Having a sound financial plan is critical to saving for your future. Many people do not take the time to sit down and map out their income and expenditures or formulate a plan of what to do with their money.

My partner and I have a combined income of $110K a year. We spent the past two years taking nice trips and buying things for ourselves. 6 months ago we decided to sit down and make a game plan for our finances. My partner recently inherited some money. We're using part of it to pay off his car and are sitting on the rest of the money. We do have some credit card debt, but we've calculated our payments to pay off the cards in a couple years. To avoid using the credit cards, we set aside money and strictly pay using cash only. As each card is paid off we're locking them away in our security deposit box at the bank. When all is said and done we will each only carry one card for emergency use.

I travel alot with my company and they pay for everything on the road. I don't eat out, instead buying groceries for the week at the location I am visting. Any unused groceries I bring back home, which has helped us cut down on our food bill. We're both fortunate that we have careers that are always in demand, even in an economic downturn.

I rolled over my 401K with my previous employer and contribute each paycheck to my rollover IRA. Plus I contribute 6% to my 401K, which is match dollar for dollar by my company.

We're lucky that our house is valued much higher than what we owe (it's valued around $350K right now, and we owe less than $90K on it). 

Our financial plan is detailed all on an Excel spreadsheet. I review it weekly to ensure there isn't anything else we can improve upon. Seeing your finanical picture on paper really helps to bring your plans into perspective. If people want to have a nice nest egg they need to see what they are bringing in for income and what they are spending. Altering your spending habits isn't hard and will go a long way to improve your financial situation. It's not rocket science, just common sense.