Ever look at your bank account or wallet and wonder where the money went? If you were the U.S. Treasury, maybe you could make money—literally—and replenish it right away! Many people balk at the idea of drawing up a budget and watching every penny as they attempt to follow a plan. At Wealth Gathering, we don’t believe in budgets—but we do believe in spending less. That’s how to make money, because you end up with more of it.
Money has the uncanny ability to disappear. The title of this blog says, “Find it.” Does that mean loose change in the dryer or a five in your jeans pocket? You’re close, because part of our secret of how to make money involves what you have already.
Understand any Mindless Spending Habits
We emphasize behavioral economics, which includes the study of how we as humans sometimes act irrationally with our money. For example, we usually have habitual patterns of making mindless purchases—sometimes beyond our means. These buys add up fast. Maybe we toss things we don’t really need into the shopping cart, purchase an excess of toys or video games for the kids, buy extra calorie-laden goodies or dine out at expensive restaurants too often. Then there’s remodeling the kitchen, taking that expensive vacation or getting the big entertainment set we know we can’t pay off this year. The list goes on.
We really don’t have to tell you how to make money. Most people are already doing that. The secret is finding and keeping those dollars before they’re gone! Think about purchases you’ve made that led to apathy, disappointment or back-of-the-closet items. How much money could you have saved?
Save Mindlessly and Spend Consciously
Mindless spending might have you in its clutches, but there’s hope! Try these helpful tactics that take into account how people tick:
- Make saving the default option: Most people won’t transfer money deposited from their paychecks to a savings account immediately, so there’s an illusion of plenty and a license to spend! You need to make better choices with your money. You can start by having your pay deposited to savings rather than checking.
- Use our no-budget method to decrease spending: My blog The No-Budget Way to Spend Less and Save More gives you a detailed plan for finding money by lowering the amount you spend each month little by little. You’ll hardly notice!
- Pay attention to the extras: Do you always buy lunch instead of packing it? There are lots of ways to find money by avoiding those small expenditures that add up. Interestingly, when the extras you buy are less expensive and less frequent, the small pleasures mean more.
- Don’t rely on willpower: Structure your life so spending decisions don’t come down to willpower when your resolve is weakest. By steering clear of temptation, you end up with more money and less stress.
- Label your savings categories: Find ways to trick yourself into keeping the money you find by defining categories you’re saving for. Using mental accounting, decide on labels for each category, such as “next year’s vacation,” “new skis,” “retirement account” and “kids’ camp.”
Learning better ways of spending and saving keeps old habits from robbing you of money you already have. Most of us don’t need to learn how to make money. The good news is that it’s waiting to be found—and put in the right places so it adds meaning to our lives!