I don’t know about you, but we have a bad habit of spending the money we have. With it sitting in our regular checking account, it’s just too easy to go ahead and buy that new TV, go on a weekend vacation or even just buy a few “fancy foods” or go out to eat. So, I came up with a solution that works well for our family….

I opened a savings account at our credit union and since my first goal was to pay an additional $50 toward our credit card debt, I had that $50 automatically deposited from my paycheck into this new savings account. When it came time to pay the credit card bill, I’d write the regular amount I paid from my checking account and then $50 from the savings account (which came with free checks). Since the money never hit my checking account, we didn’t really miss it and after a couple of months I changed it to $100.

After I paid our first credit card off, I added the amount that I would usually send there ($150) to the amount that automatically went to the savings account. Any bonuses, tax refunds, and raises also go into that account now. I know keep at least $3000 in the savings account as an emergency fund, the rest goes into paying of the remainder of our debt. Works like a charm and that extra money is not only not being spent, it’s gaining interest.