How To Really Save Money and Avoid Spending

 

 
 

There are times in life where we have no choice but to crack the heck down on ourselves and our spending. Maybe there’s an emergency going on and we need to come up with the money for it, maybe we need to get out of an immense amount of debt as fast as possible, and maybe it’s just when we know we’re out of control with bad habits and we HAVE to put a stop to it. I’d like to think I’m pretty good at doing this by now so I put together some of my strategies that work for me when I need to stop spending and start saving.


Avoid Triggers

If shopping is a trigger for me, I avoid it. I won’t attend events where there’s lots of shopping, I will order things online so I am not distracted by stuff at the store, and I’ll even unlike pages on social media that are constantly trying to make my buy their products. I unsubscribe from all promotional emails. Yes, I know there are sales, but I NEED TO STOP SPENDING whether there is a sale or not!!

Spend with Cash

I use cash in almost all parts of my spending money budget because once that cash is gone it’s GONE. If I only give myself $20 a week for eating out, that’s all I’ll do then. With a debit card can you can easily ignore your budget and same goes for a credit card. I leave my credit card at home, and my debit card is hardly ever used.

I Get Creative

So I want some home décor and I start to feel the urge to buy. That’s when I try to get crafty and look around my house for something to make. Recently, I was bored, and got the décor itch. Then I remembered a pair of pants I ripped recently that couldn’t be repaired. I cut them up, and made a pretty door knob hanger from them. You can also make cool stuff with leaves, flowers, and sticks from your yard.

I Purge and Sell Things

Whenever I am bored and get the urge, I decide to PURGE! I go through my home to declutter and anything of value I want to part with I will list online. This takes up my time with something free and productive AND it can help make me money!

Read Finance Books and Blogs

A great way to stay motivated is to surround yourself with the motivation. I read personal finance blogs that inspire me and LOVE financial self help books. Sometimes I read the same book again and again over the years just because it keeps me focused on my ultimate goals.

Self Talk

I talk myself down from a lot of stuff. Instead of trying to avoid something, if I find myself SOOOOO tempted to make a purchase, I’ll start literally talking to myself asking why I feel sooo drawn to buy this specific thing. Then I’ll remind myself of why I shouldn’t and how I know I’ll feel if I still do. I end up convincing myself to chill out and step away.

All Gift Money is Goal Money

When I get money as a gift, it’s tempting to want to just go buy whatever with it, but that just encourages me to embrace the habit of spending unnecessarily. So whenever I get money as a gift it immediately goes towards a goal whether its paying off a debt or sitting in my savings. Even when people say “treat yourself for once” I resist the urge and know that I’ll be more satisfied if I know I have money towards my specific goal so I can achieve it faster.


What do you do when you need to stop spending and start saving?

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