Complicate Spending to Accelerate Your Savings!

To fast-track your savings and achieve your financial goals, you may need to find new ways of making spending more difficult.

From short-term items like a vacation or wedding to major purchases like a new home or retirement savings, these quick tips will send you racing toward your savings goals!

Abolish Autosave

Online shopping has made our lives easier…maybe too easy! Thanks to convenient apps and social media, spontaneous purchases can quickly wreck your savings goals. Rather than avoiding online shopping altogether (as it provides the best access to sales and coupons), consider restricting the apps you install on your phone and adjusting the notification settings.

You can go one step further and make it more challenging to complete purchases online by removing your credit card from your digital wallet and profiles. The extra effort and time required to reenter your shipping address and payment information every time may lead to fewer spur-of-the-moment purchases. Put the brakes on enticing purchases by unsubscribing from emails and temporarily unfollowing accounts that test your resolve.

Maintain the Starting Lineup

Dedicate yourself to making a shopping list before you head to the store and sticking to it when you are there. Once you get in the habit, avoiding extraneous purchases will become easier.

Think about asking a trusted friend or family member to be your accountability partner. Checking in with them when tempted to make an unplanned purchase can help control spending impulses and take your foot off the gas.

Go Green

No one can argue the convenience of credit cards, but easy access to credit can send you full speed ahead towards credit card debt and away from your savings goals. Consider leaving your credit cards safely in a drawer at home and switching to cash for day-to-day purchases. Counting the bills at the register could be the visual aid needed to help curb overspending.

Let Saving Rule

Sometimes creating a rule helps to maintain boundaries. Decide on a time to wait before finalizing a purchase of something not within your budget. The waiting period could be 5-10 days for smaller items and 30 days for larger purchases. This cooling-off period may provide the time to reconsider your purchase, ensure it is truly necessary, and support your savings goals. During this time, have a plan for distracting yourself. Go for a run, play with the dog, or look at similar items you already have. You may realize you don’t need the latest gadget after all!

Now that you know how to eliminate your blind spots regarding spending, you’ll be speeding towards the checkered flag at the finish line and achieving your savings goals in record time!