They say that you can train and form certain sets of behavior either through positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement. We have already discussed how motivation is essential in keeping your focus on saving. By having a goal, it becomes easy to find the will power to stop yourself from spending money unnecessarily. Having a constant reminder of what you are saving for is a positive way to establish a pattern that will help you achieve a goal.

The Devil On Your Shoulder

But you can also use negative thoughts to prevent wasteful spending. The best way for me to check my would-be purchases is to think of money as work stored in dollars. I try to recall how hard I had to work to make my checking account grow and whether it is worth using up an entire day’s worth of work just to buy a ridiculously expensive pair of jeans. Seriously, I have to work an entire eight hours just to buy jeans? It does not make sense when I pose this question to myself. And for those who dislike or even hate their jobs, this argument should be even more powerful. Can you imagine one hour at work just to go to a movie which might not even be any good? That’s money and time you cannot get back.

Time Is Money

The dollars in your account also represent time you had to trade in that could have been spent somewhere else, doing something else. I have a son and he is a year and a half. He is at that stage where he idolizes everything I do and is genuinely happy to see me when I come home. Every hour, every minute and every second I am at work or commuting to and from work is a moment that I am not with him. All this money I have accumulated in my account by working is made possible only by me leaving him for long stretches of his waking life. So when I look at something and have the urge to buy, I just think of how much I had to sacrifice in units of time in order to earn my money. Is having the latest cell phone worth all the hours I spent away from my son? There is something out there that is more worthy of the trade. That, I am sure.

The Angel On Your Shoulder

Another way to discourage frivolous spending is to think of money as valuable tools in achieving something bigger than yourself. Something more worthy. Instead of using money to just purchase and consume resources, we have the option to actually try to do good with it. Nonprofit organizations, charities, microfinance institutions – all would benefit from a helping hand. Since these are all investments in his future, I am sure my son would not mind me trading time away from him to give money to certain programs out there. It might not benefit him right away but when he grows up, he might be happier because of it.

Money Does Not Buy Happiness

Next time, you have the impulse to buy something, think first whether it is a purchase based on trying to make yourself feel better. If that is indeed the basis for a particular purchase then in all likelihood, the former state of discontent will reappear when the jeans become outdated or when the cell phone becomes obsolete. Money will never buy long term happiness and should not be spent trying to achieve it. I discourage it.

What methods do you use to discourage yourself from buying stupid things? Is it better than having a good motivation?

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