I hope you enjoy today’s guest post from Claire at Choyster Cash, a blog devoted to helping you and me make good financial decisions. Follow her on Twitter at @TrippingOnWords.

The single best way to change your relationship with money and your outlook on your financial future lies in a cheap little notebook.

Hear it here, hear it forever: The key to financial freedom is in basic record-keeping.

What is a Money Book?

A money book is a pocket-sized journal you take everywhere. It is the place where you record everything you spend and everything you earn. Every week takes up two pages in the book, and you can set up your pages to look like the book above.

On the left hand page you list each day with a spot for earning and expenses, and a total at the bottom of the page for earned and spent.

On the right hand page you list:

* Week’s Net Loss/Profit
* Year’s Net Loss/Profit
* Net Worth

How To Use A Money Book

1. Every day, write down everything you buy. Every single expense. Anything that you pay for in cash, anything you pay for with a credit card. $2 coffee? Write it down. $5,000 Gucci handbag? Write it down. Every single expense needs to get written down. And you must note what you spent the money on!

2. Then write down what you earn. For people with consistent incomes, this would mean dividing your annual salary after taxes by 52 weeks in the year. For freelancers or those without one solid number, write down what you earn as it comes in. Make sure to also write down any other amount coming into your bank account (do not forget cash gifts, tax refunds, interest earned on savings, etc).

3. Once a week, tally up what you earned and spent that week to determine the Week’s Net Loss/Profit. Add that weekly number to your ongoing annual tally of Year’s Net Loss/Profit. Then add that number into the overarching Net Worth number.

You can interpret this Net Worth number however you like. Some people like to include their investments and property, but some prefer simply referencing liquid cash or available savings in this number. Think about what is best for you.

If you have never kept a money book before, and are new at record keeping, you may not be able to calculate your Net Worth overnight. I would encourage you to simply start with a Net Worth of zero as of the date you began your money book until you can figure out a good estimate. Then you can retroactively add that in.

4. Once a month, transfer these numbers into a simple running list of expenses and income either on your computer (I recommend simply pre-made budgets in Excel) or on paper. The idea is that at the end of the year you will have an itemized list of exactly how much you spent in what categories all year.

What are the Biggest Benefits of Keeping A Money Book?

The benefits are endless. Although I dabbled in expense and income record-keeping for years, it wasn’t until I went on one 8 month trip around the world (during which I had to seriously count pennies) that I become converted to the idea of writing down every single expense.

At the end of that trip, I felt that I had finally taken control of my life. The liberation in knowing exactly how much you need to live well is astounding. Some of the other benefits of keeping a money book:

* You have a year by year account of what your money is spent on. This is one of the best motivators I know of lowering a given spending category.

* You also have a year by year account of your salary in simple black and white combined with the grand total that you “earn” outside of your salary (gifts, interest, windfalls, product returns, rebates, etc). No more digging through bank statements to figure out if Granny is still giving out $20 at Christmas.

At the end of the year, doing taxes are a breeze.

If there is one thing you do this year to improve your financial situation, let it be this: get a money book. The key to financial freedom is in the record keeping. I promise;)

I’ve got a great guest post this week on couponing (one of my favorite topics!) from Cathy of Chief Family Officer, a blog she updates daily with helpful posts on family finances, parenting, cooking and more. You can follow her on Twitter at @CFOblog.

One year ago, I was a novice coupon user. I had clipped coupons for years, but used them only on products I was going to buy anyway. Since I began playing The Drugstore Game though, and discovered sites like Coupon Cravings, I realized that I can make money with coupons.

Now I use coupons more than ever, and sadly have discovered that some cashiers can be extremely unpleasant when they see you’ve got coupons. Plus I’ve read loads of nightmare stories on forums like A Full Cup and Hot Coupon World.

So to help everyone have a smoother coupon experience, I’ve come up with the five strategies below to ensure coupon success.

1) Know the Rules. And there are a lot of them. For one, you can usually use one manufacturers coupon and one store coupon per item. Meanwhile, some stores double coupons, but only up to a certain amount. Each store seems to have its own “register logic” (check out this great post on the register logic at Walgreens).

2) Always Play by the Rules. Mistakes happen, like when you inadvertently pick up a bottle that is too small and does not meet the size requirement stated on the coupon. The register may beep or it may not. Innocent mistakes are one thing, but deliberate misuse of a coupon is far different and hurts everyone. Always do your best to use coupons only on the proper items and never use a coupon you suspect is fraudulent.

3) Buy Reasonable Quantities. Don’t buy 30 bottles of $.97 trial-size shampoo and use 30 $1/1 coupons. The register will beep because the price is less than the coupon value. Next thing you know, a manager is called over to adjust the coupons and you’re holding up the line. Some shoppers may think free shampoo is worth the trouble. Personally, I’d rather get fewer bottles and have an uneventful transaction.

4) Carry a Copy of the Store Coupon Policy. More often that not, you will be better informed about a store’s coupon policy than its own employees. You can usually obtain one by emailing customer service and requesting it. I’ve never actually done this myself, but from what I’ve read on various coupon forums, it is often helpful to have on hand when a cashier is unsure whether to accept your coupon.

5) Be Nice. A couple of weeks ago, I had a cashier say, “It says one per purchase.” Experienced coupon users know that this means one coupon per item, which is different than one coupon per transaction. I tried to explain the difference to the cashier, but was unsuccessful. So I paid for one bottle of Purex and used one coupon, and took my other coupon to the guest services desk.

It took the guest services clerks a few minutes of poring over the coupon, but eventually they agreed with me and allowed me to buy another bottle of Purex with that coupon. I politely asked them to inform the cashier of her error so that she wouldn’t make the same mistake with another customer. Hopefully that made a difference for someone else.

I hope you enjoyed these five strategies for success. Following them every time you coupon will hopefully ensure enjoyable future coupon experiences for everyone.

My latest post is up on All You’s blog, Daily Savings from All You, and this week I share three great ways to get free money! Who doesn’t want free money? I hope you get a chance to check it out.

I’ve got a great guest post for you today from Mercedes at Common Sense With Money. This blogger burst on the scene a few months ago and has been growing her readership by leaps and bounds ever since. So of course I had to ask Mercedes for tips to share with you on how to do the same. Enjoy her post – it’s fantastic!

If you are like me, you probably started blogging because you have something to say and you want to share it with others. And, as a blogger, you are likely interested in increasing your readership as fast as you can. But how can you do this with minimal effort? After all, blogging
is probably not your full time job. So, I’ve got give tips to help you grow your blog fast.

1) Content is King. Provide content your readers want to come back to read everyday. This should be your main goal if you are serious about growing your blog. People will come back to read, subscribe to your blog and talk to others about your blog only if the information you provide is useful and valuable to them.

2) Build a Sense of Community. Show your readers you care. Engage them in the conversation. Make sure you take time to read the comments people leave on your blog and answer back if they are looking for more information. Loyal readers (the ones who will spread the word about your blog) are those that feel they can count on you if they have a question or need help.

3) Network, Network, Network. Do this by commenting on on other blogs, using Twitter, or doing link round-ups. Building relationships with other bloggers is a fundamental way of growing your blog. Leaving relevant and helpful comments is also a good way to grow your blog as it provides a way for people to find out about you and makes them want to read more of what you have to say.

Twitter is a great place to spread the word about your blog. You can tweet about your blog entries (check out Twitterfeed to have your posts automatically tweeted) to get people to come visit and read more. However, it’s key to participate in conversations too.

Finally, linking to others or getting others to link to you is a great way to get your name out there. If your blog is a “Deals Blog,” for example, a good way to grow your blog fast is by passing along the best deals you have found to blogs with more traffic than yours since most times the blogger will link right back to you as a thank you.

4) Write Guest Posts. Guest posts like this one are a great way to get your name promoted on other blogs. Volunteer to write a guest post for blogs that are bigger than yours, or better yet, send a completed post to another blogger (just don’t send the same post en masse to multiple blogs). A guest post will provide a new audience the opportunity to get to know you. Be sure to give them the best first impression.

5) Promote Yourself. Most of us probably dream of being a guest on Oprah, but chances are slim unless we really promote ourselves. I started working hard to promote my blog and its content after I read this post by Erin on BlogCoach a few months ago.

I also signed up for HARO to receive media requests from journalists and have been featured by a local newspaper and news channel regarding my blog. All of this was the result of me contacting reporters with story ideas. Your blog will be as big as you want it to be. It’s directly correlated with the amount of effort you invest in growing your audience.

I have a guest post up today on Frugal Upstate that’s all about electronic coupons (my favorite topic!). Jenn, one of my fellow Eleven Moms, runs Frugal Upstate. She has loads of frugal living tips and is one social media whiz. You can follow her on Twitter at @JennFowler.

My latest post is up early this week on All You’s new blog, Daily Savings from All You, and this week I share three great ways to get free medicine (a must-read during cold and flu season!). I hope you get a chance to check it out.

My latest post is up on All You’s new blog, Daily Savings from All You, and this week I share three great ways to score free music. I hope you get a chance to check it out.