We often tell ourselves that we need to do something about our finances without knowing exactly what we should do. Having the goal to improve your financial situation is great, but it doesn’t do you any good if you don’t have any idea what steps will get you there. Here are some ideas that should get you started:

1. Open up an online savings account. There are a couple different benefits to having such an account. The interest earned on these accounts is almost always greater than what you can expect at your local bank. Another reason for an online account is that it’s at a different institution that where you normally bank. There will be less temptation to frequently raid this fund since a transfer isn’t instantaneous. Give ING Direct a try since they’re also FDIC insured.

2. Take the credit cards out of your wallet or purse. This step is for those of you that can’t seem to figure out why you’re never able to pay off entire credit card bill when it comes (you know who you are). It doesn’t make you any less of a person, but it is good to recognize in yourself. Hide them, cut them up, put them in water and freeze them, do whatever you need to do to keep you from using them. You’re an intelligent person, you can figure this out.

3. Determine a percentage of your take home pay that you can save, and commit to actually saving it. Once you’ve determined the percentage, make sure you transfer this amount into your savings every time you get paid. In my opinion, this is far more effective than trying to put away a specific dollar amount every month. Every time you get paid, the first thing you do is transfer 10 or 20 percent to savings. You don’t have to think about it; you just do it. What’s left over you then use for your living expenses.

4. Don’t ever go out to eat without a coupon. This might seem like an odd one, but coupons are so available these days. If you plan ahead, you can get great deals through Restaurant.com, or you can just use what comes in your “junk mail”. I would say just stop going out to eat, but since you’re going to anyway, just make sure to use a coupon.

5. Set aside a specific amount of cash each month for Christmas. Get an envelope and write Christmas on it. Each month, put some amount of money into this envelope. At the end of the year, don’t spend any more money on Christmas than what’s in the envelope. People who do this have actually found that they don’t spend everything in the envelope which isn’t really a bad thing.

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