...I never drive out of my way to get something done...always make an errands day every now and then to save gas.

I calculate all my spendings and earnings through my phone APP..
after reading this I realized Im absolutely TERRIBLE with my money..
Just a quick breakdown since the new years..
1000$ gas + car maintenance
600$ entertainment
2700$ food
2500$ household/rent/random
1700$ clothes/gifts
900$ utilities
300$ smokes

THATS ALMOST FREAKIN 10 GRAND I BLEW IN LESS THAN 4 MONTHS.. GEEZUS CHRIST..
I gatta cut back on everything..

edit: the best way to save money is to make money.. if your not working, your spending :(