Mind Over Money

10 Ways to Make the Most of Your Money and Your Life

We Americans are a financially anxious lot. While much of that anxiety comes from living paycheck to paycheck, which the vast majority of Americans do, we're also anxious about our investments, balancing work and family, etc. Money is the No. 1 issue couples fight about, and spending is the No. 1 thing we hide from our spouses.

So if you're anxious about your spending, your investments and balancing work with the rest of your life, what can you do to develop better spending, investing and other financial habits to make the most of your money and your life? Eric Tyson, author of Mind Over Money: Your Path to Wealth and Happiness (CDS Books, 2006), offers the following tips for developing the best money habits:

1. Don't think that a budget is the best way to save more. Telling people to reduce their spending is like telling an overweight person to just lose weight. Easier said than done. "The fundamental problem is that following a budget or a diet is simply unpleasant and often doesn't attack the root causes (what you choose to read, watch, and emulate) of the problem," says Tyson. "That's why I don't think budgets are the solution for most people."

2. Do track your spending. Get out your checkbook register, credit card statements and anything else that will help you detail where you spend your money in a typical month. Track these cash purchases for a week or two in a small notebook that you carry with you. Determining where your money has been going should help you to identify some fat to cut. "This approach works because you're not planning all of your spending in advance – which is a near impossible and utterly joyless task," says Tyson. "What you are doing is examining your general spending and then making focused and targeted cuts."

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• Take Control of Rising Gas Prices: Don't Let Your Money Evaporate
• Talk about it!