<prompt> Human: Basically im a 24 yr old college student, i have a pretty decent job for now while in school and i live paycheck to paycheck, i dont pay rent but i do pay for a lot, car payment plus insurance, credit card which i accrued from youthful stupidity which im trying to pay off and just everyday expenses like gas, food, school expenses. I want to learn how to better save my money because i dont do certain things like go on vacations or trips because of money. i hate checking my bank balance and i dont seem to know how or want to save, i have just a checking account through a major bank. My girlfriend is great at saving and i asked her how she does it but i feel like i need to do it on my own plus i want to be able to afford a ring someday for her and not on credit, i have some investments through my job, stock purchase plan, 401 k but i dont have a savings and i seem to want to spend money as soon as i get it, mostly on food which is dumb. Any tips or tricks you financial wizs may know?  <response>: Well first start off seeing exactly where your money is going. I use mint.com for this. It takes some patience to set up as you may have to manually tag a lot of transactions, especially if you are using a lot of cash, but its a great system and will tell you exactly how much of your money is going where.Once you know where your money is going you can identify areas where you can save some. You mentioned food, so learning to cook a few simple meals and actually doing it can save you a ton of money instead of eating EVERY meal out. I spend an obscene amount of money on take out food and going out to barsrestaurants, but its still less than what I was originally spending after I identified the problem and found ways to save.Also, the number one thing I did was direct deposit money from my paycheck directly to a separate savings account, that wasnt at my bank with my checking account so no instant transfers Never having the money makes it much easier to save it. 