In a perfect world, we would all spend only what was necessary and always put away any extra cash. Unfortunately there are always temptations which make us fall into spending traps based on emotions and wants, not needs.
“There are a few tricks that you can use in order to stop the temptation of overspending or dipping into hard earned savings to fund unnecessary expenditures,” says Eunice Sibiya, head of Consumer Education at FNB.
Only take what you need
“Our debit cards, credit cards and electronic banking platforms give us access to much more money than we would have in the past, in fact, we have access to our entire bank account in our pocket,” says Sibiya.
While this is great for banking on the go, paying beneficiaries, bills and topping up on airtime and electricity, it can be very tempting when you walk past an item, as you have the power to buy it then and there.
You can change your card limit to ensure that you don’t overspend.
“Only carry one card with you during the time you are trying to stop overspending and bring down the limit of that card,” says Sibiya.
On FNB electronic channels you can set a daily or monthly maximum amount you can spend on your FNB card in a day when paying at the till or online.
“You can also set the maximum amount of cash you can draw per day or a month,” says Sibiya. “This is a great way of maintaining financial discipline to keep within your limits and will quickly put a stop to overspending or on-the-fly purchases.”
Move savings out of harm’s way
Another great benefit of electronic banking is the ease of which you can move money around.
However, this can be a downfall if you are accessing savings to get you through the month because you have overspent.
“Firstly, make sure that your savings is separate from your transactional account,” says Sibiya. “The temptation is greater if you keep your savings and your day-to-day money in the same account.”
If you find that you are still dipping into your savings, it is time to take more drastic measures.
“Put your savings away into a less tempting account,” says Sibiya. “This can be a savings account that requires notice before you can withdrawal, or even an investment account, which can be started for as little as R100 a month.”
This will make it far harder to dip into savings on a whim and will keep you savings for the goals you have actually planned, such as that holiday at the end of the year.
Avoid places that will cause you to spend
One of the best ways to avoid spending needlessly is to avoid going to places where you know you can’t resist.
“If your friends like to meet at the shopping mall on the weekends for coffee, and you know that you are prone to dash into a store there, change that habit,” suggest Sibiya. “Ask to meet them at a coffee shop away from your favourite stores. Same goes for going out to expensive restaurants, suggest meeting at home for dinner and everyone pitching in.”
Spending needlessly is a habit, however if you apply some discipline towards smart saving and investing, after a little while you will start to have a bit more money at the end of each month.
Alan Straton
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