Are you in good shape financially?  Do you consider yourself financially fit?  Or do you need a financial work-out to address those areas that have become a little flabby?  Just as a regular exercise program can provides overall health benefits, regular attention to your finances will reward you with overall financial health.  What then are the keys to financial wellness?

• Live within your means.  Do you find yourself constantly running short of cash toward the end of the month?  If so, you will benefit from having a budget that includes regular doses of savings.  On the other hand, if you are not overly indebted and generally have money available for reoccurring expenses and occasional self indulgences, you can step up to an even more aggressive savings plan.
• Build a savings fund for emergencies and irregular expenditures.  Good financial managers save regularly to pay for irregular expenditures such as vehicle insurance, vacations and holiday spending.  They do not rely on loans, use a credit card or raid goal-related savings for such events.  Similarly they have built an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses such as vehicle repair.
• Carry adequate insurance protection.  Even the best budget can be ruined by unexpected accidents and illness.  Health, life and liability insurance are crucial to savings fitness.
• Establish clear savings goals.  Physical fitness experts recommend that people embarking on an exercise program set goals for their program.  The same advice is offered by financial fitness experts as well.
• Pay yourself first.  You should "pay yourself" every time you receive income.  This means treating savings as a fixed expense in your budget.  Also, when budgeted expenditures do not exceed income for a particular budget period, place the surplus (or part of it) in savings.
• Use forced savings plans.  Employers will direct a portion of your salary to a savings account at your bank.  An advantage of a forced savings plan is that you have to take forceful action to not save, thus making it easier to continue saving.
• Save don't spend windfalls.  When unexpected money arrives, you may be tempted to spend it quickly.  However, if you save such windfalls rather than spend them, you will be able to add substantially to your savings balance.  Examples of extra money are a year-end bonus from an employer, the after-tax amount of a raise, gifts, and income tax refunds.
• Keep making the payments on a paid-off loan to yourself.  When you are finished making installment repayments on a debt, continue the payments but put them in your savings account.
• Be especially frugal one month each year.  One month each year make a concerted effort to cut back on all expenses.  Question every possible variable expense.  Use the money left over to give a boost to a savings account.
• Visualize your goals.  Saving for goals can be very difficult.  The reward is a long way off and the struggle is immediate.  The dollars and cents of a savings goal lack the emotional impact that motivates behavior.  Talk about your goals with friends and family.  Visualize yourself having achieved the goal.  If you are saving for a home, tape pictures of a dream house on the refrigerator and elsewhere.  If you are saving for retirement, make plans for what you would like to do during retirement.  Anything you can do to make the goal real will help you stay on track.