Reimagine Your Savings: 4 Unconventional Ways to Reframe Your Financial Habits

How many times have you gotten off an e-commerce platform or home from shopping and felt buyer’s remorse? The barrage of television and online advertisements encourages us to make purchases we do not necessarily need instead of putting that money into a savings account. Ending impulse buys and the tendency to live beyond our means sometimes calls for an outside-the-box strategy to rein in spending. These are four ways you can turn hefty credit card bills and depleted checking accounts into secure, rainy-day savings.

1. Cash Stuffing

This budget allocation method is something of a throwback to the analog days. Rather than taking advantage of digital wallets and online banking conveniences, binders, envelopes or containers are labeled by spending category. They typically include classifications such as dining out, cable television, phone, internet, groceries, clothing, e-commerce, and entertainment, among others.

At the beginning of each month, stuff a specific amount of money into each physical piggy bank, so to speak. Do your level best to limit the amount of money you retrieve from each binder. If an envelope runs out of cash, that type of spending ends for the month.

It’s important to resist the urge to move or take money from another container because that is how overspending occurs. If you have money left over in an area, consider depositing it into a savings account.  

2. Category-Specific Spending Challenges

Unlike the cash stuffing strategy that takes an all-encompassing approach to savings, category-specific spending challenges target a small number of classifications. Let’s say that you like the cash-stuffing approach. At the beginning of the month, you could target a category for spending cuts, such as dining out. Each month, you cut back on the cash in the dining-out binder. Once you become comfortable limiting dining out spending to a certain threshold, you can make reductions to another area. If you want more money flowing into a savings account, these are steps to implement a category-specific spending reduction plan.

• Make a full review of your spending habits.
• Identify a category-specific area to start cutting.
• Establish a monthly spending limit for the category.
• Assess spending habits at the end of the month.
• Make any necessary adjustments for the upcoming month.

One of the micro-strategies that seems to help working families achieve financial success involves setting small, incremental goals. You can also take the extra cash and open a savings account for retirement, home improvement, or a memorable family vacation.

3. Slow Shopping

Our consumer culture motivates us to make quick, non-essential purchases that provide a sense of immediate gratification. Too many of these products find their way into closets, storage areas, and cupboards because they are rarely — if ever — used. In a couple of years, the item that provided short-term satisfaction ends up in a yard sale or donation box. Slow shopping offers a thoughtful alternative to swiping plastic in the moment.

A type of mindfulness practice, slow shopping techniques involve setting personal parameters around buying. You make the usual necessary purchases without restrictions. When it comes to items like clothing, new shoes, electronics, or dining out instead of preparing meals at home, you must wait 24 to 72 hours. This allows the impulse to pass while you weigh the value of spending money in that particular fashion. In some cases, people use the pause to research products and find better values. Others wind up not making a discretionary purchase at all.

4. Value-Based Budget

Adopting a value-based budget allows working families to direct more of their hard-earned revenue toward core spending priorities. In contrast to impulse buys that make us feel good momentarily, only to regret the purchase later, a value-aligned budget helps achieve long-term goals.

Consider rethinking your monthly and annual budgets to trim the fat off of non-essentials. You could reduce restaurant meals and unnecessary clothing purchases by a reasonable percentage. The money can then be diverted into a savings account for to-be-determined use. It’s not unusual for families to set up a savings account for annual vacations, weddings, college tuition, or big-ticket home improvements such as a kitchen remodel, new deck, boat, or swimming pool.

A variety of value-based budget approaches exist, ranging from deep and specific reductions to redirecting a small percentage across the board. How you implement a value-based budget depends on spending habits, comfort with cutting back, and long-term goals.

Let Members Plus Be Your Partner in Savings

The average American household debt hovers around $105,000, with national consumer overspending resulting in more than $418 trillion. Those stunning figures hit home when we look at our own finances and realize incomes could be better prioritized. If you are one of the many who have unsuccessfully tried conventional ways to channel money into savings accounts, consider these unconventional strategies. You can use one of them or cherry-pick ideas that make sense for your financial portfolio, lifestyle, and long-term goals. At Members Plus, we work diligently with our valued members to help increase savings. If you would like to open a savings account, let’s get the process started.