Protect your savings from yourself
One of the biggest problems that people face when trying to build a nest egg for themselves is the temptation to buy luxuries that they don’t need. This habit holds them back from having the things that they’ve always dreamed about. They really don’t think about how much they’re giving up in exchange for the instant gratification of buying something new.
This is definitely one of my problems. When I hear that I can have my own infrared sauna for only $3000 (I know its crazy!), or when I’m walking through Future Shop looking at all of the shiny new laptops that are on display; it’s all to easy to forget about my goals. Those laptops are so tempting; some of them actually call my name.
Normally I know that these are things that I really don’t need. If I bought a laptop I would make money with it, but I already have a desktop computer that I am already making money with so it’s really not necessary. Also, who really needs an in-home sauna? (I do!) I would rather hold out for a time when I’ve reached my goals and I can afford to spend money the way I want to. For now, I know that I need to stay focused on the plan.
Unfortunately, when that adrenaline hits me, I forget my senses and suddenly I’m standing in front of something that will instantly make my life as happy as I’ve always dreamed it could be. I must have it!
I’m sure this kind of thing happens to most people. That is why it’s such a bad idea to carry a credit card around with you. To have easy access to money that is not yours and that you will have to pay interest on is a bad idea. Having your money in a debit account is also a bad idea; it shouldn’t be as easy as typing in a pin number to access your savings.
Luckily I keep all of the money that I don’t need for any given pay period in a separate savings account that takes 24 hours for me to access. Usually that’s enough time for me to snap out of it (Most of the time it only takes a few minutes after walking out of the store). I also only have one credit card that is set to the lowest possible limit and that I try to leave at home as much as possible.
Before I learned these valuable tricks, I wasn’t able to save even a cent of my paycheck. I spent everything that I had every month, and usually a little more. I eventually got myself into so much debt that it took me years to get out of. I thought I was just not one of those people who could save their money. When I finally figured it out, a whole new world of possibilities opened up for me. It’s a great feeling to know that I have money set aside for when I need it and that I actually CAN save for my future.
The moral of the story is that you shouldn’t trust yourself with money, especially if you’re already in a lot of debt. No matter how much you think you know yourself; that shoppers high can hit you at any moment and it will put your dreams in jeopardy if you’re not protected.
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That is very true, I am just learning how to do this myself as not only do I like having new toys, I am also very lazy. Just this morning, I had quite a fight in my head about not going to burger king for breakfast when I already had oatmeal in my hand.
But I am making progress as my biggest money wasters were smoking (quite for awhile now) and eating out every day (now it’s just a treat once a week). Once I get my impulse spending under control, I might actually start saving
Comment by Jason — February 22, 2008 @ 10:37 am
[...] to buy a new laptop. A $3000 infrared sauna would be nice too, but sometimes you just have to protect your savings from yourself. Remove the temptation and you won’t spend [...]
Pingback by In The Sphere: Competitors, Savings, and Energy | BlueFur.com — February 22, 2008 @ 3:53 pm
Totally agree with you. Especially during holiday seasons.
Comment by g00db0y — February 23, 2008 @ 7:44 am
Saving is something a large portion of the population just cannot do, even if they have extra money!
Heres a tip for webmasters. If you use adsense, have it directly deposited. Open a self directed stock trading account and regularly send the money from the adsense account into your stock account, set it to automatic withdrawals if your adsense income is over 100.00 per month.
If you have a balanced portfolio, you’re regularly “topping up” on stocks that have just become cheaper and “selling off” stocks that have risen by 10% or more since the last adjustment.
This isn’t stock advice - it’s just pointing out that if you’re serious about saving, those little adsense clicks could create a massive fortune… on autopilot!
Comment by Popular Wealth — February 24, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
You can do it Jason! Just set it up so money comes out of your account monthly and then forget you even have the savings account. That’s what I do, and I try not to even think about it.
Comment by Aimee — February 25, 2008 @ 6:41 pm
I started my debt reduction and eventually savings this way. Set up your budget on a four week cycle so that four weeks pay pays everything. 4 weeks X 12 months equals 48 pay weeks. This allows four weeks worth of pay annually that is not accounted for in your budget as there are 52 weeks in a year. Use this “extra” money to reduce your debt add to savings or pay for expenses that have put on hold for some time.
This extra four weeks pay for me and my wife totals roughly 4K a year. We have bought Christmas with it, new tired, a television, auto repairs, ski trips, savings and an unknown number of other purchases that needed to be made that was not in our regular monthly budget.
Comment by Homeowners Insurance - Hometown Quotes — February 26, 2008 @ 10:54 am
An infra-red sauna, huh?
Please, don’t tell my wife that such a thing exists for only 3K!
Comment by NJ Web Guy — February 29, 2008 @ 10:11 am