Stop spending with these handy brain tricks
Sometimes it can be useful to employ personal mind games to break you out of bad spending habits. Here are a few ideas you can try.
Make savings a bill – You meet your monthly obligations on schedule, right? Make savings a bill, then pay it. You can even use the bill reminder feature often available in budgeting software.
Round it up – If you’re using an online or paper based budgeting system record that $72.19 electricity bill as $73 and turn the $35.27 supermarket bill into $36. Do this all month with all payments and purchases, then transfer the differences into your savings.
Found money = fund money – Any unexpected cash (rebate cheques, the fifty cents you found in a parking lot, etc.) goes into savings. And any loose change should go into a piggy bank. Sure, it might be only $10 a month, but that's $120 a year that might otherwise have ended up in vending machines or frivolous spends.
Password protection – Turn your PINs into reminders. For example, when you sign onto your favorite shopping sites, having to type the birthday of your first grandchild could remind you that saving for a family reunion would be more rewarding than a new piece of clothing.
Automate your savings – The easiest thing ever: Set up an automatic transfer from your cheque to savings account that will happen each month.
Defer that gratification – Giving up something to save money, whether lunch out or a new TV, can make you feel deprived. That is, unless you change your attitude to start savouring instead of giving up. Don’t feel you have to change your lifestyle; merely change the frequency of your indulgences. Go to the movies weekly? Try once a month instead. It’s psychologically much easier to tell yourself you’re not giving anything up – you’re just going to enjoy it more later.
Hide your credit card – Break out those craft skills. If you’re prone to impulse spending on your credit card create a simple paper sleeve for your card. Not only does it give you another mental step to take before you can spend — and another chance to second-guess yourself and put on the brakes — but on the sleeve, you can paste or draw a picture of your savings goals to keep them top of mind, or pen a warning to yourself: for emergency use only!
Don’t hesitate to say no – Instead of being reluctant to turn down a purchase, pass up an expensive opportunity, or closely manage your budget, remember that refusal gives you power: For one thing, it gives us serious negotiating clout. And for another, saying no to the things that don’t really matter allows us to focus on the things that do.
Procrastinate on non-essential purchases – When it comes to discretionary spending, putting off your purchase gives you time to find better prices and make better decisions rather than impulsive purchases.
Related links:
10 quotes that show money isn’t everything
New Zealanders lose $12m to online scams
10 apps to help you budget this year