7 Lazy Habits That Save Money
Saving more money every month does not have to mean working harder. In fact, you can save more money with these lazy habits.
There are things you can be doing every single month to get ahead financially, avoid debt and add more to your savings pot. The best thing is, they are low or no effort habits that will put you on course to improving your financial situation.
Here are some seriously low-effort lazy habits that will save you money.
You may also like these frugal living tips.
1. Treat savings like a bill
Rather than casually saving whatever is left at the end of the month, have automated savings leaving your bank account when you get paid.
It’s like paying your bills, when you set it as a direct debit and it goes, that money is gone and you cannot spend it.
Savings should be treated the same, because when you do that it means you’re not going to allocate that money to anything else. It won’t end up being used for impulse purchasing.
I’ve said on here before that budgeting down to the penny isn’t for everyone and if you hate the idea that doesn’t mean you’re lazy, maybe it just doesn’t work for you to be so rigid in your particular lifestyle. Life can be unpredictable, especially with kids and last-minute social invitations and school events that need to paid for.
But when you automate savings and pay yourself first you’re far more likely to put that money out of your mind and not see it as money you can spend. That’s money for future you, not you this month.
You can also use apps like Plum to do clever things like rounding up every one of your transactions and setting the difference aside in a pot. You’re not having to do anything.
2. Swap envy for gratitude
Stop comparing other people’s apparent wealth to your own and more importantly stop spending money to keep up.
Comparison is truly the thief of joy and often your money too.
Expending energy, and money, on keeping up the Joneses because you envy what other people have is a game that will ultimately just leave you worse off.
When you compare yourself to others in today’s world you’re not only comparing yourself to your neighbours and family but all those people we don’t even know on the internet. We tend to compare upwards, rather than downward, focused on people projecting an image of their fabulous life with a nicer car, nicer house, more holidays.
A survey found that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe social media has increased overspending.
People on social media don’t share their bank statement. They show you stuff they have bought. The trouble with comparing that to our financial situation is we’re doing it without all the information. We don’t know the debts and sacrifices that could be behind what we see.
So remind yourself regularly that when you see people with a lot of very nice things, a new car, bigger house, regular holidays, what you’re seeing is the money they spent, not the money they have. It’s their liabilities, not their assets.
We can waste so much money just trying to look rich. Whereas we should view money as an asset, we end up using it to deliver short-term gratification or to present an image of wealth, sacrificing our chances at longer-term financial success.
Rather than working harder to earn money or going into debt so you can spend it to keep up with that image of wealth you have in your mind, instead practice gratitude and be clear on your own priorities for your money.
Money cannot buy you happiness. But your approach to money can.
3. Adjust your money mindset
If your current relationship with money is not serving you, maybe because you have certain emotional triggers that make you overspend, then it’s time to adjust your money mindset.
I talk about our emotional connection to money on here a lot because it has a huge impact on our finances. There’s a reason why even people you would consider to be “good” with money, such as wealthy investment bankers, hire financial advisers to help them manage their wealth. Because they want someone who can view their situation without emotion.
So something that doesn’t require any difficult action from you is to just reflect on your financial perspective. What makes you spend and what impact is it having on your finances.
Can you adopt a more positive money mindset, where you switch from using money to feel better to making the most of your money and finding other ways to tackle negative emotions.
To be clear here, there’s no correct money mindset you should adopt. As with so many things in life, there’s no precise blueprint to being “good” with money beyond the simple principle of living below your means. But if you are struggling to balance your budget, then a mindset adjustment is a very easy way to make changes. It doesn’t require big action from you, just some time to reflect. Do it in your PJs on the sofa.
Try following these steps:
- Examine your current relationship with money. What makes you spend, do you feel guilty or worried about spending and how this impacts on you. Once you’ve confronted and identified negative or limiting beliefs you can make changes.
- Invest in learning. Engaging in listening to people talk about money can have such a huge impact on your overall approach. Follow some educational accounts on Instagram. Listen to podcasts in your downtime. Read books like the Psychology of Money which totally changed the way I think about spending, saving and building wealth.
- Practice gratitude. Focusing on what you have, rather than what you don’t, is a positive exercise not just for your finances but for your mental health too. In this world where consumerism has just gone insane, stop measuring your worth on what you have vs what others’ have and just think about the things in your life that are positive.
4. Use the power of compound interest
You can use these lazy tips to make saving easy, but whatever you do, don’t let your money be lazy. You can be lazy, your money should be working on multiplying.
You need to harness the power of compound interest which means that those savings you automated are growing every month.
One of the reasons that wealthy people can afford to not work is that they make sure their large pots of money make more money.
But even for the rest of us when saving a small amount regularly over a long period of time you can unlock the power of compound interest.
Too many people do not take advantage of decent savings rates.
Figures from the Bank of England suggest that £250bn sits in zero-interest accounts. And in the US 17% of Americas aren’t earning interest on their short-term savings.
That’s money lost. Money you could earn by doing absolutely nothing.
The best savings account for you is going to depend on how long you will be saving for, whether you need quick easy access and what you’re saving for, when will you need that money.
But for longer term saving investing has historically produced a better return, as long as you’re prepared to be in it for the long game. Some years your investments can lose value, others they can make big gains. It’s riskier than a fixed savings rate in a savings account, but the rewards over the long term are better.
5. Use a general investment account
Investing doesn’t have to be high maintenance or take up your time.
A good way of streamlining your savings and investing is using a platform that automatically creates a pot of investments suited to your risk.
That means you don’t have to worry about picking where your money is invested. With a general investment account where your money goes is taken care of for you.
Remember with investing that your capital is at risk and it comes with no guarantees but over time the rewards can be greater than with a bog standard fixed savings account.
6. . Be ready
Have an emergency fund and a sinking fund. Your emergency fund covers you in emergencies like a sudden car breakdown. Your sinking fund covers expected annual costs like your car insurance renewal and Christmas expenses.
Part of automating savings, which we just touched on, is to ensure you are prepared for those regular bills and emergency costs that inevitably come up.
Yes you need to put some thought into how much you need stashed away, however it’s far lazier to have the money there ready to cover you than it is to expend energy on worrying about a bill you cannot afford.
7. Don’t check out
When you add an impulse purchase to your basket, just don’t checkout. Leave it there for 48 hours minimum and I think you’ll either forget about it or realise you don’t need it.
Sometimes just the act of adding something to your shopping basket is enough to satisfy your emotional need to shop.
8. Find discounts easily
Add a browser extension such as Honey that will automatically find discounts for you when you are shopping online.
This way you won’t be scrabbling around looking for voucher codes.
And speaking of discounts, never ever shop without your loyalty card at a supermarket. So many products are now subject to loyalty prices at big supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury’s that you can lose £20+ a month by not shopping with one. If you struggle with remembering your loyalty card, add it to your phone (I have mine on my iPhone wallet so I can scan without ever having to worry).
