How not to overspend? Easier said than done! It’s a nice idea that we can always spend only what we want, bust sometimes life does not work like that. Moolr have taken a look at how to spend within your means and avoid falling into classic traps.
Temptations
Technology has given us all unprecedented access to shopping opportunities. I can shop, literally, morning, noon and night. From your phone or tablet. Debit, credit, store cards, gift cards…the list is endless. The market is crowded, the offers endless, the adverts everywhere. It’s impossible to avoid. A few clicks and your carefully crafted monthly budget is destroyed. Since the root of the problem may be access to opportunities for spending money, try the following tips for limiting that access.
How Not To Overspend – Focus on savings
Send direct deposits into a savings account, not a current account. Most people have their wages deposited into a current account. Thus, their wages become immediately available for spending. Instead, have your wages go into savings, and transfer only a budgeted amount every month into checking to meet your expenses.
Give yourself a cash allowance
Electronic transactions can be hard to keep track of on the fly, and they don’t give you an intuitive sense of when you have spent too much. Try using cash for routine expenses, subject to a budgeted allowance amount. This will make it more obvious when you have run though your budget for the week.
How Not To Overspend – Hide the cards
Get out of the habit of carrying credit and debit cards with you at all time. This is pretty much how people live their lives nowadays though. I am in a very small minority, in that I still pay for things with cash. I go to a cash machine periodically, then spend what is in my pocket. I feel it makes me value money more, and spend what i have. Spending on a card seems to make it seem too easy. Contactless cards only exacerbate this feeling. Also, by avoiding credit card spending, I am avoiding the resultant interest rates should I not repay what I spend quickly.
Compare, compare, compare
Don’t buy things until you have at least five price comparisons. When you do buy something out of the ordinary, make yourself shop around. The advantage of a competitive market and online shopping is you can source the best deal. Low prices abound – make use of them. You might save by finding a better deal, especially if you find some coupons along the way!
The idea is that with a little more time to think, you might make wiser decisions about how to spend your money.
