Everyone wants your money. Government. Insurance companies. Banks. Lawyers. Electricity companies. Real estate agents. Landlords. Charities. Telecommunications. Furniture and appliance stores. Supermarket. Clothing retailers. Your children. Your siblings. Your parents. The church. Car companies. Petrol stations. Coffee shops. The avocado salesman if you’re a millennial. The list goes on and on.
With each passing decade there are more and more people trying to get their hands on our money, as the number of companies grow. It is getting harder to save our money as our national statistics in saving prove. Our household savings rate as a country is getting worse. Minus 3% in 2017. This means that we are spending more than we are earning. How are we expected to get ahead if we are in negative?
There are constant requests for our money and even if we can say no the first time, it is hard to continuously say no. The best way I have found to fight off the bevy of money grabbers is to come prepared.
Be prepared to fight for your money
I like to treat this as a game. It makes it much more interesting and easier to say no. I like to think that I am a soldier defending his base, or a fullback defending his tryline. I am the one and only line of defense and I am there to stop all attackers getting over the line and grabbing my wallet.
A good defence is the first step to getting ahead in life. Because unless you can protect money, it doesn’t matter how many points you can score. You will always be on the losing side. Too often we come to the battle unprepared and end up spending money we regret.
So how do you prepare for the battle to keep more money?
We need to metaphorically arm ourselves. Unfortunately we can’t attack them with a machete. We can however arm ourselves with:
1/. Goals
Having a clear direction of what we want to achieve will help us make better decisions that align with our goals.
2/. Know your numbers
Implicitly knowing your income, your expenses, your net worth and all other important financial information will help you make better decisions with your money and direct it where it needs to go. If you know your numbers you will generally not spend money that you don’t have.
3/. Education and research
Learn as much as possible. Read books and blogs. Listen to podcasts. Read or watch world news. By soaking up information we learn more about any subjects that will help us. If you don’t know how to budget, then find out more. If you don’t know how to increase your income or cut costs, find out. Research will also help when comparing costs. When we do have to spend money we want the best quality we can get for the lowest price. Price does not always equal quality so good research will help.
4/. Find a mentor
Find someone who has already done what you are trying to achieve. It could be someone in your life or it could be someone online that writes about it. A good mentor is really valuable and can save us a lot of time and money.
5/. Be confident
We often like to make purchasing decisions to impress other people. Guess what? Other people don’t care about your new car or nice kitchen benchtop as much as you think. Be confident in your own plans and don’t worry about other people’s opinions.
6/. Understand your habits
Everyone has habits and they provide a great shortcut to decision making. For example, brushing our teeth and driving to work is a habit that requires little consideration. Imagine if we had to think about completing every step of these activities. It would be a great burden on our time and energy. The problem is there are good and bad habits. Try to understand what habits you have, and more specifically any BAD habits that are impacting on your spending goals.
7/. Treat saving money as a game
When we imagine it is a game where we become the defender against all the bad guys it is very motivating and much easier to stay the course. You will have attackers occasionally slip through your defences but don’t be discouraged too much. I often let excess spending on food through my defences.
8/. Practice gratitude
This is probably my favourite and most effective strategy. Be thankful for what you already have. You will be amazed that once you start doing this, you will want less.
9/. Automate your finances
By giving all your income a job to do as soon as it hits your account, then you will have nothing extra to spend.
10/. Calculate your hourly pay
By truly understanding that your income is actually lower than you think, you should start to value your time over your money.
These are the main strategies I use to arm myself against the plethora of people trying to take my money. These are my armour, weapons and side vision that protect me from attack. If all else fails, run!
The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here
What are your thoughts? What tactics do you use to limit your spending? Is there one attacker that always seems to be able to slip through your defences?