It can be hard to keep track of a budget in the beginning. You need to be good at organizing your receipts, and also be dedicated enough to keep strict records of every transaction. Little things add up very easily, and you’ll forget each time just how easily. You’ll be pretty surprised how much is left at the end of the week or month. The best way to begin, is with simple and practical things.

Before you do anything else, leave your plastic at home. Put them in envelopes and don’t worry about them for a week. Once a week, take your simplest bank card to your bank, and withdraw hard cash money. Then use this hard cash money on as much as you can. Watching that green go down on the counter hurts a lot worse than just sliding your card.

Service charges are not your friend, no matter how small they are. A service charge at the gas station for paying with your credit card is around forty-five cents. “Oooo!” you’re thinking. Well, if you buy gas every week, that’s already almost two dollars a month and over twenty-one dollars a year. Still not very much?

Still not very much? Let’s throw in a bunch of other charges. Using debit cards just about anywhere is a bad idea. They’ve got service charges galore most of the time. Using an ATM that isn’t your bank can be up to two dollars each time you do it. The other bank takes part of it. Banks don’t like you giving even one crusty old penny to their competition. It says so in the huge boiler-plate document that comes with your card.

If you have a Check Card, be careful. They are not credit cards, but they are supposed to act like they are. You can use them at any place a credit card would be used, and by-pass any debit card transaction fees. At least, that’s what you think. But you do know that they don’t always ask if it’s credit or debit, right? Sometimes the machines only register the card as debit if you slide it. If they slide it, they might just assume it’s a debit card, even with the credit card logo in the corner. They’re busy and in a fast-paced mindset. The next thing you know, you’re hit with a charge.

At the end of the first week with no cards, add up the little things you spent cash on. If you don’t want to eliminate anything, don’t. It’s not so much about not spending money, as it is about knowing what you spend. You can have as many little purchases that you want into the week. Just make sure you know you’re going to make them. Soon you’ll find yourself not making a lot of them in order to fit in something else. You’ll soon have it down to a science which little things you want each week.

The second week is much easier than the first. You could even end up getting generic brands more often, and weighing what little purchase is more important than the quality of your groceries.

If you’re in control of your personal budget each week, your personal finances will make a lot more sense. Something as simple as leaving your cards at home can save a lot, and keeping track of your little transactions and making good use of them can work wonders as well.

Learn more about PPI Claims. Visit www.BankCharges.com where you can find out all about how to make PPI compensation claims and start to get your cash back.