Trick Yourself Into Spring Savings

We know we need to make, and stick, to a spending plan each month, however; it isn’t always easy to stick to our spending and savings goals (even for the smartest of the smart cookies). This time of year, when the weather is getting nicer, the patio season starts calling and new, bright spring clothes are calling our name it gets even tougher. We are the first ones to admit that it sometimes it has to be more than will power controlling us, sometimes we have to trick ourselves. You should too!

As you get set to create your spending plan for April, try these simple tricks to keep your spending in check and help your savings grow, even in the face of Spring time spending temptations.

1. Buy Yourself a Gift Card. Do you love your daily latte or can’t possible live without your weekly Mexican food fix? Well, we say – go for it! But keep your spending in control by purchasing yourself a gift card. Pre-load your card with the amount you have set aside in your spending plan. Once the gift card is out you know your spending is done for the month.
2. Pay For Your Dreams First. As important as it is to save for our dreams, many of us still leave the transfer of funds until the last of the month, thinking we’ll just transfer over whatever is left. Well, there is rarely anything left at the end for the month. Do yourself a favor and set up your savings to transfer out of your checking account and the beginning of each month. ING, for example, allows you to nickname your savings account. So at the first of the month you can automatically set up how much money you want to contribute to your to your first home fund, for your Hawaii trip fund, or whatever your dreams may be.
3. Set a Spending Alarm If you use a charge or credit card, check to see if you can set a spending alert. For example with the Amex charge card, you can set up an e-mail or text alert to remind you that your spending has reached the dollar threshold you set. For example, if want to make sure your charge spending doesn’t go over $1000 for the month, set up your alert to be notified when you’ve spent $1000 so you know it’s time to reign it in.

Sometimes we can be our own worse enemies in regards to saving but these 3 tricks, along with a little will power, will go a long way!