Money Saving Tips: Make Spending Difficult and Uncomfortable

Once in a while everyone has a dream, dreaming of having a shopping spree after winning the lottery, and buy only what they wanted and ever imagined. Even though if you know you will never be in such situation, it is fun to think that. Just by thinking such a fun thing and I bet most people believe that it would make them happy. But how you can save money if you have spending or shopping addiction?

Why is it that older people become richer and are more conservative with their money? Have you or know someone who has made an investment that promised a 10 percent interest or profit per month? Everyone wants to make profits above the average condition. It is amazing that under current economic condition how many people send their hard earned money in the world to Nigeria or to Boca Rattan based on the promised that money will make them richer? People spend their money with strangers in the hope that more money up.

You’ve got to banish credit and convenience from your spending life. In fact, you’ve got to make spending as difficult and uncomfortable as possible. You must resolve to no longer reach beyond your grasp. If you don’t have the cash on hand or in your checking account to buy something…don’t buy it.

You need to save and wait and then buy something—whether a home, car, or a suit—that you need rather than just want. Having to physically hand dollar bills over can do a great deal to help you determine the difference. When you’ve got to physically go and pull $20 out of the bank, or write a check, going to that first-run movie no longer seems as pressing. Maybe you can wait for the video. When you’ve got to pull $200 out for a new food processor, cleaning up and repairing the old one don’t seem so bad. And when you’ve got to write a check for $6,000 for that trip to France rather than just slapping down the Visa card, a weekend in Gettysburg starts looking a lot better.

And when you do buy something, you’ve got to make sure it’s going to last long enough to justify either the cost of borrowing or the time you spent saving the cash to buy it. Phrases like “the newest,” “the latest,” and “the hottest” need to be banished from your mouth and, perhaps even more important, the mouths of your kids. Replace them with terms like “classic,” “timeless,” and “traditional.” You simply can no longer afford to replace items just because they’re out of fashion.

Worried about what everyone else will think of you when you’re no longer cutting edge? Don’t. First, you shouldn’t care what people think of you. Second, pay cash and you will be cutting edge. In the twenty-first century frugality will be hip. Conspicuous consumption will be out. You can already see the trend starting if you look close enough. There are lots more used-book stores and vintage-clothing shops appearing around cities. Gardening is becoming America’s number one hobby, and composting is suddenly cool. Third, everyone else will be paying cash too. Why? Because they’ll have either realized the wisdom of the approach or they’ll have gone broke. Need further reassurance? Ask your grandparents.