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It’s PAY DAY! You’re feeling flush. Time to hit the shops and pick up that new hat/shirt/thing-y you’ve had your eye on. While you’re there you pick up some stuff you need for school, a new phone cover and lunch – why not? You can afford it, you just got paid right! Sound familiar?
How about the part when you get to two days after pay day and you’ve spent all your money? Or the bit where you want or need to buy something with a bigger price tag, but you don’t have any cash? That sound familiar too? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. It’s easy (and fun) to spend when you’ve got a full wallet. But the choices you make about your money today affect what you can do tomorrow.
So here are some tips to help you hang on to some more of your cash…
- Save first
Before you do anything else with your money decide on an amount to save. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount, but whatever it is, move it out of your day to day banking account and keep it somewhere separate, like a savings account.
- Choose an amount to spend
Same as you decide on an amount to save, decide on an amount that you are happy to blow on whatever you want. But remember when it’s gone, it’s gone.
- Set some savings goals
Having some savings goals that really matter to you can help you focus on saving rather than spending.
- Impulse buys can break your piggybank
Impulse purchases (you know the things you decide to buy on a whim, because it’s there and you’re there and it’s like it was meant to be?) can drain your cash quicker than you can say ‘idon’treallyneedthat’. Try and be aware of when and where you usually spend on impulse and avoid those situations, or
- Take a minute
To help you avoid spending on impulse, have a rule that you take 5 or 10 minutes before you hand over your money. Sometimes leaving the shop can help. You might find you don’t really want whatever it was you thought you needed.
