Money Psychology
How To Retrain Your Brain From Overspending to Saving
by Alana Downer
August 2017 - When you have been hit by the spendingbug, it's hard to turn things around. All you want to do is buyyourself something nice, right? Shopping can trigger pleasurecentres in the brain and thus is a hard habit to break out of.Here's how to make your brain understand that you need to save, notspend.
Keep Busy
The first thing you need to realise is that idle shopping oftenhappens when you are bored or unhappy. Keeping busy can be anantidote to both of these things. A great way to fill up your timeis to take up a new, inexpensive hobby. For example, you might takeup needlework, painting, crafting models, or some other task thatkeeps your hands occupied. When you are busy, you are more likelyto be happy and less likely to be bored. This distracts your mindfrom the possibility of spending.
Reconsider your idea of fun
For many people, there's no better way to spend a night than togo out on the town with friends and enjoy some drinks. This is alot of fun, but it is also very expensive - and can even bedamaging to your health. Start reconsidering your idea of fun. Youdon't have to spend money to have a good time. Invite your friendsover for a drink at your place - you can have a good time and savea lot of money on drinks and entry fees. Watch a movie on TVtogether, go and play sports in the local park, or just find aquiet place to chat - these things can all be a lot of fun withouthaving to cost you any money at all.
Make a budget
Often, overspending happens because you don't really know howmuch money you have spent. Make a budget by first calculating howmuch money you get paid each month. Now take out any monthlyexpenses such as bills, rent or mortgage, and items that you arepaying off. Make sure that these payments are automated so younever miss them. What you have left is your spending budget. Youcan install an app on your phone to keep tracking of your spending- once you see how much money you are giving away, you will realiseyou need to cut down. You can also even set up a direct debit whichgoes from your bank account to your savings account as soon as youget paid.
Always pay in cash
Another trick to stop you spending so much is to stop usingcredit cards or debit cards. Withdraw a certain amount of money atthe start of the week and use it for all of your spending. Thisway, you will physically see the cash that you are spending. Whenyou use a card, you can be fooled by the fact that it is not realcash and doesn't register in your brain the same way. Using acash-only rule also provides more limitations. You won't be able tomake larger purchases because you don't carry that much moneyaround. You will also be forced to stop spending when you havealready spent your budget for the week.
There are lots of ways to stop yourself from spending, but untilyour brain is really on board, there is always a risk that you willoverspend again. Use these tricks and you will find that you aremore aware of every penny that you spend. That makes it a loteasier to avoid spending when you really need to be saving.
About the author
Alana Downer is an avid blogger andself-improvement enthusiast, interested in all aspects of achievingfinancial independence. At the moment Alana is writing for Learn ToTrade, where she helps like-minded people and shares her tips andstrategies with her audience.
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