Tough economic times? The easiest way to lose your hard-earned money.

Saving money in today’s economy can sometimes feel impossible. Do you often find you earn an okay amount but don’t seem to have enough at the end of the month? Taking a good look at our spending habits and recognizing how we use our money can go towards re-evaluating and cultivating a life where we only spend what’s necessary.

How you drain your money unknowingly

Cheap Deals

We spend so much of our time researching in order to find the best deals and often in these moments the best deals actually pass us by or sell out. Think of time as money too – overthinking and overanalyzing can waste your money despite thinking that you’re ultimately saving it.

Shopping without a list

This is similar to the impulse buying but more so when we’re food shopping. When you’re hungry, you will buy around 20% more food than if you went on a full stomach. Being purposefully mindful before you leave the house by making strict lists of what you need, will cut down more spending than you realize. Research recipes in advance and stick to only what you’ve written down. If it’s not on the list, it doesn’t make the cut!

Not setting realistic goals

When we set the intention of saving money, we can get lots of big ideas on how to do this but most of the time, although it feels good and productive to set these big goals, you can’t realistically stick to them in the long term. This then begins demotivation. So for example, instead of setting the goal of not eating out in the next month, set a more manageable goal of letting yourself eat out once a week instead of your normal 2 or 3 times.

Accessible saving accounts

It’s so easy these days to with internet banking to access your savings.

find savings accounts that are not accessible and can’t be linked to your current account. This will help you think twice about transferring that money if it’s not so easy to do.

Cultivating this mindset is what will save you the most money in the long-term and help you to re-evaluate what’s important to you. So adopt the mindfulness of spending your money to create a better way of saving it.