Stop The Spend

If you are still spending more than you make, you need to make a move into more painful measures.

Take The Demotivator (As A Fun?) First Step

The first step might be to look at the Demotivator tool. The idea behind this is to let you see how a relatively small (but regular) expense that you might have can cost a lot over the space of a year. It’s a very sobering exercise but many people have identified spending cuts through the use of this tool.

Below are a few more suggestions on what can be done to stop/minimise spending:

Check for unused subscriptions and payments

Many people have costly subscriptions for gyms, streaming services, magazines, packaged bank accounts and more, yet rarely or never use them – or with time and home moves, forget about them altogether.

First, check for regular payments going out of your bank account for services you no longer use – then CANCEL them. You may even be able to get a refund. Seriously considering ditching the Paid-For TV boxes for a Freeview box. This can unlock massive savings. If you are buying something on a regular pay-as-you go basis that you believe is essential spending, consider a subscription as this will generate a discount.

Take a look at your spending items and ask yourself if you really need it

Some items might just be a luxury that you cannot currently afford. It’s a difficult but necessary step. There may be cheap/no-cost alternatives to these items.

Reduce the food spend

This sounds counterproductive – we need food. But we waste a lot. We can save a lot by:

Not shopping when you are hungry

Plan the coming week’s food needs

Plan the coming week’s meals

Batch cooking

Make a shopping list and stick to the list

Block Notifications and Promotional Emails

You may get the odd marketing text message or email. The offer might be good value. But its unnecessary non-essential spending. You can unsubscribe from these emails and notifications. That eliminates the temptations to spend.

Leave the plastic at home

Just take the cash that you need with you and you wont be able to spend the money that you have. Impulse spending will be eliminated.

Work out the cost of items in terms of work time

If you’re tempted by an impulse buy, work out how long it would take you to earn that money in hours worked. So if you get paid E10 an hour and it costs E150, that’s an extra 20 hours you’ll need to work to fund it, taking into account tax

Sleep On Any Impulse Purchases

If you really want something, sleep on it for a night. You may find it doesn’t seem as attractive the next day.

Sell Before You Buy

If you really want to buy something new, see if you can sell something you don’t use any more to cover the cost.

Try Online Grocery Shopping

If you can’t stick to a shopping list, try ordering your shopping online. It’s easier to stick to a budget as you get a running total, plus you won’t be tempted by the sights and sounds in the shop. And your shopping becomes an automatic process where you are not tempted by the bright lights of special offers. You can save a shopping list of regular items. This makes the process quicker and it makes it more difficult for the retailer to tempt you into unexpected spending.

Use Freecycle

This is a very low-cost or no-cost way to acquire some things that you feel are essential. Frequently a Freecycle site will have items that people want rid of and are not interested in making a profit from them.

Packed lunch

It’s an old one but a good one. Making a packed lunch doesn’t just stop you being tempted by expensive sandwich shops, it also keeps you from the pub or easy trips out with friends where money flows out.

Don’t Go Shopping

If you don’t go to the shops, you can’t be lured by nice things. Stay at home – simple as that. Of course, you may also need to stay off your phone, laptop or computer so you aren't tempted to shop online. If you like to while away your leisure time by going shopping, do something else instead. Keep busy and you won’t be tempted to get out your wallet.

Take Up A Hobby

Spend time on a new (free) activity like running or do some volunteer work. This leaves less time for spending.

Set Up A Pocket Money Account

Set up an account for bills and use this to make sure all your bills are paid. With the money left over you can pay yourself a set amount which is yours to spend as you like.

Keep The Change

Stick loose change in a savings jar. You’ll be less likely to break a note to spend and once the change has built up, pay it into your account or off a credit card.

Take A ‘No Spend Day’ Challenge

Once or twice a week have a day where you spend nothing other than budgeted-for things. This can be challenging but it can be very rewarding when you succeed.

Change the Mindset

We need to accept our circumstances and work with what we have. We need to make the most of what we have. The question that we need to say is:

“What is the best that I can do for myself with the money and resources that I have?”

NOT

“How do I get the luxury lifestyle with the ,money that I have?”

Stop Cigarettes and Alcohol Spend

These are two very high value items of expenditure that could make the difference between living within means and entering spiralling debt. The solution might be a reduction, but even a reduction would reap massive benefits.