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With so many ways to spend and no longer any need to have ‘real’ money on hand, spending today is easier than ever. When online, all one needs to do is click a button and in shops, all that is required is a swipe of a card. Before you know it, funds are at much lower levels than ever anticipated and the rest of the month is spent scrounging for pennies and pounds.
Rather than becoming trapped in the vicious cycle of overspending, why not get a grip on bad habits and gain control of your expenditure? There are many ways to train your brain into responsible money management. Below are five ways to help keep that spending in check.
1) Think It Over
Products and services are constantly being forced into our field of vision, tempting us to spend without thought. However, take time to mull it over. Do you really need it, or are you being seduced by marketing? Decisions made in haste, especially financial ones, are often regrettable and often mean that you could be spending more than you should. Companies such as SO Switch are also on hand to help you with these decisions and to ensure you are getting the best deal.
2) Paying For the Extras
Especially when making larger purchases, we often overlook, or are dismissive of, the additional costs involved. Whether this is the cost of postage or the cost of upgrading, the total price can end up being a lot more than we’d initially budgeted for. People often have difficulty putting the true value of what they are spending into perspective. For example, many would be unwilling to spend £3,000 on a fridge, but when renovating the whole kitchen, with the £3,000 fridge cost suddenly a much smaller percentage in comparison, would quite happily go for the more expensive model. Be aware of this when planning your costs!
3) Mental Banking
Keep a tally in your head of everything you spend on a day-to-day basis. You don’t need to be good at arithmetic but simply able to keep a rough estimate. It gives you a general idea of your bank balance. With this additional control, when you do check your bank statement, what is in there does not come as a shock!
4) Focus on Small Steps
Many people carry on with bad habits because they are too overwhelmed by their finances to start dealing with them. Rather than being intimidated, focus on just one or two areas of your spending and on how to keep them in check. For example, pay attention to your clothing fund and your going out fund. By taking each area one at a time, they seem much more manageable.
5) Your Mood Makes All the Difference
A bit like comfort eating, a lot of people get a boost from comfort spending. People use spending frivolously as a pick-me-up without really thinking of the repercussions. Instead of shopping, why not channel negativity into something positive, such as a new hobby or doing exercise. By adding it to the calendar, it will eventually become routine and take up the empty space that spending fills.
It is extremely easy to underestimate all we spend and we all run the risk of spending more than we have coming in. However, by using just a few simple tips, even the most inefficient of savers has the ability to keep finances in check and stop all that overspending!
