Money saving is not instinctual and doesn’t come naturally to humans. This means that people have to force themselves into adopting money saving habits. You might have multiple financial goals that you want to achieve. But you need the motivation to start saving money. You might get pieces of advice to use coupons, vouchers and a discount code from findbestvouchers.com on your purchases but that’s not where money saving ends.
Money saving entails many other things that you may not be aware of. And there are multiple sneaky ways that you can force yourself to save money. Obviously, spending comes more naturally and is more convenient than saving money. However, if you want to achieve something substantial in your future, money saving should be among your priorities.
Following are some sneaky and effective ways that you can use to force yourself to save money.
Have Specific Goals
You should know what you are saving for and know it specifically. If you are saving for a home, be sure of all of its aspects. Do you want a home in the suburbs or the center of the city? Do you want a house or an apartment in UK? Do you want a fully furnished & decorated house in London or it can be a fixer-upper? The clearer your goal is in your mind, the closer you feel to the goal. And the closer you feel to the goal, the more you will be inclined to save for that specific goal.
Get Attached To the Goal
Get yourself attached to the goal by thinking about stuff like why is this purchase significant to you. How will you feel once you achieve this goal, what does achieving this goal represent for you etc. Keeping focused on why this saving goal is important to you will keep your motivation high for saving for that specific purpose. Once you attach a specific purpose to your saving goal and attach your emotions to it, the process will become way easier.
Get Accountable
Setting the intention to save money yourself is great but accountability is a greater tool. You should share your money saving goals and plan with some of the people that you trust, and ask them to hold you accountable. That way these people can help you force yourself to save money and achieve your money saving goals.
You should also share your progress with others because it can motivate them to achieve goals of their own. You can either ask your friends or loved ones to hold you accountable or you can even hire a financial coach. Your financial coach can also give you other tips along with holding you accountable to maximize your savings. These tips may include using a coupon or voucher code, cancelling unnecessary subscriptions and minimizing credit card use.
Minimize Credit Card Use
You should make it a priority to pay in cash whenever making a purchase. Many people do not feel like they are spending actual money when they pull out their credit cards everywhere. Paying in cash makes one feel more like they are spending actual money. The use of credit cards is a little too convenient.
Also, saving your credit card information in your internet browser makes online shopping a little too easy so do not make that mistake.
Automate Your Savings
One convenient way is to have a specific portion of your paycheck automatically transferred to your savings account from your checking account. Most banks offer this service. The reason behind it is that if you never see that money, you are not tempted to spend it.
Create a Checklist
Creating a checklist will make it easier and more fun to track your progress. Other than that it’s very satisfying when you reach a milestone and check off an important entry from your to-do list. You note your progress more carefully and it’s fun as you check off more tasks and reach down your list.
Save Separately
Save separately for each goal. Like if you are saving for a car, make a separate fund. And keep your dream vacation fund separately. This way, it will be easier to track your progress separately. And you will be less tempted with your savings fund if it’s in little pieces in more than one place.
Celebrate Your Wins
Celebrating your savings will help keep your spirits up and your motivation going. But do not spend extra money on these celebrations as that will negatively impact your savings. Maybe you can celebrate by posting about it on Instagram. Post about your first $100 saved and get community support to keep you going.
Do Not Eliminate Fun
If you completely eliminate fun from your life in favour of saving money, it will become harder for you to keep your motivation alive. Therefore, keep room for occasional fun activities in your budget. Just make sure they don’t exceed or disturb your budget. An occasional movie, dining or a night out with friends will keep you light and happy enough and you will stay on course regarding your savings.