How to Keep from Spending Excessively

The secret to avoiding excessive spending is really quite simple: All you have to do is keep “it” in front of you. "It” might be the outlandish APR the bank has attached to your plastic, the weekend getaway you promised your significant other you two would take at the end of next month, or that nasty debt you want to be out of by a certain date. Keeping reminders in front of you at your most vulnerable times — at the cosmetic counter or the athletics store, for instance—will keep you from falling into those lapses that find you spending a lot more than you intended to. Here’s how.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Permanent marker
• Pocket-size calculator
• Paper
• Pen

How to Keep from Spending Excessively

1. Know what’s at stake. First, examine your goals, both short- and long-term, and write them out. Keep a short list of your monthly goals in your wallet or purse and refresh it every month. If you have that little slip of paper right there with your cash, reminding you every time you reach for a $20 bill that you want to spend four days in Miami this summer, you may be inclined to actually leave your money in your wallet. The short vacation will be that much sweeter.
2. Know the price you’re paying. When you have five or 10 credit cards in your wallet, its easy to forget which one is charging you 9 percent interest and which is pulling in 18 percent or more off all your purchases. When you’re unsure of exactly what a particular purchase will ultimately cost you, it’s easier to allow yourself to splurge -- especially when you're confronted by those to-die-for, 4"heels in the shoe store, or that slick new gadget at the high-end tech shop. Take a permanent marker and, on the face of each of your credit cards, write down the interest you’re paying . This forces you to come face-to-face with exactly how much damage you’re doing whenever you’re tempted to whip out the plastic.
3. Only carry what's OK. If it's not in your budget to spend, don't bring it with you -- as simple as that. If you've allotted yourself a $100 spree at the mall, bring $100 cash and leave everything else behind.
4. Leave your money at home. When all else fails, you can’t spend what you don’t have. If you’re helping a friend go shopping and you know you won’t be able to stand the pressure, leave your cash at home, as well as all but your highest-interest credit card, (appropriately marked, of course). You never want to be out with no funds available to you, but you don’t want to make spending easy, either.
5. Reward yourself. After all, this is your hard-earned money. Stashing it away for 20 years in an effort to fulfill some long-lived dream will be well-enjoyed in the end, but life is also for living today. So don’t completely deprive yourself. Allow yourself one selfish, frivolous purchase per each (or every other) pay period. This will make saving easier and give you the satisfaction you need to stay disciplined.