You can only save money if you earn more than you need to live on. And at most, you can only save the difference between what you make, and what you need to live frugally. A huge number of those Quick Tips to Save More!! articles are predicated on the assumption that you're spending money on stupid things like daily trips to Starbucks and weekly trips to Tiffanys. The general advice that you should save a quarter of your income only works if you can actually keep body and soul together on the remaining three quarters.

So the first thing to do is work out what you need to live on and make a realistic assessment of what you can save.

First, make a list of all your recurring bills. Look at where you can reduce costs in things like your phone or electric bills, e.g. by changing supplier.

Second, look at your food, clothing and travel costs. You may be able to make reductions here depending on how frugal you're currently being, but be realistic. Don't underbudget, because you’ll only catch yourself out. You can find some ideas of the average spend for your area online, but remember that these are only useful if they're localised to your area. The cost of living fluctuates enormously and if you're trying to live in London on a Glasgow budget, you're going to get frustrated because your parameters are set wrong.

Third: NOW you can look at the difference between vital spend and income. Think about how much you'd like to save and how much you want to budget for entertainment and generally having a life. Again, be realistic. Saving is great, but all work and no play makes Jack a crazed axe murderer.

Once you have identified the amount of money you can sustainably save (bearing in mind that you will need to revisit your budget and savings regularly and adjust as necessary), then you may find it useful to divide the amount into long term and easy-access/emergency savings. Prioritise saving for emergencies, but try to put a little into long term savings that are harder to access.