The first tip to making every penny count is to set up a plan. This can be as simple as sitting down with pen and paper and deciding where you want to be financially in one year, five years, or twenty-five years. With a plan of where you want to be, you can start taking the steps to getting to that point through paying off bills, putting money in savings and retirement, or into investments.

The second tip to making every penny count is to create a budget that you can live with. Start with the basics for your budget and then over time make a budget that fits your spending needs. This means that at first only include your income, and the base payments of your reoccurring monthly payments, rent or mortgage, utilities, car payment, insurance.

The third tip to making every penny count is to track your spending. This way after you have paid the bills on your basic budget for a couple months, and you track your spending, you will know what you can do to cut back and use the money you save to pay off bills, and set up your retirement and savings.

The fourth tip to making every penny count is to start paying a little extra each pay period to the bills that have higher interest rates. A loan for $2000 with the minimum payment of $40 and an 18% interest rate over the full life of the loan will cost you $4396.66 in interest alone. However, if you pay off the loan faster by simply adding an additional $20 per month, you are paying $1152.22 in interest and pay off the loan in quarter of the amount of time. What a savings and much less hassle only for twenty dollars per month.

The fifth tip for making every penny count is after you have tracked your spending you may have found that you spend money on items that may not appear to cost much, but it all adds up. The cup of coffee at an expensive coffee shop may taste good, but is it really worth $3.00 per day. You times that $3.00 by 25 days, and you have now spent $75 for coffee. No matter the taste, you can prepare great coffee at home, and spend a fraction of that cost, more like $10 per month.

The sixth and final tip for making money count is an area that many times is hard to talk about. This applies for many areas of our lives that we take the cost for granted until we get the bill. This would include anything from the gas in the car, utilities for televisions and lights that are left on, and un-kept care of items we purchase. Each of these items are not only costly, they can also be hard on the environment, so taking the time to be a little more conservative will pay off in the long run.

Taking the time to care about your finances, and following these tips will help you set up your financial future for a sure win in the end, and you will be able to make your money really matter.