diff --git a/lib/po.js b/lib/po.js
index 23a2160..876f18f 100644
--- a/lib/po.js
+++ b/lib/po.js
@@ -7,6 +7,13 @@ var PO = function() {
 };
 
 PO.prototype.save = function(filename, callback) {
+  fs.writeFile(filename, this.toString(), function(err){
+    if (err) throw err;
+    callback && callback();
+  })
+};
+
+PO.prototype.toString = function() {
   var lines = ['msgid ""', 'msgstr ""']
     , that = this;
 
@@ -14,18 +21,15 @@ PO.prototype.save = function(filename, callback) {
   keys.forEach(function(key){
     lines.push(util.format('"%s: %s\\n"', key, that.headers[key]));
   });
-  
+
   lines.push('');
-  
+
   this.items.forEach(function(item){
     lines.push(item.toString());
     lines.push('');
   });
-  
-  fs.writeFile(filename, lines.join("\n"), function(err){
-    if (err) throw err;
-    callback && callback();
-  })
+
+  return lines.join("\n");
 };
 
 PO.load = function(filename, callback) {
@@ -34,7 +38,7 @@ PO.load = function(filename, callback) {
     var po = new PO
       , parts = data.split(/\n\n/)
       , headers = parts.shift().split(/\n/);
-    
+
     headers.forEach(function(header){
       if (header.match(/^"/)) {
         header = header.trim().replace(/^"/, '').replace(/\\n"$/, '');        
@@ -44,13 +48,13 @@ PO.load = function(filename, callback) {
         po.headers[name] = value;
       }
     });
-        
+
     parts.forEach(function(part){
       if (part.length < 1) return;
       var item = PO.Item.parse(part);
       po.items.push(item);
     });
-    
+
     callback && callback(po);
   });
 };
@@ -65,7 +69,7 @@ PO.Item = function() {
 PO.Item.prototype.toString = function() {
   var lines = []
     , that = this;
-  
+
   var _processEach = function(keyword, text, i) {
     var lines = []
       , parts = text.split(/\n/)
@@ -81,7 +85,7 @@ PO.Item.prototype.toString = function() {
     }
     return lines;
   }
-  
+
   if (this.references.length > 0) {
     this.references.forEach(function(ref){
       lines.push(util.format('#: %s', ref));
@@ -101,15 +105,15 @@ PO.Item.prototype.toString = function() {
       }
     });
   };
-  
+
   return lines.join("\n");
 };
 
 PO.Item.parse = function(chunk) {
-  
+
   var item = new PO.Item();
   var parts = chunk.split(/\nmsg/);
-  
+
   var _extract = function(string) {
     var lines = string.split(/\n/);
     var value = '';
@@ -119,7 +123,7 @@ PO.Item.parse = function(chunk) {
     });
     return value.trim();
   };
-  
+
   parts.forEach(function(part){
     if (part.match(/^#:/)) {
       item.references.push(part.replace(/^#:\s/, ''));