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Saving money can be difficult when economic times are tough. One of the most difficult things to try to avoid is taking on too much credit debt. Service charges and interest will dig you a deeper hole. A prepaid credit card is an excellent solution for people that need to use credit cards but want to avoid spending beyond their means.

Budgeting is all about making sure you can pay your bills and then designating places for your extra money to go. In a budget, every penny that comes into a household is accounted for and used for expenses or put into a savings account.

One of the pitfalls of a budget is that people get off-track when it comes to saving for a vacation or going out on the weekends. The way to avoid that is to make entertainment and saving for vacations a line item in your budget. Analyze how much money you will have after paying your bills, and then allow yourself a certain amount each week for entertainment and a certain amout to set aside for vacation savings.

Budgets also help you prepare for emergencies. Set aside 10 percent of every dollar you make to put into your general savings account. This account gets paid before those for entertainment and vacations. You will build up a savings account that you can turn to in an emergency to avoid having to get a loan or use credit.

Planning how you spend your money can be a challenging process. But when you are able to pay all of your bills, put some money in the bank, and still go out on the weekends, then you get your own reward for being financially responsible.