How to trick yourself into saving money.

Do you need to trick yourself into saving money? How can you save hundreds of pounds a year without noticing?

There are plenty of ideas out there to help you save money. My favourite was the Old fashioned Penny Jar. Remember we used to throw our coppers in a jar and go and change them up for cash when the jar was full?

I tried to make this work last year, updated of course to £2 coins instead of coppers. I really did but I found it way too much of a faff. Why? Well I rarely use cash – preferring to use my TSB debit card for small purchases (to get the free £5 a month). By the end of January I had about £3’s worth of change in my Penny Jar as I kept borrowing the silver for car parks!

I knew I wanted to save, so found a way that I could – using the same principles but fitting my lifestyle.

How do you trick yourself into saving?

This is what I did. See how you can use the same ideas.

I have a couple of current accounts and check them on my phone apps most days – I keep a really close eye on what’s going in and out of my accounts.

So everytime I checked the accounts online I transferred the pence balance to a savings account.

• If there was £253.68 in there – whoosh 68p to savings,
• £502.19 in there – 19p to savings, you get the idea.
• By April I upped the ante (when I felt like it) and transferred the amount to make it a round £5 or £10 left.
• So £253.68 became £3.68 to savings and
• £502.19 meant £2.19 went to savings.
• If it was 66p then I made it £6.66 just because it made me smile, and
• I did a few £1.01s (Depeche Mode reference).
• And the #AvGeek in me made some £7.47 and £7.77 saves and a £3.50 whenever British Airways or Virgin took delivery of their new A350-1000 planes.

Make saving easy and fun

Making it fun and easy was the answer. Any additional unexpected money also went straight to savings as soon as it cleared – like the £30 cheque from British Gas – compensation for them cancelling my appointment at short notice. As well as half of any bonuses and any Competition Wins.

If you think you don’t have enough money to save then have a look at this post from Becky The Lifestyle Blogger – Why you never have enough Money

Make it hard to dip into your savings

I chose to re-use an old savings account that I only had a book for so couldn’t see the balance (avoiding temptation to transfer it back). Know yourself and take away as many obstacles that you can.

Weirdly every time I did this I felt great – I was actually choosing to do something towards a long term goal.

When I took the savings book to Halifax  (The Building Society not the Town), my balance was £937.14. Seriously over £900 from February for basically playing a little game with myself. Look I know that’s not the best place for my money, paltry interest blah blah. But I also know 100% that I would not have had £900 more in my current account had I not have done this. That’s £300 for shopping till the end of the Month, £250 spending money for Stockholm weekend and £350 overpaying the mortgage.

Why do we need to trick ourselves into saving money?

Why do we need to allocate money like this? Surely money is money. Logically we should keep it all in one place, maybe with some regularly invested, or in an ISA. That’s much more sensible and surely easier?

Many people use the envelope system (which I also love). I still have a £2 coin jar which is for holiday spending money. Taz has a £2 pot for his Spurs season ticket. I also have emergency £10’s in a few places (as if the window cleaner is an emergency!)

I will be looking at the fascinating mind games we play on ourselves to justify illogical behaviours like this. Our personal relationships with money are complex yet simple and understanding our triggers is a key way to have a healthy financial future. Subscribe below to get this as soon as it’s published.

So today it’s back to my penny sweep. First transfer of 2022 was £2.22 – For real

Everytime you login to your banking app you transfer out the pennies balance to a savings account.

Tailor this to fit your life

• if you log on once a week transfer pennies and round the pounds.
• If you know you’ll dip into the pot then choose an account with a book or one that’s not on your online banking.
• Transfer amounts that make you smile. Like 6.66 or 101 or any amount that makes you smile.
• Add any extra money you know you are definitely not going to need
• It’s more fun saving money like this if you choose not to check how much you are saving. I honestly had no idea – It was a great surprise.

Other ways to earn free money

We have plenty of easy ways you can earn free money, check them out and you can even add these bonuses to your savings.

• Earn hundreds in free shares when you invest £1 You can take the cash out any time
• Get cashback for any money you spend Lots of tips to maximise cashback.
• Refer friends for bonus cash Topcashback, Quidco and MyMoneyPocket all reward you with cash.
• How to make £100s from your current account. Switch bank accounts easily and earn a quick £100.

What about other ways to save money?

There are a few apps like Chip, Plum and IfThisThenThat which you set up to automatically sweep amounts into a savings account. Same with some current accounts like Nationwide, you are nudged to transfer suggested amounts to a savings account. This is great to a point – But only some are free, so chose wisely.

Here’s a great review of Plum from fellow Money Blogger Dan at The Financial Wilderness.

And if you fancy a money saving challenge, check out this great article from Smarter Finances – Money Saving Challenges | Which Are The Best? – Smarter Finances

I like my fun of my way of saving, plus with these Apps / Accounts it’s easy to transfer the balance straight back into your current account. I like (and need) it to be a bit a bit more difficult to get to.

There are lots of ways to Spend Smarter – we never pay full price for anything, there’s always a discount code or cashback to be had. Try some of these tips

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This is the Mind over Money Matters way of saving money and adding a little joy to your everyday. Happy saving, do share your favourite ways of saving money. What works for you?

Now you are here…

You’ll find lots of information on ways to Spend Smarter and Travel Smarter, from making the most of freebies from loyalty cards to essential travel guidance and moneysaving information. And some fun and #SmallJoy to like The perfect weekend break, without going anywhere? Silly, fun, cheap and AWESOME.

Now you can Visit Cyprus Smarter. Helping you plan a memorable trip, making the most of your time (and money). Enjoy the fabulous Island with confidence using our insider tips and reviews.

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