If you're normal, then saving what's left at the end of the month is freakin' impossible. It's not that you don't want to, it's just there's never anything left. You swear that next month will be different, but it never is. You get a raise and think to yourself that you should save some money now that you can. Except you can't. Am I right or am I right?

In the same way that work expands to fill the available time, expenditure rises to meet income. No matter how much you earn, by the end of the month it's gone.

Does this mean it's impossible to save? Of course not! But, you've got to pay yourself first. Let me explain…

Your monthly bills

Instead of saving whatever is left at the end of the month, you 'pay yourself first'.

When you sit down to pay your bills, always make the first payment to yourself. Settle on an amount (be realistic, start small) and immediately pay yourself first by depositing this money into a money market account, retirement annuity or whatever. Only after you have done this may you pay your other bills or spend a single cent (i.e. you save a portion of each salary cheque at the time it is received).

Because that money is gone, you'll be forced to adjust your spending.

Just like you cannot simply stop paying, for example, your cell phone account, you should also not skip a payment to yourself. You have to consider yourself as the most important of all your creditors and service providers. You are the most important person in your life, that's why you get paid first.

Will Telkom cut you slack if you can't pay? No ways! In the same fashion you shouldn't cut yourself slack either.

Start by making it easy to succeed

Start by making it as easy as possible to succeed.

Just about everyone can take one percent of their salary and deposit it into an account at the start of the month. By doing this you'll have less money to spend. At the end of the month, just like before, there'll be nothing left. Except now you'll have actually saved something.

Your spending will adjust without you even realising it.

I suggest splitting what you save into two. Make one half damn near impossible to lay your hands on while keeping the other easily accessible for when the inevitable emergency strikes (click here to learn how to set up an emergency fund).

When, after a few months, you realise that one percent is easy as pie, increase it to two, then three and so on.

The easiest time to start

The easiest time to start paying yourself first is when you get a salary increase. Take the increase and pay yourself that amount each month. You'll still have the same amount for spending as you did before your raise, but you'll have saved some money painlessly.

Save or pay off debt?

If you have a lot of expensive debt, it's probably smarter to pay this off first before you start saving. It certainly doesn't make much sense to earn a measly seven percent interest when you're paying 20 percent on your credit card.

Having said that, reducing debt is a kind of saving. Simply make all your minimum payments, as before, and 'deposit' what you paid to yourself first into your debts.

On page two: How much you should save, where you should save and other issues regarding 'paying yourself first'...

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