How do I start improving my money habits and saving?

The worst part… making a budget.

See where your money goes now and where it needs to go.

This always hurts my feelings because then it’s obvious where I waste money.
 
This is literally a course assignment to get started.

Step 1: Add up your income and expenses for the past 3 months. (Income Expenses)/3 is what you keep. If you don’t like those numbers, spend less or make more.

Step 2: If you don’t have a cushy savings, set aside $1,000 to 3 months’ worth of expenses for emergencies. Put this savings in high yield savings account(s) (get close to 4% APY or more).

Step 3: If you have debts, prioritize paying them off. If you have no debts, prioritize retirement. If you have things you want to save up for (car, house, vacation, movie theater, sport tickets), slow down debt/retirement payments to save up for those things.

That’s the gist of it.
 
Always be tracking. The key to success is keeping it simple. Try to pay only with cash, checking, or debit. Track every transaction, then start putting those charges into categories. You want enough categories to match your spending needs, but not so many that tracking gets hard, and not so few that you miss what spending is happening. Once you've got that data, keep it going. Then you'll set up a zero based budget template. Account for all your income, tithe if that's your conviction, account for all your fixed bills (bills with ude dates), then what's left is what you have to save and put toward variable (categories). It's not restricting it's laying out a plan so you know how to adjust your lifestyle.
 
And write down your bills, when they are due, what method you use to pay them (check etc). Or you can use your bank statements or whatever to see. And then examine them to see if they are all needs or you can switch companies for better rates. And then write down your other needs like food and such that are variable and set an amount you want to use for those that is appropriate. And keep paying your needed bills and your needed variables. And then write down your debt, what you want or need to save, retirement savings you have or what you want to save, an emergency fund amount you have or want to have. And see if you have enough to save and pay any debt and set some amounnts for those. And keep to those budgeted amounts. And find free hobbies or activities if you usually spend over your needs. And set some wants in there if you can. And reward yourself with something free or affirmations when you pay something, don’t buy something, hit a goal etc. And learn about personal finance as you go, listen to podcasts, watch videos, read books. And ask your friends how they budget and save especially older friends who seem stable.
 
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