Every once in a while, no matter how hard we struggle to save money and resist the temptation of buying everything in sight, we have to come up with extra money for an important (or sometimes not so important) purchase. How can you find money for those “extras†without succumbing to the temptation of dipping into your savings? There are many small tips and tricks that can help you find money for those extras without having to dip into your savings. Here are some of those tips and hints.
Trick yourself into saving money
In today’s material-driven economy and society, it can be nearly impossible to go very long without having to dip into your savings. Even if you are a disciplined spender who is capable of resisting the call of the shopping mall, chances are that you too have emergency extras. Your car breaks down. Your child needs braces. You find yourself having to take an emergency trip out of town. Whatever the case may be, there may be instances in which even the disciplined spender has to scrounge up some extra money. The secret is to do so without having to go heavily into debt or dip into your savings. Here is a trick that can help you be prepared for life’s little extras. Before you find yourself in need of making those extra purchases, prepare yourself by having a semi-secret cache of savings. The trick is to save money and then try to forget about the money you have in savings. If your savings cache is constantly on your mental radar screen, chances are you will be tempted to dip into it.
Keep a stray change jar on hand
One of the easiest ways of keeping a semi-secret cache of savings is by keeping a change jar on hand. Most people do not realize how much change they carry with them or neglect. Try this: designate a large jar (try a tall pickle jar) as your savings. Keep it somewhere safe, but where you will be reminded to empty your pockets after a day out. Your bedside is a good place, or wherever you clean your wallet or pockets. Contribute to the change jar every single time that you have change in your pocket. This can be a few stray dollar bills, some quarters and change, or whatever it may be. Chances are that your stray change jar will quickly begin to fill up. Help yourself to the jar when it is halfway filled. This can be a great place to raid if you need a few extra bucks for those small extras such as going to the movies, paying for a pizza or if you want to give the car a wash. Remember that the concept of the stray change jar is that you are constantly adding to it so that your funds for these extra purchases d o not dry up.
Make it difficult to access your savings account
If you have a healthy savings account but you are afraid that you will be tempted to raid it for non-emergency purchases, try to make it as difficult as possible to access your savings account. In today’s busy world, it can be very easy to ignore accounts and even lose track of exactly how much you have in your accounts. Use this confusion to your advantage. Set up your savings account so that part of your paycheck is automatically deducted and funneled into your savings account. Next, make it difficult to access your savings. This could mean that you open a savings account with a bank that you don’t frequent very often. Keep your savings account information filed away with other important documents that you are not likely to need frequent access to (birth certificates, health records, etc.). Store these important documents in a safety box in a place (a closet, a file drawer) where you are not likely to see the files often.
