2. Automate your finances

You should set up automatic monthly payments for your bills so that you won't have to pay any late fees. You should also set up automatic payments from your checking account into your savings accounts, your retirement accounts and your health savings accounts, so that you can save without thinking about it.

3. Read your credit card and debit card statements

Closely review the charges and flag anything that seems suspicious. When you are scanning your statements, specifically watch out for unwanted charges, such as automatic renewals of magazine subscriptions, recurring memberships, and other monthly fees.

These legal charges are not fraudulent charges but unwanted ones. According to the website, a credit and debit card monitoring service, the average person loses certain amount as a result of these unwanted charges. It is also advisable to watch your credit card debt. Interest rates on these cards are quietly inching upwards so pay attention to the monthly statements and try not to carry a balance from month to month.