If you impulsively spend all your money when the newest model of a gadget comes out, there is still hope for you! If you need to save money for something special, you don’t even have to work longer hours; you just have to be smart!
Spending too much money tends to be a guilty pleasure of mine too, but with a few simple lifestyle changes, you can become significantly richer in just under a month.1. Try the $100 bill challenge
Any time you save up $100 worth of cash, whether it is five $20 bills or 100 $1 bills, take it to the bank and exchange it for a $100 bill. Spending such a large bill makes you feel much more guilty than spending a smaller one, and you will think twice before you splurge.
2. Leave your credit card at home
Studies prove that people spend significantly less when shopping with cash. When you have to pull out and count all those bills instead of swiping a plastic card, you are more hesitant and have a better mental record of how much you’ve spent. Studies show that students are twice as likely to purchase something with a credit card than with cash. The guilt you feel when spending cash is known as coupling; the break between your purchase and viewing your credit card bills allows you to get carried away versus paying cash upfront.
3. Cancel your catalogs
Once you give your email address to those money-sucking shops, their emails will tempt you to view and purchase items on a daily basis. They will lure you with flashy sale messages and constant reminders of the "greatest sale of the year” coming to an end. You may feel pressured to shop, but if you unsubscribe, they will be out of sight and out of mind.
4. Keep a piggy bank
Piggy banks are not just for little kids! You don’t have to keep a bright pink pig on your desk to follow this method; you can customize your own cute jar and keep it by your bedside. When you come back home, just throw your change into it, and when it is full, go exchange it for bills. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with how much money you accumulated!
5. Spend your coins
Coins are not as useless as you may believe. When you’re paying for that $3.64 ice cream with a $10 bill, give the cashier $10.64 instead. You’ll get seven back in bills, and you save money because you don’t keep around that change you will probably misplace.
6. Do your research before you commit
Before you make your purchase a product, read or watch reviews, test out a friend’s, check it out in person at a store or at least read the fine print in detail. If it's non-refundable and you’re dissatisfied, you just wasted your money; you’re likely to repurchase a different brand of a similar product and spend even more. Avoid it all by setting aside that time to make sure it is really what you are looking for.
7. Use the three-day rule
If you have your eye on something pricey, wait three days before actually buying it. This time allows you to consider how much a product will really benefit your life, and it prevents you from splurging on useless things.
8. Don’t gravitate towards the name brand products
Initially, it may stress you out to buy those store-brand cookies because they will never live up to your beloved Oreos, but you will never know unless you try. By switching trivial items in your household and closet to a cheaper brand, you will collectively save lots of money!
9. Eat at home
Although you may crave that expensive food from your favorite restaurant, eating at home is a much healthier, cheaper option, especially for those still living with their parents. The foods you buy and use to prepare meals at home cost significantly less, and you get much more food at home with the money that would be spent on an entrée at a restaurant.
10. Scout your options before you make a decision
If you stumble upon something you really want while shopping, go home and check out eBay, Amazon and the rest of the Internet to make sure you’re not about to buy something for double the cost.
