The female perspective on budgeting, “7 clever tricks that will save your wallet.”

Clothes, shoes, accessories, books, drinks, food, gadgets and more, shopping is endless and it is very easy to get carried away and forget about the savings we have set as a goal at the beginning of the month or year.

Let’s examine some clever psychological tricks that will prevent you from wasting without feeling oppressed.

• Remind yourself of long-term plans: Make sure to fill the items you use with goals for which you want to save money. For example, a photo of the exotic destination where you want to go on vacation next to your credit card, in your wallet. If you are an online shopper, do the same with your computer background.
• Love the cheapest version of the things you love: Before you start spending less, try to identify the areas in which you lose control. So, the next time you pick up the phone to book a table at your favorite expensive restaurant, try exploring the nice organic bistro in the corner or watch a movie at home instead of going to the movies. You will be amazed at how easily you will adapt and eventually fall in love with these little habits.
• Open a savings or spending account at a different bank: No, it is not a good idea to have all your money in one account, as it is very likely that you do not have a clear picture of how much you spend or if you exaggerate. Try opening a different savings or spending account, where a portion of your salary will be automatically transferred there. Agree with yourself not to make purchases from that account – although its existence alone will put you in the process of thinking twice before buying something or the opposite; agree with yourself to only make purchases from that account. For example, eCREDO (https://www.ecredo.com) can supply you with a prepaid card, that is safer to use, as it is not connected to your IBAN account, and which you can use without loans or monthly fees, thus spending as much (or as little!) of your money as you have budgeted and loaded into your card!
• Get high value banknotes (and don’t spend them): A safe way to avoid wasting money is to withdraw cash at the beginning of the week and commit not to use your cards until the end. But you can take it a step further by going to the bank (and not to an ATM) and asking strictly for notes of great value.
• Use an application that aggregates your accounts: Instead of checking each account separately from each bank’s application or website, use a money management application such as Mint (https://mint.intuit.com/) and see your account details aggregated. This will help you have better control and greater financial awareness.
• Go shopping without your girlfriends: “This dress suits you very well!” is a phrase that makes you purchase things that you did not originally plan to buy. In addition to the encouraging comments, you will also visit shops that you did not plan to go to from the beginning (which means more temptations). The same is true in case you have children. Very simply, do your shopping by yourself.
• Do not shop when you are relaxed: When you are relaxed and in a good mood, you take everything in a positive way, even if it is not really so. Therefore, you are more likely to get excited about something and buy it when you are in the mood, while if you saw the same product tired, after the stress of a full week you would face it more realistically. So now you know that the next Friday afternoon that you think about going shopping after work, just go! And yes, you will be saving money as well as having fun!

Take the time to sit down and think about the money you get and the money you spend. You may find that you do not have a lot of money in your budget to save. If you can reduce big expenses or make extra money, it can help. But it may not be possible to do that. Even if you find that you have enough money to put aside at the moment, it is important to know how much money you are spending each month.

If you decide that it’s going to cost you a fortune to pay just the basics, you don’t have to worry about being too detailed about how you spend your money. They can all come from the same part of your budget. Instead of just calculating the basics and then putting aside what is left over from your discreet expenses, you can calculate the basics and savings first, and maybe worry a little less about whether the money you have to spend without guilt goes in shoes or handbags. Either way, know that even the worst habits can be unlearned and replaced by new ones.