Scrapping money for savings

[Radiance]

I wasnt sure whether to post here or under "Investing and Banking" but that one seems to be more about the investing part.

My question is: What are strategies you use to scrap money for savings?

I already send $200 automatically to my savings account each month, I know I need to increase that and I will, but in top of the monthly fixed amount, maybe there are other things I could do to trick myself into setting aside more savings money:

1) I have my change bowl which I deposit every couple of months...I dont carry much cash, so it only amounts to $20-$30 every couple of months.

What else?

[NolaP]

Does your bank have that program where when you use your debit card it rounds all your purchases up to the nearest dollar and deposits the difference in your savings account? I use Bank of America and they do - works great.

[disneysteve]

Do you have a budget? Do you know where all of your money goes each month? Knowing that would really help you answer your question.

What do we do? We designate a set percentage (22%) of my gross income for savings so every paycheck, that amount gets sent to various investments. 50% of my wife's income goes into her 401k. We live on the remainder. Sometimes, when our spending is on the lower side, excess cash will build up in our account and I'll periodically pull out some of that to send to investments but not on any set schedule.

[snshijuptr]

We have a variable income so my budget is set for the lowest that income goes. Any extra money we earn a month (which additionally includes overtime, surveys, credit card bonuses, etc) goes into savings. If you get paid hourly, weekly, or biweekly, budget as if there are only 4 weeks in every month, and you should end up with extra money.

Every year I increase our budget based on inflation, not our pay raises. We are quickly advancing in our jobs so our pay goes up much faster than inflation. Additionally this guarantees that your budget reflects true inflation, not lifestyle inflation. I use Inflation Calculator- from InflationData.com to calculate the change every January.

[Radiance]

Does your bank have that program where when you use your debit card it rounds all your purchases up to the nearest dollar and deposits the difference in your savings account?

Nope But I will ask them! I am with Redwood credit union

Do you have a budget? Do you know where all of your money goes each month? Knowing that would really help you answer your question.

Yes and I will post soon. giving finishing touches

If you get paid hourly, weekly, or biweekly, budget as if there are only 4 weeks in every month, and you should end up with extra money.

I get paid twice a month

Every year I increase our budget based on inflation, not our pay raises.

My salary increaases are same or less than inflation

[marvholly]

Do you use coupons?
If so you might want to put the $ saved in your savings after each shopping trip.

[mcfroggin]

What savings account do you have?