Saving up isn't easy sometimes, especially when that big red
sales tag is saying "50% OFF!". Here are some ways to help control
your spending habits if it's becoming out of control:
Set milestones on your
bank account balance:
Develop a plan with saving goals, tell yourself that you
can't spend money on any big ticket items until you reach $xxxxx. Remember the
reward system I was explaining not so long ago in my other article? It can be
used for this too! Once you reach certain milestones, reward yourself with a
fancy dinner or whatever else you deem appropriate. Obviously, don't splurge
and spend more than what you have saved up.
Envelope method:
Set up envelopes of cash at home for specific purposes, this
way you can never spend more than what you have allotted to certain items (and
every time you are short you will know right away).
The drastic method,
for the shopaholics out there:
Lowering your credit limit on your credit cards is an easy
way. To go one step further, force yourself to save by doing the following. Every
time you get your paycheque (i.e. paycheck for my American readers), invest a
chunk of it immediately so you have barely anything left to spend on
non-essentials. Often times with mutual funds, you can invest smaller amounts
making it affordable for bi-weekly paycheques. By putting it into a mutual fund
regularly, not only are you investing and making money out of it, you are also
forcing yourself to save up because there are often restrictions on immediate
withdrawals out of a mutual fund. In the case of TD, you cannot withdraw within
30 days after a contribution or you will face a penalty fee (for most of their
mutual funds). If mutual funds aren't "rad" enough for you, then put
it into a high interest savings account or GIC. Preferably not a GIC because
you get really small returns with it right now but for the purpose of locking
in your money so it forces you to save, it may be a good idea.
Next time you make a big ticket purchase, just ask: "do
I really need this right now?".
In most cases, if you hesitated to answer it means you don't need it
immediately. If you wait and purchase it later, it will probably be cheaper and
don't find excuses! I find the worst are those "buy one get one half
price" deals, because it sucks you into buying more than what you need and
most people will justify it by saying it's a great deal. Sure it's a great deal
but you don't need it. I opted in to pay a little extra for a bigger can of
WD40 because it was a big bonus to the regular bottle, guess what? I still have
80% of the can left and it's been 6 years. The can is probably going to rust
and leak soon, and this is what happens... a waste of money because of greed.
Have a wonderful day folks, and a big shout-out to any of
you who are mothers or "soon-to-be-moms", Happy Mother's Day!
-TT
