Living in today’s world can be very tempting, if you go for a walk on the street there is a 100% chance that you will see advertisement of almost everything everywhere, and it does not mean that this is bad, the desire of enjoying a good cable TV service, or having one or two good quality pair of shoes is not a sin.
The problem is that in the consumer environment, once you start buying is easy to lose control and blind yourself of your financial reality, when there are ways that you can keep control of your money and satisfy your desires at the same time.
The problem is that in the consumer environment, once you start buying is easy to lose control and blind yourself of your financial reality, when there are ways that you can keep control of your money and satisfy your desires at the same time.
We all have our spending weaknesses, some people cannot wait one day more to see a new movie coming out of the cinema, some others will go out crazy if they don’t buy the new iPhone, and others are losing their patience because they don’t have a fast internet service, so we tend to spend more.
What you have to realize is, this desperation leads to spending more money than actually planned. Few years ago, I spent US$ 1000 for a mobile phone because at that moment I wanted it now. I don’t regret, I still have this phone and it works really well, what I realize is that if I could have waited few more days, I would have found a way to save a bit more than $300, and that is a significant amount of money.
Since these habits of buying things and spending money are in your mind, there are several strategies that, with a little bit of patience and planning, can make you spend less money, and maintain a balance between your savings and your satisfaction.
Below are 5 tricks to make you spend less money, and also includes some suggestions to spend it wisely:
Keep a control of your spending
This is the best way to see what is happening with your money from time to time, for example each month. Separating by food, transportation, entertainment, and other categories, you can keep a report of your expenses, which will let you identify where you can let yourself to spend more or where you should spend less.
Using processing or calculation softwares like Microsoft Excel will help you to make the spending control in a more automated way, since it has many tools that can let you manage your reporting better.
Track where most of your money goes
When controlling the spending, check in a monthly (or yearly) basis where exactly you are spending most of your money income. After identifying which category is the one where you spend more of your money you can set priorities or take actions to find a way to reduce costs or distribute your money to other things.
Always have a second option
When you are going buying, either food, clothes, accessories or electronic devices, always check and keep in consideration a second option: It can be the same product in another store or other similar product which can satisfy you enough. If you have time, you can even consider a third option. Comparing several choices is a good start to let yourself be more realistic of what you are looking for, plus it might let you save some money and find some good opportunities like coupons or promotions while buying.
Set spending limits
When you receive your monthly income, you can set priorities of how you are going to spend the money and setting spending limits on each category. For example, you decide to only use $400 monthly for food, or $150 for entertainment. Doing this, and keeping your spending reports updated, will keep you aware of how much money you have left each time you pay for something.
Change to cheaper habits
Do you take taxi often? or do you go eat outside more than three times a week? Is better to use alternative choices for some of the things you do, how about taking a bus or walking to go somewhere? It is even healthier sometimes (unless is dangerous where you live), or only go out twice or once a week to a restaurant and cooking at home instead. Finding habits that can make you save more is a great choice to spend less money.
Now is your turn! let us know: What strategies you use to save or spend less money? Do you have habits which you can recommend? Please share your comments
What you have to realize is, this desperation leads to spending more money than actually planned. Few years ago, I spent US$ 1000 for a mobile phone because at that moment I wanted it now. I don’t regret, I still have this phone and it works really well, what I realize is that if I could have waited few more days, I would have found a way to save a bit more than $300, and that is a significant amount of money.
Since these habits of buying things and spending money are in your mind, there are several strategies that, with a little bit of patience and planning, can make you spend less money, and maintain a balance between your savings and your satisfaction.
Below are 5 tricks to make you spend less money, and also includes some suggestions to spend it wisely:
Keep a control of your spending
This is the best way to see what is happening with your money from time to time, for example each month. Separating by food, transportation, entertainment, and other categories, you can keep a report of your expenses, which will let you identify where you can let yourself to spend more or where you should spend less.
Using processing or calculation softwares like Microsoft Excel will help you to make the spending control in a more automated way, since it has many tools that can let you manage your reporting better.
Track where most of your money goes
When controlling the spending, check in a monthly (or yearly) basis where exactly you are spending most of your money income. After identifying which category is the one where you spend more of your money you can set priorities or take actions to find a way to reduce costs or distribute your money to other things.
Always have a second option
When you are going buying, either food, clothes, accessories or electronic devices, always check and keep in consideration a second option: It can be the same product in another store or other similar product which can satisfy you enough. If you have time, you can even consider a third option. Comparing several choices is a good start to let yourself be more realistic of what you are looking for, plus it might let you save some money and find some good opportunities like coupons or promotions while buying.
Set spending limits
When you receive your monthly income, you can set priorities of how you are going to spend the money and setting spending limits on each category. For example, you decide to only use $400 monthly for food, or $150 for entertainment. Doing this, and keeping your spending reports updated, will keep you aware of how much money you have left each time you pay for something.
Change to cheaper habits
Do you take taxi often? or do you go eat outside more than three times a week? Is better to use alternative choices for some of the things you do, how about taking a bus or walking to go somewhere? It is even healthier sometimes (unless is dangerous where you live), or only go out twice or once a week to a restaurant and cooking at home instead. Finding habits that can make you save more is a great choice to spend less money.
Now is your turn! let us know: What strategies you use to save or spend less money? Do you have habits which you can recommend? Please share your comments
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