4 money 'sins' to kick for 40 days

The booze, cigarettes and fast food aren't doing you any favors. Giving up these bad habits for 40 days could save you money and preserve your health.

If you're a pack-a-day smoker, you'll save almost $240 over 40 days, as the average price of a pack of cigarettes reached $5.98 in 2012, not including local and sales taxes, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. If you live in an area with high taxes on cigarettes, such as New York City, expect to save closer to $500 over 40 days.

Giving up restaurants and fast food could save an extra car payment. The average consumer spends about $272 over 40 days on eating out, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's 2010 Consumer Expenditures survey.

Beer and wine are an extra $40, according to estimates from the Beer Institute, Wine Institute and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

These vices may be difficult to give up, but remember, it's not forever, Sasiela says. It's important to stay realistic on what you can and want to give up.

"I think it's really important for people to really get clear on what their 'why' is," she says. "I think so often there are 'I should do this' goals, and they may not be aligned with what the person really wants."

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People use credit cards to create an astonishing amount of debt each year. For households that use cards, the average was $4,996, according to a report by TransUnion released in November 2012.

"People will spend this month's lifestyle on next month's 'if-come,'" says Chad Carden, co-author of "Winning the Money Game: A Rule Book to Achieving Financial Success for Young People." "I will buy stuff this month, and I'm banking on that I'm still going to have my job (next month)."

It would take a cardholder more than 11 years to pay off $4,996 by making the minimum payments at an 18.9% interest rate -- and would ultimately cost about $3,000 in interest.

Pay down those cards with balances to get rid of that looming interest. Start training yourself to skip using a credit card for unnecessary purchases -- any items you haven't budgeted for. When you do use your card, pay off the balance each month.

And while you're using your credit card responsibly, start building good credit report habits.

Take it one step at a time, Sasiela says. Pull your credit report from one of the three main credit reporting agencies: TransUnion, Experian or Equifax. You can request a report for free once a year from each agency.

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Around 28% of Americans don't have any money tucked away for emergencies, according to Bankrate's June 2012 Financial Security Index -- and it can seem like an intimidating goal to get started on.

To start saving, you could try going on a "financial Paleo diet," which puts a money spin on the popular diet that encourages people to "cut out all the garbage," suggests Peter Fisher, a managing partner at Human Investing in Lake Oswego, Ore.

"Here's my budget, and I'm going to cut out all the fat," Fisher says. "You're not coming up with this goal of 'I want to spend no money.' You're basically saying, 'I just want to quit throwing money away.'"

Sasiela says one way she plans to cut expenses is by giving herself manicures and pedicures instead of going to a salon for the service. It'll save her about $100 over 40 days, and more over the long term.

Trimming extra expenses from your budget -- whether they're mani-pedis or fast food -- could accrue a nice chunk of savings that could be put to work as the start of your savings account, Fisher says.

But emergencies aside, you'll also need to stop ignoring your other savings needs. Your 401k won't contribute to itself, but your employer might.

Check out whether your company matches a percentage of your contribution toward a retirement account, open one and start putting away money every month.

"Habit-wise, it should just be automatic," Carden says. "It's almost as if I make $100, I know that I really make $90" and put the other $10 in retirement savings.

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Banks may have backed away from charging customers the notorious $5 debit card fee, but they're still going full-steam ahead in charging customers for other services.

These include fees for services such as using ATMs and overdrawing from a checking account. But most of these costs can be avoided.

"We could argue all day long and say 'It's a bank ploy,' and 'They shouldn't let us do that,'" Carden says. "But at the end of the day, we need to sit down and take personal responsibility and say 'Do I have this money or do I not?'"

Pay attention to your banking habits over the next 40 days, and it could save you money over the long haul.

If, hypothetically, you had an overdraft every day for 40 days, it would cost you $1,233.20. Dodging just one of these account overdrafts could save you about $31.26, according to Bankrate's 2012 checking-fee survey.

That goes for ATM fees, which reached an average of $2.50 in the survey. Sidestepping this fee just once in 40 days could save you a few bucks; but bucking it once a day for 40 days will save you about $100. ATM fees are easily avoidable by visiting an ATM in your bank's network or withdrawing money with your debit card at a grocery store or drugstore as a cash-back option.

Whether you're cutting back spending or trying to avoid pesky bank fees, keep your goal in mind while understanding you might make a mistake in those 40 days.

"We have to go into change knowing there are going to be falls off the wagon," Sasiela says. "Maybe it was too ambitious; maybe it wasn't ambitious enough. There's a lot of Goldilocks stuff to this, where everything has to be just right."

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