Shankar Ganesh is my latest role model! He validates my theory that today’s young people are smarter than what we were. (Of course, the question remains whether they use their smartness in the correct way). Read Shankar’s guest post for proof of a correct way.——————————————————————

Hi! I’m Shankar and I’ve been a big fan of Ranjan’s blog for quite a while. I’m 19, in my sophomore year and I blog for fun and passion. I’ve been trying to learn about money as much as I can so when Ranjan offered me a chance to write a guest article on this blog, I just couldn’t refuse the opportunity.

I’ll use this post to share some of my experiences and learnings. I’m young and I’m trying to learn as much as I can about finance and money, so please correct me if I’m wrong.

1) One simple flow chart that could save you a lot of money

I got a Dell XPS laptop when I finished school because I thought the device was ‘future-proof’. It’s a high end laptop but ironically, all my work boils down to writing and blogging. A netbook could have been the best choice for me, but I went ahead and bought something I really didn’t need without forethought.

These days, if I ever feel like I need something new, I use the ‘Should I buy it?’ flow chart for help. If I can live comfortably for 30 days without something I wanted during the start of the month, I probably don’t need it. Print this chart out and stick it near your desk if you are a spendthrift.

2) Ask, and you can get it for free

Sometimes, you can get things for free if you know where to look. I do a good amount of reading and I spent a considerable amount of money buying books this year. Sometimes, you can get things for free if you just ask.

I’m a blogger and many authors are happy to send copies of their books for free in exchange for a review. Granted, you need to be at least slightly established but I got a handful of books this way, and saved some money by doing so. If you’ve got a personal brand, you will get a lot of freebies – no doubt.

You can also save money when buying online by doing a twitter search for coupons (try your luck – an example here), or by using like price comparison tools like isbn.net.in or MySmartPrice.

3) Tracking expenses using pen and paper sucks (for me)

I track all my expenses using an Android app called Toshl. Previously, I was doing this on paper but doing it on phone is better for two reasons (at least for me):

1. I don’t always carry a notebook, but my phone is always in my pocket and I can quickly type in an expense and sync it to Toshl.com
2. I can quickly see expenses charted out based on the timeline/tags I had assigned to them.

I don’t think there are apps like Mint.com for the Indian market (Intuit is integrating with ICICI only now). By far, Toshl has been the easiest way to quickly record expenses on the phone. There are other alternatives you might want to check out.

4) Observe others. There’s nothing like it.

Like it or hate it – very so often, our friends influence our buying decisions. If someone in my peer group sports a brand new mobile, some of my friends also end up buying a new one in a few months. This could be an amateurish example to you but this is where it all begins.

I’ve been watching how people spend and I am trying to use that knowledge to make my money related decisions better. Try it and you’ll be amused by how people spend or don’t spend their money.

If you have something to say, please tell them in the comments. I’m all ears.