In follow up to my ramblings last weekend ‘To Spend or Not to Spend?’ if you think you could do with controlling your personal spending, if you are in the shopaholic category, or your wardrobe and shoe shelves are full, yet you complain you have nothing to wear or just don’t feel you know where your money goes each month but you would love to take control and start saving some money, then hopefully this will be of some benefit to you.

I dread diets that start on Mondays (actually just diets in general. I’d much prefer a lifestyle change!!) but why wait until Monday? Let’s start what we need to, TODAY.

THE PLAN

‘Delayed gratification or deferred gratification, is the ability to resist the temptation for an immediate reward and wait for a later reward’.

The plan is when you see that ‘must have’ buy you hold out for …. [Drumroll] …. ONE MONTH.

Promise yourself the treat of X value and yes, do treat yourself to something if that’s what you want to do but the idea is to put back the purchase date for a few weeks, ideally one month. While we’re at it, it’s always good to have an allocated amount for this purpose too and try stick to that amount.

During the month you might notice that the ‘treat’ isn’t as appealing as it was the first day you saw it. You might also notice there’s something else you spotted that you would much rather if you are spending your ‘treat’ money . You might notice there’s two other items you would much rather buy than that first item. Well, you get the point.

Holding out and really thinking about what we buy is a great way to check-in with ourselves on what we really want. If we’re going to spend our hard earned money, let’s do it in a really conscious manner.

The easiest way to control your spending patterns if you feel you could be in the ‘shopaholic’ category or that your spending habits are a little out of control, is to keep track of what you buy each month.

Watch where the Euros go. If that seems like hard work or you don’t want to record what you spend each day (never mind for a full month), by putting all your spend on your debit and credit card for the month and reviewing both at the end of the month in detail, you will keep on top of it.

Of course I wouldn’t recommend waiting until the end of the month, but if starting from ground zero today, look back on your November or December purchases on your credit and debit cards. Yes, December or November may be unusual, so maybe October is more like your ‘usual’ spending pattern.  Then, during this month keep all your spending on the cards so you can really see where your money goes each month. Nothing like the first of a month to get us motivated to create new habits.

DON’T GIVE UP WHAT YOU WANT MOST FOR WHAT YOU WANT NOW.

We all want to feel in control of our finances. If you’re feeling out of control or you spend spend spend and then have regrets by month end, then it could be time to learn the art of delayed gratification.

What am I holding out for you ask…? Well, I’m excitedly keeping an eye on some brands I love – Theo + George – USA born, Dublin resident, Katie O’Riordan’s ethics and values when it comes to fashion design and sustainability are awesome. I believe in quality over quantity after years of fashion disasters and wasted money! I’ve my eye on one thing in particular for the past while now…!

If you’d like to stay updated on our 2020 Goals post, subscribe on the website link for one email each Monday morning.  I usually cover accounting or tax issues, but at the end of every short article, I’ll be posting a short update on keeping on track and our reminders for this week of what we want to achieve by the end of 2020.

Have a great day

Wendy