If you are finding yourself short of cash by the time your next pay comes in, the fastest and often easiest way to improve your situation is to ask your employer for a pay rise.

To assist you in your quest for more money, it will pay (excuse the pun) to do a little homework before talking to your boss. Here are a few things to get you started:

Remember that the worst thing that can happen is that your boss simply says no, but chances are that if they see that you know what you are talking about, they may well agree to a modest increase in your salary/wage.

Of course, if your boss doesn’t come to the party and ou feel you could earn more elsewhere, then by all means apply for other positions and see what you are worth on the open market, you might be surprised!

Here is a very simple principle that can be put in to practice quickly and easily, and almost anyone can do it.

Each week day, simply put aside $2, and at the end of each week, put this $10 against the debt that has the highest interest rate (usually your credit card or store card). At this rate, you’ll be paying an extra $520 per year against this debt on top of your regular repayments. Even better, you’ll have saved an additional $63.83 in interest.

If you don’t have $2 per day to put aside, take a look at your daily spending habits and maybe go without a newspaper or coffee each day.

Making a commitment to this simple plan will set you up for long term success as the saving will become habitual. Once you have mastered the $2 per day principle, move on to $3 per day for the next year!

Have you got a clear idea of how much money you would need if you lost your job tomorrow to keep the debt collectors at bay?

Are you the sort of person that lives from pay check to pay check? Is your bank balance constantly down to zero by the time your next payday comes around? I’d be willing to bet that you’re not too worried about it, after all you are coping ok, and hey, all of your friends live exactly the same way, right? After all, if things get desperate, there’s always a friend there to buy you a drink, or your credit card to get you by until your next pay.

But think about this for a minute. What would happen if you lost your job, and you found it difficult to find another job right away? Could you survive for 3 or 6 months without any money coming in? Or, what would happen if your car blew up and needed a costly engine rebuild? Would you be able to afford $1,000 in repairs? There are hundreds of other financial disasters that could easily crop up at any time.

To help avoid hitting the wall if something does happen, you need to start putting some money aside from each pay into an ‘emergency fund’. I would recommend about 10%, and to put it into a term deposit, or invest it into a managed fund or shares. If you organize your employer to automatically deduct the amount for you, you probably won’t even miss it!

Ideally you want to build up at least 2 months salary in savings, but 3 - 6 months is better still. Taking action now could save you having to manage debt down the track, or having to repay a massive credit card debt.

Finally, before you start putting the plan into action, take a look at what debts you are currently have and do what you can to reduce debts by switching to products with lower interest rate. Any extra cash you free up should also be put aside, at least until you’ve built up your buffer account.