Money tip #201 – Ground your wallet

It sounds bonkers but bear with me. If you want to save more money or pay down debts faster then there are two ways to achieve this:

• earn more money or
• cut your spending

Of the two options the latter is easier, at least in theory. But a lot of people struggle to control their impulsive spending, even if they have a workable budget in place. So the answer is to ‘Ground your wallet’. The premise is simple; if you confine your wallet (containing all your cash and cards) to your home when you go out then you have no means by which to pay for anything.

Try buying a cheeky pre-work latte or jumping in a cab without any money. Try a spot of retail therapy with no means of payment. In today’s consumption obsessed society there are too many temptations to help part us with our money.

Obviously you can’t live without money long term (not realistically anyway) so just try grounding your wallet one day a week. You’ll be amazed at how much money you save as well as the sense of achievement gained from not spending any money for a day, or even a weekend. You’ll also be surprised at how easy it is to not spend any money if you have to. Let’s be honest, we’ve all had to at some point, normally when we’ve unintentionally forgotten our wallet. But the trick is to now leave it at home on purpose.

Oh and before you start grounding your wallet, make sure you delete your card details from your favourite online shopping sites. Otherwise the temptation to continue to shop electronically may be too much.