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A quick idea on how to make yourself a bit of extra money

When ever you see statement like 'a really easy way to save money' it may conjure up ideas that there aren't really any easy ways.

Well I wanted to share a way I have been using for many years; I agree that it doesn't make me thousands each month, but every penny counts in this day and age. It's so easy that anyone can do it. The only word of warning is that you have to be quite disciplined other wise you won't save money but in fact may spend more than you need to.

Don't worry though, I will run through exactly what I do each month and as long as you keep track of where you are spending your money , it will be easy to save a little bit.

Right, first of all is to go through a normal week. You start with your money in your normal current account, checking account or an account you save with. During the week you take money out or spend it via your card. This could be on essential items like food, or fuel for the car. As the amount of money reduces in your account the amount of interest you will be earning also reduces.

How much extra money do you think you could save if the money stayed in your account to the end of the month? It may only be a few pennies but better saved than not, right? In fact if it is only a few pennies, then you may want to have a look at some other bank accounts to see if you can get one with a better interest rate, but that's a whole new article!

The first easy job is to find a credit card that offers you cash back on your purchases. Once you have the card, set it up so the whole balance is paid off each month. The reason for this is to save you paying interest on any balance left on the card.

Once you have the new cash back card the next step is to create a separate account for the card. If you have internet banking, the easy thing to do is to open it with your existing bank. However I chose a different bank as they offered a higher rate for me to save money with them.

Now you have your new card and your new account, what changes? Well each time you buy something you would normally use cash, or debit card for, buy it with the cash back credit card. The next step is very important. Each time you make a purchase, when you get home you have to transfer the same amount from your normal bank account into the savings account set up for the card.

There are two reasons for this;

1)By reducing the money in your normal account, it will feel like you have spent it. This helps as if the cash stayed in your normal account, it would be easy to think you had more money than you actually did. 2)By transferring the cash into a separate account, preferable high interest, you will be earning more interest on the money and build up the exact balance that is outstanding on your card.

You have to be very disciplined at transferring the cash because when the credit card bill is due you should pay the whole balance off to avoid any interest payments.

So you have saved a little money by borrowing it from the credit card and earning interest on it yourself, and paying the credit card off before being charged any interest on what you've borrowed. But there is a little more. As the credit card is a cash back credit card, at the end of the year they will pay you a percentage of all the purchases you made. This may only be a small amount, but it will make you some cash, which you can then save.

To make my life easy I only purchase fuel and food on my cash back credit card. Otherwise I would have to make more transfers to the savings account each day. However if you feel you can keep track of it all you can purchase additional items too, just remember to transfer it out of your normal account into the savings one.

So there you have it, there is actually an easy way to save money!

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