What are your fav ways to “trick” yourself into saving up?

[Carrie12345]

There’s an expensive item I REALLY want, but can’t justify the expense. I want to manipulate myself into getting it in a year or two. 😛 

I ordered tickets to an event for myself and friend. They’re going to pay me back, but I’ve already closed out the month I ordered them in, so I decided to put that payback in my stash.

I’ve become more like a Gen Z than à Dave Ramsey thinker, with cash now feeling fake and electronic transactions hitting home harder.  So it’s probably easier for me to make a physical splurge envelope than a digital bucket.

Now to figure out how to squeeze small bits of cash here and there…

[HomeAgain]

My favorite trick is autopay.  I have a separate savings account and can set it to get $x out of checking on payday.

My other thing is since I have to carry small bits of cash anyway, I take out a $20 at the grocery store.  I throw the change each week in my center console and then clean it out, putting it in a jar at the end of the month.  Periodically I'll roll the coins, which makes it harder to spend accidentally.

[TexasProud]

Pretty much what HomeAgain said.  We had a savings account for savings. So on payday, you have 5 dollars automatically deposited in your savings account.  We have more than one thing we are saving for in the savings account, so at some point during the month, I split my deposit where they are supposed to be. I actually use pen and paper for that. But the important part is having it automatically taken out and deposited. If it isn't in your checking account, you cannot spend it. 

I cannot use cash.  It disappears and I find tons of stupid stuff to spend it on. Before I know it 100 dollars is gone and I cannot remember where I spent it.  However, if you are more disciplined with cash, then yes, have an envelope.  When you pay for something with cash, then take whatever change you get (meaning dollar bills, though you can have a jar for change) and put it in the envelope.  I would probably pick a dollar amount, 100 dollars or whatever. When you get to that amount, I would put it in a bank savings account.  That would take away the temptation to take cash out of the envelope and spend it. 

[vonfirmath]

2 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

There’s an expensive item I REALLY want, but can’t justify the expense. I want to manipulate myself into getting it in a year or two. 😛 

I ordered tickets to an event for myself and friend. They’re going to pay me back, but I’ve already closed out the month I ordered them in, so I decided to put that payback in my stash.

I’ve become more like a Gen Z than à Dave Ramsey thinker, with cash now feeling fake and electronic transactions hitting home harder.  So it’s probably easier for me to make a physical splurge envelope than a digital bucket.

Now to figure out how to squeeze small bits of cash here and there…

I autopay savings. Every paycheck $50 goes directly to savings. (weekly). My retirement $100/mo comes out of that account but the rest slowly grows savings over time.

There are also a lot of challenges people on my budget group use.

"All the change going into a change jar"

"Everytime I get a $5 bill, it gets put aside for savings" (Ie you cannot spend $5 bills -- yes even if you break a $20 and get 3 $5 bills in change)

(I've also seen this done with $1 bills for those who need thieir $5s -- it just grows slower)

Or 100 envelopes challenge -- Number 100 envelopes 1-100 and you try to stuff them all with the number of dollars on the envelope, over time

etc.

Edited January 5, 2023 by vonfirmath

[pinball]

3 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

My favorite trick is autopay.  I have a separate savings account and can set it to get $x out of checking on payday.

My other thing is since I have to carry small bits of cash anyway, I take out a $20 at the grocery store.  I throw the change each week in my center console and then clean it out, putting it in a jar at the end of the month.  Periodically I'll roll the coins, which makes it harder to spend accidentally.

I hope that cash isn’t visible from outside your car.

that’s an invitation to break in and steal it

[gstharr]

I am able to save $600-800 for my son's birthday gift by dropping all coin change into a large vase.  I give him whatever is in in it.  I figure 2- 3 dollars go into it every day. 

[pinball]

All these ways assume you have enough money for your day to day bills to begin with…and have an emergency fund.

If you don’t, you’ll be dipping into the stash to pay for bills and emergencies…

 

[Arcadia]

Whenever I draw cash from the ATM for petty cash, I would just dump a $20 into one of my many wallets. My kids’ community college cafe has a cash discount so we pay cash if we buy anything there. Coins go into my coin pouches to feed vending machines. I grew up when credit card system outages aren’t rare so having cash stashed is always useful if a store can’t take credit because the system is down. I stash hundreds this way.

If I want something expensive, I get my shopaholic husband to find the best deal. Then I’ll probably stash the cash for that in my emergency bag. 

[Loesje22000]

I opened a bankaccount for my specific goal, and all the books, toys, games etc. I sell are for that goal. 

[vonfirmath]

45 minutes ago, pinball said:

All these ways assume you have enough money for your day to day bills to begin with…and have an emergency fund.

If you don’t, you’ll be dipping into the stash to pay for bills and emergencies…

 

Oh definitely! (And my savings is partially an emergency fund. I can dip into it if we're going to overdraft, etc)

[JustEm]

I have discretionary spending for myself as a line item in our monthly budget. So, if I want something it comes from there. I just move that money over to a savings account for my specific want at the beginning of the month so it is dedicated to what I really want.

Another thing I'll do if it is not specifically for me but something for the family and I don't want to create a specific line in the budget for it is... Pulling a little money from the entertainment or eating out budget to go towards it.

[mommyoffive]

I don't do tricks to save.  Never have.  Savings are automatically taken out of paychecks.  E-fund is well funded.  What we have left we spend if we want.

[Tanaqui]

 There is a thing I've read about in some cultures where people band together to form a sort of savings club. You get together with your friends every week and everybody contributes the same amount to the shared pot. Either the entire thing is shared out equally at the end, or each friend takes one turn collecting the weekly take.

Either way, it works because the process of meeting up with friends creates a sort of accountability. You're not going to spend that money on an impulse buy when you'll have to explain to everybody why you're empty-handed this week.

[catz]

We pretty much only use credit cards.  But we never ever carry a credit card balance.  We have autopay, and auto deposits set up to multiple accounts.  We have really good saving safety nets thanks to not have to overly thinking about it.  

[Soror]

I don't know that this is really a trick but... Dh and I plan to go on another nice vaca on our 25th anniversary/combo celebrate dh finishing college trip in 2024. Right now funds are tight so I can't squeeze out much but every month checking interest and Credit card rewards goes towards the fund. It's not a lot but we at least have a bit of a start on the fund until we can afford to add more.

My required/needed funds are all funded when the budget is disbursed each month. But the vaca is not a need just a want.

When things aren't so tight I did better focusing on one want at a time. It is much more satisfying seeing funds fill more quickly then a bunch of different ones inching along.

[Annie G]

I’m assuming that you actually do have some wiggle in your budget.  With that said, what I do when I want to save for a particular splurge is to watch my budget and sweep any extra into my personal savings account or if it’s cash into my lockbox in my closet.  So when I come in under budget in groceries or utilities or eating out, the extra is swept into my savings.  I’ll also focus more on coming in under budget- plan more meatless meals or turn the thermostat down a little, or dry clothes by hanging them instead of using my clothes dryer. It can add up quickly. And my family never notices when I am putting together more frugal meals. 
Also any cash I get is automatically swept into my savings stash. I’ll buy something for Dd and she’ll pay me in cash, or occasionally ds uses our backup credit card for gas (his debit card occasionally doesn’t work in the reader at our local gas station. So he pays me back in cash and I sock it away. 
I also redeem my credit card points for cash and it’s deposited directly into my account. 

[Carrie12345]

3 hours ago, pinball said:

All these ways assume you have enough money for your day to day bills to begin with…and have an emergency fund.

If you don’t, you’ll be dipping into the stash to pay for bills and emergencies…

 

That’s how it is.  
I want something pretty expensive (by my standards), that’s only for me, only serves 1 purpose, and isn’t a genuine necessity, just makes things more enjoyable for me.  
Technically, I could just go buy it, but we have higher priorities as a family.  
Or I could budget for it, but I still feel like that takes away from our shared priorities.  
I’m kinda hoping to “find” drips and drabs here and there that I/we might normally just let ride over into other little wasteful things.

[Brittany1116]

I use the same visual aid I used when paying off debt years ago... printables from Debt Free Charts. 

[vonfirmath]

2 hours ago, Brittany1116 said:

I use the same visual aid I used when paying off debt years ago... printables from Debt Free Charts. 

Note that Debt Free Charts has a lot of their single page charts free right now!

[KungFuPanda]

Do banks still do Christmas Club accounts? That’ll stall you for a year. 
 

Or get a side gig and use only that money for the purchase. You save fast enough and you get it sooner. 

Edited January 6, 2023 by KungFuPanda

[Grace Hopper]

I sit down each payday, deposit my check into my checking account (mobile app). I pay via online accounts, apps and/or Venmo, leaving myself just a bit of gasoline and coffee money in the checking account and immediately transfer any excess funds into my savings account so it doesn’t show up in my checking account balance total. 
 

Admittedly this is easier because I buy groceries out of a different household account that my dh manages. I don’t use that account for much of anything else these days now that the kids are mostly grown and flown. 

[matrips]

Mine is via YNAB.  It is so easy to set a monthly savings of $5-$15 a month.  It doesn’t seem like anything when I throw money there versus say the mortgage.  And it grows.

[Melissa in Australia]

Here in Australia there are bank accounts called goal saver, that have bonus interest rates if you deposit over $200 a month.. If you take money out you lose the bonus interest for that month. We have found it a very good motivator to deposit money into the account and save. 

I don't know if there are similar types of accounts in your country.