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How to Save Money When You Really Don’t Want To

Interested in saving money, but having a hard time? You’re certainly not alone. Reaching your financial goals is about much more than saving and earning more. It’s about mindset. It’s about behavioral change. Unfortunately, behavioral change is challenging. It’s easy to set goals, but very difficult to stick to them. Here are three quick ways to make change:

Peer pressure:

We are adults now, and although we may not believe that we are influenced by the behaviors of those around us, we are. As a matter of fact, research has shown that our level of happiness depends on how the people around us are doing rather than how we ourselves are, in fact, doing. If we look at this from the lens of personal finance, we can make it work to our benefit. Join a group or community that focuses on financial health. Get closer to people who share your financial goals and surround yourself with them. Once you notice your community saving money, investing and paying off debt- it will likely inspire you to join in. The premium membership with Snowball Wealth allows you to join in a community of like minded women who are paying off debt and building wealth.

Join our community and get money tips, motivation, and support! You can join our Slack community, here. You can also be a part of our Snowball Communities on our iOS app, by joining one of our money challenges.

Make it harder:

Many of your convenience purchases are done impulsively. You wanted a snack, so you went to the vending machine and paid a premium for a bag of chips. You didn’t feel like cooking, so you ordered food through an app and paid extra for delivery and tip. Much of this is done due to the convenience. When you have to choose between cooking and having something delivered, our minds tell us that it is more convenient to have it delivered. You have to question yourself, is ordering out really more convenient? Could you have quickly prepared an easy meal at home and saved money in the time it took to have the food delivered? The answer is likely yes. To stop this habit, make the spending a little less convenient. Remove your credit card from the delivery apps so that you have to search for your credit card before ordering food. Better yet, delete the apps from your phone. By adding in extra steps, you can trick yourself into truly thinking about your next decision. Is it worth it?

Automate:

So I admit, I am not the biggest fan of automating bills. I prefer sitting down with my money at least once a week to see where the money is being spent. However, this doesn’t apply to savings. Consider setting up another account and have part of your paycheck deposited into the account. For example, you could set up your direct deposit to place $100 into your separate account and the rest of your check into your checking account. This mental game can force you to save money before it even hits your account. Often, having something done automatically takes the thought process out of it and doesn’t allow you time to change your mind based on everyday temptations.

Remember, these are just a few of the ways that you can save money. Start by trying out a few changes and as your build better financial habits, you can start to incorporate more changes.

Anna Paul, CFP® currently serves as Money Coach at Snowball Wealth, Inc. Before joining Snowball Wealth, she worked as a financial planner as well as a financial education project manager delivering financial education sessions to Fortune 500 companies. She specializes in helping individuals identify financial goals and take actionable steps towards achieving them. When she isn’t giving financial education presentations, she can be found hiking, couponing, or trying new recipes.

Curious about working with Anna as your money coach? Schedule a free intro call, where we’ll share how the membership works and give you an opportunity to ask questions.

Coaching is a commitment and we want to make sure the coaching program is a good fit for you at the stage you are in personally and financially. We value transparency and will be honest if this is not a good fit.

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