I was absolutely hopeless at saving money, I tried and tried but the urge to spend all the money in my account was too great and by the end of the fortnight/month I was hanging out for pay day again. I bought alot of shit that I didn't need and I was definitely an impulse buyer. Finally, I thought f**k this, I'm going to do something about it. I spoke to my wife and said that the only way I could think of to solve the problem is to not have access to the money - my pay would be immediately transferred to a Savings account and I would be left with some play money for the week. You might think what a wuss to have a Minister of Finance appointed to "protect" our savings, but I have to admit it has worked really well for me. I still get an allowance which covers all of my outgoings, but I am much more careful about what I spend now, and if there is something I really want, the Finance department has yet to decline my application 

Matthew

Great idea - I use a similar system. I halve any cash from a pinball sale and half goes to my wife for family expenses, and the other half is used to buy project machines and parts. That way, I keep the wife happy and I can buy machines - when the $$ is there and I have the room !