If you’re anything like most people, saving money can be such a drag. To be completely honest, saving money is as exciting as staring at a wall. But, to be fair, it doesn’t really have to be. There are numerous things you can do to make saving money more fun than it is and we all know we love doing fun things.
So, now that we’ve got your attention, let’s get down to business and explore the 6 ways to make saving money more fun.
1. Earn more to save more
This ‘trick’ is earning our starting spot because it is the most important thing that people often forget – you can’t save the money you don’t have. Let’s say you earn the same amount of money at a 9 to 5 job, every month, as most people do. You’ve adapted to a certain lifestyle that amount of money provides. No matter the salary, you will usually live inside those means.
Sure, buying cheaper groceries and clothes can save you some money, but that would affect your overall lifestyle and it really would be a fun thing to do. But, what you can do is, use the time you have on your hands after you’re finished with your work and try and earn some more. Having a ‘side hustle’ can be very lucrative and it could mean more money in the bank, ergo, more money in the savings account.
Another benefit of having a business on the side is the sense of achievement and fulfilment. When you know you’ve outdone yourself that day, you’ve made some extra money, you’ll lie down and sleep like a baby. Well, a baby that doesn’t cry and wake up during the night, because you certainly won’t be doing that. Not to mention, when you work during your free time, the window to go out and spend your money recklessly is small to non-existent. After a while, you’ll see a significant increase in your savings.
2. Make it feel like a game
Do you know what’s not boring? Games aren’t. Just to be clear, we’re not saying play games with money in Las Vegas, because that could easily mean the opposite of what we’re trying to achieve. No, we’re talking about making actual ‘putting money in the piggy bank’ feel like a game. Let’s say you want to save up for a new phone or a laptop and you need about $1500. You don’t want it on your credit
card, you want to pay cash. Well, make up some rules. Say, every time you curse, you add $5 to your new gadget budget, every time you miss your workout, you add $10, for every hour you spend scrolling through Instagram or Facebook you add $5 and so on, you get the gist.
I’ll go out on a limb and say that you’ll save up that money in a few months if not earlier. If that’s not your style, you could set up a game with your friend or a loved one. The first one to come up with $500 in discounts, like the ones you could get at couponxoo, has to be treated with dinner from the other one and so on. There are many ways you can make this fun.
3. Change your perspective
We get that most of us don’t really want to save money – we would rather spend it right away on things that make us feel good. But, unless you’re making some serious buck, are any of those things going to change your life at any way other than make you feel good for an hour or so.
Try and think about your savings as the money you’re saving up so you can change your life. Don’t think of it as some kind of emergency fund, sure, it’ll come in handy if the emergency strikes, but, you’re saving that money so you can start your own company one day and never worry about money again.
4. Save up for something interesting
Setting a goal is important in every aspect of life and since having money that you can, but can’t really spend, can get pretty annoying, make sure you’re saving for something specific and fun. Because, let’s face it, all work and no fun is not going to work forever.
So whether it’s for a new car or a month-long adventure in South America, make sure you’re sometimes saving for something in particular, not just because it’s a responsible thing to do. Also, keep in mind that bigger the more you wish for something, easier it’s going to be to save up for it.
5. Don’t become too frugal
Becoming too strict and frugal can greatly affect your desire to save up. If you end up depriving yourself of everything but necessities to save up as much as possible, you’re risking becoming tired of it very quickly and then spending it all on nothing.
Allow yourself to have fun and spend a little here and there to get your dose of dopamine. Think of it as a reward for being a responsible adult and for every $100 saved, treat yourself. Of course, don’t spend $100 on treats if you’ve saved up a $100 because then you’ve achieved nothing and that is not a reason to celebrate.
6. Save up by eliminating ‘insignificant’ expenses
This might come as a surprise, but you could have the exact same conversation with someone while you’re hiking, as you would if you were in a bar. And the great thing about it is, you can get drinks for a hike and they won’t be nearly as expensive.
We do things on a regular basis that cost us a lot of money and we’re not really paying attention to it. We’re drinking $5 coffees daily, that adds up to more than $1500 annually. That’s a vacation in the Maldives if you want to put it in perspective. Invite your friend over for coffee – you’ll have as much fun as you would in a café, if not more. We’re not saying stop going out, absolutely not, but find alternatives if you’re doing it every day.
To sum it all up, there are a lot of different ways to make this boring process more fun, you just have to try. Give it a purpose, find alternatives, take pride in being a responsible adult, all of those things will make you feel good and make saving fun.
Kim Marks 