5 Strategies to Gain Control Over Your Spending
Have you ever felt regret for the purchases you have made? Are you excited when you buy something and then wish a couple of weeks later that you hadn’t spent the money on more “stuff”? Have you set savings goals for yourself but find there’s no money at the end of the month left to save?
The good news is that with some slight adjustments to your life, you can turn your finances back around.
Follow these suggestions to take charge of your spending:
1. Talk to a professional. It might help to seek assistance from a professional if you are to the point you feel your spending is out of control and is affecting your financial well-being and/or your relationships.
· You might discover that your poor spending habits are tied to something else missing in your life.
· Lack of a plan can make you feel guilty no matter how much you spend. A financial coach can help you put in place a way to spend that increases your happiness and aligns with your goals instead.
2. Assess your spending. Take a look at the things you spend your money on and consider the benefit they bring to your life. Be honest and rate the necessity of each or the joy it has brought you. You'll likely find that a lot of unnecessary spending takes place!
· Look at all of the things you’ve bought over the years. How many of your purchases provided prolonged fulfillment? You’ll probably ask yourself “Why did I even buy that?”
· Sometime as spending becomes more frequent, the importance of what you’re buying diminishes. It becomes a bad habit that’s difficult to break.
· Consider the trade-offs before you spend money – would you rather get coffee every day at Starbucks, or have that money go toward your next vacation?
3. Open a dedicated savings account at a different bank that makes it difficult to access. One of the easiest ways to take control is to take yourself out of the equation.
. Make automatic deposits into a dedicated savings account. You can’t spend what you don’t see. Set up a system where you immediately send a specified amount of money to your savings account each time you get paid. Start small if you have to, but designate something for savings.
· Make sure that you have goals set up tied to your savings account (an emergency fund, a new car, a vacation, etc.) so that the money in your savings has a purpose that you can relate to.
· Having the account at a different bank will lessen the possibility of accessing and spending the money without intent.
4. Get in touch with your values. Sometimes overspending ties in with a lack of self-awareness. What kind of person do you want to be? What’s important in your life? Take some time to think about your values - security, freedom, peace of mind, etc. It may open your eyes!
· Spend some time each day meditating. Block out everything around you and focus on what's inside your soul.
· Live for (and spend on) those things that are most important to you because they represent your truth.
5. Don’t spend money you don’t have. One of the easiest ways to damage your financial future is to rack up debt on credit cards because you want something but can’t afford it.
· It’s fine to use credit cards for the points and rewards – as long as you’ve prefunded your savings account(s) ahead of time for the purchase and can pay it off in full immediately with the designated savings.
· If credit cards become a problem for you, leave the accounts open, but put the credit cards away. Use a debit card instead so that it isn’t possible to spend money you don’t have.
Negative spending habits tend to get worse unless you take conscious action to turn them around. Take the necessary steps to revamp your spending habits and replace them with positive action so that you can make progress toward your goals and prevent or stop accumulating debt. You’ll be glad you did.