Being able to manage your money well, is an exercise in self-discipline and self-regulation, more than anything else. You need to be good at focusing on the long-term goal, rather than the short term. You don’t have to be the most organized person, to be able to manage your money well. It just takes some practice, and doing a few of the right things. Then you can stop spending on the things you don’t have to. Here are a few tips and tricks to help.
Stock Up on Gift Cards
If you have a big purchase in mind, then plan to buy it. Set aside some money each month. But instead of just having it in your bank account, you could buy gift cards for the store you will buy it from. Say you needed to get a new laptop, for example. Buy yourself gift cards for somewhere like Apple or Amazon. Then you know that they money will go on the thing that you need. Rather than just get spent on trash that will leave you with nothing to show for it. It is an easy way to make yourself be more disciplined when it comes to spending.
Make it h
ard to get your credit card out
Using a credit card is a great idea in many ways. You can build up a credit rating and show that you can pay the money back. But sometimes it can be tempting to use for things that you want, rather than need. So
make it trickier to get your cards out. I have heard of quite a few people stick pictures of their family on the card. Then they use it as a reminder of things and puts things in perspective. You might find that just making your card physically hard to get to help. You could keep it in an awkward part of your wallet, for instance. It might sound silly, but when you have more time to think about it, you often realize that it is just an impulse buy.
Round up the cost of purchases
If you have bought your groceries and it cost $52.75, then you could round it up. It is up to you what you round it up to. You could just round it to $53 or even choose $55. Then you set the change aside. If you bank online then immediately transfer it to a different account. If you use cash, then set the money aside in a money box. If you do that with every single purchase, the money will soon add up. It is always good to have some change built up for emergencies. If you do find that you need some money in the short term, then you could always get a short term loan. You could look at somewhere like Credit24, to check on interest rates, for instance. Just make sure that you have a repayment plan in place, and it will be fine.
Have you got any savvy tips for tricking yourself into saving money each month?
